Taken from Gamespot:

English settlers are led by George Washington and John Adams, and are regarded for their tolerance. As such, an English colony will have a healthy influx of immigrants to add to your workforce.

The Dutch are championed by Peter Stuyvesant, who is credited for introducing tea to the colonies and overseeing the construction of a wall in New Netherland, which later became New York. Next to the wall, coincidentally, ran Wall Street. He is joined by Adriaen van der Donck, the first lawyer to live in the Dutch colonies (who just happened to lead a political uprising against Governor Stuyvesant). The Dutch receive a mercantile bonus, and prices for goods will not fluctuate.

The French are headed by Samuel de Champlain and Louis de Buade de Frontenac. Champlain was the famed explorer who founded Quebec City and is widely considered the father of New France, whereas Frontenac was twice governor of New France. The French are known for their cooperation and receive extra bonuses from allied natives.

On the other hand, natives do not like Spain, mostly because Spanish colonists enjoy a conquistador bonus and can slice through native ranks like a hot knife through butter. The syphilis probably doesn't help, either. Spain is led by Simon Bolivar, who organized the independence of most of northern New Spain, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru. Jose de San Martin is considered Argentina's national hero for his role in liberating much of southern New Spain.

I think France is going to suit my style of play the most, but the Dutch also sound interesting, but I'm not sure how useful this "mercantile bonus" is going to be.

From my experiences from playing the original, the Dutch or Spannish.

England sucks, the Dutch start off with a better ship, the Spannish more powerful dragoons... (they were veteren, as opposed to normal troops which makes a difference from the start)

However that could well change in this version obviously.

The four civs also had different starting locations on the map, with France coming off the worst imo.

France is the country I have always played in Colonization due to its ability to get along better with the Indians. So unless there is a major change in the bonuses of the countries in the upcoming version, I will probably continue to play as France.

Who wants to be friends with the natives? :p

You don't get all the gold by being nice!

From my experiences from playing the original, the Dutch or Spannish.

England sucks, the Dutch start off with a better ship, the Spannish more powerful dragoons... (they were veteren, as opposed to normal troops which makes a difference from the start)

However that could well change in this version obviously.

The four civs also had different starting locations on the map, with France coming off the worst imo.

Original Civ4 or the first Colonization?

I myself have never played Colonization. Interesting to see what they will do, though.

England and France sound interesting.

Original Civ4 or the first Colonization?

I myself have never played Colonization. Interesting to see what they will do, though.

England and France sound interesting.

Colonization of course... I played the original on floppy disc when it came out. At the time I felt it was far better graphically than Civ 1 any day of the week.

They all have pluses and minuses, that's what made it fun to play as different Colonists!

England was good for swamping the poor natives with settlements, as I recall, it was good to play England for the longterm strategy too, as you used to butt up against the Natives and the French pretty soon so your troops were battlehardened and there were lots of them - always got Independence earliest as the English-to-Americans!

As the French I found I could expand almost as quickly as the English, and make money faster as the Natives were more accomodating. With Civ IV's Diplo engine they could be Overpowered with such a bonus, so we'll see.

As the Dutch I personally used to get off to a roaring start with all the Mercantile advantage, only for the French to set the Natives off against me - and the English to actually attack, which I recall was quite rare in the original Colonization, the AI starting inter-settler conflict.

As the Spanish, you were so far from the other Europeans and instantly on such bad terms with the Tupi it was slash and burn and grab that gold, pretty much nothing else. I think Spain will be the most difficult to play in that regard with the new game.

Colonization with the Civ IV engine though Guys!! I can't wait!!

The Dutch for sure. I like them ;)

I shall play my first game as the French becausnterested to see how interaction with the natives works in the new colonization. From the screenshots does it appear that thsi interaction has changed, you now see several indian villages producing, training or researching specialist colonists.

After that shall I try the opposide strategy with the spanish, this shall I do on a random map because you sometimes have very big Inca/aztec empires on random maps, which means a lot of treasure :)

That hasn't changed at all really, the tribes used to offer you the opertunity to send a stupid colonist to go become a specialist... like a master tobbaconist for example!

That hasn't changed at all really, the tribes used to offer you the opertunity to send a stupid colonist to go become a specialist... like a master tobbaconist for example!

