[Col] ATTENTION: Sid Meier's Colonization 30th Anniversary Celebration - Communities, Fan Mods & Remakes, Similar Games & More!

[Blake00]

To celebrate Sid Meier's Colonization 30th Anniversary this month I thought I'd do something similar to our recent Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Civilization Call to Power 25th Anniversary Celebrations and take a look at what's been going on in the Colonization fan communities over the last few years so sit back and enjoy the big read below!
(EDIT: We've since done a Master of Magic 30th Anniversary Celebration too!)

Firstly it's worth mentioning that for those who no longer have the CDs or a CD drive Sid Meier's Colonization is currently available on Good old Games and Steam. It appears to have been rescued a few years ago from either 2K or Atari's IP dungeon by those great folks at Nightdive and Retroism (if only they'd do the same with Civilization 1, 2 & ToT which are still not on digital stores!).
Col GoG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/sid_meiers_colonization
Col Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/327400/Sid_Meiers_Colonization_Classic/
However it should be mentioned that this is only the original DOS version of the game, as the lesser known Windows version of Colonization that used higher quality graphics, resolutions & music is sadly not legally available likely due to it being a 16bit Windows 3.1/95 application. However perhaps wonderful programs like WineVDM might change that and would allow this special enhanced version to be sold again. There's no GoG Wishlist for it as they consider the game wish already fulfilled but there is this thread if people want to make their wishes for it known.
ColWin GoG thread: https://www.gog.com/forum/colonization_sid_meiers/bravo_gog_well_trolled/
ColWin HD demonstration video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoAYn5LGq60&list=PLZqnaGtTZxFbq3F5R6lqzyVvYzg9tRBPY

Colonization for Windows in HD


Secondly I should mention that while sadly most of the old Col communities are quiet or gone there are still some surviving forums and even some modern social media groups where Col fans meet to discuss their love of the games and even work on new projects.
CivFanatics Col: https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/other-sid-meier-games.533/?prefix_id=239
Apolyton Col: https://apolyton.net/forum/other-games/alternative-civs
Steam Col: https://steamcommunity.com/app/327400/discussions/
GoG Col: https://www.gog.com/forum/colonization_sid_meiers#1716717456
As mentioned above there are some modern Col social media communities too! The Discord is recommended for fans of the FreeCol project as the devs regularly hangout there!
Col Discord: https://discord.gg/4XP4S9yfJ8
Col FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ColonizationGame
Col Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ColonizationGame/

Title Screen


Thirdly as many of you know Col had an official remake/sequel called Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Colonization which is available on Steam and GoG too. The remake was not everyone's cup of tea but thankfully fans delivered again with some awesome total conversion projects like The Authentic Colonization (TAC) mod which made the game feel more like Classic Col, which was then expanded upon by the Religion & Revolution mod, and then massively expanded up on further with the popular We The People (WTP) mod that is still worked on to this day!
Civ4Col GoG: https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_civilization_iv_the_complete_edition
Civ4Col Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/16810/Sid_Meiers_Civilization_IV_Colonization/
Civ4Col TAC Mod: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/mod-the-authentic-colonization-tac.440319/
Civ4Col WTP Mod: https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ4col-we-the-people.591/

Civ4 Colonization - We The People Mod


Fourthly Colonization has been remade by fans as well! The long lasting and popular FreeCol project recently passed the big version 1.0 milestone and is still being improved upon to this day. FreeCol comes with an impressive collection of maps and mods that allow up to 16 nations (AI or even human multiplayer). Meanwhile the commercial fan game Treasure Fleet did an interesting alternative remake of the classic Colonization formula too. Both games really give you that feeling of a late 90s 2.5D isometric strategy game era Col sequel we never got.
FreeCol: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/new-freecol-releases-and-maps-overhaul.658749/
Treasure Fleet: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...tegy-game-set-in-the-age-of-discovery.645173/

