Contents

1 Introduction

Welcome to FreeCol! If you’re interested in development of this program, please see the FreeCol web site. This is a draft version of the user’s guide. You can find the latest version at the FreeCol homepage.

2 About

2.1 About FreeCol

The FreeCol team aims to create an Open Source version of Colonization (released under the GPL). At first we’ll try to make an exact clone of Colonization. The visuals will be brought up to date with more recent standards but will remain clean, simple and functional. Certain new ’features’ will be implemented but the gameplay and the rules will be exactly the same as the original game. Examples of modern features are: an isometric map and multiplayer support.

This clone will be developed incrementally and result in FreeCol 1.0.0 which will be an almost exact Colonization clone. Incremental development basically means that we’ll add features one at a time. This allows us to have a running program at all times and also to release an unfinished but working game once in a while.

Once FreeCol 1.0.0 is finished we’ll start working towards FreeCol 2.0.0. FreeCol 2 will go beyond the original Colonization and will have many new features, it will be an implementation of our (and our users’) image of what Colonization 2 would have been.

2.2 The Original Colonization

The original Colonization was released in 1994 by Microprose. Colonization is heavily based on Civilization which some consider to be the best turn-based strategy game for the PC in the history of mankind.

In Civilization the object of the game was to build a nation that could stand the test of times and that could also do one of the following: conquer the world or be the first to launch a spaceship. In Colonization things are bit different...

A Colonization game starts in 1492 and the object of the game is to colonize America. You begin the game with one vessel and two colonists.

As in Civilization you need to build a powerful nation, but fortunately in the early part of the game you’ll be able to send ships back to Europe in order to sell the goods you’ve produced or to bring back some colonists. Getting colonists into the new world is a very important aspect of the game as one game turn takes one year and later on even one season and as a result colonies don’t grow as rapidly as they do in Civilization. You can pay colonists to come to the new world or you can show off with the religious freedom of your people in which case they will hop on your vessels for no money at all.

Another important aspect is trade: the source of all income (apart from Inca and Aztec gold). In a land filled with precious resources it is important to build your colonies at the right location and to place craftsmen where they belong. This is not only to have an income but also to be able to live off the land when you can no longer count on the support of Europe.

Through all this you’ll have to decide whether or not you want to live next to the native americans peacefully. They can teach your colonists new skills that cannot be tought anywhere else and they will offer you goods in case you choose to treat them as your friends. On the other hand, their villages can be attacked and their valuable goods can be taken from them and sold in Europe.

Other European forces are also busy occupying their piece of the new world. Should their borders go too far then take over some of their colonies by force because they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing to you.

The object of Colonization is to declare your independence and survive an attack of the King’s forces. Before declaring your independence you need to have the majority of the people behind you. This can be done by promoting free speech and by providing a strong governmental system.

3 Installation

You can download a system independent installer, which should install FreeCol and set up the required shortcuts on your desktop. If everything works as planned, you will only need to double click the icon in order to start the game. If this is not the case, then please read the following paragraphs.

3.1 System Requirements

FreeCol is written in Java. In order to run, it requires a Java Virtual Machine. In theory, FreeCol should run on any platform on which a Java Virtual Machine compatible with Sun Java 5 or 6 is available. In practice, however, things are less clear cut.

FreeCol is known to work with Sun’s Java 5 and 6 (which you can get here, but not with projects based on GNU Classpath or OpenJDK, as some font handling classes used by FreeCol have not yet been implemented. This is expected to change in the near future, however. FreeCol is known to run on recent versions of Windows and Linux, and on MacOSX to some extent. If you are using Linux, using Java 6 is recommended, as its font rendering is much better. If you are using FreeCol on a different platform, we would like to hear about it.

FreeCol requires at least 128 MB memory and works best with a screen resolution of at least 1024x768 pixels. You can still use the game with a smaller screen, but some dialogs will not be completely displayed.

3.2 Compiling FreeCol

In order to compile FreeCol you will need Java and the Ant build system, which you can get here. When these are installed, go to the root directory of FreeCol and type ant to build a JAR file containing the game. This process requires the native2ascii task, which is an optional ant task. Some Linux distributions place optional tasks in a different package, so make sure you have installed all necessary packages if you are a Linux user. The game is started using the command java -Xmx128M -jar FreeCol.jar.

If something goes wrong, please open a bug report at the SourceForge page of FreeCol. Use the command ant -projecthelp to find out about other kinds of things you can build (this manual, for example). Note that you will require additional software to build the manual, however.

4 Interface

This section will provide information about various interface elements, as well as the keyboard shortcuts and the different actions that can be used in the game.

4.1 Starting the game

If you installed FreeCol with the system independent installer, or the Windows installer, there should be a shortcut on your desktop. Double click the icon in order to start the game. If that does not work, or if you prefer using the command line, then please read the following paragraphs.

4.1.1 Command line options

If you are in the directory in which FreeCol is installed, you can start the game with the command java -Xmx128M -jar FreeCol.jar. This will tell the Virtual Machine to load the game and to set the maximum heap size to 128 MB. Refer to the manual of your Java Virtual Machine for details.

There are many other Java options, but you probably won’t need to change the default settings. FreeCol is developed in English, but it includes translations into Breton, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, (Brazilian) Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish, some of which are not very complete, however. Java will automatically select the translation for your locale, if available, and English otherwise. If you should wish to select a different language, or if language selection fails, you can choose a different language from the preferences menu.

FreeCol also provides several application-specific command line options:

• --freecol-data DIR Specify the directory that contains FreeCol’s data files. In general, you will only need to use this if you have installed a modified copy of FreeCol’s data files.
• --windowed[[=]WIDTHxHEIGHT] Run FreeCol in windowed mode instead of full screen mode and set the window width and height. You will need this if your window manager or Java Virtual Machine do not (correctly support) FreeCol’s full screen mode. If you use Linux and Java 5, for example, you should set the window width to the width of your screen, but probably set the window height slightly lower than the height of your screen, in order to leave space for the menu bar, dock etc.
• --load-savegame SAVEGAME_FILE Load the given savegame. This is particularly useful in combination with the client option show savegame settings.
• --no-sound Run FreeCol without sound. Note that the game does not yet contain any music, so the only sounds you will hear will be special effects.
• --usage Display the help screen.
• --version Display the version number.
• --server PORT Start a stand-alone server on the specifed port. If you don’t know what that means, you will not need the option.
• --server-help Display a help screen for the more advanced server options.

There are several other options that you will probably only be interested in if you are a developer:

• --no-java-check Skip the java version check.
• --no-memory-check Skip the memory check.
• --log-level LEVEL Set the java log level.
• --debug Start the game in debugging mode.

4.1.2 Game setup

If you start FreeCol without command line options, the game will first open a dialog that allows you to start a new game, to open a saved game, to open the map editor, to set various options, and to quit.

If you decide to start a new game, you will be presented with another dialog, which enables you to start a single-player game, to retrieve a list of servers from meta.freecol.org, to join a multi-player game, or to start a new multi-player game.

If you wish to join a multi-player game, you must enter the IP address of a server that is running a FreeCol game as well as the port it is running on. The default port is 3541. If you wish to start a multi-player game, then the IP address of the server will be that of your computer, but you must still select a port to run the server on. Again, the default port is 3541. You must also decide whether you want to run a public server or a private server. By default, you start a private game.

If you choose to retrieve a list of running games from the metaserver, your computer will attempt to establish a connection to meta.freecol.org, port 3540. You will be presented with a list of games, from which you can select one to connect to. Please note that the list will frequently be empty, since not that many public multi-player games are being run.

FreeCol is a client-server game. The game server takes care of the game logic, and the client provides the graphical user interface. One or several clients can connect to the game server via the network. In the case of a single-player game, all other players are handled by the game server. At the moment, however, your client uses a network connection even if the server is running on the same computer.

This means that you can only run FreeCol if you have the necessary privileges to bind an unprivileged port. If you use a personal firewall that blocks the port you wish to use, you will need to configure your firewall accordingly. If you wish to retrieve a list of games from the metaserver, you also need to configure your firewall to permit connections to that server, port 3540. In order to connect to a server, your client also needs to bind a port. Which port depends on the operating system you use.

If you are running a public game server, then your firewall must also permit the clients to connect to the port of the game server.

4.1.3 Game options

If you decide to start a single-player game or a game server, you will be able to choose which nation to play and which colour to use. The map generator options allow you to load a map, or to set several parameters that will influence the size and terrain of a randomly generated map. FreeCol includes a large map of the Americas, which can be selected by clicking on the map icon.

