Yeh, it would liven up an often truly dull game.
Why not the Fountain of Youth, with that wonderful melody from the original Col game? And the same panel as in the original game, though of course improved in graphic quality. They could weaken the Fountain's effect so you only get perhaps three free colonists, but they should retain the player's ability to choose between them. That was such fun. And reintroduce "You have discovered the Pacific"! It was pointless gamewise but added to the general sense of freshness, of fun. In fact, what is sadly lacking in Col II *is* the sense of fun of the original game - the exuberance.
In the same spirit, on could introduce a search for the North-West Passage, make it really tough work and give a substantial reward if your efforts pay off. (There may not be a North-West Passage; one would only know when one knows, for any individual game.)
I would like to see more time playing as a colonist instead of grimly preparing for independence from Day One, which decreases the enjoyment of the game.
MAKE THE MAPS LARGER! "Huge map" now simply means more ocean but pretty much the same land mass... And of course, make it possible to sail from the east to the west, except if the random map generator decides that you can't.
I'd like more victory options, including negotiating for your independence.That could be achieved through skilfully building up a viable new nation (with an actual congress in one of your cities), making some of one's decisions dependent on the approval of congress, which could evolve in character due to your decisions and your economic structure, negotiating trade agreements with the king or stadtholder, compromising on taxes after a certain level has been reached, accommodating him in his wars with the other colonizing powers... One could perhaps even agree on fewer and smaller tax increases in return for placing some of one's troops at the king's disposal for a set space of time. After all, at least with regard to the birth of the United States, the basic quarrel was that George III thought (not entirely without reason) that the colonists didn't burden their proper share for their defence.
Of course, the king should take an interest in what happens in the new world. He should occasionally force you to go to war with one of the other colonizing powers, giving you some military units and some money (less of both as the game proceeds) to do so, as in Col I.
And why not an option to play on after independence and reach some set goal such as controlling a given percentage of the New World with a certain (high) degree of development? Of course, they should also remove the remaining ships from the REF which still infest the map after you gain your independence, just as they did in the original game. I can't believe they didn't do something about that.
And I take it that if you trade with Europe (which IMO should not be contingent on choosing any particular brand of constitution), the goods that the king forbade trade in aren't still off the list? That doesn't make any kind of sense.
I'd like to see a return of the feature where someone learns his trade by staying on the job long enough.
Making the kings look just a little less nasty would, in my opinion, improve the game. I admit it's a minor point, but in the original Col, the king was annoying, but at the same time he made you laugh. The present kings are over the top, especially poor Willem. And that sucking kiss sound grows old really fast.
Another possible nitpick: improve the Colonizopedia, which at present is often very unhelpful. Very badly organised. One might also remove some of the more ignorant, Europhobic and redneckian comments in it, such as the neo-Conservative description of British "socialism" before Saint Thatcher saved Britain, name-calling or claiming that how to produce Men-of-War "is a secret kept from the colonists". The colonies simply did not have the facilities needed to build men-of-war because before declaring independence, they relied on the navy of the mother country for protection.
Imagewise, specific references to British North America are out of line if one plays as the Spaniards, the Dutch or the French. The Dutch fight for independence under the Stars and Stripes? Ridiculous.
Maybe reintroduce a possible intervention on your side by another European power? One could increase the fun by also making it possible that the king persuades one of the other powers to join his side against YOU.
Basically, though, I agree with that other poster who said he'd simply be happy with the original Col game with better graphics and the annoying bugs removed. The trade bug - though the way trade is set up in COl II is counterintuitive and much inferior to the way one set up and edited trade routes in Col II. No return of the extremely irritating Encircling Dragoons, of course. And, as I said, remove the remains of the REF after you have achieved independence.
