FreeCol

FreeCol

Challenge the New World...

Screenshot from FreeCol 0.5.2
Original author(s) The Freecol Team
Developer(s) SourceForge project FreeCol
Initial release January 2, 2003 (2003-01-02)
Stable release
0.11.6 / October 17, 2015 (2015-10-17)
Written in Java
Platform Java platform 1.5 or later, display 1024×768 or more
Available in 54 languages (translatewiki.net)
Type Turn-based strategy video games
License GPLv2
Website www.freecol.org

FreeCol is a 4X video game, a clone of Sid Meier's Colonization. Released under the GNU General Public License, FreeCol is free and open source software.

FreeCol is mostly programmed in Java and should thus be platform-independent. In practice, it is known to run on Linux and Windows, as well as Mac OS X (with some limitations). In February 2007 it was SourceForge.net's Project of the Month.[1]

While remaining faithful to the original in terms of mechanics and gameplay, FreeCol sports a new set of redesigned graphics. Moreover, in addition to the classical Colonization rules, it features an additional ruleset that incorporates ideas that didn't make it to the final version of Meier's game, requests by fans and original concepts like new European players with new national bonuses.

Gameplay

In FreeCol the player leads the colony of a European power from the arrival on the shore of the New World into the future, achieving one of a two of possible victory conditions: either gaining independence by declaring independence and subsequently defeating the dispatched royal expeditionary force or by defeating the colonies of all the competing European powers by the year 1600. To be allowed to declare independence, at least 50% of the player's colonists must support independence. This is achieved by producing liberty bells; 200 liberty bells turn one colonist from being a royalist into being a rebel. To be able to defeat the royal expeditionary force the player must train and build a strong enough army of his own.

Another important factor are the numerous settlements of different Native American nations. Native settlements can be traded with to gain gold or they can be conquered for treasure. Native settlements can also teach the player's colonists and turn them into specialist. Specialists are not necessary for anything, because in FreeCol any unit can be assigned any task, but specialist are considerably more productive when assigned in their trade. Most specialist can be trained for gold in Europe or come as settlers for free, but certain specialist, namely the "expert fur trapper", the "master cotton planter", the "master tobacco planter" and the "master sugar planter" can only be trained at certain native settlements.

FreeCol starts in the year 1492 with two colonists on a caravel on the ocean at the player's disposal. The player is the king's proxy and is supposed to lead the caravel to the shore and found a colony in the New World consisting of multiple settlements. The player gets additional colonists by producing food – every 200 food units a new unit, a "free colonist" appears in the producing settlement, by immigration from Europe, by converting the natives and by capturing unarmed units of competing European colonies.

The player may trade with Europe using various natural resources which are produced in settlements or acquired from trade with natives. In each settlement the player can also build up industrial buildings to convert raw materials into processed goods, which sell for more in Europe, providing a significant economic advance.

See also

References

  1. ↑ SourceForge.net: Project of the Month
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