FreeCol and Treasure Fleet


Fifthly there's a number of other interesting in-progress fan projects that have emerged over the last few years attempting to either remake or create a similar experience to classic Col such as Theo's Settle The World (Amiga), David's Col Remake, AyCe's ColoX, Teal's Col Remake, Aoiti's Imperial Ambitions, and Americas Game of Colonization.
Settle The World: https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...onization-like-fan-game-for-the-amiga.682077/
David's Col Remake: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/davids-colonization-recreation-project.685035/
ColoX: https://discord.com/channels/695227750994280548/695227751489208332/921011939650449428 (link won't work unless you've used Discord join link earlier in post)
Teal's Col Remake: https://discord.com/channels/695227750994280548/695228495978037338/1010103211799105598 (link won't work unless you've used Discord join link earlier in post)
Imperial Ambitions: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/imperial-ambitions-sid-meiers-colonization-like-game.684388/
Americas: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/americas-a-game-of-colonization.640939/

Settle The World and Americas


Sixthly Colonization fans can also get their Col fix from a whole series of excellent Colonization themed scenarios for Civilization games that in some cases even allow you to play and proper as the natives as well. Here's some of our favourites..
Civ2 Colonialism AoD: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/28953/
Civ3 Age of Colonization: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/age-of-colonisation.240776/
Civ4 Age of Discovery: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/144659/
Civ5 Conquest of the New World: https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Conquest_of_the_New_World_(Civ5)
Civ6 Col of the New World: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2355194520
More Col scenarios for Civ games: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/657805/

Civ2 Colonialism AoD and Civ3 Age of Colonization


Seventhly it's also worth mentioning that there are plenty of other games out there offering similar experiences to Colonization where you get to explore a new world, trade with natives & a home city, grow your industry, and conquer your rivals such as Exploration Voyages of Discovery, Conquest of The New World, Anno series, Imperialism series, Port Royale series, Europa Universalis series, Age of Empires 3, and more we're forgetting. Most of these games can be found on Steam & GoG.

Conquest of The New World


Finally here's a few other things that might be of interest to Colonization fans...
Playing Col in HD Tour: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/colonization-hd-tour-col-fan-games-mods-scenarios.673998/
Col Official Strategy Guide: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/sid-meiers-colonization-official-strategy-guide.686209/
Col Sav files decoder/encoder: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/colonization-1994-sav-files-decoder-and-encoder.681919/
Col Hot Seat/Multiplayer: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/colonization-hot-seat-multiplayer-savegame-editor.652318/
Col Play as Natives: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/colonization-playing-as-indians.632905/
Col Play as Tories: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/its-possible-to-play-as-tories.528895/
Col Extraction tools: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/colonization-picture-viewer.256665/
Col Windows CD Soundtrack: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLcPetHV4Hs
Col DOS Midi Roland-MT32 Soundtrack: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9F0ydAGuyE
Col Fans Resource Site Backup: https://web.archive.org/web/20161026010604/http://www.colonizationfans.com/
Unofficial Col Homepage Resource Site Backup: https://web.archive.org/web/20210414081058/http://www.colonization.biz/

Well that's everything we know about! If you know of something else awesome and Colonization related from recent times that we haven't covered then please let us know in the comments and if it's your project please make a thread about it so we can follow your work! Happy anniversary Col fans!

Blake's Colonization Collection

 

[The_J]

thanks blake .

 

[Marla_Singer]

Secondly I should mention that while sadly most of the old Col communities are quiet or gone there are still some surviving forums and even some modern social media groups where Col fans meet to discuss their love of the games and even work on new projects.

The old Colonization community isn't entirely gone. Many of those who develop the mods you mention such as @raystuttgart, @Nightinggale or @Schmiddie are still active, developping the successive mods for Civ4Col (The Authentic Colonization, Religion and Revolution, We The People).

Colonization was the first game developed by Brian Reynolds when he joined MicroProse. I still consider to this day it had a much more convincing economic simulation than what we can find in the Civilization series. I believe there is a real potential here to develop more games from that model, expanded beyond the limited timeframe about the colonization of the Americas.

 

[Blake00]

The old Colonization community isn't entirely gone. Many of those who develop the mods you mention such as @raystuttgart, @Nightinggale or @Schmiddie are still active, developping the successive mods for Civ4Col (The Authentic Colonization, Religion and Revolution, We The People).

Colonization was the first game developed by Brian Reynolds when he joined MicroProse. I still consider to this day it had a much more convincing economic simulation than what we can find in the Civilization series. I believe there is a real potential here to develop more games from that model, expanded beyond the limited timeframe about the colonization of the Americas.

