Sid Meier's Colonization

Publisher:- Microprose
Developer:- Microprose
Genre:- Strategy
Release date:- 1994 (DOS), 1995 (Windows 95)


Ever recall of a time when you hated something so bad that mere mention of it can draw fits of violent inner rage yet after some afterthought and a serious effort to try to like it can turn out to be one of joy.

Same case here.

Back in 1996, many gamers kept championing this game so much that I probably could do no worse than to ignore it. Play as one of four major maritime powers of the Renaissance era and the age of Exploration and build settlements in America. Interesting right? Boring.

But try it I did; but I absolutely abhorred it, at least it was back then. Where was the fun of it? There's too much micromanagement involved and there are many nitty gritty nagging issues which you have to take care of. Plus, I've had little love for the milieu of the game; the Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci feats meant nothing to me. Maybe it was the mentality of a 16 year old fresh from a then important recent PMR success; or it was just my old personality of not to even consider looking at something overly troublesome or what I perceived to be such.

Anyway, as recent as 2002, when the new line of Direct-X 8 powered graphic-intensive games rolled off the shelves and placed themselves too high and mighty for my old AMD 450MHz desktop with a puny 16MB Voodoo Banshee card, I turned to the old DOS games which could provide fun-filled hours at the cost of inferior eye candy.

So I found the old 'Colonization' for DOS residing in a neglected area of the primary hard drive. My brother played it a lot and has tons of ready-made save games for me to jump straight into the action without having to learn the ropes of the game first-hand. That's what save games are for; the legacy.

To my utter surprise; all the abhorrence of the old did not surface at all and the experience of playing 'Colonization' at the somewhat more 'matured' age of 21 is indeed different. Anyway, while I can't point to any straight facts as to why I can suddenly like something which I've detested barely 5 years ago; I did acknowledge that the game, while still tedious and messy, can be entertaining as long as you're willing to invest in it.

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"For God, Gold and Glory of our country; go to the New World- settle there and bring back the riches and thy name would live long in the lips of the grateful motherland."

The aim of 'Colonization' is very different from what you've probably envisioned. The New World settlers are, in a sense, more independent than the monarchists have possibly imagined and have other ideas in mind when they first inhabit and populate the untamed America.





You start of at the Eastern shores of the Atlantic Ocean somewhere near the Bahamas islands with a ship and at least 2 new settlers. The ship you'll have is different, depending on your choice of nation and the settlers can also vary according to the difficulty settings. You can play as any of the countries shown on the left:- Spain, France, England and the Netherlands. All of them are reknowned maritime powers and all are sea powers of the late Renaissance era.

It might be interesting to note that while the characteristics of each of the nations are different, the end goal is the same:- independence from the mother country.

Briefly, the countries have these different traits which might influence the outcome of the game:-

1. Netherlands (Trade) - many gamers' obvious choice and for a good reason:- money from trade goods. Commodity prices are more stable than other nations and recover from inflation faster than the other powers.

2. Spain (Conquest) - the belligerent power but only against native American Indians. The player gains a 50% bonus attacking Indian villages. These settlements yield treasure when captured and can be the loot you're looking for. But, more often than not, Spain's options fall short when all other European nations have prospered with their trade with the natives, who can prove invaluable with their help.

3. France (Co-operation) - In 'Colonization' occupied Indian territory (at least 3x3 hex from the villages) often generate tension or 'alarm'. While the alarm is escalated by the presence of military and armed units in the area, the same tension can also rise due to other factors like the plowing of land or extensive road-building in the area, destroying the integral part of the natives' lives. France generates these tensions at only half the rate and has also a Hardy Pioneer in the ranks. The Pioneer unit clears land in the New World and can be ordered to build roads and other neat stuff.

4. England (Religion) - In 'Colonization' terms, 'Cross-Production' means the likelihood of immigration from the home country. England produces 50% more cross-production than other powers and have the ability to attract more immigrants from the home docks to be shipped to the New World for labor.

