Sid Meier's Colonization Guide & Review: MPS Labs: The Original Colonization Game

cf. History of 1990s Computer Games.

Sid Meier's Colonization

Developed by MPS Labs and released in 1994 for MS-DOS, Sid Meier's Colonization is a turn-based strategy game in the vein of Sid Meier's Civilization 1 (1991).

Hitting a high-point of Civ-game refinement, Colonization is far more complex than Civ1. Indeed, in terms of game logic, GUI and presentation, it is arguable that, relative to its era, Colonization is the best Civ game ever made.

"Shady Grove" starts playing as hundreds of Dragoons pour out from their Frigate warships, ready to flood the land and besiege fortresses! --- Sid Meier's Colonization is a great game.

Even though it came out pre-Advent of the API, Colonization competes with Civ2 (1996) and SMAC (1999) in terms of innovation, sophistication and sheer playability.

While the seminal Civ1 broadly spanned epochs of history, Colonization is specifically concerned with European cross-Atlantic expansion into the New World from 1492-1850.

Colonization therefore substitutes the tribes or civs of Civ1 with four colonial Old World powers aka nationalities or Empires:

• England: In the name of our Queen and the Church of England
• France: In the name of His Most Christian Majesty, King Louis
• Spain: In the name of the Pope and the Spanish Crown
• The Netherlands: In the name of the Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands

Each nationality has a special trait that suggests a mode of play or playstyle:

• England: Immigration bonus (due to freedom from persecution)
• France: Cooperation bonus (with Natives: Peaceful coexistence)
• Spain: Conquest bonus (versus Natives: +50% Attack vs. Indian settlements)
• The Netherlands: Trade bonus (commodity prices collapse slower and recover quicker + begins with Merchantman trading vessel with four cargo slots)

The object of Colonization

In assuming the role of Your Excellency, Viceroy of the New World of The Americas, the object of Colonization is to establish colonies, build wealth and assemble an army in the New World before declaring independence from the tax-hiking Crown and defeating the King's attempt to quell the rebellion in a War of Independence: all-out-war between the Rebel Continental Army and the Royal Expeditionary Forces, complete with Tory unrest, Native councils, foreign intervention and mercenary forces.

In Colonization, the main obstacle is not the opposing foreign colonies or the Natives, it is the Crown. That said, your colony can be at war with everyone or at peace with everyone, except (eventually) the Crown. The Crown becomes the enemy of colonies by way of outrageous tariffs (up to 75%) or commodity boycotts that choke off commerce if colonies refuse to accept its tax-hikes.

However, citing treason, the Crown only invades once the colony declares independence from it. When the Crown invades, the colony must defend each and every one of its besieged colony settlements, being sure to guard its ports in order smuggle goods through foreign ports during the war.

Port or not, colonies must take back each and every settlement lost to the Crown. In addition, the vast majority of Crown units must be destroyed in order to emerge victorious and independent. Primarily, victory is achieved via stacked artillery based in fortresses built on the coast. Not only is (fortressed) artillery effective in siege defense, but stacked bombardments can sink Man-o'-Wars that venture within its range.

Below shows a massive Crown force build-up consisting of some 10,000 regulars, 4,000 cavalry, 3,000 artillery and an armada of 170 Man-o'-Wars.

Unless colonies produce immense amounts of ore and lumber and have efficient metalworking and timber industries, they wouldn't want to face off against such a force.

On the other hand, my Colonization speed run (Iron Man and no save-scumming, but only Discovery difficulty):

[1] Speed run notes.

En route to Independence much building and trade is conducted, policies with the eight Native tribes are adopted, and an army and naval fleet is assembled. Progression and rules are in the main the same as they are in Civ1.

Colonization is the first Civ-style game to require VGA graphics as standard. As such its presentation, interfaces and controls are superior to those of Civ1, but inferior to those of Civ2 (1996).

The Colonization GUI features drag-and-drop of icons, mouse-overs and linking interfaces; Colonization gameplay is far more intuitive and interactable than is Civ1. In fact, it is even more advanced that Civ2 in some respects.

The subtleties of Colonization's interface cannot be appreciated without first putting in several hours of play. The more you play the game, the more you appreciate the amount of thought that has gone into its creation.