Yup Civ4Col, TAC and WTP got covered above in section 3/"thirdly" however admittedly I didn't get into listing the Civ4Col related forums & social media communities there too which perhaps I should have as I do keep a list of them all somewhere.

 

[Nightinggale]

the lesser known Windows version of Colonization that used higher quality graphics, resolutions & music is sadly not legally available likely due to it being a 16bit Windows 3.1/95 application.

The mac version used the higher quality graphics too. However the mac version is apparently so rare that even finding it mentioned online is a struggle. Also it is in no way compatible with modern macs as it is for MacOS 8 or something like that. Also Apple has switched CPU instruction set 2-3 times since this release so absolutely no backward compatibility in this regard.

Colonization for mac used multiple windows so it wasn't even full screen. While this looks worse at first glance, it turns out to benefit it in the long run as the windows were resizable. As newer monitors had higher resolutions, the game window (the one with units on the map) could be resized to be many times the original size. This is also true for mac versions of games like civ1 and Master of Orion. The latter could display 1/4 of a large map at once if you resize to max allowed window size.

 

[Dale]

Just a simple post of appreciation for the 30 years of love I've had for this game.

 

[Blake00]

The mac version used the higher quality graphics too. However the mac version is apparently so rare that even finding it mentioned online is a struggle. Also it is in no way compatible with modern macs as it is for MacOS 8 or something like that. Also Apple has switched CPU instruction set 2-3 times since this release so absolutely no backward compatibility in this regard.

Colonization for mac used multiple windows so it wasn't even full screen. While this looks worse at first glance, it turns out to benefit it in the long run as the windows were resizable. As newer monitors had higher resolutions, the game window (the one with units on the map) could be resized to be many times the original size. This is also true for mac versions of games like civ1 and Master of Orion. The latter could display 1/4 of a large map at once if you resize to max allowed window size.

Ahh cool yeah I've seen the Amiga version of Col but I'm not sure if I've seen the Mac one. I've seen from @Lord_Hill 's experiments (here & here) that the Mac version of Civ1 is pretty similar to the Win version presumably with expandable windows allowing for modern resolutions so I guess it's no surprise that the Mac version of Col is expandable like the Windows one too. I didn't know about the Mac Master of Orion with higher resolutions though, if only there'd been a Windows version of that too, and of Master of Magic for that matter!

 

[Lord_Hill]

@Nightinggale I did have a quick mess around with ColMac whilst I was exploring graphics mods for various different microprose games.

[Col] - Colonization for Windows graphics editing

Hi guys, I've been messing around with the Civilization for Windows file extraction and graphics mod tools here (https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/demonstration-source-extraction-tools-for-civwin.30680/) and recently discovered that the Microprose GIF graphics format is also used for...

forums.civfanatics.com

 

[Blake00]

@Nightinggale I did have a quick mess around with ColMac whilst I was exploring graphics mods for various different microprose games.

[Col] - Colonization for Windows graphics editing

Hi guys, I've been messing around with the Civilization for Windows file extraction and graphics mod tools here (https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/demonstration-source-extraction-tools-for-civwin.30680/) and recently discovered that the Microprose GIF graphics format is also used for...

forums.civfanatics.com

And there I am commenting in your thread so clearly I have seen the Mac version of Col after all, whoops..

 

[Bladrov]

The mac version used the higher quality graphics too. However the mac version is apparently so rare that even finding it mentioned online is a struggle. Also it is in no way compatible with modern macs as it is for MacOS 8 or something like that. Also Apple has switched CPU instruction set 2-3 times since this release so absolutely no backward compatibility in this regard.

Colonization for mac used multiple windows so it wasn't even full screen. While this looks worse at first glance, it turns out to benefit it in the long run as the windows were resizable. As newer monitors had higher resolutions, the game window (the one with units on the map) could be resized to be many times the original size. This is also true for mac versions of games like civ1 and Master of Orion. The latter could display 1/4 of a large map at once if you resize to max allowed window size.

There is a site where you can play the Mac version online: Moderator Action: *snip*

Also you can download the original here: Moderator Action: *snip* Sadly there is currently no legal way to play this game, and all links out there allowing it are illegal. Even though the commercial impact of this is very likely negligible, we still cannot allow it, sorry . The_J