Colonization

[secretchief]

#12451

After the excellent episode that was Civilization, I was truly surprised that no one actually had suggested Colonization before the mentions in the episode. I have no count of the number of times I wrote COLONIZE (as the bat-file was named) in my DOS prompt throughthe mid 90s.

I went though the late 80s and early 90s as an Amiga player, but around 1993 I realized it was a sinking ship and went all in to acquire a PC. Following the confirmation (a Norwegian ritual for 14-year olds where we get our first good batch of cash and gifts from wider family etc),I spent most of my monetary bounty on a new 486 in 1994 – specifically to play this amazing new game I had tried: COLONIZATION! I remember I played 16 hrs straight that first day and night, something I never again was allowed to do.

Colonization continued to be one of the main gaming staples of my mid 90s, and in high school me and three friends found this glitch that make hot seat 4-player available, but as the Spain player always got incredible amounts of gold, the fun quickly faded.

It is really interesting how Colonization could be released without issue. It was seemingly “historical” in theme and but if so, glossing over the massive human suffering that was e.g. the triangle trade with African slaves or the holocaust of pestilence released upon the native populations.

Perhaps the lovely music (minus the military ones) helped. If you decide to record an episode on Colonization, I would be greatly honoured to take part! Even though it’s also good fun just to listen. In any case, I would definitely record a snippet for you.

[TigerQuoll]

#12452

Oh, interesting – I was dimly aware of the game, but always assumed it was a third party clone using a similar name in order to mooch off the success of Civ… but researching it now, I’ve only just found out it’s actually by Sid Meier!

Sadly, I’m not that surprised that the game could be released in the 90s without any controversy. Different times… I distinctly remember how the term “politically correct” was used to ridicule people who dared to care about anybody other than old straight white men, much like “woke” now, except it was coming from across the whole political spectrum not just the far right.

Sorry, got on to a bit of a rant there!
Anyway, uncomfortable subtext aside, the gameplay sounds interesting. I like it when 4X games give you an established world right out the gate, rather than a blank slate for you to take over. It feels more realistic and nuanced.

[secretchief]

#12453

Yeah, I’m sure Colonization was just one of a bunch of games that – probably unknowing – had a heavy Eurocentric bent. Nevertheless, I had a whale of a time playing it, even though I knew quite a bit about the actual history. Now I’m quite a lay expert on maritime history of the last 500 years (17th and 18th century in particular). I mean, Sid Meier’s Pirates didn’t feature any of the same problematic issues either, even though it was a big part of the actual world during the Golden Age of Piracy. I mean, it is more or less a rendition of Errol Flynn swashbucklery, haha