The game options proper allow you to select several parameters that influence game play, such as non-standard rules, victory conditions and the difficulty of the game.

If you join a multi-player game, you can also choose a nation and colour, but other players might already have selected your preferred nation.

4.2 Client options

The client options panel allows you to customize how your client displays the game objects and how it handles some tasks such as auto-saving.

First, we have general display options:

• The language to use. Some languages are spoken in more than one country. In this case, you might also be able to select a specific country. If the translation you choose is not complete, the missing strings will be taken from another language file. This could be the default translation for your language or the English language version. If you selected Austrian German, for example, missing strings would be taken from the default German translation if available, and the English language version otherwise.
• The minimum number of goods to display with a counter. If you accept the default setting of seven, for example, six hammers will be diplayed without a number, and seven hammers will be displayed with the number 7 on top. Note that some panels only show a single item with a number next to it or below it anyway.
• The maximum number of goods to display. If you accept the default setting of seven, then no more than seven items will be displayed, even if the corresponding counter tells you that these seven items represent a far larger amount.
• Whether to center on the active unit always.
• Whether to display the Fog of War.
• Whether to scroll the map when dragging with the mouse.
• Whether to sort your colonies by name, age, position, size or Sons of Liberty membership. Since name, age and position are unique, these keys impose a total order, whereas size and Sons of Liberty membership do not. In the case of size, the Sons of Liberty membership is used as a secondary key, and vice versa.

Next, we have message display options: You can choose whether to group messages by type, by source, or not at all. The source of the message is a game object, typically a colony or unit, and the type of the message is either the default type, which is always displayed, or one of the following types, which can be turned off:

• Warning messages. These are important and should generally not be turned off.
• Messages about the Sons of Liberty membership in your colonies.
• Messages about the efficiency of the government in your colonies. The efficiency of the government influences the production of all types of goods.
• Messages about the number of goods in your colonies’ warehouses.
• Messages about units improving through experience, education or promotion after a battle won.
• Messages about units being demoted after a battle lost.
• Messages about new units, such as colonists born in your colonies.
• Messages about units lost in battle, missing in action or dead of starvation.
• Messages about the completion of buildings in your colonies.
• Foreign diplomatic messages about the declaration of wars and signing of peace treaties.
• Messages about the prices of goods in Europe changing.
• Warnings about the suitability of colony sites. These messages are particularly useful for new players. Turn them on if you are unsure where to establish your colonies.
• Messages about the factors that influence combat. Turn them on to learn more about things like the terrain bonus, the ambush bonus, or the “artillery in the open” penalty.

Finally, there are the savegame settings:

• Whether to show savegame settings always, only when starting multi-player games, or never. These settings include the name, address and port of the game server you wish to connect to. If you only play single-player games, you can choose the option “never”.
• After how many turns you want the client to create an auto-save file. If you select 0, then the client will never create auto-save files.

4.3 The main screen

The figure 1 represents the main screen.

The main screen consists of up to six different areas: the menu bar at the top, the minimap in the lower left corner, the info panel in the lower right corner, the order buttons between the minimap and the info panel, the compass rose in the top right corner, and the main map in the background. The units, colonies, and so forth can be seen on the main map. They are also represented as coloured dots on the minimap. The preferences menu allows you to disable some of these controls if you wish to do so.

4.3.1 The Menubar

The menubar obviously contains the menu. It contains the submenus Game, View, Orders, Report and Colopedia, at the left hand of the screen, as well as a status area at the right hand of the screen. The status area tells you about your score, the amount of gold you possess, your current tax rate and the current turn.

The Game Menu allows you to:

• start a new game
• open a savegame
• save the current game
• change your preferences
• reconnect to the server
• chat with another player
• declare independence
• end your turn
• quit

The View Menu allows you to:

• turn the minimap and the info panel on or off
• turn the display of tile names on or off
• turn the display of tile owners on or off
• turn the map grid on or off
• switch between the unit view and the terrain view
• switch to the Europe panel

The Orders Menu enables you to give orders to the currently selected unit:

• wait until other units have moved
• switch to sentry mode
• fortify
• go to a destination you select
• build a colony
• plow the tile the unit is on (requires 20 tools)
• build a road on the tile the unit is on (requires 20 tools)
• unload all goods and units on board
• continue towards a selected destination
• skip this turn
• switch to a different unit on the same tile
• forget current orders
• change the unit’s name
• disband the unit

Note that not all orders are available at all times. The unload order is only available if the unit is a carrier and is in a colony, for example, and the build colony order is only available if the unit is able to build colonies and the tile it is on will support a colony.

The Reports Menu provides access to various reports on the current state of your colonies. In these reports, icons as well as text strings of a greyish-brown colour link to the places they refer to. If you click on the name of a colony, for example, the Colony Panel will be opened.

• The Religious Advisor tells you how many crosses your colonies produce, and how many crosses are required in order to recruit the next emigrant in Europe.
• The Labour Advisor tells you which types of colonists have emigrated to the New World or are waiting in Europe. If you can not remember where you sent your only Expert Ore Miner, for example, you can use this report to locate him.
• The Colony Advisor tells you which units are present in each of your colonies, what each colony is producing, which buildings have already been built, and which building is currently being built.
• The Foreign Affairs Advisor tells you about your relations with foreign powers, the number of colonies and units they possess, as well as their relative naval and military strength, and the amount of gold they possess. As soon as Jan de Witt has joined the Continental Congress, you are also informed about the number of Founding Fathers, the current tax and the current Sons of Liberty membership of your opponents.
• The Indian Advisor tells you about your relations with the various Indian nations, and the number of settlements they possess.
• The Continental Congress Advisor tells you which Founding Fathers are already present in the Continental Congress and which Founding Father is currently being elected. It also tells you how many Liberty Bells each of your colonies is producing, and whether they have already built the Printing Press and the Newspaper.
• The Military Advisor informs you of the deployment of your military units, as well as the strength of the Royal Expeditionary Force.
• The Naval Advisor informs you of the whereabouts of your naval units, as well as the strength of the Royal Expeditionary Force.
• The Trade Advisor details the current market prices of all goods, the profits before and after taxes you have made, as well as the amount of goods present in each of your colonies. Colonies that have already built the Custom House are highlighted, as are all goods that are currently being automatically exported from these colonies.
• The Turn Report presents a summary of various events that have occurred during the current turn. If no such events have occurred, the Turn Report will not open.
• The Requirements Report gives an account of how well certain requirements of your colonies are met. It tells you which colonies require expert units and where these units can be obtained or trained, for example. It also tells you which colonies require raw materials in order to increase their production of manufactured goods, and which colonies produce a surplus of these materials.

The Colopedia Menu provides access to the online game help, which is divided into six sections:

• The terrain section contains information on all the different types of terrain you may encounter in the New World.
• The unit section provides details on various types of units, your own as well native units and units of the Royal Expeditionary Force.
• The goods section gives on overview of all the types of goods in the game.
• The building section provides information on the various constructions you may build in your colonies.
• The Founding Father section can be used to look up information on the various Founding Fathers you may elect to the Continental Congress.

4.3.2 The Info Panel

If you are in unit view mode (the default), the info panel in the lower right corner of the screen either shows information on the currently selected unit, or contains a button to end the current turn if no unit is selected. If a unit is selected, then the info panel shows an image of the unit, as well as its name and the moves it has left. If the unit is a carrier unit, such as a ship or wagon train, the info panel also shows the units or goods on board of the carrier. If the unit is a pioneer, the info panel shows the number of tools the unit carries.

If a unit is displayed, you can click on the info panel in order to centre the map on this unit.

If you are in terrain view mode, then the info panel displays the name, owner, defense bonus, movement cost and potential production of the selected tile. You can switch between view modes by pressing Shift-Ctrl-V, or by using the view menu.

4.3.3 The Minimap

The minimap in the lower left corner of the screen shows you a more abstract view of the map than the main map. Different types of terrain are distinguished by colour, and units and settlements are also represented by dots in the colour of the nation that owns them. You can use the minimap to navigate around the map quickly. Either click on the minimap to center the view on a certain point, or drag the white frame around. Zoom buttons to the left and to the right of the minimap allow you to zoom into and out of the view.

4.3.4 The Unit Buttons

The unit buttons displayed between the minimap and the info panel allow you to give order to your units. Note that not all buttons are always active. A ship can not plow a tile, for example, so the plow button is never active if the selected unit is a ship. The eight buttons have the following functions:

• wait
• skip turn
• fortify
• clear forest / plow tile (requires 20 tools)
• build road
• build colony
• disband unit

All these actions are also available from the Orders Menu of the menu bar, and as keyboard shortcuts.