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Game mechanics:-

Your main aim:- establish a colony/colonies. Expand the colony to thrive in trade (obviously, the siting of the colony must be strategic so as to gain maximum benefit from the natural resources). Build up a sizable army and wage war with the home country. If you don't, by 1800, the game ends and you're one forgotten old chum.

Building a colony:- The biggest step taken in the initial stages is to choose a good site for your first colony. My priority is thus:- at least one hex of rock/hills (important for ore and other silver deposits! You won't wanna be trading ore with your other ore-producing colonies all the time), forest, river and some prairie lands for good food. But get a site with hills. Make sure that the colony is producing enough food at all times (indicated by the amount of corn at the bottom left of the screen) In the picture to the left, the colony screen at the right side is a graphical representation of the 3x3 tic-tac-toe image of what your current settlement can produce. It is ideal to bring the right people in for their jobs as they maximise the resources that can be produced. Other factors can be changed, such as plowing the land for more food growth or building roads for those hills or forests for improved production. The leftmost screen, with the buildings etc, are your manufacturing sector. Here, all goods produced at the right side will be resources with which to work with at the left. You will need to manufacture goods on your own to be fully self-sufficient in order to wage a protracted war with your home country. So, there exists a nice little circle of love. You may want to explore areas with rich tobacco land or cotton which in turn, can be manufactured into finished goods like cigarettes or cloth which can fetch a better price at the trading posts. Just keep in mind that inland colonies are at a disadvantage, at least until a customs house is built as they have no serviceable port with which to load goods onto an available ship.

Interacting with the native Indians:- Arawaks, Aztecs, Incas, Iroquois, Cherokee, Tupis, Sioux, and the Apaches are the the ones who could be your ally or, most of the time, your enemy. Depending on your usage of the land belonging to the Indians and also their village location, you might be deemed to have overused their land and they'd constantly raid your colony in retaliation. The early stages of interaction with the natives can be friendly as they will encourage trade and will occasionally offer gifts on their own accord. You might find it useful to establish a mission at these villages with a missionary to improve relations with the Indians and you may be offered Indian converts to work the fields for you but can do little in the manufacturing sector. Indians can also teach a 'Colonist' unit , (ie a unit with no profession yet better than an 'Indentured Servant' or a 'Convict') certain skills which cannot be attained from Europe such as the Furtrapper skill and more.

If you're the French, you might find it useful to actually cooperate with them to build up a small trade but the Spanish, with their bonus attacks on Indians are better off destroying entire villages and make off with their loot which can run to thousands of gold for your war chest. Remember that entire Indian tribes can be entirely eliminated and cease to exist in the map. Their level of hostility towards you can be seen at the example on the left. An unarmed Indian is a friendly one, while the caricature of an Indian armed to the teeth is signal for you to either commence hostilities or to fortify your colonies. Take note that Indian raids are never good for you; you either drive them back for no gain or their raid will end up with you losing finished goods or much money. Whatever the case, their presence are integral to your stay in the New World.

The European Screen:- Also known as your home port. It is here that you'll sell your first cargo from the New World and also the place where you can hire specialists (those not taught by the Indians) to quickly boost up your bustling colony. You can trade for certain commodities which you feel might be profitable to the native Indians who demand for certain goods if you are to do trading with them. If you have discovered the 'Fountain of Youth' trigger, up to 7 colonists are there for you to choose to appear at the docks. Most of the time, the choices are narrowed down but it is worthwhile to seek out the Lost City rumor early.




