Microprose Colonization Game Errors

Upgrades and Fixes and FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) in Download Section

[JAN06] Won't Run under Windows 95/98 or XP!!!!

Try DOS-Box at moonbase.htm .

If your game won't run under Windows 95/98 try clicking on the Start Button -> Programs -> MS-DOS Prompt or to get the MS-DOS Prompt for XP: Start Button -> RUN -> "cmd" then type:
cd..
cd mps
cd colonize
colonize
and it should run. This works for 80% of errors.

[FEB05] Carthy continues:
"I got colonization running under Windows XP using the built in program compatibility wizard. Looking at the properties for the shortcut, I think it is running in Windows 95 compatibility mode. I remember trying a few things 'til it worked. It runs a bit too fast for comfort and the sound is a bit glitched, but that's fine with me. I always run without sound anyway as I could never get it to work on the 486 I used to run it on (sound card problem) and the tunes are annoying. good luck .......Cathy P.S. - my son the computer student says whether it works or not depends on your PC set up, graphics card etc."

Also try this for upgrading old MS-DOS version of the game to Windows:
Windows 3.1 Upgrade col95.zip (485Kbytes)
Upgrades the Windows 3.1 Version to Windows 95/98.

The game supports old sounds card types but not new so you may have problems with the sound, check your sound card manual.

If this doesn't help Email Webmaster.

[FEB05, SEP03] Run under XP by Cathy Wykes

I've got Colonization running under XP, though without the intro.

[ The intro works on mine but the sound is a bit funny due to outdated sound card drivers. ]

[MAR00] Install Sound on Windows Version by Larry Medlin

You need to make sure you're sound is set at: I have had problems before, also. Now I get the horse stampede sound when I buy horses on the European Dock and the bolt sound when I fortify a unit.

[MAR06] 255 Colonist Units Limit by Tim Vlk

"I played as an English Conquistador. One country dropped out and the other two did not have any colonies. The foreign affairs screen only reports up to 255 colonist per country, at about 1780 I hit the maximum the game would allow. If I added up the numbers correctly, I had 486 colonists.

It is a mistake to get the maximum colonists, because when I was fighting the British I could not always take out of a colony or even re-equip them. The English had 140 regulars, 47 cavalry, 35 cannons and 22 man-o-war.

They tried for over ten years to take over one city before trying another. It seems that they do not send men over quickly if they do not have a city to work from. I was able to hold them off because of my cannons and fortresses. But 50 years passed and they still had 10 more units to send, so I finished with 2562 points and a 76% ratting.

I then went back and picked the game up at about 1750 and started the revolution then (to see what would happen). As I was not ready, they took over a number of cities but I had taken back all but 2 cities (about 25 years into the battle). The British had about 20 units left. And then the game declared that I lost because the British had over 90% of the population. I re-booted and tried from the last save a couple more times but with the same results. I have no idea about what that is all about.

Well, I am going to try again, but not try for maximum people, and see how things turn out. Just wanted you to know about the limit on people and the strange 90% ending.

Will write to you again in a month or so. God be with you."

[MAR00] Windows Units Limit by John D Dilley

Windows version-message 143. Bad news, the Windows version DOES HAVE a units limit. I just hit it in my latest game (30 colonies and 100 veteran dragoons at Governor level).

[APR00] Windows Upgrade Gripes and Errors by John D Dilley

There are some aspects of the old DOS version I wish they had kept such as the red ink on the economic report for items you're running a deficit on, and I feel they went a bit button crazy! I also miss being able to right click on a square to get a terrain report and identify its owner.

Have others reported the problem of moving a ship into a coastal square (not the High Seas) off the west coast of North America (around San Francisco Bay) and having it set sail for Europe? It also appears you can no longer navigate on the High Seas even at one-square-at-a-time.

I've also had a problem with the "Zoom to Colony" option on the colony reports at the beginning of a turn. For example, I received the message that one of my colonies needed 20 tools to complete a printing press, I zoomed to the colony and bought the needed tools. I then exited the colony map. The next message told me another colony had taught a skill, I once again clicked on the "Zoom to Colony" button. However, instead of zooming to the second colony, I received a message telling me that the first colony had produced a printing press. The computer then zoomed to the first colony. This sort of thing has happened several times, and while not a serious problem, can lead to forgetting to check the second colony.

[APR00] REF Landing Error 2 by John D Dilley

The computer says it's landing at a colony, a ship shows up but nobody gets off. At this stage the REF has been reduced to only a handful of units (I think about 10-15) but then stays at this figure. I tried loading the autosave from about 4 years before and replaying (after rebooting the computer). It didn't work, I still had the same problem. I was playing at the Governor level and had 18 colonies with a field army of around 60-70 dragoons. I don't think I had reached the game limit of units, after all most of the units of the REF had been destroyed.

[FEB00] REF Landing Error by Charlie

This bug occurs in Colonization for Windows. I believe it is version 3.14159... [A jest I think!]

During the end game, after declaring independence, there comes a point when the English say they are landing at such and such a Colony. A Man-O-War shows up at the site but no one gets off. When I look at the Continental Congress report, the Expeditionary Force is greatly reduced. Turn after turn nothing happens... ships show up but no one gets off. And the remaining Expeditionary Force does not reduce. This prevents the game from ever ending.