4.3.5 The Compass Rose

The compass rose can be displayed in the top right corner and allows you to give your units movement order by clicking on the corresponding direction. It is primarily intended for users who do not wish to (or are unable to) use the keyboard shortcuts.

4.3.6 The Main Map

The main map shows you the New World in greater detail. You can see the different types of terrain, forested and otherwise, hills, mountains, rivers, and, of course, the various units and settlements of the native and European players. Left click on a tile in order to center the main map, or on a unit in order to select it (a display option allows you to decide whether the map should always centre on the selected unit, or not).

Your colonies as well as those of your opponents are displayed on the map. You can see their names as well as their sizes, which are displayed as a number and also influence the image used to represent them. The color of the colony’s name is always the color of its owner, but the color of the colony size indicates whether any production bonuses or penalties apply (at normal difficulty):

Left click on a colony in order to open the colony panel. If there is an active unit outside of the colony on the same tile, then a single left click will select the unit instead. In this case, a double click will still open the colony panel.

Right clicking on an empty tile, will either display some information on that tile if no unit is selected, or open a pop-up menu that additionally allows you to send the selected unit to this tile. If the tile contains some of your units, the menu will also enable you to select each of these units. If the tile contains a native settlement, the menu will also provide you with an item that will bring up some information on that settlement. It the tile contains one of your own colonies, the menu will also allow you to open the colony panel.

You can also activate the map scroll by moving the cursor towards the edges of the main map. Scrolling with the minimap is faster, however.

If a unit is selected, further information about that unit is displayed in the info panel, and you can move the unit using the numeric keypad or the compass rose. If you select a unit with the left mouse button and drag the mouse, the main map will display the best path from the unit’s current position to the tile the mouse is hovering over.

The tiles the path consists of will be marked with boots if the unit is on foot, with horseshoes if the unit is mounted, with wheels if the unit is a wagon train, or with sextants if the unit is a naval unit. Full-colour symbols mark tiles that can be reached in the same turn, whereas shaded symbols mark tiles that can be reached only in subsequent turns. A number indicates how many turns later the unit will arrive on this tile. You can see this on the main screen.

Once you release the mouse button, the selected unit will begin to follow this path. It will awake once it has arrived at its destination or if it can no longer follow the path (if a unit belonging to a different player is in the way, for instance). You can also press the middle mouse button, or both mouse buttons if your mouse only has two buttons, in order to give the selected unit a movement order.

In the original Colonization game, a unit used up all movement points when entering a colony. In FreeCol, this is not the case — a unit can enter a colony just like any other tile. If the unit is placed in a building, or on a colony tile, or if a carrier is loaded or unloaded, however, it will lose all its movement points.

Units are marked with small coloured shields, which may or may not display a letter. The background colour indicates the nation this unit belongs to. The Dutch units, for example, are usually marked with orange shields. The letter indicates the current state of the unit:

• -: the unit is active (no orders).
• F: the unit is fortified.
• G: the unit is going somewhere.
• P: the unit is plowing a tile.
• R: the unit is building a road.
• S: the unit is a sentry (waiting for transport).
• 0: the unit has no moves left.

If the unit is a foreign naval unit, the shield will display a number instead. This is the number of holds this unit is using.

Indian Settlements display at least two shields: the first indicates the nation this settlement belongs to, and the second, which bears an exclamation mark (!), indicates the current relations between the nation and your colonists. Its background may be green, blue, yellow, orange or red, depending on whether your relations are good, mediocre or bad. A Settlement with a European mission displays a third shield bearing a cross on a black or grey background. The colour of the cross indicates the European nation that established the mission. The background of the shield is black if the mission was established by a Jesuit Missionary, and grey otherwise.

The order buttons represent some of the orders you can give to your units. You can move your mouse over the buttons to see their respective orders. If a unit is unable to perform a certain action, the corresponding order button will be disabled. The orders are also available from the Orders Menu, and you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:

• b: build a colony.
• c: center on the currently selected unit.
• d: disband the active unit.
• e: show the Europe panel.
• f: fortify.
• g: goto some destination.
• p: plow the current tile (requires 20 tools).
• r: build a road on the current tile (requires 20 tools).
• s: be a sentry (wait for something to happen).
• w: wait.
• space: skip for this turn.
• enter: end the turn.
• plus or equals: zoom in.
• minus or underscore: zoom out.
• ctrl-d: display tile names.
• ctrl-g: display grid.
• ctrl-m: show/hide the map controls.
• ctrl-n: new game.
• ctrl-o: open a game.
• ctrl-q: quit the game.
• ctrl-r: reconnect.
• ctrl-s: save a game.
• ctrl-t: show the chat panel.

You can customize these settings in the preferences dialog.

4.4 The Europe Panel

The figure 2 represents the Europe panel.

In this panel, you can control the ships embarked for America or Europe, and the ships currently stationed in Europe. You can also buy goods, recruit, purchase and train units. Units recruited, purchased or trained are in the Docks Area in the Europe panel.

If a ship has set sail for Europe or America, you can change its direction by dragging it from the Going to America box to the Going to Europe box (or vice versa).

If a ship has docked at the European port can drag and drop units between the Docks and Cargo panel. You drag and drop goods between the Cargo panel and the Market panel. If you want to buy or sell less than 100 units of goods, press the shift key while dragging. This will allow you to specify how many units you wish to transfer. If you press the “Unload” button, all goods will be unloaded.

If any of the goods are displayed in grey, this means they are being boycotted by the Crown because you refused a tax raise. You must pay your tax arrears before you can trade these goods. You can do this by dragging the goods as usual, in which case you will be given the chance to pay your tax arrears (provided you have enough money). A small area at the top right of the screen will keep track of how much money you made or spent and how much taxes you paid.

From time to time, new colonists eager to join you in the New World will appear on the European Docks. If you are unwilling to wait, you can also recruit new colonists by paying for their journey to the New World. Alternatively, you can train expert units at the Royal University. Paying for their education is expensive, however, and not all types of experts are available in Europe.

Units present in Europe can also be armed, mounted, equipped with tools or blessed as missionaries in Europe. In order to select one of these actions, you need to right click on the unit. Note that you will have to pay for the arms, horses or tools required to equip your units.

In order to send a ship back to the New World, you must drag it to the Going to America section of the Europe panel.

4.5 The Colony panel

The figure 3 represents the Colony panel.

To view a colony’s panel, left click on it from the main screen. In this panel, colonists can be assigned to cultivate tiles surrounding the colony, to work in buildings, defend the colony against attackers or wait outside of the colony.

The colony panel consists of several panels and control elements with different functions. At the top of the panel, you can see a select box displaying the name of the colony, which can be used to select a different colony.

Below this select box, you can see the area surrounding the colony to the left and a scroll pane displaying the buildings of the colony to the right. You can drag and drop a unit on a tile or a building. The tiles surrounding the colony can produce several kinds of goods, however. If the unit is not producing the right kind of goods, you can right click on the unit to select a different kind of work.

As buildings can produce only one type of goods, the unit will automatically do the right kind of work. Nonetheless, you can also right click a unit in a building in order to assign it to a different building.

Below the surrounding area, you can see the production panel, which shows how much food, horses, bells and crosses your colony is producing. It also tells you how many colonists support the Sons of Liberty and how many support the crown.

Below the list of buildings, you can see four elements related to the production of buildings and units. At the top left, a select box allows you to select the building or unit you wish to build. The button at the bottom left allows you to buy the selected building or unit instead of building it. The two progress bars to the right show you how many hammers and tools are required to finish the selected building or unit, how many hammers and tools you have already produced, how many will be produced in the next turn, and how long it will take until all necessary goods have been produced.

Yet further below, two panels show you the ships or wagon trains in your colony’s port. If there is at least one unit present, the cargo panel to the right will show you the cargo of the selected carrier. Below these two panels, you can see the colony’s warehouse area. You can drag and drop goods from the warehouse to the cargo panel and vice versa in order to load and unload your ships or wagon trains. Press the shift key while selecting goods if you do not wish to select all the goods present, or less than one hundred units.

You can also drag and drop units from one of the other areas to the cargo panel of a ship.

The Warehouse can only hold a certain amount of goods of each type. Its initial capacity is limited to 100 units of each type of goods, but it can be increased to 300 by building two Warehouse Expansions. If the current limit of the warehouse is exceeded, the number of goods is printed in red. If you do not store the excess units elsewhere, they will be lost at the end of the turn.

If you have already built a Custom House in the colony, you can right-click on the goods in the Warehouse in order to export them to Europe automatically. Goods marked to be exported are printed in green. Right-click on the goods again to stop exporting them automatically.