Control-wise, Colonization features proper point-and-click movement of units. Also, units can be directed to move over greater distances automatically, instead of needing to be manually directed turn-by-turn and square-by-square. As well, we can switch between units during turns with a single click, without having to employ a Wait command.

In addition, most of the 15 music tracks are good in Colonization (and chooseable).

Differences Between Civilization & Colonization

What separates Civilization and Colonization is scope. Whereas Civ broadly spans pre-history up to the advent of civilizations Colonization only treats the conquest of The Americas, but in much finer detail than Civ treats its epochs.

This is just a basic rundown that may help Civ players get into Colonization.

Format is Civ1 --- Colonization.

• Settlers --- Colonists for founding colony setttlements and Pioneers for clearing forests, plowing fields and building roads. Pioneers must replenish their tools
• City Improvements --- Colony Buildings (upgradeable)
• Wonders of the World --- Founding Fathers
• Units are what they are --- Most units can be trained and equipped as well as undertake any trade or profession if the prereqs are met. Units can train "by doing", can train other units or can be trained by Natives. Specialist units can also have their trade or profession reset to the core Colonist unit.
• Unit upkeep --- No unit upkeep
• Population units based on food surplus --- Pop units based on unit presence restricted by Tory Sentiment: Each 200-point food surplus equals one additional Free Colonist
• Science Output aka Research rate aka Knowledge Production --- Liberty Bells
• Shield Production --- Hammers
• City Catchment (21 squares) -- Colony Catchment (9 squares)
• River square --- Major and minor river squares (an important distinction). River squares can be resource squares as well (in Civ 1 a river square cannot also have a resource)
• Civilopedia --- Colonizopedia
• Pollution --- No analogue
• Unrest based on city proximity to capital --- Unrest based on Tory Sentiment
• Huts (Advances, gold, units, Barbs) --- Lost City Rumors (treasure, gold, unit acquisition, disappearance of units, Fountain of Youth, Seven Cities of Cibola)
• Caravans / Trade routes --- wagon trains, cargo ships, multiple cargoed and multiple stop-point trade routes, treasure trains and Custom Houses

As with the above, units and terrain resources are based on era and geography.

More than Civ1, Colonization tests the memory of players and their ability to think logistically. Some report interfaces keep track of progression, but in the main players still need to project their thinking ahead and remember what they are trying to achieve in the short-, mid- and long-term in respect to 20 or more colony settlements. More than most Civ games, interruption or lapses in concentration result in inefficiency and errors.

Colonization Units

There are 23 units of ground and naval type in Colonization, with each unit representing some 100-200 people. Colonists are the core unit that can found settlements, become infantry or cavalry, and undertake any colony trade or profession.

Colonization colonists can be equipped with tools, horses and muskets (or blessed as Missionaries) whereas in Civ1 units simply are what they are. Units can also be trained in-colony by Expert, Master or Elder units once the education faculties have been built.

A colonist equipped with tools becomes a Pioneer, one with musket becomes a Soldier and one with horse and musket becomes a Dragoon.

For valor in battle, even Indentured Servants can be promoted to Free Colonists. In addition, Natives aka Braves can be given horses and can also become colonists (though they cannot found colonies).

Combat units have statuses aka levels. If a unit greater than "tier one" is routed in battle, it is not vanquished but demoted. For example, a routed Dragoon unit is demoted to an unmounted, musket-wielding Soldier unit. And if that Soldier unit is also routed it is further demoted to Colonist, and can no longer attack. But if the Colonist unit is bested, it is captured or killed.

Another innovation is that iron ore (a mineable terrain resource) can be converted into Tools by blacksmiths, which can be converted into Muskets by gunsmiths, which can then outfit soldiers. And yet another is that colonists can be assigned trades, such as farmer, fisherman and lumberjack.

Combat Analysis pop-up (which Civ1 lacks):

Colonization Naval Combat

Only gunship aka warship units (Privateers, Frigates and the mighty Man-o'-War) can attack, damage or sink other ships. The penalty for damage is the need to return to a colony Drydocks or Euro-port for repair. Non-gunships aka cargo ships (Caravels and Galleons) cannot attack but can sometimes slip past or evade gunships.