Yes I know that, but this training was instant in colonization1 so it is absolutely certain that at least something changed in the current build. In the screenshots do we see a bar under the Indian villages where it seems to take several turns to train, build or research a specialist. It could indeed be that you just like in the previous colonization send a colonist to a village and that after many turns(unlike col1) you get a specialist. Even if only this changed, would I want to try out how it changes strategy.

But the gamespot preview talked about them like it where technologies:

"Before you declare independence, be sure to purchase new technologies that you can find only in Europe. The natives also have exclusive techs to offer, including master tobacco farmer and master scout."

Maybe do you no longer train individual colonists but do you instead accuire technologies who improve the output of all your tobacco farmers for example.

It could also be that the converts you got in the previous col1 are now specialist. Then would that bar respresent how much time it takes for the next convert from that village to arrive.

This does sound very interesting. I think I'll download FreeCol and give it a whirl. I have no Colonization experience whatsoever.

I'll probably start by playing the Dutch... hopefully they're not as redicilously overpowered as they were in the original game :)

I'll probaly try the Enlish first.

Dutch for me. I was always the Dutch in the first one. The added speed of their ship was to much of a boost to pass up.

Wonder if they all get the same ship this time around

The dutch for the ship - who cares about the rest, the ship was such a huge bonus...

French because i played on that on old colonization.

Spanish or French depending on whether I want to be nasty or nice I suppose. Never played the original, only know I can't be England, not ever.

Spanish or French depending on whether I want to be nasty or nice I suppose. Never played the original, only know I can't be England, not ever.That makes two of us! :beer:

Dutch for sure... Occasionally I would try the others, but then I'd always end up going back to the Dutch.

Ze Dutch! For love of gain.

Ze Dutch! For love of gain.

You can never go wrong with Financial.

Money is my motivator too. If I have to teach a few natives some respect for my authority, then so be it, but I don't go out of the way to smash them, either (unless they're Incas, who have gold that's very useful). I think I've played the Spanish and the French once each, just to see, but my play-style didn't match their abilities very well. The fur bonus just meant you swamped the markets that much more quickly (or was that a different game?). The English seemed to me to not really have much of a bonus, so I chose them for a "vanilla"-feeling game now and then.

I expect I'll get this when it comes out, and when I do, I'll be sure to play all of them a couple times, but I always focused on trying to get my economy in order, and never could quite do it once the game got to a certain point. I think I only ever declared independence once out of a hundred or so games started, because I just never could hold it all in my head! I'm really hoping the promise of better display (what villages can train what) fixes this for me; I have to SEE things to "see" them.

The fur bonus just meant you swamped the markets that much more quickly (or was that a different game?).

The fur bonus didn't came from a nation but it instead came from the founding father Henry Hudson, who increases fur output with 100%.

I always played the French in Col. Not only for roleplaying purposes, but also because I liked the idea of cooperating with the natives. I could never have played the Spanish, razing everything.

I'd probably play as France. Not for any game bonuses, but because I would be founding Montreal, Quebec, and other Quebec cities. That's sorta trippy.

Spain, of course. I always try to be a Warmonger, but I suck at it, so a good bonus would be ideal.

I remember te Dutch being my first choice when I got the original game. But after the first few games (with a couple of aborted starts) I shifted mainly between the French and English. I found the extra colonists for the English to be quite useful to get big fast, but the French native relations also helped. Strangely I don't remember playing the Spanish much in Col, even though I often play the conquerer in Civ.

The Dutch. I had tried the other nations but with the Dutch it was just so easy to get rich!!!

Since I am Dutch... well... simple then.

I think France would more suit my style of game play, personally. Though I wouldn't mind being Spain with their hordes of Conquistadors. >:D

I will go with the English, but the thing i know for sure is that I'll never be the French.

I will go with the English, but the thing i know for sure is that I'll never be the French.

That's your mistake. The better relations with the natives is a huge advantage.

I know for sure that I'll try them all, starting from French...

The bonuses didn't really matter much in the original game.

The Spanish could only burn so many cities, and each city they burnt decreased their score. Besides, you'd spend so much of your time killing natives that it lent itself to neglecting the infrastructure of the actual colonies themselves. It was more, lets buy lots of soldiers with all our plundered gold; and then when there were no more natives to kill, let's declare independence and sick all of our soldiers on the king. You didn't really get into the feel and purpose of the game.