To the right of these panels you can see the units outside of your colony. These can be fortified units defending your colony, or units just passing through, or waiting for passage elsewhere. Right clicking on one of these units once again allows you to give them orders. You can also drag and drop units from and to this area.

At the bottom of the Colony Screen, you will see a row of buttons, not all of which are always active. From left to right, these buttons will allow you to

• Unload the active ship or wagon train
• Fill up all partially filled holds of the active ship or wagon train
• Open the warehouse dialog in able to change the export and warning levels for all types of goods (see below)
• Rename the colony
• Close the dialog

4.5.1 The Warehouse Dialog

The warehouse dialog allows you to set the warning levels for all types of goods. If you have turned on the warnings about goods levels, you will receive a warning if the number of goods drops below the lower level or rises above the higher level. In a warehouse with a capacity of 100 units of each type of goods, the lower level is set to 10 and the higher level is set to 90 by default.

The export level allows you to specify how many goods should be kept in reserve if goods are automatically exported from this colony, either through the Custom House, or by a carrier following a Trade Route. A checkbox indicates whether this type of goods should be exported through the Custom House or not. If you have not yet built a Custom House in this colony, the checkbox is disabled.

5 The New World

At the beginning of the game, you will start with a naval vessel and two colonists. Your first task will be to discover the New World, which should lie due West, although sailing North West or South West may prove quicker. As soon as you have discovered land, you can establish your colonies and produce goods to send home to Europe.

5.1 Terrain Types

There are many different types of terrain in the New World, each with its own peculiar advantages. At the beginning of the game you will probably arrive at a High Seas tile (or at the edge of the map). High Seas tiles (and the map edge) allow you to sail between Europe and the New World. As you approach land, the High Seas will be replaced by Ocean tiles, which produce Fish.

In the New World, you will also discover Plains, which produce a great deal of Grain, a lesser amount of Cotton, and some Ore; Grassland, on which Grain and Tobacco can be cultivated; Prairie, which are suitable for growing Grain and Cotton; Savannah, which produces Grain and Sugar; Marsh, where Grain can be cultivated and some Ore can be mined; Swamp, which yields some Grain, and small amounts of Sugar, Tobacco and Ore; Desert, which produce some Food, Cotton and Ore; as well as Tundra, where Grain can be grown, and some Ore can be mined.

Large parts of the New World are covered in forests, all of which yield varying amounts of Grain, Lumber and Furs. The Boreal Forest also produces Ore, the Mixed Forest Cotton, the Conifer Forest Tobacco, the Tropical Forest Sugar, the Rain Forest produces small amounts of Ore, Sugar and Tobacco, the Wetland Forest and the Scrub Forest yield some Ore, and the Broadleaf Forest Cotton.

The Hills produce a small amount of Grain, and can be mined for Ore and a lesser amount of Silver. The Mountains are unsuitable for agriculture, but yield some Ore and Silver. Arctic tiles are the least useful type of terrain, as they produce nothing at all. Terrain types that produce no Grain, such as the Mountains and Arctic types, can not support colonies.

The New World is also irrigated by minor and major rivers. The prouction of most types of Goods is increased by the presence of rivers and roads, which your Pioneers can build. All terrain types which produce Grain (except the Hills) can also be cleared or plowed by your Pioneers.

In the case of open land, plowing increases the production of Grain and most other types of goods. In the case of forests, clearing removes the forest and transforms the tile into open land: Boreal Forest is transformed into Tundra, Mixed Forest into Plains, Conifer Forest into Grassland, Tropical Forest into Savannah, Wetland Forest into Marsh, Rain Forest into Swamp, Scrub Forest into Desert, and Broadleaf Forest into Prairie.

Clearing or plowing a tile, and building a road require spending 20 tools. Therefore, these actions can only be carried out by units carrying at least 20 tools. You can equip your units in your colonies or in Europe.

5.2 Goods

The New World produces many goods, which can be traded in Europe. In order to this, you must use your ships to transport them to your Home Port. As soon as the ship arrives in Europe, you can sell the goods, and buy others, in the Europe Panel. Later in the game, after you have built Custom Houses, goods can be exported automatically. Until then, you can partially automate this process by establishing Trade Routes.

Exporting these goods to Europe will be one of your most important sources of income. At the beginning of the game, you will probably want to export raw materials, such as Sugar and Tobacco, but as prices drop, you should concentrate on luxury products, such as Rum and Cigars, which command higher prices.

Food is the single most important good, since all your colonists consume two units of food each turn. If this demand can not be met, some of your colonists will starve to death. On the other hand, a colony that has accumulated 200 units of food will produce a new Free Colonist. Unfortunately, buying food in Europe is always expensive, and colonial foodstuffs fetch only poor prices.

Food comes in two varieties, Grain, which can be cultivated on nearly all land tiles, and Fish, which is produced by ocean and lake tiles. In order to harvest the bounty of the sea, you will need a Dock, however.

Breeding new Horses also requires food, but the horses you already have are content to eat grass and consume no more of your precious food. In order to breed horses, you need at least two horses in your colony (for obvious reasons). Breeding horses does not require Stables, but Stables do speed things up.

Four raw materials are typical for the New World. They will initially generate a good income, but prices will inevitably drop. These goods are Sugar, which is best cultivated on Savannah tiles, Tobacco, best cultivated on Grassland, Cotton, which is most abundant on Prairie tiles, and Furs, which are available on all forested tiles, but most abundantly on Boreal Forest and Mixed Forest tiles.

These four materials can be used to produce corresponding luxury goods, which will fetch much higher prices in Europe. In a distillery, Rum is produced from Sugar. Tobacco is used to make Cigars in the Tobacconist’s House. The Weaver weaves Cloth from Cotton in his house, and the Fur Trader turns Furs into Coats in his house.

Initially, the resource which fetches the highest prices in Europe is Silver, which can be mined in Hills and Mountains. As prices drop, Silver will become less and less useful, however. On the other hand, Hills and Mountains also produce Ore, which is not in great demand in Europe, but which can be refined to produce Tools in the Blacksmith’s House. Tools are required for clearing forests and plowing fields, as well as for constructing advanced buildings and units. Furthermore, Muskets can be produced from Tools in the Armory.

Lumber also fetches poor prices in Europe, but can be used to produce Hammers in the Carpenter’s House. Hammers are required for constructing all buildings, as well as naval units and Wagon Trains. Hammers are “abstract” goods that can neither be transported nor traded. They represent the work required to finish a building rather than some tangible material.

The two other “abstract” goods are Liberty Bells, which are produced in the Town Hall, and Crosses, which are generated by the Church. They represent the concepts of liberty and of religious freedom. Liberty Bells are needed to convince your colonists of your policies, and to elect Founding Fathers to the Continental Congress, whereas Crosses attract further colonists.

Trade Goods, on the other hand, can be transported and traded, but they can not be produced in your colonies. They are only available in Europe and are useful for trading with native settlements, which generally demand Trade Goods.

5.2.1 Trade Routes

The orders menu allows you to assign a Trade Route to a ship or wagon train. If you select this order, the trade route dialog, which enables you to select a trade route or create a new trade route, will open. If you have not created a trade route, you must use the edit trade route dialog to do so first.

A trade route consists of two or more stops, which may either be the Home Port, or one of your colonies. Select a destination from the select box and press the add new stop button. If you select the special destination all colonies, then your Home Port and all your colonies will be added to the list of stops.

If you have selected a destination, you can drag and drop goods from the goods panel to the cargo panel. These are the goods your ship or wagon train should have on board when leaving this stop. If the ship or wagon train arrives at the destination with other goods on board, these goods will be unloaded.

Note that the ships and wagon trains will take the capacity and settings of the warehouses in your colonies into account. They will not unload cargo that would be wasted and they will only load goods that should not be kept in reserve.

As soon as a ship or wagon train reaches the last destination of the trade route, it will continue at the first destination.

5.3 Special Resources

Some types of terrain can also have special resources, which increase the production of a particular type of goods. These resources look just like the goods they will produce. These tiles are particularly valuable.

5.4 Native Settlements

The New World is by no means an uninhabited country. Various tribes of Indians already live there, and make use of the land. When your colonists arrive, you will have to decide whether you will attempt to peacefully coexist with the natives, or to wipe them out. The French player has the advantage of generating only half the alarm among the natives. The Spanish player has the advantage of greater military efficiency against the natives. Your choice of Home Country may influence your strategy — or vice versa.

