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FreeCol has had a score of released numbered versions since the project started in 2002. It devotes a web page to nearly every release, linking to them on its Releases page.

Released[]

Up to 0.8[]

0.1.0
  • FreeCol 0.1.0 - Released 2 January 2003; "Server written in C++ and the client in Java". Explore with free colonist and ship.
0.2.0
  • FreeCol 0.2.0 - Released 26 March 2003; all in Java. "Europe" and other improvements.
0.3.0
  • FreeCol 0.3.0 - Released 30 September 2004; code redesigned to make development easier. Many new features, not least the ability to play and win (multiplayer).
0.4.0
  • FreeCol 0.4.0 - Released 23 June 2005; compatible with J2SE 5.0. Indians (with AI).
0.5.x
  • FreeCol 0.5.0 - Released 23 July 2006. Computer players and royal expeditionary force get AI, allowing single-player game. More features such as tax, LCRs, and war of independence. 0.5.1 and 0.5.2 made some fixes later in 2006, and 0.5.3 released in December became SourceForge's "Project of the Month" in February 2007.
0.6.x
  • FreeCol 0.6.0 - Released 16 April 2007 - lots of new features. 0.6.1 two weeks later fixed a few things.
0.7.x
  • FreeCol 0.7.0 - Released 13 July 2007. Map editor; trade and negotiations with other Europeans. 0.7.1. 0.7.2, 0.7.3, and 0.7.4 followed. 0.7.4 plays well on Windows Millennium Edition operating system, which cannot be said of every modern game release.
0.8.x
Four new nations; new sound effects and terrain graphics; units slide (somewhat jerkily) instead of jumping. But the big thing is reportedly the ability to use XML to define gameplay mechanics.
"Standalone servers are restarted automatically" after a win; "fixes several bugs".
  • FreeCol 0.8.2 - released 4 May 2009; "fixes several bugs and includes new or updated translations for 36 languages"
  • FreeCol 0.8.3 - released 12 May 2009; "fixes some problems with translation keys being displayed instead of the actual text"
  • FreeCol 0.8.4 - released 1 August 2009; "fixes several bugs"; stables possibly not working

0.9.x[]

Bug-fixes, notably allowing the King's forces to land after you declare independence. Should accept saved games from 0.9.0 and possibly earlier.
Bug and feature fixes: native land claims revert to the moderate level of 0.9.0; Privateer combat improved. Backward-compatible with other 0.9.x saved games.
Bug-fixes, notably the "capture despite armed defender" bug. Better and more keyboard accelerators. The first graphical "mod" to be part of a release.
Several bug-fixes, notably a leak that was causing 0.9.3 to go slow. A graphical modification (mod) by misiulo adds new graphics for goods and resources. Translations for various languages much improved.
Several bug-fixes, including the plugging of more leaks that were causing previous versions to go slow.

0.10.x[]

The alpha "fixes many old bugs and adds numerous new features" - but has its own bugs as an alpha tends to; "should be able to read all 0.9.x savegames"
The alpha-2 on 10 April 2011 fixed a few problems.
The final release lists at least six features that bring FreeCol closer to Col1.
FreeCol-no-farm-options

A relatively new feature may pop up at the end of a turn inviting you to reconsider units that might be able to move further. Excellent idea, and will be excellent in practice when it manages to avoid wasting your time asking about units that cannot move in any way, notably ships under repair but commonly also units that have only one movement point left but are in the middle of hills, mountains, or other "2-point" tiles.

0.11.x[]

  • FreeCol 0.11.4 was announced at the end of July 2015. Mike Pope messaged list subscribers thus:
"The FreeCol team are relieved to announce the release of FreeCol 0.11.4. While many bugs were fixed in this release, there has also been progress in completing the required feature set for the 1.0 release. All 0.10.x and 0.11.x games should continue to work with 0.11.4."
"For more detail, see the release notes."

Envisaged[]

  • FreeCol 0.11.0 - scenarios and campaigns; and backward compatibility of saved games; see above heading
  • FreeCol 0.12.0 - better gameplay
  • FreeCol 0.13.0 - make customizing easier
  • FreeCol 0.14.0 - better graphics and audio
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