The Dutch recieved an initial commerce bonus, but eventually this didn't matter bcz the market became over flooded with goods and the prices all dropped to nothing, which happened to all of the other civs too.

The natives got angry a little slower with the French, but eventually they would get angry anyway, and war would break out.

The English recieved more colonists than you knew what to do with, and eventually you'd have them just sitting around waiting to be trained in the university or waiting for muskets to be built.

The same maxes would be met no matter what civ you played as. You always ended up fighting indians (or simply having your pioneers killed and your settlements raided), you always maxed out the colonist limit at 255, and inundating the European markets until the point of goods were worthless. And of course, you had well over 100,000 gold by the time you declared independence and your army was larger than the King's small force of hapless of victims. I don't think I ever fought a revolution longer than a handful of turns, or ever lost a colony. The game was a little too easy. But, I loved it nonetheless.

BTW. My favorite tactic was not to land on the east coast, but to sail all the way around to the west side, settle, and have the region all to myself.

Spain. Since I am warmonger and It would fun to ruin the French's bonus by conquer the Natives

BTW. My favorite tactic was not to land on the east coast, but to sail all the way around to the west side, settle, and have the region all to myself.

Hey, that's neat! I still have the original Col on an old computer. I must try that stratagem. And you'd probably start out with the Incas as neighbours - good for trade! And lots of silver!

The dutch for the ship - who cares about the rest, the ship was such a huge bonus...


Yup... Dutch... but definately gonna try the others too... I always had trouble with the indians, even when I was trying to be nice, so I'm hoping France will be more "playable" for a guy like me with my aparent lack of diplomatic skills :blush:

My favorite tactic was not to land on the east coast, but to sail all the way around to the west side, settle, and have the region all to myself.
I did that all the time too. ;)
It took quite some time to get there, and ships needed more time to reach Europe this way, but you didn't have to compete for land with the other nations, you could neglect your military much longer, and you could have the Incas or the Aztecs as trade partners instead of the Arawaks. :goodjob:

England, for no other reason than sheer insane patriotism. :D

That makes two of us! :beer:

Accursed foreigners...;)

All of them but the Spanish and Dutch were my favourites
My usual play style as the Spanish used to be sail until I found the Incas or Aztecs, found 1st colony, send in the missionaries, then follow up with the troops
Pity they didn't add the Portugese this time around

I'll start by playing the Dutch. They have an interesting history, and the advantages in having a better ship and stable prices made them highly enjoyable in the original game. The French were nice, but the value of Indian allies was too low in the original. If the Indians are more interesting this time around, I might play as the French a lot. England used to be fun, because of their high number of immigrant, but the Dutch economy usually meant I could offset that advantage by buying the colonists I needed. The Spanish were never my cup of tea - I don't enjoy senseless slaughter that much. ;)

Edit: I hope the modding tools are good enough for me to add a few civs. I want to play as Denmark-Norway and Portugal, at the very least, and maybe even try my hand at a seriously underpowered Courland.

duch were my favourites, better prices for longer and on small maps the economy means alot more,

I used to go for a population rush with the English, because of the 48 colony limit, and there would normally be enough land to stay out of trouble from the other Europeans long enough to build up a bit, which would be the penalty for such expansionism.

The French AI worked in a similar way, but with such a scattergun approach, having lots of little colonies all over the place is not as efficient as lots of little colonies all grouped together. Playing as them, I thought that native interaction was underpowered to do to much with it. All I really got was a bit more peace to build some colonies. I wonder how they'll balance it now.

Also the Dutch are good, for their starting ship and steady prices. Eventually the market swamps, but you hold an edge for long enough. However, is it me or do the Dutch withdraw from the New World about 3/4 of the time when you don't play as them?

The Spanish can still play a normal game - yes you get your dragoons, and pinch all the gold from the Aztecs and Incas, but then you use the veteran dragoons on the other Europeans while using all that money to boost the colonies. Of course, this is a bit dependent on how many cities the advanced Indians have!

Edit: I hope the modding tools are good enough for me to add a few civs. I want to play as Denmark-Norway and Portugal, at the very least, and maybe even try my hand at a seriously underpowered Courland.