Small Native Settlements use the tile they are built on as well as all adjacent tiles, just like your Colonies do. Large Native Settlements also use tiles that are two moves away. Your colonists can not use tiles that are already used by natives. If they attempt to do so, the natives will demand some gold for the land. You must then decide whether to pay their price, take the land away from the by force, or to leave the land alone. Naturally, the natives will not be pleased if you take the land away from them. As soon as Peter Minuit has joined the Continental Congress, however, the natives no longer demand payment for their land.

Colonies and armed units near their settlements will alarm the natives and poison your relations. If the natives are happy, they will come to your colonies offering gifts. If they are unhappy, they will come and make demands instead. If they get really angry, they may attack your units or colonies. After a few turns, however, they will usually calm down again.

Some types of units may enter Native Settlements. Units that carry goods, such as Wagon Trains and Ships, can enter the settlements and trade with them. Trade always improves your relations with the natives. If you offer your goods as a gift, this will improve your relations even more.

Scouts can either ask to speak with the chief of the tribe, or demand tribute, which is obviously not good for your relations with the natives. If your scout speaks with the chief, you will learn which skill this settlement teaches and which goods the natives would prefer to acquire. Furthermore, the chief may offer you some gold, or tell you about nearby lands. If your Scout is not a Seasoned Scout already, he may become so.

Free Colonists and Indentured Servants may enter a settlement in order to learn the skills of the natives.

Missionaries, which may be either Jesuit Missionaries or ordinary colonists blessed as missionaries in the Home Port or any colony with a Church, are able to establish a Mission or to incite the natives against another European nation.

The presence of a Mission will reduce tension between the natives and your colonists. In time, some of the natives may also convert and join your colonies as Indian Converts. If the settlement already contains the mission of another European country, your missionary may denounce the teachings of that mission as a heresy. If he is successful, the natives will burn down the old mission and your missionary establishes a new one.

Note that the missionary will always remain in the settlement. He is effectively lost to you.

5.5 Lost City Rumours

In the New World, there are also rumours about Lost Cities, such as El Dorado, or Cíbola. You may send your colonists to explore these rumours, and you might indeed discover one of the Seven Cities of Gold, and a Treasure Train. Other outcomes, however, are also possible.

Mostly, the rumour proves to be nothing but a rumour. Occasionally, you might disturb the burial grounds of a native tribe, which will cause the tribe to declare war on you. It is also possible that your expedition simply vanishes without a trace. On the other hand, you might also discover a small tribe and a few trinkets. Your colonist might become a Seasoned Scout if he has no other skill, or you might discover the sole survivor of a lost colony.

Possibly the best outcome is the discovery of the Fountain of Youth, which will cause numerous colonists to appear on the docks in your Home Port.

As soon as Hernando de Soto has joined the Continental Congress, Lost City Rumours always yield positive results.

6 Colonies

6.1 Picking a suitable site

Your colonies are your most important assets in the new world. Therefore, it is very important to build them in the right place. There are several aspects to consider:

6.1.1 The colony tile

Some terrain types are more suitable for establishing a colony than others. Colonies can not be built on Arctic tiles, nor on Mountains, because these terrain types produce no Grain. Hills and Deserts are less suitable than other tiles because they produce less food, which is very important in the long run. Tiles with forest generally produce less food than tiles without, but Pioneers are able to cut down the forest and plow the tile, which will increase food production. The presence of a river will also increase food production.

The Hills produce a small amount of Grain, and can be mined for Ore and a lesser amount of Silver. The Mountains are unsuitable for agriculture, but yield some Ore and Silver. Arctic tiles are the least useful type of terrain, as they produce nothing at all. Terrain types that produce no Grain, such as the Mountains and Artic types, can not support colonies.

The New World is also irrigated by minor and major rivers. The prouction of most types of Goods is increased by the presence of rivers and roads, which your Pioneers can build. All terrain types which produce Grain (except the Hills) can also be cleared or plowed by your Pioneers. In the case of open land, plowing increases the production of Grain and most other types of goods. In the case of forests, clearing removes the forest and transforms the tile into open land: Boreal Forest is transformed into Tundra, Mixed Forest into Plains, Conifer Forest into Grassland, Tropical Forest into Savannah, Wetland Forest into Marsh, Rain Forest into Swamp, Scrub Forest into Desert, and Broadleaf Forest into Prairie.

6.1.2 The adjacent tiles

In the early stages of the game, you will need to generate cash by selling products from the New World in your Home Port. Thus, many of your early colonies should probably be situated next to bonus tiles, which greatly increase production. Rivers also increase production, though not as much as a bonus resource. On the other hand, they increase the production of many different kinds of goods, unlike a bonus resource.

In order to improve your colony, you will have to construct various buildings. This will require large amounts of lumber. For this reason, you should make sure that at least one tile adjacent to your colony site can produce sufficient amounts of lumber. You will also need tools to construct advanced buildings. Therefore, it is an advantage if the colony can also produce ore, which can be refined to produce tools. However, ore is not as important as lumber.

Some of the tiles may be owned by other European powers, or claimed by Indians. Building a colony too close to other settlements is not a good idea, unless you plan to conquer or destroy these settlements. But remember that colonies with a Stockade can not be abandoned. Keeping your own colonies close together is a good strategy, however, as long as you avoid sharing tiles between several colonies as far as possible.

6.1.3 No Reforestation

You can order your pioneers to cut down forests by plowing a tile. This will increase the food produced on these tiles, and the lumber will be delivered to your colonies. However, you can not plant new forests later. Once cleared, a tile will never produce lumber again.

6.1.4 Government Efficiency

The efficiency of the local governments of your colonies depends on the colonists’ support for the Sons of Liberty. If more than 50% of the colonists support the Sons of Liberty, they all produce one additional unit of goods, and if support for the Sons of Liberty increases to 100 %, they even produce two additional units.

On the other hand, if the number of Tories exceeds a certain number which depends on the difficulty of the game (4 colonists by default), their production decreases by one unit, and if it exceeds this limit by four colonists, their production is decreased by two units. This waste may well destroy your colony and should be avoided at all costs.

In order to prevent this kind of mismanagement, you need to increase the support for the Sons of Liberty. You can do this by producing Freedom Bells in the Town Hall.

6.2 Colony Buildings

A newly established colony already includes several buildings, namely a town hall, a carpenter’s house, a blacksmith’s house, a tobacconist’s house, a weaver’s house, a distiller’s house, a fur trader’s house, and a warehouse. You can improve your colonies by upgrading all of these buildings except the town hall, and by constructing various new buildings. However, many buildings can only be constructed in colonies of a certain size, or after certain Founding Fathers have joined the Continental Congress.

The craftsmen’s houses can be upgraded to workshops, which produce more manufactured goods. After Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress, workshops can be upgraded to factories, which produce one and a half units of manufactured goods from each unit of raw material. While the town hall itself can not be upgraded, the production of Liberty Bells can be boosted by constructing a printing press and then a newspaper.

All in all, there are sixteen different buildings, eight of which are part of every newly established colony:

• The Town Hall, which can not be upgraded, provides workplaces for up to three colonists producing Liberty Bells. Its effect can be increased by building a Printing Press and a Newspaper.
• The Carpenter’s House, which can be upgraded to a Lumber Mill once the colony’s population reaches 3, is used to convert Lumber to Hammers. Hammers are required to construct or upgrade all kinds of buildings.
• The Blacksmith’s House, which can be upgraded to a Blacksmith’s Workshop, is used to convert Ore to Tools. Tools are required to construct certain kinds of buildings and to upgrade all kinds of buildings. Tools are also used by Pioneers and to produce Muskets. Once the population of the colony has reached 8, the Blacksmith’s Workshop can be replaced by Iron Works, provided that Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress.
• The Tobacconist’s House, which can be upgraded to a Tobacconist’s Shop, is used to produce Cigars from Tobacco. Once the colony’s population has reached 8, it can be further upgraded to a Cigar Factory, provided that Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress.
• The Weaver’s House, which can be upgraded to a Weaver’s Shop, is used to turn Cotton into Cloth. It can be upgraded to a Textile Mill as soon as the population of the colony is at least 8 and Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress.
• The Distiller’s House, which can be upgraded to a Rum Distillery, is used to produce Rum from Sugar. Once Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress and the colony’s population is at least 8, the rum distillery can be replaced by a Rum Factory.
• The Fur Trader’s House, which can be upgraded to a Fur Trader’s Post, is used to produce Coats from Furs. Once the colony’s population has reached 6, it can be further upgraded to a Fur Factory, provided that Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress.
• The Warehouse stores all kinds of goods. Its initial capacity is 100 units of each kind of goods, but it can be upgraded to a Warehouse Expansion, which holds 200 and finally 300 units.

