FreeCol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)
Version: 0.9.3 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.3-released.html)

jColonization (http://www.jcolonization.com/)
Version: Playable demo

NewCol (http://newcol.free.fr/)
Version: 0.3.1 (Windows & Mac)

Landfall (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=262687) (no longer developed)
Version: 0.63 (Windows only, requires DirectX)

Treasure Fleet (http://sourceforge.net/projects/treasurefleet/)
Version: 0.1


Anyone know any others that are active?


_______________________
Petrell's Domain (http://koti.mbnet.fi/ton_hur/) Webmaster

FreeCol 0.7.0 has been released. FreeCol is an open version of the turn based strategy game Colonization.

Changes:
- Trade and negotiations between human players.
- A simple map editor has been created.
- The in-game user documentation has been improved.
- Map of the Americas added.
- Automated trade routes.
- Lots of bugfixes.

Download:
http://www.freecol.org/index.php?section=6

I know this is an old thread to bump, but I really like freecol but I have never completed a game without it crashing yet. And I have the most current version :(

I know this is an old thread to bump, but I really like freecol but I have never completed a game without it crashing yet. And I have the most current version :(
Never had any problems with it. Maybe ask some assistance on their Sourceforge forum?

i just updated my col-inspired game:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=6285652#post6285652

Since my last update Freecol team has released versions 0.7.1 and 0.7.2. Both being mainly bugfixing releases altought some new features have been implemented and old ones improved.

Bug fixes in 7.1 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.7.1)
New features in 7.1 (http://freecol.org/featuretracker/0.7.1)

Bug fixes in 7.2 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.7.2)
New features in 7.2 (http://freecol.org/featuretracker/0.7.2)

Freecol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)

Unfortunately Freecol project has also suffered major setback with the disappearance of their main graphic artist (shinydaemon) who was redoing terrain graphics and was almost finished when he suddenly just vanished from face of the earth. Worse is that he did not commit any of his changes before disappearing leaving rest of the team nothing to work on. Screenshots of his works can be seen in this topic (http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1663870&forum_id=141200).

So if there are any graphics artists willing to help Freecol project, please do contact the developers as soon as possible. Beside the redoing the entire terrain tileset (or part of it), there's at least need for graphics for each Indian tribe settlement (currently there's only one picture to represent them all). I'm sure there are other things that need/can use (re)work also.

Update

Next FreeCol version, 0.7.3, is scheduled to be released on Sunday, January 27th.

NewCol version 0.2.8 has been released.

Colonies development has resumed after few months of inactivity.

FreeCol 0.7.3 has been released. Major features in this release :

- Some new maps.
- Tutorial messages.
- Several bugfixes.

Bug fixes in 7.3 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.7.3)
New features in 7.3 (http://freecol.org/featuretracker/0.7.3)

Freecol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)


Also NewCol 0.3.0 has been released.

There's no change log so exactly what has been chaged from 0.2.8 is bit unclear. News page list some of them at least. Also the NewCol website actually works now :p and problem with image preloading has been sorted out. There's also 2 new screenshots featuring battle between 2 large armies.

NewCol (http://newcol.free.fr/)

Just as side note : There's also new versions of FreeCiv (http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) and FreeOrion (http://www.freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page) available

FreeCol 0.7.3 has been released. Major features in this release :

- Some new maps.
- Tutorial messages.
- Several bugfixes.

Bug fixes in 7.3 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.7.3)
New features in 7.3 (http://freecol.org/featuretracker/0.7.3)

Freecol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)
The new maps are nice, but it is a bit annoying to see the tupi and Iroquis in Africa or Australia. I hope they will also add new native tribes with the option to select the ones you need.

Just as side note : There's also new version of FreeOrion (http://www.freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page) available
There is a subforum for Masters of Orion. Maybe you will invoke more interest there?

The new maps are nice, but it is a bit annoying to see the tupi and Iroquis in Africa or Australia. I hope they will also add new native tribes with the option to select the ones you need.

