Sid Meier's Colonization - From Resources To Commodities

From Resources To Commodities

One main driving impulse in Colonization is the harvesting of natural resources, such as lumber (for building), ore (for manufacturing), and food (for population growth). Squares on the map have basic values of resource output (depending on the type of terrain and if a river runs through it), but certain 'prime' squares have double or higher output values. Inside the town, any colonist can work the field for the basic resource output. However, specially trained units can typically harvest twice as much, such as the Lumberjack (wood), Expert Ore Miner (ore), or Farmers and Fishermen (food). Farmers and Fishermen however are notable exceptions to this; rather than doubling the output of a tile, they only add two food production to the value of what would otherwise be the output of a Free Colonist's labor. An Expert Farmer is still required to gain the higher bonus values for the 'wheat', 'game' or 'oasis' special tiles however. Likewise an Expert Fisherman is required to gain the higher bonus for the 'fishery' special tile.

Colonies are ideally placed on the coastline; if built inland, the player must construct wagon trains to transport goods to and from coastal settlements. Each train has two slots for carrying items.

Another important ingredient is the production and collection of raw goods that can be converted into commodities for sale in Europe, to the Native American tribes and, provided a certain Founding Father is in the Continental Congress, the other European powers playing in the game. These commodities start out as cotton, sugar, tobacco and furs, and eventually get transformed into cloth, rum, cigars and coats (respectively). In addition, a player can mine for silver which is ready to be sold 'as-is'.

Accordingly, there exists a certain connection between the resources available and the units that can harvest them most efficiently, along with the buildings that workers use to transform them into commodities. For example, Cotton is generally available in prairies, but there are also 'Prime Cotton' squares with far greater output. Inside a town, a colonist can harvest a basic amount of Cotton from the fields (starting at 3 per turn), but a Master Cotton Planter can generally harvest twice as much (6). Once the raw materials have been collected - or perhaps at the same time - another colonist can make Cloth from Cotton (3 per turn). Again, a Master Weaver can produce twice as much Cloth (6) from existing stores compared to anyone else. To further improve this efficiency, a Weaver's Shop doubles the production rate of either the regular colonist (from 3 to 6) or the Master Weaver (from 6 to 12). Additional factors can affect the final output, such as the existence of a factory (+50%) or the town favoring independence at 50% or higher (which adds a bonus to colonists working in the town). Finally, each building supports a maximum of up to 3 workers at one time.