posted 06-10-99 04:24 AM ET            

HolyW- yes thats the same problem I had too. There is really no trick to it (unfortunately). Basically you have to watch you spending in the early days (even on Easy setting you only start with $50000) and sell a portion of what you make.
And I dont mean the cigars or hats or other stuff from the new world. Dont worry about those until later. Just chop wood and sell the paper. Sell fabric and bronze too. The only things I never sell are timber and iron. These are essential.
If you find yourself short of money (which will be often) then you just have to wait a few more turns before making that ship or laying the road or whatever, in order to sell the materials so that you get some cash.
Its rough, but once you get the hang of it its ok.

posted 06-10-99 11:42 AM ET         

As for your questions, I would say:
Pros: It definitely has that "one more turn" quality. There is little room for error. Using resources wisely is vital. I care about my little empire.

Cons: Diplomacy is primitive compared to SMAC. Tactical combat could be done better.

Now, as for money: at the beginning, make every single dollar count. Do NOT try to make friends with every Minor Nation and Tribe. Pick one or two and stick with it. Try and trade with those nations as much as possible. Diplomacy works better with MNs as opposed to Tribes. The reason is that starting wars in the Old World creates big diplomatic penalties. No such problem in the New World. You want to get a good slice of the New World, so start that conquest early. Personally, I like to conquer 10 New World provinces. Why? Because after the tenth conquest, each army unit you recruit thereafter gets a free medal of experience. This is important. There is a big difference between a unit without medals and one with four.
You must get some trade going for cash. I like to start up a fabric trade if possible. As for tech research: you can set expenditure to $0 for a particular tech. Do so at the beginning of the game. Don't bankrupt yourself on research.
Techs to go for at the beginning:
Naval. Start for Galleons.
Army. Get Horse Artillery and Musketeers.
And finally, Printing Press.

And about the "Teleporting troops": troops need ships only for invasions. Going from friendly province to friendly province does not require ships. This is actually a design decision, and has been discussed on other boards.

posted 06-10-99 12:57 PM ET            

I have two questions abuot what might go wrong with ImpII, though I intend to buy it- is it true that oppurtunity fire is gone? I sure hope not. That's one reason I liked ImpI so much- setting up your own kill fields for the enemy to stumble in, as well as evading theirs on the attack- fun stuff.

As for making money: Yeah, that's sort a main point. Bootstrapping an economy into solvence is fun and challenging.

posted 06-15-99 06:39 PM ET            

In my game (percent dif 114), France got uppity with its early power lead and declared war on me, which activated my alliances and got lots of people pissed at France. After relieving them of the burden of governing a New World province next to mine, I made peace and let France enjoy a war with my former allies. Meanwhile, I had conquered the Incas and found myself to be mad silly rich. Alas, I had no supply of tin. So I basically sat back and watched and made money and got technology. Eventually, another war started against France, and Holland and I collected her New World territories, and Holland completely overran all of mainland France except Paris (that would fall years later to them, as well). That left Holland, England (myself), and Portugal as the main players. With my cash reserves, I finally had researched my way up to weapons that didn't require bronze, and then proceeded to swoop down on Sweden first and take over their territories. By then, a war started against Spain, the other sick man of Europe, and Portugal and Holland promptly started tearing off large chunks of her (she bordered both Portugal and former France, after all) and I realized that I would be too late for that war. So I simply went on a massive minor nation conquering spree, and took over the rest of Denmark (Holland had invaded part before), Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Scotland (Switzerland had joined me voluntarily before). And that was enough to win, so no need to ever have to fight Holland or Portugal (whew!).

My second game I'm playing on the real map of Europe as Sweden. I've already gone on a serious conquering spree, but darn it if the French aren't making trouble again. Well, we'll see about that.

posted 06-15-99 10:10 PM ET            

If Imp2 shows up in a bargain bin, I'll definately get it. Too many other things I'd like to get.

posted 06-16-99 04:36 PM ET            

Yet another thing missing in Imp II: The rich historical background put into Colonization! at the end of the manual. That's a shame they didn't print that up. And how about naming your explorers, so instead of "Explorer discovers capital of Aztecs" it's "Cortez discovers" or "De Soto" or "La Salle" discovers? Same for ships. I'd like to see Henry Hudson discover things, not the CK Something.

On Colonization: I thought that had a quite realistic approach with the Indians. If you Christanized them and didn't attack yourself and didn't build too close to their capital, they were not a problem. Plus, the more yuo killed Indians, the more your score was penalized. It was certainly option to go on a conquest rampage, but there were still two balanced options.