I never heard of Courland before a few days ago, wandering around this forum. As someone who considers himself rather knowledgeable of history and geography, it bothered me that there was something I didn't know, so I Wikipedia'd it. (I'm American, and we tend to be rather ignorant of European regions. I had never heard of Kosovo until shortly before they sent me there.)

Courland looks like it'd be interesting to try and play. Kind of like a One City Challenge for Colonization. "Here, make a colony at Tobago. That's all you get. Now try not to get overrun by the other Europeans."

95% of the time when I played/play the old game, I play the English. Why? Because of immigration. If the natives can't teach my colonists a certain skill, then I hope for the immigrant for that skill.

95% of the time when I played/play the old game, I play the English. Why? Because of immigration. If the natives can't teach my colonists a certain skill, then I hope for the immigrant for that skill.

The trouble with that, though, is a lot of the skills the Indians taught couldn't be found in Europe, period. But as anyone but the Spanish you could find a village somewhere who would be willing to teach your colonists.

Shoot, even the Spanish, as long as it wasn't one of the tribes you were in the process of eradicating...

It's funny that the English got 50% of the vote in the poll, but less than 50% actually wrote they would play the English first.

As for me, I always played the English. The Dutch didn't seem that good because the object of the game (for me at least) was to refuse every tax demand by the King. That made the good unable to be traded in the old world. So the Dutch bonus didn't matter. The Spanish just never fit my play style because you spent so much time killing the natives you didn't focus on building your cities. The French bonus didn't suit my play style because I always needed to carve out a little bit of land before I could build an army and grab more land. So the peacefulness of the French wasn't good for me. The English were the best due to all the immigrants. That allowed my cities to grow so fast up to the 225 limit and declare independence earlier.

La France! Just because J'aime la France! Vive la France! :woohoo:

As for me, I always played the English. The Dutch didn't seem that good because the object of the game (for me at least) was to refuse every tax demand by the King. That made the good unable to be traded in the old world. So the Dutch bonus didn't matter. The Spanish just never fit my play style because you spent so much time killing the natives you didn't focus on building your cities. The French bonus didn't suit my play style because I always needed to carve out a little bit of land before I could build an army and grab more land. So the peacefulness of the French wasn't good for me. The English were the best due to all the immigrants. That allowed my cities to grow so fast up to the 225 limit and declare independence earlier.Sometimes it isn't about which faction fits your strategy and gives you the biggest chance to win early and often but which faction gives the challenge that comes along when trying fit your strategy and style of play to the advantages/disadvantages it gives.

Personally I enjoyed played all of them and I'm looking forward to that not only each nation but each leader would give bit different gaming experience and maybe some mod will also add more nations (especially Portugal) to the game and create more diversity of styles to choose from.

Dutch - since I loved to reap the profits of strong European markets w/o dropping prices.

English were (and probably still are) good for their immigration bonus, but I rarely played with Spanish and never with the French. Taking out native's capitals was enough diplomacy for me! :D

Spain probably, the final score isnt that importent to me as long as i get to burn everything.......What? :mischief:

Spain, mostly due to San Martín.

Since I'm pretty peaceful most of the time, the Spanish 'kill all indians' orientation might not be the best choice, but it's the first time I see a historical Argentinian figure (and with a major role) in a game. I guess I'm just excited about that. :D

French because I love when the Natives give you gifts every turn and they will do whatever you say

There all my puppets

Well, I'm Dutch, so that probably settles the first game I'll play.. I hope they'll show some leaderheads before the game is released: Stuyvesant has a face you don't forget easily, so I hope they tried to remake him as accurately as possible (plus, it would be interesting to see if he could be modded into CivIV)

Besides the Dutch, I think the French might suit my style a little more than the Spanish, but perhaps the English would be an interesting choice too. I doubt I'll play the Spanish much, but if I feel particularly bloodthirsty, I might try them.. :D

I'm definitely going to play as the French. More out of being a Francophilic than anything else.

I hate to admit it, but the Dutch were my favourites as well.

I also agree they should have added the Portugese this time...

I liked playing as the Dutch in the original, and I liked playing as the relative underdog against larger and historically more powerful empires.

France of course! My cities are not in civilization, but when I play colonization I get to found Québec, Montréal, Trois-Rivières, ect. Then I'm happy.

