[May06] Suggestions for Colonization II
by Fran Tremblay, Waukegan IL, United States.
Just saw your website today (www.colonization.biz), and thought I would add in my two cents:
I don't know whether or not an effective mod could be made for either Civilization IV or for Age of Empires III, but both of these exhibit many of the factors that would make a great platform for Colonization:
Civ IV -- religion, borders, barbarian cities, selectable unit promotions, wider range of resources.
AoE3 -- home city development, experience cards, unit advancements, unique units for each Power, recruit Native units, build trading posts in Native camps.
Also recently picked up the
Abandonia
download for Colonization (plus Master of Magic, two of my all time favourites). Really helping to get the creative juices flowing again. Still have my strategy guide from my original purchase!
(Speaking of Master of Magic: between MoM and Age of Wonders, both of these TBS games used army battle screens rather than the more abstract encounter-resolution system of Colonization. While a deviation from the classic model, it might make more sense to show the battles this way.)
I had quite a few years ago started to put together a file listing out some new buildings and colonist types. It's a bit of a lame read now, but some of the things I culled out of it were:
Change Silver Miner into a Prospector, and allow for multiple types of precious materials (gems and metals) to be gathered by the Prospector.
Allow change around the format for Wagon Trains and ships, by having them include a crew and passengers (this would possibly increase the price of purchased vessels in your home city). Wagon Trains and ships could carry specialists out to a point that has a Prime Resource and set up an Expedition (Whaling Expedition, Mining Expedition) to gather hard-to-acquire resources; crews would be Specialists (Teamster, Sailor). Combat vessels could have larger crews (Gun Crew/Marine).
Divide land into smaller squares (1 old square = 4 or 9 new squares) to allow for more diversity in unit mobility.
Switch to Civ IV "fat cross" for city size (or even 3/5/7/7/7/5/3 city size). Larger city size would allow for buildings (resource, production, municipal) to be built directly on map. Upper level buildings might not be buildable in the outskirts of the city (only in the core squares).
Might be able to build resource-boosting buildings, with the trade-off being loss of land versatility while the building still stands.
Larger ships (Galleons, Frigates, Man-O-War) might not be able to berth effectively unless the city has a deep water port (an upgrade over the basic docks).
Build Settler (Covered Wagon) units (Colonist/Tools/Horses) that are faster than regular colonists.
Comments on the things I saw posted:
Slaves from Africa don't seem to be (in terms of game mechanics) that different from Indian Converts. "Orders" for slaves could be placed at a Custom House, or regular visits from slave traders could show up at coastal cities (more often with Custom House?) with Slaves to sell.
Indian Converts and Slaves should be given an opportunity to spontaneously upgrade to Indentured Servants or Free Colonists, either after a few generations of existence (20/40/60 years) or by "spending" SOL points (Converts and Slaves could have a negative effect on SOL membership percentages, hence the trade-off).
Got a bunch more ideas. Need to take off right now; send me a response if you're interested in them.