Sometimes gunships can appropriate cargo (piracy) and sink the target ship. Evasion and piracy are randomly rolled like damage and destruction. Thus, it is possible (but improbable) that a Caravel evades a Frigate firing its cannons from point blank.

The number of cargo units carried inflicts a penalty to attack factor, which is realistic since a weighed-down vessel would move like an old woman after she's had too much sherry to drink.

In addition, ships are slowed down when passing by rivals and forts; that is, their movement points are penalized. Moreover, fort-based artillery can open fire on Naval vessels sailing by.

Artillery is a strong addition to forts since it prevents warships from camping on trade routes or dropping off infantry, cavalry and artillery for ground invasions. Fort-based artillery stacks in attack factor for epic volleys vs. warships such as Tory Man-o'-Wars (136 AF is possible).

But unlike Civ1, gunships cannot conduct broadsides on coastal colonies or units unless first engaged by fort-based artillery (and they can only engage artillery, not the fort itself or infantry, cavalry or utility units).

Once units have established contact with rival colonies and set out trade pacts post-Mercantilism, they may peacefully enter or infiltrate rival colonies.

There is no amphibious assault in Colonization. That is, a ground unit onboard a ship cannot transition directly from the ship to a square occupied by a colony or a rival unit; they can only transition to an unoccupied square.

There are no stack kills in Colonization. What that means is, if a square is occupied by a stack of units and one unit of that stack is routed, only that one unit is routed, not all units that were in its stack.

Colonization Siege Warfare

A Colonization siege is defined as a Soldier, Dragoon, Artillery or Warship unit that fortifies itself on a colony settlement catchment square of an opposing colonial power. If the offending unit dismisses a demand to withdraw, that is an act of war.

Even if the rival's intent was not to immediately attack, foreign fortifications render catchment squares entirely unproductive. For example, unproductive farm squares can result in colony settlement starvation. In addition, Pioneers cannot plow land or build roads on rival-occupied catchment squares.

 

Thus, rival units within catchments should be deemed loiterers and rival units that fortify within catchments should be deemed squatters.

But both are beggars.

However, what is the best course of action if we have a loitering spy camped on our resource square, but not fortifying: let them block our resource for years on end, attack them or throw some cash their way to get them to leave? If you attack, you may have an army mobilized on your borders on the very next turn. But cough up some cash and your square is once again workable. It all depends.

Where possible, it is best to fortify the catchment with your own units, thereby locking in its production radius.

In this way, the rival must declare their intent: either attack or keep moving because loitering and squatting are not options. If the rival decides to attack and defeats a few catchment defenders, the besieged settlement draws on reinforcements from adjacent squares and the fortressed center square.

 

To effectively defend a colony settlement, the center square should be fortressed and reinforced by stacked Artillery. As well, the eight surrounding squares aka catchment should be packed with a mix of fortified Dragoons, Artillery, Privateers and Frigates.

When a colony settlement is annexed, the victor not only yields its treasury (a sum of gold) but also its storehouses, population, buildings and warehouse cargo --- everything.

Colonization Trade

Colonization emphasizes trade more than Civ1 because colonies conduct trade with the Old World, not just with Natives and rival colonies in the New. Colonies in Colonization start off as cottage industries but can become trading powerhouses in 17 different cargo-types, aka commodities.

The object of Colonization trade is to:

• Farm, collect and mine raw materials in New World colony settlement catchments
• Make something useful from the materials in purpose-built factories, refineries and other establishments (if applicable)
• Load that completed product onto ships as cargo
• Sell the cargo off for profit at the European port city of the Old World (also obtaining other goods and services from the Old and taking them back to the New)

If a settlement is not situated on the coastline, commodities must first be transported overland to docked ships on the coast via wagon trains. Later, the building of Custom Houses automates the transport and selling off of cargo to Old World markets via a shipping schedule interface.

Automated intra- and inter-colony sea and land trade routes can be created, edited and deleted, at-will. For wagon trains and cargo ships, each trade route can load and unload up to six different cargo types at up to four stop-point destinations (colony settlements). Not even Civ2 or SMAC can do that.

