I'm actually planning creating a Colonization-alike game for Android, but if it goes well one might as well as release it to iOS, PC, Mac, etc.
The game is to be pixelized like the original Colonization game but with both more history background and more strategies and possibilities.
For example, I'm planning on both introducing the (black) Slave and actually transforming Indentured Servants into what they really were.
An indentured Servant was someone that was either in debt or that offered himself (or herself) for work for a number of years (often 10) in exchange for the travel costs to the new world or to pay up any pending debt. The indentured servant was only so for a number of years and would eventually turn into a regular colonist. They were however treated pretty much like slaves during the period they were forced to work for their masters. There were in fact many black indentured servants that came from Europe that were eventually freed when their time was up.
It is interesting to read about how blacks (both free and indentured) were eventually forced down the line to becoming slaves again. Laws forbidding blacks from certain counties or from owning land or property forced them to indentured servitude or slavery, by either economical or phony lawsuits, which for the most part didn't fare well for blacks, no matter how illogical some accusations were (like a black woman accused and condemned of fornication without either the court nor the accusers even needing to investigate or name the partner).
Other laws included the status of the child of a women being determined upon birth. This meant if the woman was a slave, the child would be a slave. This meant many times that the white owners benefited from raping them to have more children, ie: workforce and merchandise they could later sell.
In the beginning, although there weren't even legislation regarding what a Slave was, and what rights these had, the blacks could actually negotiate more rights and privileges (some of them even sued whites for unpaid wages - yes, they earned wages at first). It is staggering to watch, from 1619 the year the black slaves first arrived in the new world, to 1700, how much both society and slavery changed.
And then we have the indians. Just how lame are the indians in the original Colonization?! The indians were no easy pray, you don't destroy an indian nation with 3 or 4 dragoons units. The indians, although they lost around 90% of their population near English territory around 1619, they still went for pretty much 100 years of raids, war, burned British forts and played a major role in defeating the French (helping the British).
In the very first years, the europeans were so dimwit that many europeans had to literally enslave themselves to the Indians in trade for food, otherwise many would have starved. In fact, one of the main concerns of European rulers were the large amount of colonists who feed the colonies and joined the indians and the indian's lifestyle. They literally had to place guards at their gates and restrict passage to prevent it becoming an even bigger problem.
The indians usually played European powers against one another and had huge and lengthy wars (often with their traditional rivals) to secure profitable trade routes like the Fur route (euopeans bought a lot of american fur, making it very profitable for both the colonists and the indians). The indians were not a bunch of dimwits, hippy treehuggers, if you think so then you have watched too much Pocahontas. They were savy, strategic and schemmy. And if it wasn't for the smallpox and other diseases that eradicated over 90% of them, history would have been so much different.
Indians with a war tomahawk were told to rival expert european fencers. They were great with bow and arrows and all males were trained soldiers with a ton of experience gained from constant warfare with other tribes. They didn't fear death and they actively seeked kills and warspoils for their own prestige inside their tribe.
Ever wondered why there are almost no native americans in america but plenty of blacks and chinese in Africa and China respectively? Both of those areas were also very underdeveloped. It was not because the europeans were so much better than the Indians (they were technological, but not sufficiently, a musket might be better than an arrow, but is it much better than two? five? ten? Colonists weren't exactly packing automatic rifles and firing 600 bullets a minute), they just died a lot from diseases (many speculate europeans to have made intentionally biological warfare).
In original Colonization they are treated as a number of dimwits who will thanks you for destroying their capital and don't serve for much more than treasures (galleons of gold out a stone age tribe, really?) converting them into slaves (ever wondered why the europeans had to bring slaves from Africa instead of just enslaving indians?) and trading stuff with them.
Wow, I rambled again. Sorry.
Point is, both indians and the history deserve their stories a bit better told, which is one of the ideas behind my version of the game.
Also, rivers! Europeans traveled their ships through rivers all the time, it even played a major role in major battles during the american independence war. Along with artillery placements. Soldiers should indeed die (like someone told early in this thread, probably around 2002 lol).
There are plenty of stuff I still need to figure out. But if you guys have some input it would be awesome.
Thinking in naming the game "America" or something.
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
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.. pity I am so ignorant on scripting.
