Imperialism - any good?

[MidKnight Lament]

Whenever the topic of trade comes up, someone will mention Imperialism. How good is it? Is it worth me checking out?

My flatmate just got into a bit of Colonization, and we having a bit of fun with it. What similarities are there b/w Imperialism and Colonization?

- MKL

[Seeker]

It is very good, especially for multiplayer, and you will see many things which should be in Civ.

Caution: do not pay too much for it, once you've mastered it, the game is sorta easy.

Bad things: The AI sometimes ignores obvious openings. The tactical mode is bad for large battles. Arms economies are the best, you cannot create a textile or lumber economy. Once you build a big arms industry, you will find you can create demand by attacking people, thus arms are an infinite money generator (eventually). If you just want to win, make a few allies and then forget about diplomacy, it is much easier to achieve military victory.

Sign of doing well: the human player should always have the highest internal transport. This is the most important stat.

[St Leo]

Imperialism is one of the best games ever released. It has deep, engrossing gameplay that will pull you in. I would recommend I over II - II has a brilliant (aka not as stupid) military AI, but downgrades the economic model and does not have any real historical scenarios.

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St. Leo
http://ziggurat.sidgames.com/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/

[MidKnight Lament]

I had a rather quick look in a couple of computer shops when I was buying the Planetary Pack, but couldn't see either of them. I probably wasn't looking hard enough though. How old is Imperialism I now? What are my chances of picking it up pretty cheaply?

- MKL

[John-SJ]

MKL,

I haven't seen it in a store for awhile, it came out in mid-'97, but it looks like Chips & Bits still carries it. Check it out at www.cdmag.com - the "Chip & Bits" link is at the top of the page.

John-SJ

[Andz83]

I also play Imperialism sometimes, but I haven't ever become very good. I always play "beginner" and have economic problems in 1820-1840, anyway.

I recognized that bug:

You are nation A, and there are 6 others, e.g. B, C etc.
When you are allied with B, and B is allied with C, and C declares war on you, then B will ALWAYS hold its alliance with C and ALSO declare war on you.

That can lead to worldwide conspiration against you only because of a minor nation you want to protect. This is the only bug i really hate. It's the reason why I sometimes don't like Imperialism. I hate it to be attacked from all sides in the early game. And this will always happen

[Seeker]

That NEVER happens to me. Why are you protecting Minor Powers? The 'diplomacy victory' is for suckers. Conquer all the neighbouring minors, and Ally with ALL the great powers (through gifts). Your problem must be gold. You should have about 25, 000 in 1840, and 65, 000 in 1860. The secret?
A huge arms economy. How to do that?

Stockpile coal!! Learn how to stockpile, then sell massive amounts (via paddlewheelers) when the market goes up.

[Andz83]

Single question:

Has anyone ever tried out the scenarios? I think they're unplayable on a special way...

1820: like a normal game

1848: I played with Prussians, all others declared war against me in early 1850's. Happened several times

1882: Played with Germany. In 1885, the British had a diplo victory. Happened several times.

Are the scenarios unplayable with the recommended nations or am I just too bad ?

[Seeker]

Don't play them like a normal game on a random map. You WILL have to give massive (10 000) gifts every so often to the other powers to keep them from ganging up.

Go SLOWLY. If you're attacking Paris in 1885, everyone will be against you.

[St Leo]

1848: I played with Prussians, all others declared war against me in early 1850's. Happened several times

I recently played a similar game. Me (Prussia), Sardinia, France, and Russia had divided Austria among us. Suddenly I find myself at war with everyone, but decide to weather the storm. I quickly take out Paris after taking a detour through Belgium, eliminating an important opponent. Meanwhile my navy has been built-up and Baltic was liberated from the evil Brits. I then quickly transfer my army to the eastern front and race for Moscow - once it was mine the game was a walk in the park.

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St. Leo
http://ziggurat.sidgames.com/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/

[Adam_Smith]

So does the multiplay always crash. I tried it a few times and it did every time. I quit playing it even though it is better than the second one.

[KaiserIsak]

I used to play with Sardinia on the Unification Moment scenario, and it worked quiet well. I´ve been able to get a victory once on that one, but useally the english gets the victory early.

The only way to survive is to declare on Austria the first turn, then England will ALWASY asist u after a few turns. U gain a lot of territory from austria and then build up industry when u r conquering small powers like naples, spain/portugal/catalonia, greece, switzerland and such.
I useally get involved in a war against france because of my allies and gain some terrain from them as well.
But i would never been able to do it without English help in the start.

[Andz83]

Well, I for myself had never tried to play a conquering game until I played the Unification scenario with the English. VERY EASY, even for me .

But I'm still bad. I play on "beginner"-level and get in financial and economic problems. That's not nice, I can tell you. Neither to get in economic problems, nor to be that bad, nor not to be accepted by other people.

[Seeker]

Andz;

you haven't learned how to build an arms econmomy. You can go the whole game with a production of 1 clothing, but you should always have a massive stockpile of +200 steel to keep your economy in the +50 000 range (where you can fight overseas wars against great powers)

[Andz83]

Well, my problems is nót a general economic crisis but a crisis in the 1820s and 1830s.
During the 1860s I have a boom and in 1880 my money amount is about 1.000.000$.
The highest money I ever had was 30.000.000 in 1915, when I had a diplo win.

My earliest diplo win was in 1825!! Who among you, if he ever actually had a diplo win, had done this mark? Diplo win in 1825, fellows!