The following eight buildings are not part of your basic colony and have to be constructed later:

• A colony with a population of at least 4 may build a Schoolhouse, which enables some master craftsman to teach an unskilled colonist their trade. As soon as the population reaches 8, it can be upgraded to a College, in which additional trades can be taught by two colonists. Once the population reaches 10, the college can be replaced by a University, at which all trades can be taught by three colonists. See Skills and Education for details.
• The Armory is used to produce Muskets from Tools. As soon as the population reaches 8, the armory can be upgraded to a Magazine and then to an Arsenal, provided that Adam Smith has joined the Continental Congress.
• A colony with a population of 3 or more may build a Church, which can be upgraded to a Cathedral as soon as the population reaches 8. The religious freedom of the New World (symbolized by Crosses) causes increased emigration from Europe.
• The Stockade, which can be constructed as soon as the colony’s population reaches 3, protects the colonists from attacks. Note that a colony with a stockade can not be abandoned, it can only be burned to the ground by natives. The stockade can be upgraded to a Fort, which provides better protection and bombards Privateers and enemy naval units on adjacent ocean tiles. The fort can be replaced by a Fortress as soon as the population reaches 8.
• The Stables increase the production of Horses.
• The Dock allow colonists to produce Fish on ocean tiles adjacent to the colony. As soon as the population is at least 4, it can be upgraded to a Drydock, which allows the colony to repair damaged ships. When the colony’s population reaches 8, it can be further upgraded to a Shipyard, which enables the colony to build new ships.
• The Printing Press, which can be upgraded to a Newspaper as soon as the population reaches 4, increases the colony’s production of Liberty Bells.
• The Custom House, which can be built as soon as Peter Stuyvesant has joined the Continental Congress, allows the colony to export goods to Europe directly without the help of ships. Optionally, it may also ignore Boycotts.

6.3 Using Buildings

Some buildings have an immediate effect. The Stockade, for example, provides protection for your colony, and the Docks enable your colonists to go fishing. The effects of these buildings can not be increased by workers. In the building box at the top right of the colony panel, these buildings are shown in parentheses (like this: “(Stockade)”).

Most buildings do nothing by themselves, but provide workers with a place to produce manufactured goods. The Tobacconist’s House, for example, allows colonists to make Cigars from Tobacco. Place one or more colonists in a building in order to convert raw materials to manufactured goods, which can be sold for higher prices. For each building, there are expert units that work more effectively than Free Colonists. Other units may work less effectively.

6.4 Building Units and Buildings

In order to upgrade buildings, and to construct new buildings and certain kinds of units, such as Artillery and ships, you will need to produce Hammers, which represent work being done. Hammers are made from Lumber, so you need to produce lumber, either by cutting down forests, or by placing a colonist on a forested tile next to your colony and ordering him to work as a lumberjack (right click on the unit to give it orders). Then you can place a colonist in the Carpenter’s House in order to convert the lumber to Hammers.

Units and advanced buildings also require Tools, which are made from Ore. So you need to place an ore miner on a tile that produces ore (Hills, for example) and another in the Blacksmith’s House, in order to convert the ore into tools.

7 Your Home Country

Your Home Country is a European monarchy, either Spain, France, England or the Netherlands. Each of these countries has one special ability. If you hail from Spain, you will be more successful fighting against the natives. If you are French, you will be more successful cooperating with the natives. The English generate more colonists, and the Dutch are better traders.

7.1 Your Home Port

The Home Port is a port city in your home country, where you can trade Goods, and train, recruit and buy Units. If you have not built a Drydock in any of your colonies, your damaged ships will also return to the Home Port for repairs.

As you generate Crosses in your colonies, colonists will appear at the docks of the Home Port. Unless William Brewster has joined the Continental Congress, many of these colonists will be Indentured Servants and Petty Criminals. Once William Brewster has been elected, these units will no longer appear at the docks, and you will be able to select the next colonist to emigrate from the recruitment list.

The recruitment list is a list of three colonists who are thinking about emigrating to the New World, but have not yet reached a decision. You can recruit them by offering gold as an incentive. At the beginning of the game, this is a good way of increasing the population of your colonies. However, the amount of gold required will greatly increase during the game.

If you have enough gold, you can also train colonists at the Royal Academy. In exchange for the education you provide, they will also emigrate to the New World. Not all types of colonists can be trained at the Royal Academy, however.

Ships and Artillery can also be purchased in the Home Port. You can also build these units in your colonies, as soon as you have built a Shipyard and an Armory, respectively.

7.2 Your Monarch

Your Home Country is ruled by a Monarch whose actions can have a profound influence on your colonies and your relations to other nations present in the New World.

From time to time, the Monarch may decide to raise the Taxes you pay on all goods you sell in the Home Port. You may refuse to accept these taxes, however, in which case your colonists will stage a protest similar to the Boston Tea Party and throw some goods into the harbour. The Monarch will not be amused and will boycott this type of goods. This means that you will no longer be able to trade these goods in the Home Port until the Boycott is lifted.

You can end a Boycott by paying the outstanding tax arrears. As soon as Jacob Fugger II joins the Continental Congress, all Boycotts will be lifted, but the Monarch may declare further Boycotts later on. As soon as Peter Stuyvesant joins the Continental Congress, you will be able to build Custom Houses in your colonies. The original Colonization game contained a bug which made the Custom House ignore all Boycotts, and this behaviour is available as a rule variant.

Naturally, the Monarch does not trust your colonists, some of which are nothing but Petty Criminals, and some of which even support the infamous Sons of Liberty. For this reason, the crown maintains the Royal Expeditionary Force, which is to put an end to insurrections in the New World. From time to time the Monarch may inform you that further units have been added to the Royal Expeditionary Force, just so that you don’t get any ideas.

The Monarch may also declare war on any nation present in the New World, both European and native. This will also affect your relations with this nation, unless Benjamin Franklin has already been elected to the Continental Congress. In this case, the Monarch’s wars do not affect you anymore.

If you are already at war with some nation, either due to the Monarch’s actions, or your own, the crown may offer you some cheap Mercenaries. If you agree to their price, these units will appear at the docks in your Home Port, ready to set sail for the New World.

8 Units

Several dozen different units are available in FreeCol, but not all units are available to all players. Some units are available only to Indian Players, some units are only available to European Players, and other units are available only to the Royal Expeditionary Force.

The most basic unit of the European Players (including you) is the Free Colonist. The Free Colonist is quite good at any task, but has no special skills. At the beginning of the game, many of the colonists will not be volunteers, but Indentured Servant, or Petty Criminal, who are deported to the New World. Indentured Servants are pretty bad at all jobs within the colony, but just like Free Colonists, they can be sent to native villages to learn a skill from the natives. Petty Criminals are very bad at all jobs within the colony and can not learn anything from the natives. However, both Indentured Servants and Petty Criminals can become Free Colonists through Education.

Many early colonies failed due to a lack of food. In order to avoid a similar fate, you must ensure adequate food production from the very beginning. All your colonists can produce some amount of food, especially on the more fertile terrain types, but the Expert Farmer and the Expert Fisherman will greatly increase your food production. But note that the Expert Fisherman requires a Dock to moor his boat to, and that this requires at least one ocean tile adjacent to your colony.

Four types of units are not available in Europe because they posses skills that can only be learned from the native population. These are the Master Sugar Planter, the Master Cotton Planter, the Master Tobacco Planter, and the Expert Fur Trapper. These units are able to greatly increase your production of Sugar, Cotton, Tobacco, and Furs, respectively.

In the beginning of the game, you will most likely export a great deal of these goods to Europe, but beware, prices will drop! However, all the raw materials of the New World can be used to produce luxury goods that will sell for higher prices in Europe. Sugar can be used to distill Rum, Cotton can be used to produce Cloth, Cigars are made from Tobacco, and Coats are made from Furs. All your colonists can do this, but the Master Distiller, the Master Weaver, the Master Tobacconist, and the Master Fur Trader are the experts who will really rev up your production.

The New World also has two mineral resources, Ore and Silver, to offer. Again, all your colonists are able to mine these resources to a certain extent, but you will need the Expert Ore Miner and the Expert SilverMiner to make the most of them.

Lumber can be produced in all forested tiles, and can also be exported to Europe, although prices are low. However, you will need vast amounts of lumber in order to upgrade your colonies, and no colonist is more skilled at cutting down forests than the Expert LumberJack. Nor is any colonist more skilled at turning the lumber into buildings than the Master Carpenter.

The more advanced buildings you can construct in the your colonies require not only lumber but also Tools, which are produced from Ore. This is the job the Master Blacksmith excels in. Tools are also used by your Pioneer to clear forests and plow fields, but none of your other colonists can match the outdoors skills of your Hardy Pioneer. And finally, Tools are required for the production of Muskets, a demanding task best left to the Master Gunsmith.