There are plans to allow modding of goods, units and other parts of the game for scenario purposes in later versions of FreeCol. (See project Roadmap)

0.8.0
-----

Objective: Restructuring and scenarios

- Restructure the game model.
- Make a persistent way of storing a game/map.
- Extend the map editor to support scenarios.
- Allow the game to be customized using XML-files.
- Create a few scenarios.

0.10.0
------

Objective: Easier customization of the game.

- Extend the map editor and create editors for units and terrain.
- Add other features simplifying modding.

Unfortunately due to them losing their dedicated artist, I doupt we'll see new tribes as doing them would require new art. Ofcourse this could change if they manage to recruit another dedicated artist.

There is a subforum for Masters of Orion. Maybe you will invoke more interest there?

:) As I said, it was just side note. Maybe I'll post news there when they get to 0.4.0 sometimes this decade ;)

Does Newcol not run on win98?

I get it to start and them as soon as I click to choose a nation it crashes and disappears.

I also had a problem with it at first refusing to run and saying that I was missing the msvcr80d.dll. I found a site to download the msvcr80d but didn't know where to put it. I decided to place it in the same folder with the game's .exe and the game started and then crashed.

Does Newcol not run on win98?

I get it to start and them as soon as I click to choose a nation it crashes and disappears.

I also had a problem with it at first refusing to run and saying that I was missing the msvcr80d.dll. I found a site to download the msvcr80d but didn't know where to put it. I decided to place it in the same folder with the game's .exe and the game started and then crashed.

I've had Win XP since it came out so I'm not much of a help there. Readme only mentions WinXP. At least NewCol-VCPP that I downloaded did come with the necessary libraries (vcredist_x86.exe) I think but haven't tried it yet. The Mingw version does not need extra libraries but is slow, have you tried that one?

Not all nations seem to work (choosing Holland dropped me to desktop) but at least choosing French works. There is not much of a game there yet. You start with number of units, colonies and ships and can move units around, test some battles, check cities and build stuff and explore the world (some 2 million tiles total. It includes whole world map.). That's pretty much all there is atm. Hopefully next version will have more functionality and is more stable.

FreeCol is currently most complete version of the remakes (It has AI and can be won or lost) but I don't know if there's new enough JavaVM available for Win98 to run it.

@Toni : I have posted on SourceForge mentioning that I may be able to contribute towards the graphic department of FreeCol but first I need to find a place where I can attach or upload any work that I do. The trouble is you cannot attach a file in SourceForge except at the tracker which is basically for bug reporting purpose only.

Is there an easier way to upload and/or attach file on SourceForge?

@Toni : I have posted on SourceForge mentioning that I may be able to contribute towards the graphic department of FreeCol but first I need to find a place where I can attach or upload any work that I do. The trouble is you cannot attach a file in SourceForge except at the tracker which is basically for bug reporting purpose only.

Is there an easier way to upload and/or attach file on SourceForge?


As far as I know, there's no real way to actually attach files to forum posts in Source Forge. You could how ever upload the files somewhere else (your own web space, one of the free file hosting services etc. you could also ask someone else to host them) and paste link to the file into the forum post. You could also contact one of the developers and ask them for email address where you could send them. The developers themselves probably do most of their sharing thru SVN(Subversion) and use e-mails for the rest.

You'll probably get better and more precise answer if you post the question in FreeCol Forums (http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=141200). (I did not find your post unfortunately, did you post it somewhere else or do you use different user name there?)

Ah, I post it under the same name in SourceForge but not as a separate post but as a response to a post called Bugs in 0.7.3 :)

I guess I will work on something then maybe email it to one of the developers. Thanks for the information!

No problem. I'm glad if I could help.

According to new preliminary roadmap (http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=57507.80.202.85.174.12128247 44.squirrel%40webmail.uio.no&forum_name=freecol-developers), next version of FreeCol (http://www.freecol.org/) (SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)) will be released tomorrow.

