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Let me start by saying I was a big fan of Col 1.
Let me also say that I like many of the new things in Col 2. Specifically, the addition of borders, the new graphics, the way Founding Fathers are now competed for between the European colonies, the fact that Indians are now separate whole nations. These are all very cool things. But as I play Col 2, some issues come a-glarin'.
The main issue is the one of replayability. Right now I am struggling to win my first game of Col 2 at Explorer level. The struggle I don't mind...I like a challenge. But from what I am seeing from play and reading on these forums, there is basically a very narrow path to victory in this game. You pretty much have to follow that path and only that path to win.
Yes, I have seen some minor variations, but essentially you build 4-5 settlements, half or more inland. You go builder for the first 2/3rds of the game, stockpiling horses and guns on wagons and ships. Then you max LBs in the last 3rd and get to Rev ASAP. Then you abandon the coastal cities, fight in the hinterlands, and that's about it.
Now, you might be thinking, isn't that pretty much how it went in Col 1? Yes and no. In Col 1, there were a variety of strategies one could try. One could go Indian bashing and that was a very good strategy if you could whack the Incans or Aztecs. One could go total peace. One could build a small Colony, or one could go semi-ICS and try to overwhelm the mother country with numbers of troops.
In Col 1, it felt like the game stood on its own. You played the first 2/3rds of the game to play the game and build your colonies. You got into fights with other Europeans and Indians. The War of Independence in Col 1, though ultimately the decisive moment in the game, was the climax, but it wasn't the end all-be all of the game.
In Col 2, it feels like every single step you make in the game MUST be in preparation for the coming war. No longer can you afford to actually build your colonies and take simple pride in having a large functioning colony producing goods and having all sorts of factories. In Col 2, if it doesn't help with the war, it is not only not useful, but the mechanics of Col 2 make any sort of detour into colony building downright harmful. The wiggle room in Col 2 is so tight that you can't relax and have fun with the game!
Colonization should be about Colonization. Col 2 should have been renamed The War of Independence, because that's what the game is all about, from turn 1 right through to the end. The thing I liked about Col 1 was this it was a pure builder game with a war punctuating the end. Col 2 is a pure wargame where you spend hours preparing for war. In that sense, it fails as a wargame, but in the same sense it fails as a builder game.
What causes this? The simple fact that you are on such a tight schedule. Build LBs too early, and the game is impossible to win. Simply impossible. I have seen REFs with 300 units in them. While a game should punish someone for making bad choices, is it really good game design to have agame where if a player starts building LBs too early the game is essentially over but the player is encouraged to keep wasting time playing? Talk about a way to turn off new players!
In addition, because of the fact that LBs now affect the REF (instead of money), you now have to walk this tightrope between producing LBs too early, or missing the window and not having time enough to win the game.
In Col 1, the requirement was to declare independence by a certain time, and I cannot recall a single game where I could not do it, even when I wasn't really working on LBs. In Col 2, you not only have to declare, you have to win by a certain time. At the very least, that means the game can be lost due to time after the player declares independence entirely at the behest of the AI if it takes its sweet time about landing its troops.
In fact, God forbid you sink some MOWs that are empty on the way back to Europe, because then it wil ltake longer for the REF to land in full!
The tightness of the game means there are few optimal strategies. This means once you figure it out, that's about it for the game. Not much replayability....not like Col 1 and of course nothing like Civ 4.
My suggestions would be:
1. Increase the initial size of the REF, then make it dependent upon both LBs and cash, but to a much lesser extent for LBs (perhaps 25% LBs and 75% cash). I understand that the REF in Col 1 was often a joke, but at lower levels it is just too much in Col 2.
2. Make the other colonies a bit more aggressive. Right now in Col 2 at Explorer they never attack me. I want some give and take with them. They are also highly unaggressive with their piracy. In Col 1 I enjoyed having privateer battles. You needed to build Frigates to protect your fleets. At Explorer level, at least, in Col 2 privateering has been almost non existent.
3. DOCUMENT THE GAME BETTER! There is almost no way for a neophyte player to know that if he takes that Elder Statesman on the docks and puts it into the Town Hall, where one would naturally assume it goes) in 1499 that he is about to lose the game and waste his time playing for the next 200 turns. There is almost no way for a neophtye player to know that his standing army is actually hurting his declaration chances, or that those piioneers and colonists outside of the towns are dragging his rebel sentiment down.
I simply cannot imagine a non-Civ 4 non Col 1 player sitting down to play this game even at the easiest difficulty level and not throwing up his hands and tossing the game after a couple of tries.
