Nobody said Civ4 had low hardware demands when it came out. LOL.

Just goes to show that if you're planning on building things on top of what you're currently working on, aiming too low is a bad idea. Any new code you write should be written assuming you're gonna build something else on top of it, even if it's just a game.

Civ4's Gabebryo engine does indeed require low-end specs. I ran it very well on my P4 2.66 GHz Radeon 9600 Pro. That was a mid to low-end spec 5 years ago. Literally.

As for Colonization... Sheesh... About time! Unfortunately, I didn't really like the Gamebryo engine and the 3D graphic style Firaxis has adopted for Civ4. It feels "dumbed down". I loved the original style in Col just as I loved most old graphics such as the original Civ, the first 2 Monkey Island titles, the original C&C and Warcraft 1. My theory is that the graphics back then were so simple, we had to use a lot of imagination, giving a whole special dimension to the environments created. As the newer titles come with more elaborate visuals, there's less room left for such imagination and we have to "swallow" the worlds that developers choose rather than creating part of it ourselves.

Fortunately, the original Colonization game was, as Theo put it, a blast! The unique economic model was immersive, and the product's mechanics made it superior to Civilization in many ways. That was hindered by sometimes unfair combat outcomes, similar to Civ's legendary "Phalanx-beating-a-Battleship" frustration, leaving me dry for a sequel for more than a decade. Got patience? :P

This is a brilliant era for old gamers, when we relive sequels to some of the greatest franchises of past gaming history such as Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Colonization 2, Fallout 3.. What's next? X-Com? Heros of Might and Magic? (I'm talking real sequels) :D