New Roadmap

0.7.4
-----

Objective: Bugfixes.
Release: Wednesday, June 11th


0.8.0
-----

Objective: Make the game easier to modify
Release: Friday, July 11th

- Allow the game to be customized using XML-files.
- Support different sets of graphics.
- A file format for packaging changes to graphics and rules.
- Units now slide between tiles while moving.
- Sound effects for dragoons, artillery capturing a colony, building
complete, church and blacksmith.
- New sound effects for artillery and buying/selling goods.
- Short music clips for Aztecs, English and fountain of Youth
- Named regions and nicer placement of native settlements.
- New nations added: Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Russian
- Games with up to eight European players are now supported.


0.8.1
-----

Objective: Improve stability
Release: Thursday, July 24th


0.8.2
-----

Objective: Improve stability
Release: Thursday, August 7th


0.9.0
-----

Objective: Improve graphics and audio
Release: August 2008

- New background images, borders and buttons.
- Implement feature requests from our users.
- Add more sound effects and music.
- Unit attack animations.


0.10.0
------

Objective: Improve the computer players
Release: November 2008

- Add personalities and better strategy to computer opponents.
- Add features for admin (kick player, restart game etc.)


0.11.0
------

Objective: Campaigns and scenarios
Release: February 2009

- Support triggers and events for scenario development.
- Extend the map editor to support scenarios.
- Backward compatibility for savegames will be assured after this release.
- Create a few scenarios.


0.12.0
------

Objective: Improve gameplay
Release: April 2009

- Implement feature requests from our community.
- Balance the advantages of the different nations.
- Create some campaigns.
- Improve AI.


0.13.0
------

Objective: Easier customization of the game.
Release: July 2009

- Extend the map editor and create editors for units and terrain.
- Add other features simplifying modding.


0.14.0
------

Objective: Improve graphics and audio
Release: October 2009

- Add more sound effects.
- Add skins for the colony panel and the Europe panel.


1.0.0
-----

Objective: The final polish :-)
Release: December 2009

- Add the remaining sfx and music.
- Use more illustrations and background images.


Everyone who have not played original Colonization should try out FreeCol now that official sequel is on it's way to see what's it all about.

Invasion Col-Civ like TBS :
You should also try Invasion. Combination of Colonization and Civilization also new ideas.


Information
http://www.ozangumus.com


Requirements
Windows, DirectX


Size
23 MegaBytes


Download
RapidShare (http://rapidshare.com/files/121348338/InvasionSetupv01.exe.html)
FilePlanet (http://www.fileplanet.com/187539/180000/fileinfo/Invasion)


Screenshots
http://www.soccerforecast.com/invasion1small.gif http://www.soccerforecast.com/invasion5small.gif http://www.soccerforecast.com/invasion6small.gif http://www.soccerforecast.com/invasion7small.gif

Come to think of it, why did noone decide to make Colonization as a mod project for Civ 4 (before we found out today/yesterday that 2K is doing it)???

Come to think of it, why did noone decide to make Colonization as a mod project for Civ 4 (before we found out today/yesterday that 2K is doing it)???

Several people did. For instance Jeckel, Dale, and I all wanted to make different versions of Colonization, depending on our "vision" for the game. What stopped us until now was something that could mimic the original resource system. It wasn't until the past few months that a mod even remotely similar was developed, and that was just for oil. Last month I managed to make it work for different resources, but the new game is already coming out, so there's no point in a separate scenario now. :)

I tried FreeCol last night. It's very impressive. My only thing is I just can't seem to get past the no sound thing. Maybe there could be an option (for the owners of the original) to map to the original Colonization sounds until sound is added?

After reading the FreeCol forums it seems there IS sound in this game. Either it must default to the -no sound option or something else is wrong. I'll have to try it again tonight to see if I can get the sound to work. If I can it may be a long night. :D

FreeCol is a pretty decent adaptation, but its faults lie in its strengths: it's a literal conversion, so all the micromanagement is still there. Even so, I found it to be almost as addictive as the original. It'll be interesting to see how Firaxis has been influenced by these clones in making Colonization II.

