I just registered this morning after finding the site under the links section at Civ4: Colonization's official site. I found this topic to be very compelling and as a new turn-based strategy player, and new Colonization player as well, I was hoping my input would be of some use. If not to the players in this forum but to the developers that have been said to read them.
First off, I'm fairly fresh to turn-based strategy games. I do own a copy of Civilization 4 but I never really dove deep into the game, learning the hardcore mechanics to compete on Noble or higher. I usually played on one of the bottom three difficulty levels. That being said, there wasn't once where I played a game on those bottom difficulty levels that I didn't smother the computer or at least was able to correct my situation after I learned about the mistakes I was making. To me that's exactly how the lower level difficulties should be. You're there to learn the basics, explore the mechanics, and start to develop your own strategies under the watchful arm of greater bonuses for yourself and harsher penalties for the AI.
Now we get to Colonization. I picked up the new game Tuesday when it became available at my local Best Buy. I had enjoyed my limited time with Civ4 and wanted to give this one a shot. I'm always a sucker for New World games where I get to act out my own scenario of creating independent countries in the Americas. After playing well over 20 games in the last few days I'm convinced there is something wrong with scalability of the difficulty levels. Playing on Pilgrim I have yet to win my war of independence. With seven different levels of play, I find that to be ludicrous. After feeling that I've learned the ins and outs of economy, politics, religion, and military I'm still having my butt handed to me on a silver platter by the motherland. Personally I don't believe that is acceptable on Pilgrim. Especially with no mention within the manual, civpedia, or the within the game itself to assist me in what I might be doing wrong.
So I came here for answers and found this thread. I completely and utterly agree with Mr. Vanguard that something is indeed amiss. And after reading this thread entirely, I firmly believe it has to do with the REF situation. Something isn't scaling properly. There's no reason in my mind that I can't win the majority of games, if not all of them, on Pilgrim setting. That is its intent and purpose. To allow fresh players like myself to get a "free pass" if you will to victory so that I'm free to explore all sorts of topics and crazy strategies in order to fully develop an understanding of the game. That's not happening in this current build.
Here is a quick bullet list of what I feel are some of the more glaring issues with the game.
-The manual and civpedia go on at length about Liberty bells, about how they're essential for ALL of the Founding Father's and various points (military, trade, exploration, politics) yet not once have I seen a mention of those same bells causing massive troop surges by the motherland once the war has begun. In fact the manual also clearly states that winning the war is the sole victory condition, as it should be. But again, there's no warning against the massive onslaught I'm about to face.
-My first 5 games or so I was constantly paying off my King thinking that I would cause him to strengthen his army, raise my taxes, or incur some other stiff penalty if I continued to neglect him. The dialog even says (Anger King). Yet after trying a game where I didn't give him a penny, not a single repercussion took place. He never added troops. Didn't raise taxes any faster. Didn't penalize me in the slightest.
-For some reason, no matter how well I believe to be playing, I'm always 3rd or 4th on the score tally. I've never been able to out perform all of the other colonies. In Civ4 on the easiest setting I would be hundreds of points higher than any other civ. Again, the very entry level setting should allow anyone to breeze through the game to victory, alllowing them to fully explore the game.
-Trade routes get broken as soon as you pick up someone from the dock. Then it's a hassle to determine which routes that particular ship was on. Why not some function to resume trading after I drop off the unit?
-I take time to make sure all my colonies are connected via road to ensure fast travel for wagons, colonists, soldiers, etc. Why then can my colonist make his way from one city to the next in a single turn, but then not be able to start manufacturing at the new Cigar Factory I just built? He's got to wait until his next turn to do so. Why did I need the road then?
-How is it (again on Pilgrim) that no amount of defense I build can stop the forces of my previous King? Their ships completely destroy my Ships of the Line, which are very time consuming and expensive to buy. Why is it that my attack odds are ALWAYS lower against the AI, even when I'm being careful to take advantage of combat upgrades, positioning, and typical Civ military strategy? I never saw that on the easiest setting in Civ4 combat. Why did I waste time and money on forts when the AI ships decimate them immediately?
Anyway, as a final word, I do agree that the system (or concept) of having the King increase his forces as you build up independent desires is a solid and novel system. However, as it stands I suspect that even on Pilgrim that system is being based off the highest difficulty setting. I don't believe the AI is getting the penalties they should have or we're not getting the bonuses we require. As a new player to this game, and to turn-based in general, it's almost to the point that I can't continue to play. I don't feel like I'm being given the proper freedom to explore the game in its entirety. If after 20+ games on Pilgrim, I still can't beat back the forces of the motherland, then I'm convinced there is a bug that needs addressing.
