In 2, I always seem to have an early headache when no Tin source was available early on. Lost a couple games because of that scarcity. (Some in the New World. But took too long to develop.)
To me I2 was harder but a better rounded game in strategy.
But that Tin problem was sometimes a problem alright.
Made early units tough.

Aside from the tin shortage, I find 2 to be a lot easier. So much of 1 is buried behind hidden minor nation diplomacy and development that the game never tells you about. Developing minor nations is such a huge investment and you can easily lose it suddenly to another major nation sniping it through diplomacy and you can never tell the minor nation's relations to other major nations until it's too late. I've had superb minor nations with multiple gem deposits that I'd sunk over $100k into, buying up all their goods from turn 2, granting them $1k for 40 turns, and signing a pact with them, and never losing most favored status from turn 2. All of a sudden it tells me my grants are no good because they're too far under the sway of another major power; 3 turns later they invite it into their empire and 2 turns after that they boycott all my developments. Huh? How the hell did another nation snipe that? Very frustrating you can't see any of that until it's too late.

There's also the village development mechanic which I don't think is ever properly explained anywhere, and it makes a HUGE impact on the game.

2 really has no hidden information, and minor nation diplomacy isn't very important. If you can get a source of tin then you're in a lot better shape than any given Imp 1 game.

fahbs,

Minor Nations in Imp1 rely on the subsidies you provide. They like to trade, yes, but they like subsidized trade more than anything else. Most Major Powers will place 5%-10% subsidies on their Minor Nation targets, which means you can effectively snipe them by throwing 25% subsidies on everyone as soon as possible. You can also track what opponents do using the information buttons down the middle of the lower part of the Diplomacy screen, so you can see exactly what MPs are giving MNs.

Village development revolves around resources being transported to the capital and the industrial buildings you've upgraded there. It's a complicated system, explained in the wiki: [url=http://imperialism.wikia.com/wiki/Town_development_(Imp1]http://imperialism.wikia.com/wiki/Town_development_(Imp1[/url])

If you hold the CTRL key while assigning a subsidy, the game will set the lowest percentage that will make you the favored trading partner

Yeah I know that, but the issue is that the AI major powers will often beat you in the minor nation relations race DESPITE being that minor nation's most favored trading partner. I've had a bunch of games where I never lost most favored nation status from the very beginning, always bought up all their exports, and gave them continuous grants for nearly 50 turns.

But right when I'm about to hit dark green relations and invite them into my empire, I'm told my grants have no effect because they're too far under the sway of another great power. What I don't understand is how they beat me if I never lost most favored status and always bought up their stuff I got first dibs on.

You can tell what subsidies other powers are giving a minor nation, but I can't find any way of telling their overall attitude level toward other powers or grants they're being given. Are the AIs cheating? Do they give the minor nation some massive one shot grant to snipe them from me despite 100 turns of being most favored nation?

Did the other powers own resources in the Minor Nation?

Nope. I own literally every single resource and was their most favored trade partner since literally turn 2, buying all their stuff every turn. Giving them subsidies as soon as I could afford embassies, getting all the way up to dark green relations.

It does suck when they flip for no reason. No way of knowing if its built that way for a bug in the game.

I have found my old note that locked grants don't work in Imperialism 1. AI uses one time grants that can't be seen during your turn but you can see them when some country ask you for alliance. At that moment you can still use information tab on diplomacy screen and see their grants. Dont forget that information tab has more buttons in center of the tab and you can select diffrent countries.

Oh, the locked grants just don't work?

Well, that's lovely.

Are you sure about this?

Towards the end of the game, I give locked grants to all Great Powers I'm not at war with, just for the fun of it and because I want to have Dark Green relations with them and I have too much money to spare. It always causes them to become Dark Green quickly.

Is the locked grant thing broken only for Minor Nations? Do you remember where you got the info from?

By the way, I have also seen Minor Nations snatched from me, despite being most favoured partner from the get -go and giving them constant grants.

imperialism 2 is the easiest. i usually just eliminate the great powers early. i rarely play random. imperialism 1 have no fixed map i believe.

It's there in the Diplomacy screen.

Go to the main screen, click the nation you wish to know about and then use the buttons in the centre of the bottom of the screen.

The attached screenshots should help. I've made a red circle around the button used for each image.


Later on, you enquire about Villages and Towns for Imp 1:

*Your factories in your city need to capable of producing at least 8 units per turn (top left corner of the factory's screen).

*The Hamlet needs to be connected to the internal trade network by Port and/or Depot

*You need to be producing suitable raw materials in that Province.

*You need to have a certain minimum transport capacity - can't remember if it's 100, 125 or 150. You know when you have achieved this as you get a railway station upgrade in your Capitol City.


My final comment is that locked grants do work. Remember though that you gain diplomatic reputation based on your diplomatic actions, so if your rep is low enough you'll have a major hill to climb.

Hmmm...okay never knew you could see other nations' relations like that. Does it tell you their specific grants anywhere?

I think some of that village development info is inaccurate.

I definitely haven't had to expand the finished factory up to 8 to start getting the first free goods.

I'm fairly sure you get village development to start producing free goods with just the adjacent depot to the hamlet, and it doesn't have to be connected to the capital. Of course, you can't actually transport the goods until it's connected, but it starts producing them without a connection (been years since I played, but I'm 80% sure that's the case).

The minimum transport capacity is definitely not a factor. I've gotten village development when my capacity was below 30. Maybe it's an additional milestone later on to get it past 100, but you definitely get development prior to that.

I think the year is a factor. Development milestones start unlocking at certain dates. Prior to that, no amount of resources, depot connections, or factory capacity will get you more development.