After a little more research it turns out there is very limited sound. In the audio folder there are about 9 in-game sounds effects. I don't have a Java editor so I couldn't look at the source code to see if there are any more pointers to other sounds (ie, maybe a 10IndianAttack.wav or something). This would be easy enough to add and hopefully the next release will at least have the pointers to the sound effect. That way, you could at least publish a list of sounds that the game looks for and it's proper name in the SFX folder (if it doesn't find a sound then it defaults to none for that event). With that we could use customs sounds at least until they are added for real. :)

What version are you using, Thorn? The last copy I downloaded was from a long time ago, and I can't remember if it had sound or not. Maybe they added more since then.

How do I get the trade routes to work in freecol? I assign the route I made to wagon and it doesn't do anything.

Also, I got the 'fatal hang' bug and it's still there even if I reload the save. Is there any fix for this or is the game lost?

FreeCol 0.7.4 has been released. This is bug fix release and last version before 0.8.0. Some of the bugs that were fixed:

- Mistyping in transfer dialog prevents saving or ending turn
- Buttons stop working
- AI gets stuck in infinite loop
- Indian settlements can be visited multiple times

Bug fixes in 7.4 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.7.4)
New features in 7.4 (http://freecol.org/featuretracker/0.7.4)

Freecol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)


FreeCol 0.8.0 is scheduled for release on Friday, July 11th. Main goal of this release is to make game more moddable but also adds new nations, sounds and music. Planned features:

- Allow the game to be customized using XML-files.
- Support different sets of graphics.
- A file format for packaging changes to graphics and rules.
- Units now slide between tiles while moving.
- Sound effects for dragoons, artillery capturing a colony, building
complete, church and blacksmith.
- New sound effects for artillery and buying/selling goods.
- Short music clips for Aztecs, English and fountain of Youth
- Named regions and nicer placement of native settlements.
- New nations added: Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Russian
- Games with up to eight European players are now supported.

Feature requests implemented for this version (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=browse&group_id=43225&atid=435581&_group=749890&sort=DESC&order=artifact_id&_category=100&_status=100&_assigned_to=0&set=custom)
Bugs fixed for this version (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=browse&group_id=43225&atid=435578&_group=749887&sort=DESC&order=artifact_id&_category=100&_status=100&_assigned_to=0&set=custom)

Edit: Those that are interested can also check new art and animations being made for future releases in graphics mailing list (http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=freecol-graphics). There is also been some work on nationally distinctive colony architecture and distinctive indian tribe settlements (http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1937874&forum_id=141200) and other artwork. New contributions are always welcome (wether its code, graphics, sound or music) *hint* *hint* ;).

What version are you using, Thorn? The last copy I downloaded was from a long time ago, and I can't remember if it had sound or not. Maybe they added more since then.

I was using 0.7.3. But now I need to update to the new version.:)


Toni1: With version 0.80 will we be able add our own custom sounds for the ones that aren't there yet?

Toni1: With version 0.80 will we be able add our own custom sounds for the ones that aren't there yet?

I asked around in FreeCol forum and they asked me to post a feature request and I did so hopefully it'll make it to 0.8.0. If not, hopefully it'll be added to 0.9.0 as it's goal is improving graphics and audio and is sceduled to be released in September.

FreeCol 0.8.0-alpha (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.0-alpha-released.html) has been released! This is an alpha release so you can expect bugs, instability and incomplete/missing features. Feel free to test it out and report any bugs you encounter in projects Bug Tracker (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=43225&atid=435578). You can also visit project forums (http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=43225) to discuss anything about FreeCol.

New features added by this release:

* Units now slide between tiles while moving.
* Named regions and nicer placement of native settlements.
* New nations added: Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Russian
* Games with up to eight European players are now supported.
* Main menu music added.


Complete 0.8.0 version will follow "soon". ;)


Unfortunately I also have bad news. Colonies project seem to have perished. Projects domain expired about a month ago and there's been no sign of it since. :(

FreeCol 0.8.0 Alpha2 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.0-alpha2-released.html) has been released! This version fixes several bugs present in our previous alpha release. You can use the alpha versions for checking out new features and finding bugs. Please report any bug you might encounter using project Bug Tracker (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=43225&atid=435578). You can also visit project forums (http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=43225) to discuss anything about FreeCol.

