Colonization returns as a Civ4 mod

[Stormwaltz]

As a complete reimagining of the 1994 classic, Colonization is a total conversion of Civilization IV that combines Civilization's addictive "just one more turn" gameplay with all-new graphics and features that add more depth to the franchise. New features, such as a brand-new interface, improved diplomacy options and the included modding tools ensure that Colonization will be the next great title from gaming's premier strategy game developer.

Colonization does not require the original Civilization IV product in order to be played.

http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=315205

[Teleku]

[Murgos]

Como se dice, "Alpha Centauri"?

[Sky]

Splendid. Now an updated SMAC and SimGolf and we can start the whole cycle over! (seriously)

[Yoru]

Holy fuck yes. I have got to try this at some point. I loved Colonization years back.



Oh wait, this is an official total conversion, one I have to pay for instead of a fan-made one? Then I expect a massive, massive cock-up.

[Teleku]

Oh wait, this is an official total conversion, one I have to pay for instead of a fan-made one? Then I expect a massive, massive cock-up.

What makes you think that?

[Yoru]

Oh wait, this is an official total conversion, one I have to pay for instead of a fan-made one? Then I expect a massive, massive cock-up.

What makes you think that?

I'm predicting that they'll try to make it more accessible and easier to play. The original was not exactly a triumph of usability; it was a pretty complex resource management game, the sort that you don't see these days. A fan-made conversion wouldn't need to sacrifice things in order to make a given number of sales to justify its budget; an official one might.

But I'm willing to be pleasantly surprised.

[Teleku]

Yeah, I can see that.  I think they should do a pretty good job of transferring it over though (I hope, obviously, heh).  I actually found Colonization to be more straight forward in its logic and usage than the Civilization games at the time were.  But your right, it had a very unique element to it with the resource management, and I'm hoping they transfer that over plus some.

Also, a new updated version of SMAC would be 

[Sky]

As much as I love Civ, going back to it after Col came out was something of a disappointment. They made so many great advancements with Col, with natives, lots of citizen types, school, buildings in the cities to add citizens to; lots of great stuff.

Wish the FoH guys were on board the team for Col 2 :)

[Paelos]

The cost/benefit part of desigining your own troops in SMAC was something that really took the game from great to pure awesome. I kept wishing they would add that aspect to the Civ games, but they never did.

[Stormwaltz]

The cost/benefit part of desigining your own troops in SMAC was something that really took the game from great to pure awesome.

That was actually what ruined SMAC for me (well, that and BS techs like "Ethical Calculus"). After half a game, managing the designs list and finding specific units in it became an obnoxious chore.

[Sky]

That was actually what ruined SMAC for me (well, that and BS techs like "Ethical Calculus"). After half a game, managing the designs list and finding specific units in it became an obnoxious chore.

Did you use the options to auto-prune the list and also stop making automatic designs based on new techs? I think those were the two available options that made that much better. Something along those lines, anyway.

[sinij]

Holy fuck yes.

/signed

Now lets dump some tea into the bay.

[pants]

Wish the FoH guys were on board the team for Col 2 :)

I assume you mean FfH - not FoH.  Unless you want Furor designing your rampaging indians :)

[Stormwaltz]

I assume you mean FfH - not FoH.  Unless you want Furor designing your rampaging indians :)

PATCH NOTES:
* The "Discoverer" difficulty level has been removed. L2P, n00bs.
* Declaration of Independence was too easy for unskilled players to get. It now requires completion of "Signing" projects in every city, and defeat of a major British unit.
* Scalping has been replaced with Teabagging.

Sky: It's been so long, I don't remember. sry.

[Phildo]

I remember thinking the game was fun but that it totally lacked the military diversity of Civ.  Footsoldiers, horsemen, cannons and ships.  That's it?  I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much.

I didn't play SMAC until about 8 months ago and I didn't enjoy it for reasons similar to Stormwaltz.  It wasn't nearly as intuitive or fun as similar options were in Master of Orion which I have played and loved for years.

[Paelos]

Seriously? Yall hated designing your own units?



Yall are fucking broken. I'm sorrry.

[Moaner]

I  desinging my own units.  It's what keeps me playing GalCiv2 + expansions.  Well, that and the awesome tech trees. 

I could not be more excited for Colonization though.  I played the shit out of the original.

PS:  EA owns the rights to Alpha C. so don't expect a proper sequel any time soon.

[Merusk]

Seriously? Yall hated designing your own units?



Yall are fucking broken. I'm sorrry.

Loved designing them.. hated having to go back and remove obsolete shit by hand.  Then there were the turns where you'd get 2-3 useful upgrades in a row before you'd even built the prototype of the last unit you designed.  All that wasted energy.

[Teleku]

Yeah, sorry, same for me.  Designing my own units became a big chore and wasn't terribly fun in its implementation.  I just went for default the entire way (well, except for 1 specialty unit here or there).

[Paelos]

I loved making top of the line ridiculous costing prototype units and making like 2-3 of them to go stomp a couple towns. It was expensive as hell, but they were usually unstoppable.

[Phildo]

I also love unit customization.  As I said, MOO did it better.

[Abel]

  Finally someone thought of remaking Colonisation  ! I don't understand how it took so long, it's a gem of a game and an original take on the Civ formula.

Also, want to sign up for MoO2 and MoM (Masters of Magic) remakes. These were all games I actually played more then the Civ series itself (bar maybe the original).

[Merusk]

Atari owns the rights to MoM and has wanted to control the marketing aspects entirely themselves.  Stardock was trying to get the rights to make a MoM2, but the marketing bit killed it for them. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Magic#Legacy

I also love unit customization.  As I said, MOO did it better.

MOO's customization was stellar.  I still load-up MOO2 every now and again just to build killer ships. GalCiv is the next-closest thing, but I feel too compelled to do lots of ship designing as well as weapon placement.   Plus you have no way of adding 200+ lasers to your uber Huge. 

[Stormwaltz]

Official page up. No significant new info.

[Stormwaltz]

Four new screenshots. Normally not worth posting, but in this case it includes a shot of the city interface.

[Teleku]

Oh, nice.  Looks like they have all the original commodities plus some new ones.  Looks like the main mechanics of the game are remaining the same from that screenshot, which is a big relief.

[dusematic]

Colonization was one of the greatest games ever.  I STILL fire it up on occasion.  Can't wait to play the new one.

[Stormwaltz]

It's already available for preorder on GamersGate. $30, and you get Europa Universalis III as a free bonus.

http://www.gamersgate.com/?page=product&what=view&sku=DDB-CIVCOL

[CmdrSlack]

Dammit, now I need to see if I can find my SMAC disks in all of our moving wreckage. I can't imagine I'd have tossed out a perfectly good game, and for some reason, I don't recall the "design your units" thing.

Now I need it as a way to wean myself off of compulsively starting new games in Spore.

[Teleku]

It's out.  Available for download on Steam as well.  Anybody try it yet (I'm without a computer capable of running it until I move into my new place)?

[Sky]

At the top of my list to get, but I'm broke.

[Moaner]

I'm broke too but I think I may pick it up tomorrow.  The screenshots just look too tempting.

[lac]

Here's the classic city interface.


It's payback time Tupi's!

[Aez]

I read a couple of review.  Generally positive but apparently the end game is more frustrating than the original because your king is completely paranoiac and you only get rookie militia when you revolt.  I'm not sure it's different enough from civ for me.