4. Make the time limit based on declaration. Allow the War of Independence to go on for as long as necessary.
Let me also say that I like many of the new things in Col 2. Specifically, the addition of borders, the new graphics, the way Founding Fathers are now competed for between the European colonies, the fact that Indians are now separate whole nations. These are all very cool things. But as I play Col 2, some issues come a-glarin'.
The main issue is the one of replayability. Right now I am struggling to win my first game of Col 2 at Explorer level. The struggle I don't mind...I like a challenge. But from what I am seeing from play and reading on these forums, there is basically a very narrow path to victory in this game. You pretty much have to follow that path and only that path to win.
Yes, I have seen some minor variations, but essentially you build 4-5 settlements, half or more inland. You go builder for the first 2/3rds of the game, stockpiling horses and guns on wagons and ships. Then you max LBs in the last 3rd and get to Rev ASAP. Then you abandon the coastal cities, fight in the hinterlands, and that's about it.
Now, you might be thinking, isn't that pretty much how it went in Col 1? Yes and no. In Col 1, there were a variety of strategies one could try. One could go Indian bashing and that was a very good strategy if you could whack the Incans or Aztecs. One could go total peace. One could build a small Colony, or one could go semi-ICS and try to overwhelm the mother country with numbers of troops.
In Col 1, it felt like the game stood on its own. You played the first 2/3rds of the game to play the game and build your colonies. You got into fights with other Europeans and Indians. The War of Independence in Col 1, though ultimately the decisive moment in the game, was the climax, but it wasn't the end all-be all of the game.
In Col 2, it feels like every single step you make in the game MUST be in preparation for the coming war. No longer can you afford to actually build your colonies and take simple pride in having a large functioning colony producing goods and having all sorts of factories. In Col 2, if it doesn't help with the war, it is not only not useful, but the mechanics of Col 2 make any sort of detour into colony building downright harmful. The wiggle room in Col 2 is so tight that you can't relax and have fun with the game!
Colonization should be about Colonization. Col 2 should have been renamed The War of Independence, because that's what the game is all about, from turn 1 right through to the end. The thing I liked about Col 1 was this it was a pure builder game with a war punctuating the end. Col 2 is a pure wargame where you spend hours preparing for war. In that sense, it fails as a wargame, but in the same sense it fails as a builder game.
What causes this? The simple fact that you are on such a tight schedule. Build LBs too early, and the game is impossible to win. Simply impossible. I have seen REFs with 300 units in them. While a game should punish someone for making bad choices, is it really good game design to have agame where if a player starts building LBs too early the game is essentially over but the player is encouraged to keep wasting time playing? Talk about a way to turn off new players!
In addition, because of the fact that LBs now affect the REF (instead of money), you now have to walk this tightrope between producing LBs too early, or missing the window and not having time enough to win the game.
In Col 1, the requirement was to declare independence by a certain time, and I cannot recall a single game where I could not do it, even when I wasn't really working on LBs. In Col 2, you not only have to declare, you have to win by a certain time. At the very least, that means the game can be lost due to time after the player declares independence entirely at the behest of the AI if it takes its sweet time about landing its troops.
In fact, God forbid you sink some MOWs that are empty on the way back to Europe, because then it wil ltake longer for the REF to land in full!
The tightness of the game means there are few optimal strategies. This means once you figure it out, that's about it for the game. Not much replayability....not like Col 1 and of course nothing like Civ 4.
My suggestions would be:
1. Increase the initial size of the REF, then make it dependent upon both LBs and cash, but to a much lesser extent for LBs (perhaps 25% LBs and 75% cash). I understand that the REF in Col 1 was often a joke, but at lower levels it is just too much in Col 2.
2. Make the other colonies a bit more aggressive. Right now in Col 2 at Explorer they never attack me. I want some give and take with them. They are also highly unaggressive with their piracy. In Col 1 I enjoyed having privateer battles. You needed to build Frigates to protect your fleets. At Explorer level, at least, in Col 2 privateering has been almost non existent.
3. DOCUMENT THE GAME BETTER! There is almost no way for a neophyte player to know that if he takes that Elder Statesman on the docks and puts it into the Town Hall, where one would naturally assume it goes) in 1499 that he is about to lose the game and waste his time playing for the next 200 turns. There is almost no way for a neophtye player to know that his standing army is actually hurting his declaration chances, or that those piioneers and colonists outside of the towns are dragging his rebel sentiment down.
I simply cannot imagine a non-Civ 4 non Col 1 player sitting down to play this game even at the easiest difficulty level and not throwing up his hands and tossing the game after a couple of tries.
4. Make the time limit based on declaration. Allow the War of Independence to go on for as long as necessary.
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