All your units are able to explore the New World, but the colonist most suited to this dangerous endeavour is the Scout, a mounted colonist. A Scout may become a Seasoned Scout through experience, either by visiting native settlements, or by investigating Lost City Rumours. The Seasoned Scout is much more skillful at these jobs, but beware, they are dangerous!

Another colonist able to visit native settlements is the Missionary. Any colonist can be converted to a Missionary by blessing him in a colony with a Church, or in the Home Port, which is sure to have several churches and maybe even a Cathedral. Missionaries are able to establish a Mission in the native settlement, and to convert the natives. The Jesuit Missionary, however, is much more accomplished at the job.

The converted natives may join your colonies as Indian Convert. They are unskilled at all jobs within the colony, but more skilled than your Free Colonists at all outdoor jobs. Indian Converts can not be upgraded through Education, but they become Free Colonists as soon as Bartolomé de las Casas joins the Continental Congress.

Many colonists come to the New World in search of religious freedom. Thus, they desire a Church in which to preach and pray. This religious freedom, which attracts more European colonists, is represented by Crosses. Naturally, some colonists are more eloquent and inspired than others, and the most famous of these are known as Firebrand Preacher.

While the preachers are concerned with the spiritual welfare of the colonists, the colonists concerned with the secular welfare of their fellow citizens meet in the Town Hall, which generates Liberty Bells. The most dignified and influential of these citizens are considered Elder Statesman.

Any colonist can be equipped with Muskets, which makes him a Soldier, or a Dragoon if he is mounted. However, combat-hardened Veteran Soldier and Veteran Dragoon are much more effective. A dragoon that is beaten in battle is downgraded to a soldier. A beaten soldier becomes an unarmed colonist.

On the other hand, any soldier or dragoon that wins a battle may be upgraded. A Petty Criminal will be upgraded to an Indentured Servant, an Indentured Servant will be upgraded to a Free Colonist, and a Free Colonist to a veteran unit. Veteran units may be further upgraded to Colonial Regular or Colonial Cavalry, but only after the Declaration of Independence.

Artillery is most effective at attacking and defending colonies and fortified units, but is also very vulnerable in the open. Artillery may become damaged, which decreases its efficiency. Damaged Artillery is still quite powerful, but it can not be repaired, and further damage will destroy it.

The Wagon Train, which has to be built in one of your colonies, can be used to transport up to 200 units of goods over land and to trade with native settlements, and foreign colonies if Jan de Witt has joined the Continental Congress.

The Treasure Train is similar to the Wagon Train, but is used only to transport treasures. You can find these treasures in Lost Cities, or in the ruins of native settlements you have destroyed. If you move your Treasure Trains into a colony with access to the sea, your Monarch will offer to ship it to Europe for a “reasonable fee”, unless Hernán Cortés has joined the Continental Congress, in which case it will be shipped free of charge. If you have a Galleon, however, you can take the Treasure Train to Europe yourself.

The Caravel, the Merchantman and the Galleon are unarmed naval units, with two, four or six cargo holds, respectively. A cargo hold may contain up to 100 units of goods, or any land unit except the Treasure Train, which takes up six cargo holds all by itself, and the Wagon Train, which can not be transported by sea at all.

The Privateer and the Frigate are armed naval vessel with two or four cargo holds, respectively. The Privateer is unique in that it does not fly the flag of your country and can attack the vessels of other countries with impunity. It becomes even more deadly when Francis Drake joins the Continental Congress.

The Man of War is the most powerful naval vessel, and has six cargo holds. At the beginning of the game, only the Monarch has these powerful ships, but when you gain independence you can also construct them in your colonies.

The Monarch has two types of units that you can never command, however. These are the King’s Regular and King’s Cavalry, which are roughly as powerful as your Colonial Regulars and Colonial Cavalry.

The natives also have two types of units that you can not recruit, namely the Indian Brave and the Indian Dragoon. These are strong fighting units that can also carry up to 100 units of goods each.

8.1 Skills and Education

In FreeCol, your colonists come from all walks of life. Some are unskilled Petty Criminals, who are deported to the colonies. Others are Indentured Servants, or Free Colonists with moderate skills. Still others are masters of their craft, experts at their trade or profession, who were educated at the Royal College in Europe. If you have enough gold, you can recruit units directly from the Royal College.

Not all skills, however, can be learned in Europe. Sugar, Cotton and Tobacco, as well as Furs are apparently unknown in Europe. Thus, Master Sugar Planters, Master Cotton Planters, Master Tobacco Planters, as well as the Expert Fur Trappers, can not be recruited in Europe.

At the beginning of the game, these skills can only be learned at Indian Settlements, or through experience. If you put a Free Colonist to work outside of the colony for a long time without changing his work assignment, he may learn the necessary skill and become an expert. This does not work for the more complicated jobs within the colony, however.

The Schoolhouse and its upgrades, the College and the University, allow you to train your units yourself by placing a skilled unit in one of these buildings. Note that the Master Sugar Planter, the Master Cotton Planter, the Master Tobacco Planter, the Expert Fur Trapper, the Master Distiller, the Master Weaver, the Master Tobacconist, the Master Blacksmith and the Master Gunsmith all require at least a College, while the Elder Statesman, the Firebrand Preacher and the Jesuit Missionary even require a University to teach their profession.

A Free Colonist can learn any skill or profession in this manner, but Petty Criminals and Indentured Servants can not. However, a Petty Criminal may become an Indentured Servant, and an Indentured Servant may become a Free Colonist through education. Any colonist placed in a schoolhouse, college or university is able to provide this kind of education.

Petty Criminals may also become Indentured Servants, and Indentured Servants may also become Free Colonists by winning a battle and being promoted. Free Colonists can be promoted to Veteran Soldiers, and after the Declaration of Independence, these may be promoted to Colonial Regulars.

Indian units are more productive than free colonists when working outside of the colony, and less productive when working inside a building. Indian units can not become free colonists through education, but all Indian units become free colonists as soon as Bartolomé de las Casas joins the Continental Congress.

Scouts can explore the New World and enter Indian Settlements in order to speak with the tribal chiefs. A scout entering an Indian Settlement may become a Seasoned Scout through experience. A colonist investigating a Lost City Rumours may also be upgraded to a Seasoned Scout, unless that unit already has another skill.

8.2 Combat

A tile can only be occupied by units of a single Player. If a unit of another Player attempts to enter that tile, combat ensues. The combat mechanism of FreeCol is very simple: Each unit has an attack strength and a defence strength. Attack bonuses and defence bonuses granted by terrain, fortifications or Founding Fathers are added to the base values of the units. If the attack value of the attacker is greater than the defence value of the defender, the attacker wins. Otherwise the defender wins. If a tile is occupied by more than one unit, the attacker will fight against the defender with the strongest defence.

Most units that win a battle may be promoted, and all units that lose a battle will always be captured, demoted, damaged or destroyed. A Petty Criminal may be promoted to an Indentured Servant, and an Indentured Servant may be promoted to a Free Colonist. A Free Colonist may be promoted to a Veteran Soldier, which in turn may be promoted to a Colonial Regular, but only after the Declaration of Independence.

A Dragoon that loses a battle will be demoted to a Soldier, and a Soldier that loses a battle will be demoted to an unarmed colonist. An unarmed colonist that loses a battle is either captured, if the attacker is a European Player, or slaughtered, if the attacker is a Native Player. Wagon Trains and Treasure Trains may also be captured by a European Player and destroyed by a Native Player. Native units that lose a battle are always slaughtered.

Naval units and Artillery can not be promoted. A beaten artillery unit becomes a Damaged Artillery, which can not be repaired and will be destroyed if it loses another battle. Ships are either sunk or damaged when they lose a battle. In either case all units and cargo aboard the ship are lost, and the ship automatically returns to the nearest repair location. This may be one of your colonies with a Drydock or the Home Port.

The Frigate, the Man of War and the Privateer have the ability to capture the goods aboard an enemy ship they have bested in battle. Naturally, they can not take more cargo than their holds will allow.

Naval units can also attack colonies on coastal tiles, although their chance of success is not very high. And colonies with a Fort or Fortress will automatically fire at enemy ships on adjacent ocean tiles.

9 The Continental Congress

As the player generates Liberty Bells, Founding Fathers are elected to the Continental Congress. The Founding Fathers are historical figures who played a more or less important part in the conquest of the New World. Each Founding Father grants the player a new bonus or ability, or causes a certain event to occur, much like the “Wonders of the World” in the Civilization series. At the beginning of the game, you will need only a few Liberty Bells to elect a Founding Father to the Continental Congress, but as the game progresses this number may increase to many hundred Bells.