Feature requests implemented for this version (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=browse&group_id=43225&atid=435581&_group=749890&sort=DESC&order=artifact_id&_category=100&_status=100&_assigned_to=0&set=custom)
Bugs fixed for this version (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=browse&group_id=43225&atid=435578&_group=749887&sort=DESC&order=artifact_id&_category=100&_status=100&_assigned_to=0&set=custom)

I've provided link to Colonies version 0.03 torrent file people can use to download the game. Note that it's far from feature complete game. I can also upload project documentation if someone is interested to see some of the features that were planned. It may give some ideas for Modders of upcoming Civ4:Colonization. I'll be seeding on most days for 8-16 hours till the end of the year so people should get it while they can.

Invasion Col-Civ like TBS :
You should also try Invasion. Combination of Colonization and Civilization also new ideas.

Hmm... Is it legal to sell the game which clearly uses Civ2 intellectual property.

Many icons for units and some other stuff. Some are also taken from community mods for Civ2, which are luckly not Civ2 IP (exempt those rereleased as part of any of Civ2 expansions).

There are even some Civ3 to Civ2 conversions there (at least according to screnshots).

Probably nobody would bother if game was free, but since it's sold, it's very very problematic to use other company IP and make money.

His statements in Invasion topic (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=275772&page=4) seem to indicate that he has/plans to replace all the borrowed art. As he's programmer and not artist using such graphics as place holders until replacement can be made is understandable so missing graphics dont slow down development. It's not that huge deal as long as they are replaced by the time game goes for sale. (So that what happened with Limbo of the Lost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_of_the_Lost) is not repeated :p)

If they've been replaced allready, he probably should take new screenshots from current version and replace the old ones that show borowed art to avoid possible problems in from of lawsuits and Chease and Desist letters.

NewCol 0.3.1 (http://newcol.free.fr/) released for Mac and Windows.

As there's no changelog included, here are the news updates between this and previous release :

2008 april 1st: Lost City rumors done (I just have to find pictures to illustrate), spreading indian cities and very simple economy (choice of prices). As bonus I now use a robinson map transformation on the map.
2008 april 13th: Spain, France, Italy and Portugal are set up (cities, flags, roads). Northern europe left to be done !
2008 october 24th: Adding winter/spring/summer/fall rendering on grounds and forests

And I asume these are for upcoming 0.3.2 release:

2008 october 27th: Improves initialization config with 3 dialogs and take into account map size for loading
2008 october 29th: Fix bugs(battle, trade) and add a message list system
2008 october 30th: New minimap system is here .. with a little sub-sub-view of the world. It makes a 3 levels minimap system and I find it cool !
2008 november 1rst: Less bugs again and again. Now navagating from east to west in the atlantic ocean is faster. Should be dependant on seasons ...

There is also new screenshot of the 0.3.1 version (http://newcol.free.fr/images/Snapshot25.png) showing winter graphics and of the upcoming 0.3.2 version (http://newcol.free.fr/images/Snapshot26.png)

FreeCol 0.8.0 Alpha3 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.0-alpha3-released.html) has been released! This version fixes several bugs present in Alpha2 release. Please report any bug you encounter using project Bug Tracker (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=43225&atid=435578). You can also visit project forums (http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=43225) to discuss anything about FreeCol.

FreeCol

After lot of problems, delays and several test releases FreeCol 0.8.0 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.0-released.html) have been finally released!

Version 0.8.0 of FreeCol has now been released.

The largest change introduced by this release is the ability to define gameplay mechanics using XML-files. You can easily change the rules you don't like or create a different game similar to FreeCol. Take a look at the chapter Changing the Rules in our user manual if you would like to know more.

Other changes include:
Units now slide between tiles while moving.
New terrain graphics.
Menu music added.
Sound effects for dragoons, artillery capturing a colony, building complete, church and blacksmith.
New sound effects for artillery and buying/selling goods.
Short music clips for Aztecs and fountain of Youth.
Named regions and nicer placement of native settlements.
New nations added: Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Russian
Games with up to eight European players are now supported.
A lot more new features (http://www.freecol.org/featuretracker/0.8.0) and bugfixes (http://www.freecol.org/bugtracker/0.8.0).