I am Dutch so there is little room for choice :).

Chalk one more vote up for the Dutch. I mostly played with the Dutch in the original and if they still receive a bigger and faster ship at the start, I will continue to play with the Dutch

Any way to play as the natives(aztec,maya,inca etc.) and protect the homeland?
185071

Normaly i played Colonization with a Dutch, but rename him to Portuguese

I think it really depends upon your own personal strategy preference. I've played them all in the past, and found that, kind of like Civilization, your game is best shaped by who you play.

For instance, in Colonization, the English bonus is very powerful in the Mid-Game, once you have enough Continental Congress members to get the guy who turns Convicts and Petty Criminals into Free Colonists. Once you have that guy, using Firebrand Preachers with Churches will allow you to end up with so many zero-cost colonials that you'll actually have trouble finding a home for them all unless you can get that liberty-bell count higher. Usually I just turn those "Free Colonists" into soldiers or dragoons and stick them outside the colony as a guard, unless I need them or have a friendly tribe with a useful skill to train them in.

The French have the best all-game bonus, even if it is much weaker and subtler than the others. The lack of having to constantly either ascede to the Indian demands for tribute, the lack of having to keep worrying about attacks, and the extra bonuses to the help and gold and such offered by the tribes. Overall, the lack of resources you must devote towards fending off the natives, the additional resources you gain from the friendly bonuses, and the lack of a constant enemy front around them is probably one of the best bonuses, but is the antithesis of instant-gratification.

The Dutch have the best early-game bonus. The larger ship alone is such a boost that the 3 cargo holds almost makes the additional mercantile bonus unneeded to give them a powerful early edge. With 50% more bang for your buck on Trans-Oceanic trips, to the stable goods prices (which really helps a lot if you aren't looting villages), if you can establish your territory early enough and defend it, your early game bonus will put you far ahead of the English, who won't be able to transport their extra colonists until mid-game, when as the Dutch, you should by then already have the choiciest cuts of the map already colonized, leaving the English with crappy swamps and such.

The Spanish have the worst bonus, in my opinion. The mechanics of game combat were so crazy that often a free colonist with no rifle would defeat a Veteran Dragoon. This maddening state of affairs made any military bonus worthless because the combat engine was so idiotic. Assuming this is fixed in the Civ4 release of Colonization, the Spanish have the potential to be good rushers, but the constant attention that must be paid to defending and defeating the Natives leaves them at a disadvantage against their fellow Europeans. They can also pretty much forget about learning the skills that the Indians can teach, some of which can ONLY be learned by natives. They also can forget about the bonus from Indian farmer converts. As such, once they run out of Hidden Cities and Tribes to conquer, their economy peters out to a miserable late-game. Unless you are frugal with your money as Spain (and it will be very hard to be frugal when you're pulling in thousands of gold in the early game), you will find the late game an uphill struggle as you are stuck selling only European goods, and the economies of your opponents is far advanced.

So, IMHO, the French have the best overall bonus in terms of its usefulness across the board, but it's lack of instant gratification make them often overlooked. The English probably have the second best overall bonus, but unless you specifically play to their strength, the bonus may only be useful when all the best spots are taken. The Dutch have the third-best bonus, in that their ability is really useful at first, but only till the English and French bonuses really start adding up. The Spanish have the worst bonus, unless one is looking for the same exact rush-victory every time, which gets boring fast.

I think it really depends upon your own personal strategy preference. I've played them all in the past, and found that, kind of like Civilization, your game is best shaped by who you play.

The Dutch have the best early-game bonus. The larger ship alone is such a boost that the 3 cargo holds almost makes the additional mercantile bonus unneeded to give them a powerful early edge. With 50% more bang for your buck on Trans-Oceanic trips, to the stable goods prices (which really helps a lot if you aren't looting villages), if you can establish your territory early enough and defend it, your early game bonus will put you far ahead of the English, who won't be able to transport their extra colonists until mid-game, when as the Dutch, you should by then already have the choiciest cuts of the map already colonized, leaving the English with crappy swamps and such.