I suspect some sort of numeric overrun error. It is probably at this point that the game should be saying "can't produce any more units" or something like that.

I've looked for more upgrades/updates. I've installed everything I can find. If you have any idea what else I can do, please let me know.

[Nov99] Continental Congress Lockup Error by scperp123@aol.com

I and my 11 year old son consider this our favourite PC game. But the latest version we have locks up every time a new member of the continental congress is added. I get a rectangular box which tells me an error has occurred. I have 2 choices. I can quit or ignore. I've learned that if I choose ignore and save the game I can continue playing.... For a while. Then my computer will lock up with the message, "A FATAL ERROR HAS OCCURRED AND THE CURRENT PROGRAM WILL BE TERMINATED".

I have tried everything but I always lose what I've taken hours to built-up. There has too be a way to fix this. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

[Nov99] Game Documentation Errors

There are some small errors in the Colonization Manual, Colonizopedia and Colonization Player Aid Card No. 2 - Building Chart Section.

[OCT99] Avoiding the Boycott

If a commodity is boycotted in Europe you can't unload it by hand but the 'U'nload command still works. Thus you can still trade in boycotted goods.

[JUL99] Was it really the Romanians who conquered the Aztecs?

An anonymous source from Romania reports:

"I have a very interesting and curious (I wouldn't call it a mistake but I don't know where it came from) thing in my Colonization v2.25: instead of the Spanish there are Romanians. At the beginning, instead of Christopher Columbus it says Mihai Bojin. I can't imagine where it came from. And this is why I would like to get an upgraded version."

This sounds like the work of a hacker who thinks Romania’s role in history should be somewhat exaggerated.

[Nov99] Jeff Fisher comments:
Remember that the game can be customised by editing the text files. Somebody edited his. My own game has Portuguese led by Albuquerque in place of the Spanish.

Units Limit by Andreas C. Doering

I have gone so far that I often get the message that no new unit can be created because "the maximal number for the game" is reached. I guess that it is a lack of memory. I asked Microprose and they told me that there is no way to influence (e.g. by configuration) this limit. Any experiences.

[This usually happens when you have a lot of Colonists who aren't in Cities. I think the limit is 255. What I do is disband all the Petty Criminals and Indentured Servants, and build a few new Colonies with the remaining people. If you have too many Military Units start a War. This restriction has never worried me, as by this stage in the game management, and computation time make the game unplayable anyway. There is a rules.txt file, which allows you to change things, but if Microprose say you can't change it, then you can't.]

Do not laugh, I've got a 386/40 with 8MByte RAM and run directly in MS DOS 6.22 with EMS and smartdrv installed.

[I started playing Colonization on the Amiga, it's a fairly simple game, so the computer you use doesn't matter too much.]

The following errors have been fixed by the Version 3 Upgrade.

Tax Rate

Once the Tax Rate starts getting towards 75% (the maximum) it starts jumping about and can go down almost to nothing. John D Dilley thinks this bug may show up after Fugger joins the congress. The 'Colonization Version 3.0 Upgrade' in the Download section fixes this bug.

Declare War...

If you fortify a Dragoon outside a Colony you are at War with, sometimes you will get the message: declare war on...? This even happens outside your own Colonies, asking if you want to declare War on yourself!


My game randomly locks up.

Download the 3.0 Update Download version 3.0 update COLV30.ZIP. This update is only for the DOS version of COLONIZATION. If you have a windows version, you need COL95.ZIP.

The game continues to lock up even after installing the update.

Make a Boot Disk Make the following changes to the CONFIG.SYS on a boot disk: FCBS=10,0 FILES=50 BUFFERS=40 STACKS=12,512 If you are not familiar with editing configuration files, then download the boot disk utility maker BOOTALL from the link below and follow the instructions. Click on the link(s) below to obtain the appropriate update file: Download the EXE version of BOOTALL Download the ZIP version of BOOTALL Read the README text file instructions for BOOTALL

The game locks up when using a Sound Blaster AWE32.

Check for Correct File Make sure you are using AWE UTIL TSR v1.11.

The program locks up when running install. What can I do to get the installer to work?

How to Get the Installer to Work 1) Set Files to 50 2) Add Stacks=9,256 to CONFIG.SYS 3) Install may require EMS Memory on certain machines. Turning EMS Memory ON will allow the program to install. 4) Manually install the program using the following procedure (these instructions are for the DISK version ONLY). In DOS at the C:\ prompt, type each line and hit enter after each line. MD MPS CD MPS MD COLONIZE CD COLONIZE COPY A:*.* C: MPSCOPY A: C:\MPS\COLONIZE

Colonization for Windows will not run under Windows 95.

Update for Windows 95 There is an update to correct the problem for Windows 95 users. Please click on the link below to get the update Click on the link(s) below to obtain the appropriate update file: Colonization fix for Windows 95

I can't construct Cathedral Improvement.

The manual says it requires 8 people in town. I have 8 people in town, what am I doing wrong? Game Requires 16 People Nothing, the game actually requires 16 people in town for Cathedral Improvements. If you want, you can EDIT GAMES.TXT n the Colonization directory. Change line 205 from 16 to 8.