Adam Smith (1723–1790), better known as the Father of Modern Economics, penned several texts pertaining to Economic theory, including, “The Wealth of Nations” his most famous text. As soon as Adam Smith joins the Continental Congress, the player is allowed to build factories, which produce 1.5 units of manufactured goods for each unit of raw material consumed.

Jacob Fugger II (1459–1525) was an extremely wealthy German merchant and banker who amassed a fortune with family partnerships and stock holdings in the mining industries. As soon as Jacob Fugger joins the Continental Congress, all Boycotts currently in effect are dropped.

Peter Minuit (1580–1638) bought what later became known as Manhattan Island from Native Americans for about 60 Dutch guilders. He later colonized the Delware Bay area as well. As soon as Peter Minuit is elected to the Continental Congress, the Indians no longer demand payment for their land.

Peter Stuyvesant (1592–1672) was appointed Governor General of the New Netherlands, which, after a British invasion he could not stop, became New York. With the election of Peter Stuyvesant, the construction of custom houses becomes possible.

Jan de Witt (1625–1672) was a great Dutch statesmen. He represented the merchants and a encouraged industry and commerce. He also negotiated several important treaties for the Dutch to end wars with England. As soon as Jan de Witt is a member of the Continental Congress, trade with foreign colonies becomes possible.

Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) was one of the greatest explorers to navigate the globe. Magellan was first to circumnavigate the globe and cross the Pacific Ocean. Magellan’s election to the Continental Congress increases the movement of all naval vessels by one, and the time to sail between Europe and the New World is reduced.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554) was the first European explorer to see the Grand Canyon. Though he never found the golden cities he searched for, his mapping of the area now called the Southwestern US was important to further exploration. As soon as Francisco de Coronado joins the Continental Congress, all existing colonies become visible on the map.

Hernando de Soto (1496–1542) was the first European to explore Florida and the southeastern US. He also held a prominent role in conquests of Central America. If Hernando de Soto is a member of the Continental Congress, the exploration of Lost City Rumours always yields a positive result, and all land units have an extended sight radius.

Henry Hudson (1565–1611) was an English navigator who explored and mapped a large area of the northeastern North American continent. Many waterways in that region are named in his honour. His original goal was to find the famed Northwest Passage. The election of Henry Hudson to the Continental Congress doubles the output of all Fur Trappers.

Robert La Salle (1643–1687) was the first European to travel the length of the Mississippi river, while on a mission to set up numerous trading posts along its banks. He later claimed the whole basin as Louisiana in honor of the French King. Later, he explored several of the Great Lakes. If Robert La Salle is a member of the Continental Congress, all colonies gain a stockade as soon as their population reaches three colonists.

Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) was a famed Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec Empire and claimed Mexico for Spain. As soon as Hernán Cortés joins the Continental Congress, conquered native settlements always yield treasure (and in greater abundance) and the King’s galleons transport it free of charge.

George Washington (1732–1799) was the general who lead the colonial army to victory over the British to gain independence for the colonies. This victory and his leadership led to his being named the new nation’s first President. If George Washington is a member of the Continental Congress, any soldier or dragoon who wins a combat is automatically upgraded to the next possible level.

Paul Revere (1734–1818) was the famed rider of colonial America who mounted his horse and rode through the countryside alerting colonists that British soldiers were coming. He was captured during the ride and later released when his captors believed they were in grave danger and their prisoner might slow them down. With Paul Revere a member of the Continental Congress, a colonist automatically takes up any stockpiled muskets and defends an otherwise undefended colony if it is attacked.

Francis Drake (1542–1596) was a great English sea captain, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and a hero in the fights against the Spanish Armada. The presence of Francis Drake in the Continental Congress increases the combat strength of all Privateers by 50%.

John Paul Jones (1741–1792) was hailed as a great sea captain in America, and uttered the famous words "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight" while fighting the British at sea. He later watched his ship sink to the bottom of the ocean from the deck of a British vessel. As soon as John Paul Jones is elected to the Continental Congress, a Frigate is added to your colonial navy for free.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), a powerful voice of patriotism, was credited with writing the Declaration of Independence. He later became the 3rd President of the US. The election of Thomas Jefferson to the Continental Congress increases Liberty Bell production in colonies by 50%.

Pocahontas (1595–1617) was a peacemaker between early Jamestown settlers and the Native Americans. She is credited with sending food and other supplies to starving colonists there during harsh times. She later converted to Christianity and married an Englishman. When Pocahontas joins the Continental Congress, all tension levels between you and natives are removed and Indian alarm is generated half as fast.

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) inspired colonists with his pen at the urging of Benjamin Franklin. He published a pamphlet, "Common Sense", guiding the thoughts of patriots all over the colonies. The election of Thomas Pain to the Continental Congress increases Liberty Bell production in all your colonies by the value of the current tax rate.

Simón Bolívar (1783–1830) is remembered as a great leader in the struggle for South American independence from Spain. Bolívar freed what is now Venezuela and later became its first President. When Simón Bolívar joins the Continental Congress, the Sons of Liberty membership in all existing colonies is increased by 20%.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), a heavy contributor to the Declaration of Independence, was one of the voices of the Revolution. He traveled extensively between Europe and the colonies, and gained the support of the French in the war. As soon as Benjamin Franklin is elected to the Continental Congress, the King’s foreign wars no longer have effect on relationships in the New World, and Europeans in the New World always offer peace in negotiations.

William Brewster (1567–1644) was the Puritan leader of the Plymouth colony in New England. As soon as William Brewster joins the Continental Congress, criminals or indentured servants no longer appear on the docks and you can select which immigrant in the recruitment pool to move to the docks.

William Penn (1644–1718), a close friend of the Duke of York, was granted the land that is mostly Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. He governed the Quaker colony for several years to provide a haven to fellow Quakers. The election of William Penn increases cross production in all colonies by 50%.

Father Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649) befriended the Huron Indians and converted many to Christianity. He died at the hands of the Iroquois who had finally defeated their enemy, the Hurons. With Jean de Brebeuf a member of the Continental Congress, all missionaries function as experts.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1781–1872) was a Spanish theologian who spoke out for the conquest of Indian lands and forced evangelization of the natives. The election of Juan de Sepulveda to the Continental Congress increases the chance that a subjugated Indian settlement will “convert” and join a colony.

Bartolomé de las Casas (1474–1566) was a Catholic Priest who traveled the Indies converting Indians and chastising Spain for their treatment of the Natives. When Bartolomé de las Casas joins the Continental Congress, all existing Indian converts become free colonists.

10 The Birth of a Nation

10.1 Sons of Liberty

At the beginning of the game, all your colonists will be Tory Loyalists, who support your Monarch and are opposed to your policies. For this reason, colonies with more than a certain number of tories (which depends on the difficulty setting and defaults to four colonists) suffer a production penalty of one unit. If the limit is exceeded by four colonists, the penalty increases to two units and may well threaten the survival of the colony.

Liberty Bells, however, will turn these Tories into Sons of Liberty, who support your policies. Colonies in which more than 50% of the population are Sons of Liberty enjoy a production bonus of one unit, which is increased to two units as soon as 100% of the population become Sons of Liberty.

10.2 The Declaration of Independence

As soon as 50% of your entire population support the Sons of Liberty, you can declare the independence of your colonies. Your Monarch will not be amused and will send the Royal Expeditionary Force to quell the insurrection. In order to gain independence, you must defeat the Royal Expeditionary Force by capturing or destroying nearly all of their land forces and by taking back any colonies they might have captured. You do not need to destroy the fleet.

In the future, the European enemies of your Monarch may support your effort if you generate a sufficient number of Liberty Bells after the War of Independence has begun.

11 Known bugs

FreeCol is still alpha software. In plain English, this means that it is full of bugs. Some of these bugs have already been reported, but have not been fixed yet. You can find a list of these bugs, and report new bugs by using our SourceForge bug tracker.

Even in single player mode, FreeCol is a client-server game. The communication between client and server can fall out of step. If this happens, the server often tries to recover by requesting a reconnect. If this occurs, please accept in order to continue playing. In some cases, the game may come to a halt during the turn of a computer opponent. If this happens to you, you can generally reconnect to the server by using the reconnect option in the game menu or by pressing ctrl-r.

12 Copyright Notice

Copyright ©2007 The FreeCol Team.

This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.

This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

A copy of the GNU General Public License is available on the World Wide Web at the GNU General Public Licence. You can also obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111–1307, USA.

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