So, IMHO, the French have the best overall bonus in terms of its usefulness across the board, but it's lack of instant gratification make them often overlooked. The English probably have the second best overall bonus, but unless you specifically play to their strength, the bonus may only be useful when all the best spots are taken. The Dutch have the third-best bonus, in that their ability is really useful at first, but only till the English and French bonuses really start adding up. The Spanish have the worst bonus, unless one is looking for the same exact rush-victory every time, which gets boring fast.

I agree that it really depends on how you like to play. If you're a builder, the Dutch or the French are both excellent in their respective ways. Don't forget that prices remain much stabler if you're Dutch, which means that if, for example, you have a silver mine, you can still rake in lots of money when inflation has made silver almost worthless for your competitors. Also, with all that money you can buy experts such as Jesuit Missionaries and Elder Statesmen, and as for the English population bonus, you don't necessarily need it. If you set up one good food colony (preferably one with many sea tiles) you'll breed your own colonists swifter than you can find any use for them. Actually, I think the English immigration bonus only really matters early in the game.

Spanish.

Who doesn't want to cut through enemies and take over the new world? Shouldn't the Spanish also get a Gold bonus too?

/\ dont think they should since they mismanaged the gold they stole from most of central & s. america.

/\ dont think they should since they mismanaged the gold they stole from most of central & s. america.

By mismanaged, did you mean send back to Spain instead of keeping it in the colonies, or did you mean corruption?

Both. I mean they just milked the americas for quick benefits(slaves,gold,silver,etc.). Most of the gold or silver was shipped to spain so they could fund alot of bad military campaigns and by the time the colonies gained independence alot of the territories were under developed and were really just set up economicaly to export resources out of the country.

This argument is piontless.
Lets just argue about which civ is better.
Spain would have definite military advantages which you colud use to destroy the natives (after you've pretended to be nice and have aquired their skills and money) and then turn your military might on the other colonies from other countries so that the New World will be totally yours.
Spain hands-down will be my favorite.

This argument is piontless.
Lets just argue about which civ is better.
Spain would have definite military advantages which you colud use to destroy the natives (after you've pretended to be nice and have aquired their skills and money) and then turn your military might on the other colonies from other countries so that the New World will be totally yours.
Spain hands-down will be my favorite.:spear:

i dont know man. Maybe just on my side of the table i could be taking this personal because of being mestizo (indian(na) and spanish) it just sounds wierd having a bonus against destroying natives(i kno historically this is accurate) it just feel akward. Like saying a certain civ has a bonus at enslaving or attacking a certain civ. It feels like native peoples are just bonus/unknown part of the map and after you destroy them they don't matter anymore.

I didn't mean to offend you. I'm Cuban, and my dad is from Spain. I'm sorry if I offended you.

But anyway, it's just a game, so don't take it to seriously. Besides, as you pointed out, it is historically accurate that the natives were "marginalized". To make up for it, maybe someone should make a mod for CivIV:Col that allows you to take on the point of view of the other side (the Natives).

The English and the Dutch were the two powerhouses of the original Civilization. Towards the end of the game, though, the English immigrants would sometimes become just too much.

But still, the English always were my favorite colonization nation.

probably english, for the dubious reason that I like to give my cities original, non-historical, names, but my imagination only supplies English-sounding names

In Col Classic, I probably played the French the most, because it suited my game playing style best (I'm a lover, not a fighter :) - unless I'm backed into a corner, and then... :mad:). The Dutch were the easiest to win with, and the English the hardest.

With this version, I'm torn between the Dutch and the French - Stuyvestant looks tough to beat, but both French leaders look like fun to play. I voted for the French, but I reserve the right to change my mind without notice.

I would go for George Washington first. The religious path seems nice. The most important thing for me is getting as many people in my new colonies as possible. And you can train two times more soldiers with the same amount of muskets and horses! Thats great!

It would be interesting to have a new poll now that all leader traits are published. Did people change their mind?

I see I'm not the only one who wants to either be nice or mean to the locals. French or Spanish. Whichever way the particular mood suits me.

Hello, all.:)

I will play as the English, but not just because I am of English descent. Even though I've never played the original Colonization, from what I've read it sounds like the English have a pretty solid advantage, IMO: More immigrants= more workers= an accumulation of more resources faster= larger and wealthier colonies. I mean, this formula seems to have worked for the 13 Colonies and later, the United States. Just my two cents.:)

Dutch for the better ship and trade.

French are a close second for the Hardy Pioneers and native relations.