What shouldn't and should change?

[Verrucosus]

Tech trading was mentioned in one article and borders are shown on some of the screenshots, so I am confident that you will get what you wish for.

I agree that a less static game environment is desirable for the timespan, but they should not go overboard with it. I am afraid that a full-blown tech tree à la Civ4 might overshadow the steady growth of European population, infrastructure and trade as the main source of change in the new world. That is what the race between the colonial powers should be about, not technological advance (which, in any case, should be driven by the mother country). In particular, I hope that the four powers will have the same level of military technology pretty much by design. Maybe automatic and simultaneous advances with slightly randomized dates (like in the first Imperialism game) would work.

Verrucosus

P.S.: I think I will start a game of Colonization myself next weekend ... perhaps on Discoverer level because it's been so long.

[snoopy369]

I think I'll solidly throw my hat in the "no technology research" ring. Col is not about teching, and that would really annoy me if it were in the game. I much prefer the game to be about developing the New World. Perhaps if it had periodic technology advancements I wouldn't mind, but if it's a primary gameplay feature, that would be irritating.

[Unimatrix11]

Hmmm--- So i always regarded the liberty-bells as Col-Beakers and the founding fathers as techs and independence as space-race-victory...

What should change is the military - but that i guess is a given, that the Civ1-stylish combat of total win or lose are history by now. But here again: Yeah, maybe some tech, like Verrucosus suggests, in a Imperialism I style maybe. Or maybe steady tech-rates (oh-oh --- one nation could have a slight bonus here) with just the tree-path selectable... and lump-sums to be paid to make the tech avaiable once it is researched.

EDIT: Founding Fathers: Wouldnt it be logical, that one FF can only be a FF of 1 (ONE!) of the nations ? So who chooses first gets him/her denying that person to the others ? Kinda making them into wonders...

EDIT II: So when all are chosen and members of the Contintental Congrss of some colony, then the colonies can try to ´steal´ (convince to come to one´s own CC) them... making this process kind of like espionage in Civ4 (or an addition to a maybe existing espioange system in C4C)

EDIT III: On research again: Maybe some techs should become avaiable after research by, instead of paying a lump sum, accepting ´penalties´ related to other game-mechanics, like a tax-raise or lose of liberty-bells. Whatever makes sense. Like production machinery would incure a raised tax on the product of the machine. Again here could be differencies between the nations.

Also some FF could influence the motherland in certain ways, which will affect tech-costs. Maybe FFs (or some of them) should be chosen to serve either in your CC or as an ambassador in your motherland (but only one, or a low number, of these at any given time)... This would be a bit like your choices in Civ4 regarding GPs. Like: Do i have Adam Smith to be in my CC, increasing productivity of all factories by 10% or do i sent him as Amabassador to my motherland to advocate free(r) trade of production-techs, which will lead to a 25% reduction of the costs of making those avaiable in the colonies ?

EDIT IV: What exactly are the benefits of the FFs, in the colony or as ambassador, should not neccessarily spelled out to the last point. Just give a vague description of what the person did in real history and let people follow their guts. But that means, that the uses of the FFs need to be as well balanced as they are historically thinkable (not saying´accurate´, cause this involves a lot of ahistoric options of course)

[snoopy369]

I suggest you read the news article thread... Edit (1) is indeed in the game

[Unimatrix11]

I suggest Firaxis hires me, cause i have the right ideas

[snoopy369]

Since you post at Apolyton, you've already increased your odds of that

Next step: Move to Baltimore.

[TLF]

There needs to be some way to keep track of the wagon trains.
I'll have a bunch of then and soon can't tell which is which and where they are supposed to be headed.
I usually wind up with them going to the wrong town thaat can't use what they are carrying because I lost track.

[Dale]

Oh DEFINITELY! A much better trade network management system is REQUIRED!

Great idea TLF!

[EPW]

Originally posted by Dale
Oh DEFINITELY! A much better trade network management system is REQUIRED!

Great idea TLF!

Yeah, I hate the broken trade route system from freeCol (and I assume the original as well. Custom houses were a must, and I hope they aren't included at all in that form in the new game.

[ACEofHeart]

There really should of been an additional Victory option.. I lost interest in the original game because of that. Decisions on how to produce income just to face the same ending scenario situation every game was too repetitive for me..
A game that is so based on economics that an Economic Victory seemed like a logical decision for a new Col.. but alas it wasn't.

[Niptium]

Oh well... anyways I rarely play CIV4 to win anyways... It's the game in itself, especially while on Internet multiplayer.

[Ironwood]

One thing I am concerned about is the suggestion that the natives might be more like "other civilizations," that they might be essentially the same thing as the European powers. I really liked how different types of settlements were distinct: camps had less trade potential, villages were pretty good, and, along with colonies, only have a 1-square radius around them. Native cities (Aztec and Inca) had 2-square radii, and dwarf the colonies... as they should. *Maybe* we could add some kind of high-level colony building which extends the city radius, to account for the development of colonies into independent cities.

Also, technology development is really quite unnecessary. The technology of Civ is really just an abstraction of something you do more directly in Colonization: the development of the capital structure (capital, as in capital goods, not capitol, as in a nation's capitol). You gradually advance from using primarily petty criminals, indentured servants, and free colonists to using a lot of specialists. You gradually go from slowly producing value-added goods in houses (tobacconist's house, weaver's house, etc.) to producing them faster in shops, and then factories. Horses and guns (we really need to fit rifles in there in addition to muskets, somehow) become more and more available, as do cannons, and you go from rag-tag bands of armed colonists to more professional forces. As you develop your colonies, you go from your initial caravels, to merchantmen, privateers, frigates, etc.

The addition of a "tech tree" would feel artificial and tacked on.