Hello fellow Colonizers,

Back when I first played Colonization in the '90s, I discovered in GAME.TXT a set of interactions with your King that apparently did not make it into the final game. From all appearances, they had been planning to give players the ability to request an audience with your own King and do such things as ask for money or lower taxes, or even demand independence. IMHO (in addition to an actual Loyalist victory option) such an audience would have made the game so much more fun and interesting! Here are the conversations:

@KINGNO
@width=190
"We are most dissatisfied with your efforts in the
New World. Therefore we do not deign to fulfill
your request at this time."


@KINGFUND
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"Our royal treasury is stretched to the limit. At this
time we can offer you a grant of only {%NUMBER0$}."

"We gratefully accept this gift."
"Never mind."

@KINGLOWER
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"After careful consideration, we have graciously decided
to lower your tax rate by {%NUMBER0%%}. The tax rate is
now {%NUMBER1%%}."

@KINGNOTHING
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"In spite of your impudence, we shall not change your
tax rate at this time. You may, however, kiss our
royal pinky ring."

@KINGRAISE
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"Your DARE to demand lower taxes! After the kindness
the crown has shown? For your impudence we shall raise
taxes by {%NUMBER0%%}. The tax rate is now {%NUMBER1%%}."

@KINGTAX
@width=190
"It is essential that the Crown receive proper
recompense for its efforts on your behalf.
Therefore we have graciously decided to raise your tax rate
by {%NUMBER0%%}. The tax rate is now {%NUMBER1%%}. If you
wish, you may kiss our royal pinky ring."

@KINGBLESS
@width=190
"You have our royal blessing. If you wish, you may kiss
our royal pinky ring."

@KINGLAUGH
@width=190
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You make a funny joke!
Ho ho ho ho ho! Independence! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

@KINGWELCOME0
@width=190
"Welcome, %STRING0 %STRING1. Your exploits in
the New World please us greatly."

Never knew about these. Interesting stuff. Among the myriad of whatever real reasons there were for pulling this, I can see a mechanism to lower taxes may be a bit overpowered. You could play by their rules and then simply declare for independence whenever you were ready. Over simplification of course, in any case, this stuff is pretty cool!

I always wanted the ability to play as the natives in the original. The updated version gives you this ability but it really doesnt feel any different from the colonists in that game (granted, i find the game overall to be lacking so I am biased).

Thanks for sharing! It would have been interesting to have other ways to interact with the King. Maybe these interactions could have been unlocked by a particular Founding Father joining the Continental Congress, as a way to balance them. What would a loyalist victory be like? Controlling a certain % of the New World, like the domination victory in Civilization?

The way I first envisioned it when I played Col back in the 90s encompassed a couple of things.

Right off the bat, currently, Rebel sentiment is unambiguously good, and Tory sentiment bad. I'd make each have its own benefits and drawbacks. Maybe to counterbalance the benefits you get from adding to the Continental Congress, by playing in a Loyalist style and forfeiting C/C advancement the King could instead send you Royal advisers from Europe to give other boosts.

Secondly, I'd insert a degree of independence/non-correlation between my personal actions as governor, and the sentiment of the population. E.g., if I were a very Tory-oriented gov, I could at first keep my populace in line and loyal to the Mother Country, but eventually, mid- to late-game, my popularity/effectiveness would wane and my ability to keep rebel sentiment in check diminish with time.

Ultimately, enough of my colonies could build up enough rebel sentiment to declare independence on their own, against my will, and I could have the option to side with them, even if reluctantly (think a John Adams), at which point the endgame would proceed much the same way it does now. But I could alternatively choose to stay loyal to the Crown and take charge of any remaining loyal colonies, and use Loyalist militia reinforced by the Royal Expeditionary Force to put down the rebellion, thus winning the game.

Your ideas are intriguing. I'd love to have some Founding Fathers that allow cooperating with the King -he currently is treated as a purely antagonistic figure. Maybe it would require some rebalancing of mechanics, since almost everything in the game is design towards achieving independence.

Maybe for Colonization 3?