Colony Buildings are upgradeable. For example, a Rum Distiller's House can be upgraded to a Rum Distillery and finally to a Rum Factory, thereby yielding more Rum per sugar unit harvested (increased efficiency). To balance that, upgrades are gated by Population Unit and Founding Father prerequisites.

Colonization Playing Field

The Colonization playing field is presented in twice the fidelity of Civ1 (480x384). As can be seen, it also employs far more artistry. cf. Civ1 map DOS --- Civ1 map Windows.

The Colonization map can be zoomed in to cover 15x12 squares in local detail or zoomed out to cover 120x96 for continent-wide appraisal.

The Americas is the recommended map to choose when conducting maiden runs of Colonization. This is because The Americas map guarantees limited islands and two continental landmasses linked to by an isthmus whereas randomly generated maps can result in awkward archipelagos consisting of two-square islands or fishing colonies. While island-hopping can be fun and emphasizes naval power and mobility, the best Civ playthroughs result from maps dominated by a couple continents or several large islands.

Of course, the problem with The Americas map is that its geography is always the same, every game. Only the locations of Powers, special resources, Native settlements and burial grounds are randomized, aka rolled. That said, the Amazon always has mineral deposits and the Andes and Rockies always have streams of silver, and so on.

If one or more rival colonies establish themselves in the Caribbean but your colony is on the mainland, the game is going to be much easier than vice versa.

 

In the above image we can see that the French computer-controlled colony is hamstrung by its location on a small group of islands in the Caribbean, whereas the Netherlands player-controlled colony located to the south enjoys freedom of movement and abundant resources on the continental mainland, which includes forests, grasslands, sugar, minerals and the all-important river system (the Amazon jungle of South America). 

To a degree, river systems even lessen the urgency to build roads between settlements. In North America that would be the Missouri and Mississippi drainage basins; in South America, the Amazon.

More than even Civ1, river systems, roads and coastal access are important. But no, naval units cannot negotiate rivers.

In the above image Dutch Veteran Dragoons sweep up from the jungle in the south to defend ex-Spanish territory from a Spanish reprisal. Four Spaniards are taken as prisoners. Then, the Dutch Dragoons storm up the Isthmus of Panama where they rout a force of French Dragoons and capture them as prisoners before annexing another Spanish colony. Their goal --- to crush the English in North America.

Prisoners become colonists for the colony that captured them. Such colonists function like any other. So if you chase them down as they flee, it pays off.

However, by the time the Dutch Dragoons descended upon Jamestown to lay siege, the English had ceded their colony to the French under the Treaty of Utrecht. The Dutch battled (allied) French and Spanish forces for the 12th-level Jamestown colony; the war lasting a decade. In the end, the Dutch won the battle of Jamestown and yielded 20 colonist units or 2,000 men.

Colonization User Interface

The Colonization user interface is supreme in an absolute, not just relative sense. Most notable are the Colony Display and European Status Display which feature info pop-ups, mouse-overs and unit drag-and-drop. In addition, right-clicking icons calls up their Colonizopedia entry and adds a numerical indicator over the drop-shadowed icons.

In terms of functionality, presentation and attention to detail, we are talking about a god-tier GUI even by today's standards. In fact, the Colonization GUI is superior to many current gen interfaces. And even if that was not the case, it exudes infinitely more character than the soul-less smartphone "aesthetic" that plagues contemporary computer games.

Colony Display

The Colony Display screencapped above is akin to the Civ1 City Display. The Colony Display shows the colony settlement's:

• Catchment (its production radius of nine squares)
• Warehouse (quantity of each cargo in tons)
• Buildings constructed and building construction progress
• Food supply and Population
• Liberty Bell and Cross (religion unrest) progress
• Any units garrisoned or working in or waiting to work in the colony
• Any docked ships and wagon trains (which can be loaded or unloaded)

To be clear, each and every colony settlement created has its own Colony Display. Usually players will end up with about 20 individual settlements to manage, which is typical in Civ games.

Also important, the Colony Display shows:

• How many tons of raw materials are being brought in per turn by the labor of the units assigned to work the squares of the colony catchment
• How many tons of product are being manufactured from the raw materials per turn by the labor of units assigned to work in the buildings of the colony

Here we can see that 48 tons of iron ore extracted from the catchment by expert ore miners are converted into 72 tons of Tools at the Iron Works by Master Blacksmiths (and also Fur is being fashioned into Coats).

