Ok, I'm a long time civ fan who played colonization to death (would still be playing it now if not for vista, dos box slows the thing down too much). I loved the vibrancy of the whole thing, the dense forests, the little animations, the whole world was really colourful, fountain of youth, and the music especially. It gave the game a kind of charm that was quite unique.

I used to set the map to the tropical settings and build a pirate island purely on swamp land, rum and privateers ahoy!

When I saw the first screen shots of the next colonization I'll have to say I was pretty disappointed. The same 'goofy' character portraits that were ok for civ IV but somehow just don't fit the colonization theme.

Muted colours, extreme cartoonyness, don't get me wrong I love the series but these things don't really fit too well together imo. I seriously don't think I can stand to play this Civilization: 'Revolution', pastel hues are really ugh.

I live in Australia and the game isn't out for two days (which is when I will buy it, yes I am loyal) so I only have screens and trailers to judge it by but who else who was a fan of the original is finding Sid's games to be looking less and less aesthetically appealing as time goes on?

I haven't got Colonisation yet but I find some colour more appealing than the drabness that was SMAC (a brilliant game but visually offputting). I'm less keen on the cartoony portraits but its not a big thing for me.

Ever since Civ3, the presentation has had a sort of 'washed out' look. I prefer some vibrancy also. There are some good background songs in Col2, but the music in Col1 was downright inspiring.

I haven't got Colonisation yet but I find some colour more appealing than the drabness that was SMAC (a brilliant game but visually offputting). I'm less keen on the cartoony portraits but its not a big thing for me.

SMAC has the best atmosphere of any of Sid Meier's games; it may have been drab but the whole look was part of its appeal, the futuristic looking databanks and hostile, strange looking (drab) alien planet.

The color choices for this game were also good because they were appropriate for the atmosphere, brown is adapted from old maps, wooden tables, etc.

I have nothing against bright colors, but just because something lacks bright colors doesn't mean its bad. No offense, do some of you get depressed when you don't see shiny objects or something?

SMAC's problem in the art department was unit design, from my point of view. There were 6 or so models in total, and they only changed in colour and minor details, as technology progressed. This was due to the 'unit designer', which was completely unnecessary.

I love the graphics, myself. I don't think the screenshots really convey the game well, as with most games.

I think of these kinds of games as being somewhat like computerized board games and I don't expect a Crisis-like graphical experience. As such, large unit graphics compared to the tile graphics are how I expect them to be (like a board game).

Alpha Centauri without custom units would have been great. It was just a combination of 10/1 and 1/10 for me until I got the flying larvae creatures because you didn't have to worry about transports and they could occupy cities.

I like the graphics in Col2 though. Enough old school like the paper map of your town, and enough new stuff to make it seem nice. A few changes would be awesome, and some gameplay balance tweaks. But the game still rocks.

I agree to a certain point. When i play this version of colonization, i just cant get rid of the feeling that im playing a mod for civ4.

Such a release had loads of expectations, but sadly, it does not deliver.

I think we need to talk about why the Cherokee leader looks like Gary Oldman.

SMAC is my favorite Sid Meier game. I thought the graphics in it were pretty unique. The terrain really gave you the since that this was an alien world. Since they made a new colonization game I'm hoping they'll make a new SMAC. It would be a dream come true.

While playing my first game as France, I realised I'd messed up a bit, and having spent a little while leafing through the civilopedia, decided that the King of Spain looked a lot cooler than the French King, so decided to go Spain the second time to avoid Louis' ugly mug.

After about 20 turns, the Spanish King ask me to--JESUS CHRIST HE'S GOING TO KILL ME TAKE IT TAKE IT DON'T HURT ME

I'm worried if I refuse his demands he'll climb out of the monitor and beat me up.


And is it just me or does Jose de San Martin look like a Vampire?

I agree to a certain point. When i play this version of colonization, i just cant get rid of the feeling that im playing a mod for civ4.


That's because all things being equal it pretty much is a mod for Civ4.

Although a fun I give you that.

For what it's worth, I went into the game completely blind to the experience (no screenshots, hype, previews) and hated the look of the UI when it first came up on my screen.

It's grown on me over the past ~6 hours. I'm not sure I could go back to old Col.

I think we need to talk about why the Cherokee leader looks like Gary Oldman.

Maybe he's got Cherokee blood in the family? :lol:


Btw, its funny you say that because I've been trying to find out who he looks like for a couple of days now...you nailed it!

I agree to a certain point. When i play this version of colonization, i just cant get rid of the feeling that im playing a mod for civ4.

Such a release had loads of expectations, but sadly, it does not deliver.

It lacks charm, the UI is a bit clunky (can't use cursor keys on menu options), and it is not just a mod but a blatant one.

That isn't to say I haven't spent hours playing it or that it is a bad game, but it does lack a certain specialness that came with the original. I'm hoping for a graphhics mod to make the founding fathers, towns and terrain look 'right'.

Yeah, the UI's pretty bad.

The worst thing for me are the icons in colonies for buildings. I always have to mouse over several of them to find the one I want to build. They may look "realistic" but I really can't tell at a glance what building is what.
I think this is a case of graphics going too far. They're pretty, but not easy to use.