I hope that in Colonization 2 Firaxis enhance the missions a unit can perform, not only from the original Colonization but from Civ 4 too. I think the following missions should be a must-have to privateers:

"Sentry on naval units": A naval unit sleeps and awakes only when a NAVAL enemy unit (not in port) enters its visibility range. This way a privateer anchored in a harbor is not awaken by nearby land unit movements (as in normal Sentry mission) which is really annoying.
"Sentry while healing": A wounded naval unit sleeps and awakes when it has reached its maximum strength OR an naval enemy unit (not in port) enters its visibility range.
"Sentry while moving": Send a naval unit to a destination point. The mission end when the unit reaches its destination OR a naval enemy unit (not in port) is seen in its path. This way, the micromanagement of moving a unit step-by-step to catch enemy units is highly reduced (normal move in Civ 4 only implies finding a good path between origin and destination points).


I've introduced this missions (and several more add-ons) modding the Civ 4 dll, and I can certify privateers role is greatly improved ;) :
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=285815

I hope that, if Firaxis don't introduce this enhancements in official Colonization 2, at least they program it as moddable as Civ 4 is :goodjob:

To your last point: Since Colonization 2 [sic] is based on the Civilization IV engine, it will be as moddable as Civilization IV is. If it's not, then I would consider that a very illogical step for Firaxis to make.

To your last point: Since Colonization 2 [sic] is based on the Civilization IV engine, it will be as moddable as Civilization IV is. If it's not, then I would consider that a very illogical step for Firaxis to make.

I hope so, but I'm not so sure. Maybe they decide this time not to share the source code for the dll (I doubt it, as is one of the reasons of this game popularity), or recompile the code without a dll to improve speed at the cost of modability...

Perhaps changing the source code is more difficult this time, especially if they improve multiprocessor support (threads and so on)...

Fear not, it has the same level of moddability as the original. :)

Fear not, it has the same level of moddability as the original. :)

I'm glad to hear that :goodjob:. I can't wait for the release date!