ORIGINAL: Barthheart
Yes please do give us your opinion, the more the better. Very interested in this game.
I will say that the look is all civ4. It's pretty much built on the civ4 engine and looks like civ4 with some graphical improvements. Other than that, though, it's a fairly faithful remake of col.
The underlying mechanics are all col. The economic system is nearly identical and is the least touched part of the game. The primary improvement in that regard is the ability for pioneers to improve land not only by plowing fields but by building lodges and mines.
The most dramatic change is probably to the founding fathers system. Instead of simply building liberty bells to get your pick of one of five founding fathers, you also have to accumulate score points in a field as well as liberty bells to be eligible for a specific founding father. The game keeps a running count of how many liberty bells and (military/exploration/economic/religious) points, and you can either settle for a lesser founding father or save up for a greater founding father down the line. The availability of a FF is based on points rather than time, specifically.
Politically, you have pretty much the same options you have in original col, but you have borders that you can make other colonies respect by denying open borders. The borders of your settlements expand as you produce liberty bells, but you can still only work adjacent tiles. Indians have no political borders nor do they respect colonial political borders, but they still don't like you settling next to them, and usually past the first city they will start charging to allow you to settle near them or risk angering them. Unlike in the original col, you don't buy Indian land piecemeal, when you settle down you get all of the squares around the settlement. The king not only makes demands by raising taxes now but also will simply ask for money directly. You can also ask the king for military support and he will sell you military units.
Militarily, they've gone in the civ4 direction with it(though civ4's original combat system was very similar to col's), adding in promotions for units, especially veteran soldiers. Combat will now destroy the defeated unit unless it is attacking cavalry which has a chance of retreating. The advantage of veterans has been changed from a simple increase in strength to getting experience much more quickly and thus receiving promotions which increase their strength and combat bonuses in certain situations. Dragoons are now not universally better than foot soldiers as they do not receive defensive bonuses. A new ship type was added, the Ship of the Line, which can be built and purchased, and it's a ship with the same strength as a frigate but has a bonus against frigates. The King's soldiers now have a bonus against settlements, giving the human player a good reason to meet them in the field. Also, great generals have been added. You get them for winning battles, and they will give units in their stack free promotions.
If you have any other questions, let me know.