Other choices you'll make:- I can think of a many other triggers which can potentially disrupt your colonization process but not more so than these two:-

1. Tax rate increase:- Your king sends an envoy to the New World to raise taxes on the goods which you'll sell to the European homeland. If you don't sell any items (which is rare), a random goods are chosen to be taxed. You can reject the tax increment if you hold a ' party' which means that you'll forfeit the right to trade the item in the European port as a result of your refusal to yield to the tax increment. This does not mean that you are forever barred from trading that goods as there are two ways to resume:- either by paying back taxes which is damn expensive and stupid IMO and also by having Jakob Fugger as one of your Founding Fathers which pardons the rebellion and resumes trade at no further cost. If there are no more goods which can be taxed, due to your various 'tea parties' in the same spirit as the 'Boston Tea Party', the tax increment is instantly activated. Sometimes, this calls for some brainwork. If you believe that you can get by without causing trouble, you can activate the tax increment which can range between 2% to the region of 5% which can hit your trade hard. Sometimes, if the goods are not so important or that you can easily replace the lost load without the trouble of selling it, you may opt to hold the goods party. The only time you may want to hold the party is when you already have a customs house which can handle all your trade for you without the need to travel forth to Europe to unload for a profit.

2. Fellow European interaction. On advanced levels of difficulty, the other European powers in America are more belligerent and will attack you if you establish colonies too close for their comfort. You may want to steer away from their meddling but this you can't do forever. At the very least, you might try to sidestep their personal feuds and wars or try to condescend to their wishes as much as is possible. Either way, they may choose to leave you alone if you're far from their centre of power but this can be random. You might try to instigate them to declare war on another European power if you're feeling rich but I found, to my detriment that their tendency to sign peace accords after war declarations can mean that you've spent a fortune down the drain. Still, it's better than to wait for one power to come probing your resolution in defending your colonies with armed troops and dragoons.

Founding Fathers/Continental Congress:- A fictional Congress of your Independence movement. These are the American heroes who distinguish themselves in posterity and include but not limited to; Pocahontas, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Sieur de la Salle, Paul Revere, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernando de Soto, Peter Stuyvesant and more. Note that their existence are not congruous with each other in actual timeline and are bundled together with a touch of Sid Meier's tendency to form fantasy leagues. They are useful to you depending on the situation you're in but not necessarily terribly indispensable so as to win the war. Collectively, they do different roles in your Congress and most of them are one-time effects. Each Founding Father you managed to attract will gain you some points towards your final score and attracting them to the Congress requires certain quota of liberty bells generated by your colonies. As an example, Jakob Fugger pardons previous trade sanctions and allows trade to resume at no extra cost, whereas Pocahontas reduces the tension of Indians down to half. They're useful at one time and can be completely oblivious at the next. Offhand, I almost always choose those FFs who can raise liberty bell production quickly so that the production penalties do not apply in colonies. Production penalties apply when rebel sentiment in any colony is below 50% (meaning that support for the homeland monarchy is still strong and willing to work for King and country).


Declaring independence:- If you'd hoped that independence is as easy as one without bloodshed and mere conference and round table talks, then you're better off just living off your viceroyship until the end of your stint in the New World without any declaration of war. To play 'Colonization' successfully, you might find it a more fulfilling experience if you'd taken the brave step to declare your open rebellion against the monarchs.

My experience playing 'Colonization' is to have at least fortressess in all of your colonies and 30 dragoons in them. It's a tedious process to rally that many troops in the short timeframe, but the game has never promoted sedated action at any point of time; so take stock the moment you establish your own first colony on American soil. Remember to back up your soldiers with enough artillery and to accept all logical aid from foreign powers who wish to intervene. The French and the English who have just declared their own independence are most likely to support your cause provided of course, you can generate certain number of liberty bells. Remember that your surrounded colonies would mean that your cultivated lands are no longer worked upon for resources nor food and that your novice soldiers would stand no chance against the Imperial troops; so throw in a nice balance of dedicated veteran soldiers and normal militia.

I'm not discussing the various unit types nor the ship types in the game as the in-game instructions have served this purpose admirably. The game also has an intuitive report system as well as certain information which can aid the beginner into jumping right into action without the frills of a steep learning curve. By all means, try until you can get the best system going. Replayability is bad after you've mastered every profitable colony location and every step you're going to take but it's a pretty game to get into long after the eye candies of the current games have passed and you're looking to spend a few worthwhile hours on an old game.

(since this is a DOS game ported into Windows, evaluation is not possible as certain standards are not implemented. For evaluation purposes, games which I review must not be earlier than 1996.)