Master Gunsmiths at the Arsenal are then converting the Tools into Muskets, which are sold off or used to arm colonists (72 tons of Tools are converted into 72 tons of Muskets per turn).

In the case of lumber, the product is not timber but instead (abstracted) Hammers represent production rate when constructing new colony buildings, which use lumber. And for more advanced buildings, Tools as well.

An all-but-complete fortressed capital. Only the best in their field are employed here:

When buildings are upgraded, they actually change their graphic via a dithering transition. And some unit icons play little tunes that are unique to them when moved about or equipped.

Europe Status Display

The European Status Display screencapped above has no analogue in other Civ games. Representing the Old World city harbor and its warehouses, the ESD allows players to:

• Buy and sell raw materials and products whose prices are adjusted based on the economy
• Recruit tradesmen, colonists or wannabe colonists
• Train tradesmen, professionals and military men
• Purchase artillery, cargo ships and warships

Note the shipping lane that shows incoming and outgoing ships. To purchase materials and products from the warehouse, you just drag-and-drop them into the ships' cargo holds. At the bottom can be seen the ship options and unit options.

Colonization Tips

• The Netherlands are the best colonial power because the Dutch get the Merchantman cargo ship at the start, which grants twice as many cargo bays as the Caravel. In addition, the Dutch trade bonus means that commodity prices collapse slower and recover quicker.
• Found your first settlement on the eastern seaboard of North or South America. Preferably in northeast NA or southeast SA. Don't start in the Caribbean, on the western seaboard or on the Isthmus of Panama unless you want a harder campaign.
• Build the first settlement on or around coastal river squares with one, two or three special resources tappable in its catchment.
• If on the eastern seaboard of North America, get Henry Hudson for the Fur Trapper bonus, look for Game and Beaver squares around the Hudson River, and make coats. Also, train Master Fur Trappers at Iroquois settlements.
• If on the eastern seaboard of South America and you want to build on savannah for sugar cane and rum, train Master Sugar Planters at Tupi settlements.
• Don't build more than six or seven colony settlements. The more settlements you build, the more you have to defend from the Crown. Every settlement must be fortressed and artillery-stacked before declaring independence. Don't overextend, consolidate.
• The settlements should be tight-knit and linked to by roads. For every settlement built, there should be a wagon train. Once roaded, the wagon trains should be able to move between settlements in one turn (if possible).
• Don't annex foreign colony settlements with crappy catchments. Don't annex anything in the Caribbean unless you like two-square islands and fish. Don't annex at all unless you are looking for trouble.
• Before sending your scout in search of Lost City Rumors, it is best to have acquired Hernando de Soto. Likewise, it is best to have acquired Hernan Cortez before taking out Aztec and Inca capitals.
• As regards Treasure Trains in the early game, it is often better to let the Crown take its half-share than horde treasure until you get a Galleon and the tax rate increases: cash-flow boosts are more important in the early game.
• Guard all catchment squares against loiterers and squatters.
• When possible, don't attack foreign powers or Natives unless you want things to get messy. But on Viceroy difficulty level you will need to attack foreign powers to knock them down a notch.
• Make sure you invest in Liberty Bells for the production bonuses conferred at 50% and 100% Rebel Sentiment. Elder Statesmen work wonders.
• Colony Settlement 50% and 100% Rebel Sentiment confers +1 and +2 production bonuses.
• Construct buildings in the order of warehouse, lumber mill, warehouse extension and then your rum, fur or other preferred establishments. Get masters manning them.
• All goods (coats, rum etc.) produced by inland settlements are transported by wagon trains to the first coastal settlement with the cargo ship, which sells off the goods at the Old World port. Then, the ship brings back more colonists. Focus on free colonists, expert farmers, expert lumberjacks, master carpenters and masters in the harvest and production of your tapped resource.
• Pioneers only plow what is needed and only build vital road-links. Always use Hardy Pioneers, not weaklings.
• Note that center squares can be plowed pre- or post-founding. Note also that plowing squares can reveal a "hidden" resource. For example, plowing broadleaf forest leaves prairie which may reveal prime cotton.
• Remember that non-trivial Lumber boosts result from Pioneers clearing forested squares.
• If three settlements are in close proximity, three wagon trains is better than three expanded warehouses. Then, just build one Expanded Warehouse followed by a Custom House in the coastal settlement.
• Custom Houses reduce micromanagement, but are deceptively inefficient in comparison to manual transportation of goods via cargo ships. Trade routes are also inefficient.
• Use stationed wagon trains and docked Galleons as improvised warehouses.
• The best Founding Fathers for naval power are Drake and Magellan.
• Don't build what you don't need. You only need a couple Custom Houses. Once you have the necessary establishments and faculties built, you need to focus on ore and tools to build more advanced buildings, artillery and ships.
• Again, don't go crazy on advanced building or ships, only build the ones you need. Always build fortresses and tons of artillery. For that you need efficient metalworking and timber industries.
• Ore + miner + blacksmith = tools
• Forest + lumberjack = lumber
• Carpenter + lumber + tools = buildings, artillery and gunships
• That is how you get a War Machine colony
• Once you have a dozen or so artillery stacked in the first coastal settlement and 10 or so more stacked in each and every inland settlement, declare independence and fend off the Crown's onslaught.
• If you allowed the foreign colonies to grow as well, you should benefit from a strong foreign intervention force (assuming you gather Liberty Bells in quick order). But if you own-zoned the foreigners beforehand, don't expect much.
• Be sure to have 100% Rebel Sentiment before DI. That way, 100% of your units mobilize as Continental Army units.
• Max units you can have colony-wide is about 650. That is, there is a unit cap. Don't go near that cap because it may stuff things up during the war.
• Keep everything simple. Consolidate. Play efficiently etc.