So go grab it now while its hot ;). Feedback, suggestion and bug reports are, as always, apreciated.

And with this release modders can create their own rulesets, nations etc. so feel free to make Andorra, Lichtenstain or *name of your favourite country* major colonial power :p. Sound, Music, Graphics and Code contributions are also welcomed.


jColonization

There's also new java based Colonization clone project in the works called jColonization (http://www.jcolonization.com/). Playable Demo of the game, jColonization: Advance Party, was released in december. Unfortunately latest news on site indicate serious slow down of development due to RL commitments:

Jan 09: jColonization Re-Plan

Following the release of JCAP, jColonization priorities have undergone review.

Sadly, external commitments mean that work toward JCRD must take to the backburner.

This will, however, allow effort to focus on new website material and occasional feature upgrades for JCAP.

♦

More news as it develops.

Please stay tuned.


Colonies

I also removed Colonies project from the list as it has been dead for over a year now.

FreeCol 0.8.1 is out. Use link for 0.8.0 in above post.

JosEPh

FreeCol 0.8.1 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.1-released.html), 0,8.2 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.2-released.html) and 0.8.3 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.3-released.html) have been released. Version 0.8.1 fixed several bugs found in 0.8.0, version.0.8.2 fixed additional bugs and included new or updated translations for 36 languages and version 0.8.3 fixed some problems with the translations.

Bug fixes in 8.1 (http://www.freecol.org/bugtracker/0.8.1)
Bug fixes in 8.2 (http://www.freecol.org/bugtracker/0.8.2)

Freecol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)

Here is what I've been working on. It's an open source project written in Visual C++. So far it has a random map generator, and you can explore the world with a caravel and a soldier.

Screenshots:

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3919/screen1bd.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/screen1bd.jpg/) http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/screen1bd.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img689/screen1bd.jpg/1/)

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3351/screen2i.jpg (http://img254.imageshack.us/i/screen2i.jpg/) http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/screen2i.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img254/screen2i.jpg/1/)

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9766/screen3m.jpg (http://img692.imageshack.us/i/screen3m.jpg/) http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/screen3m.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img692/screen3m.jpg/1/)

You can download the Win32 executable here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/treasurefleet/

Best regards,
Dragos

Thanks for the headsup DragosP. I've added your project to the first post and will add it to my site as well in next update. Looks nice so far. Are you working on it alone?

FreeCol updates:

Since my last update FreeCol team has released versions 0.8.4 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.8.4-released.html) and 0.9.0 alpha (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.0-alpha-released.html). First is probably last bug fix release for 0.8.x branch and 0.9.0 stable release is just around the corner.

Bug fixes in 8.4 (http://freecol.org/bugtracker/0.8.4)

Compared to 0.8.4, 0.9.0 alpha is obviously much larger release and in addition to large number of bug fixes introduces number of new features and improvements:

Graphics


building graphics (thanks to NewCol and the defunct SweCol project)
prettier panels and dialogs due to the use of MigLayout
more useful for small displays (1024x600)
pretty borders
some more anti-aliasing


AI


AI breeds horses more effectively
AI uses pioneers more effectively
AI distributes workers more effectively
AI creates and assigns soldiers more effectively
AI constructs more advanced buildings


Rules


stockades no longer prevent abandoning a colony
together with a custom house, de Witt circumvents boycotts
the Treaty of Utrecht

Thanks for the headsup DragosP. I've added your project to the first post and will add it to my site as well in next update. Looks nice so far. Are you working on it alone?

Thanks! Yes, I'm the only one working on it. Someone to help with the graphics would be welcomed and would greatly speed things up.

Best regards,
Dragos

Thanks! Yes, I'm the only one working on it. Someone to help with the graphics would be welcomed and would greatly speed things up.