Colonies & The Motherland: First Stages of Colonization

Beginning and ending:

Colonization Amiga Version (1995)

The Amiga version of Colonization is unique in that its interface is driven by Workbench's Intuition windows. Moreover, Amiga Colonization can be run natively from within Workbench, with its windows functioning just like the OS-windows. A year later, Civ2 would employ WinG API in 3.x.

The Amiga version can be run on PCs via WinUAE. The Amiga version features better music, clearer graphics and a crisper font for text, but runs slower than the MS-DOS version even when game-speed is maxed in WinUAE.

Note that the WHDLoad version of Amiga Colonization is unplayably bugged. Don't even bother with the WHDLoad version until it is fixed. Everything seems fine until you start moving units longer distances over multiple turns. Then, the game bugs out to the point where you need to quit out.

The beginning of the game: English Caravel inbound from London:

The English Caravel arrives in London to recruit, purchase and trade:

Recruiting, purchasing and trading:

Discovery of the New World (when the ship reaches the coastline of uncharted territory):

The Colony Screen is the equivalent of the Civ1 City Display:

[1]

Colonization Speed Run

A Colonization speed run is a playthrough that is focused on declaring independence and defeating the REF in the shortest time possible, measured in years.

These are my Colonization Speed Run notes. Quite a few favorable variables came together such that I thought to attempt a speed run (aka favorable RNG).

• Independence victory condition attained in Spring, 1586 (190 years early)
• Iron Man and no save-scumming, but only Discovery difficulty
• Netherlands Colonial Power (Dutch)
• Based on the central-eastern seaboard of North America. First settlement was founded on river-coast with two Fur resources in its catchment (Game and Beaver)
• Second was founded a few squares inland with another two Fur resources in its catchment (2x Beaver)
• Both settlement catchments were rich in terms of Lumber, Food and Furs
• Priority was getting Free Colonists to train as Fur Trappers at Iroquois settlements. I had 5x Iroquois settlements in close proximity to both settlements
• One Fur Trapper unit was yielding 48 tons of Fur per turn from a single square. Three others were yielding 36 each
• Built Fur Trading posts and trained Fur Traders to make Coats
• Wealth accumulation came from selling off Coats and excess Fur in the Old World: Dutch Merchantman was busy going back and forth. Later, a Galleon was doing the same
• I recruited Henry Hudson early. Scout also found Fountain of Youth and Seven Cities of Cibola Treasure Train early
• After recruiting the necessary tradesmen and professionals (e.g., carpenters and statesmen), the wealth was used to purchase x15 Artillery to stack in the coastal settlement. At that point, I fast-tracked Fortress-building and declared
• Fended off four or five attacks by the REF before the French intervened
• I only had two colony settlements and two cargo ships
• Tools were bought not made. Each catchment had 1x Hills so I could have mined Ore and made Tools, but it would have slowed me down
• The diagonal road that linked the two settlements crossed the two hills as well: the catchments and settlement positions greatly facilitated efficiency
• Did not encounter a foreign colonial power; sacked no Native settlements
• The settlements only harvested enough Food and Lumber to get by; the only surplus was Fur
• Every turn was micromanaged in order to optimize catchment output and settlement production, but I made a few mistakes with Liberty Bell generation and population management
• Didn't build a Custom House or anything other than Warehouse, Warehouse Expansion, Wagon Train, Lumber Mill, Fur Trading Post, Fort and Fortress

Colonization Viceroy Difficulty

• The increased Tory unrest greatly slows down settlement growth. Thus, Statesmen are in high demand.
• As a result of religious unrest, you are far more likely to yield Criminals than Free Colonists, Tradesmen or Professionals.
• Native alarm is increased and Indian demands and raids are more frequent. Indian raids on settlements result in dead defenders, burned-down buildings, damaged docked ships, looted warehouses and plundered gold reserves. You can't just leave one Soldier unit to defend a stockaded settlement. Even if the unit manages to fend off the raiders, it can only rarely prevent damage, looting and plundering.
• Searching for treasure in Burial Grounds often results in nothing. If you yield a treasure train early the Crown takes a 70% share.
• Fountains of Youth often yield little more than Criminals and Indentured Servants.
• Rival colonial powers are far more aggressive. They sometimes attack on-sight without declaring war. Spain often goes on a warpath against the Natives. Rival colonial powers may also surround your settlements (every catchment square) even if the settlements are fortressed and stacked with a dozen Artillery units.
• REF expands faster.
• You won't win quickly unless you have at least three close-knit settlements with king-tier catchments.

Colonization Records

• Fastest Independence victory condition: Spring, 1586
• Max attack factor from stacked Fortress-based artillery: 160 vs. Man-'o-War (sunk)
• Max no. of units in colony: ~650
• Max number of Artillery built: 100
• Most Liberty Bells generated per turn from one Town Hall: 160
• Highest tax rate imposed by the Crown: 75% (note that tax can actually decrease by a few percent post-max)
• Spanish Frigate warship seized x100 Muskets, x100 Tools, x100 Trade Goods and x100 Coats before sinking Dutch Merchantman cargo vessel
• Most gold yielded from unearthed ruins of Seven Cities of Cibola: 6,900
• Most gold yielded for looting and burning Native capital: 24,000 (Inca Capital)
• Most gold yielded for looting and burning Native non-capital city: 18,600 (Inca City)
• Most gold yielded for plundering foreign colony capital: 2,000
• Most tribute offered by foreign power: 1,500
• Most Food (Maize/Corn) generated from a single square: 17 (Farmer working Plowed Plains/Major River with Wheat)
• Most Fish generated from a single square: 16 (Fisherman working 3x Shorelined Ocean with Fish)
• Most Fur generated from a single square: 48 (Fur Trapper working Mixed Forest/Major River with Beaver)
• Must Fur generated from a single catchment by 4x Fur Trappers: 160 (72 Coats made by Fur Traders at Fur Factory per turn)
• Most Lumber generated from a single square: 24 (Lumberjack working Mixed Forest/Major River)
• Most Ore generated from a single square: 16 (Ore Miner working Hills/Road with Ore)
• Most Tobacco generated from a single square: 22 (Tobacco Planter working Plowed Grassland with Prime Tobacco)
• Most Sugar Cane generated from a single square: 24 (Sugar Planter working Plowed Prairie/Major River)
• Shortest time Free Colonist harvested sugar to become a Sugar Planter: 12 years/turns (Viceroy difficulty)

cf. Sid Meier's Civilization 1 --- Sid Meier's Civilization 2 --- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.