Best regards,
Dragos

Unfortunately you're not alone in your need for artists, especially dedicated one's. I my self have tried to recruit artists for FreeCol here and elsewhere and while I've managed to send few people their way, none have stayed for long. I find the lack of interest somewhat odd as Civ community most certainly has plenty of tallented and dedicated artists.

To start with you could borrow art from freeciv/freecol or other similar open source project. There is probably some suitable to act as placeholders allowing you to continue development until you can create or recruit someone to create art needed for your project. As for recruiting, beside civ community there's freegamedev forums (http://ghoulsblade.schattenkind.net/freegamedev/forum/) and similar open source development communities.

Freecol 0.9.0 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.0-released.html) has been released. In addition to usual bug fixes and tweaks this release improves the AI, stability and graphics (especially GUI). There were also some rule changes.

Changelog:

AI

AI breeds horses more effectively
AI uses pioneers more effectively
AI distributes workers more effectively
AI creates and assigns soldiers more effectively
AI constructs more advanced buildings


Graphics

building graphics (thanks to NewCol and the defunct SweCol project)
new images for forests and beaches
redesigned panels and dialogs using MigLayout
the colony panel, colopedia panel and report panel now remember their size
more useful for small displays (1024x600)
the map shows national borders


Rules

stockades no longer prevent abandoning a colony
together with a custom house, de Witt circumvents boycotts
the Treaty of Utrecht

I don't suppose a 'downgrade', perse, to the GUI is either considered or in the works? I'm glad we're having a lot of gameplay improvements, but to be honest the new graphics(especially the opening movie) are simply frivolous.

I don't suppose a 'downgrade', perse, to the GUI is either considered or in the works? I'm glad we're having a lot of gameplay improvements, but to be honest the new graphics(especially the opening movie) are simply frivolous.

Well, I doubt it but if you feel there is need for downgrade, you could suggest it in Freecol forums (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/support) or make feature request and if enough other people feel the same way, developers might take it into consideration. Remember to provide enough info about what you feel is wrong with new interface and how they should improve it.

FreeCol (http://www.freecol.org/) - SF (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/)
Version: 0.9.0 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.0-released.html)

jColonization (http://www.jcolonization.com/)
Version: Playable demo

NewCol (http://newcol.free.fr/)
Version: 0.3.1 (Windows & Mac)

Landfall (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=262687) (no longer developed)
Version: 0.63 (Windows only, requires DirectX)

Treasure Fleet (http://sourceforge.net/projects/treasurefleet/)
Version: 0.1


Anyone know any others that are active?
There's at least one clone for the Amiga system but I don't remember what it was called.

FreeCol 0.9.1 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.1-released.html) and FreeCol 0.9.2 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.2-released.html) have been released. 0.9.1 version fixes several bugs, most notably the one that prevented REF from landing after declaration of independence. 0.9.2 version fixes serious privateer combat bug and reverts a feature that made player have to pay for the land if they tried to settle on indian territory. Feature will be reimplemented once another feature, one that allows first colony to be established for free, is implemented.

Edit: hutzli has released new alternate ship graphics set (http://sourceforge.net/projects/freecol/forums/forum/141200/topic/3599912) for FreeCol

FreeCol 0.9.3 (http://www.freecol.org/news/freecol-0.9.3-released.html) have been released. In addition to usual bug fixes this version also contains FreeCol's first graphical mod. The mod contains alternate graphics for goods, ships and native settlements, all made hutzli.

FreeCol 0.9.3 has been released.

We have just released FreeCol 0.9.3. This release fixes several bugs,
including a combat bug that made it possible to capture colonies that
still had armed defenders. The handling of keyboard accelerators was
improved in several ways. Keyboard accelerators are now available for
virtually all mapboard actions, including movement, a feature that was
requested by several users who use keyboards without a key pad. And
keyboard accelerators are now (optionally) localized.

FreeCol has had the ability to include graphical "mods" (bundles of
images that replace standard images) for some time now. But FreeCol
0.9.3 is the first release that actually includes such a mod, a bundle
of images for goods, ships and native settlements by "hutzli". Please
note that you will have to restart FreeCol after selecting a mod
before the setting becomes active.