The Settlers
Encyclopedia
The Settlers is a slow-paced simulation
computer game by German
developer Blue Byte Software
, first released in 1993
for Commodore Amiga and in 1994
for the PC
. The first in The Settlers series
of video games, it was the first game of its type, blending together principles that had not been seen in a single game before, and defined the line of the later Settlers games. On the hardware available at the time, the game could control a maximum of 65,536 individuals, all behaving autonomously.
-operated point-and-click
interface. The player cannot directly control units, but instead places orders to build or attack buildings. Except when attacking, units are further controlled by designating the paths on which they may walk.
.
Paths designated by the player enable communication and transport through the settlement, which begins at the player's castle
. The ends of paths are always denoted by flags. People and goods circulate through this path network. Goods circulate in a human chain system, in which workers take goods from one flag and drop them at the next one, and goods accumulate at flags (a maximum of eight items per flag); a priority system, which is tweakable by the player, decides which goods are to be taken first.
Priorities are there to decide which goods at flags should be transported first, which of the four mine types (iron
ore
, gold ore, coal
or stone) receives food first, where raw materials coming from mines go, where iron goes (blacksmith
or tools maker), and a variety of other prioritisations. Tweaking them properly is encouraged.
If placement of buildings and roads is not carefully planned out by the player, so that different paths for goods use the same waypoint
s (as an extreme, having only one central castle), it inevitably will lead to traffic congestion
. If no counter action is taken (re-routing the goods, distributing more warehouses, better planning out where to place buildings), such single bottlenecks can spread out and jam more and more waypoints, leading to shortages because goods can not reach their destination fast enough anymore.
Despite the appearance of rolling hills, all paths and game maps are built on a grid of overlapping hexagons, with flags and buildings positionable at the vertices. A regular hexagon denotes perfectly flat land, while pulling in the vertices gives the impression of steepness.
Although small, the workers in the game are extremely detailed and cleverly animated. Each individual worker may be followed around by the player, and always acts in character. In several of the buildings, workers may be seen working inside. Only when completely cut off from their road network (e.g. by enemy invasion) do workers wander aimlessly around.
The atmosphere is enhanced by background music. If this is turned off, digital sound effects of the various workers are played, alongside other ambient noises such as the tweeting of birds, the grunting of pigs, the yells of the knights in battle, or the sound of wind in the mountains.
Evidence of slower pace can be seen in the statistical screens, which shows a graph to 50 hours of gameplay, and a reminder to save the game being set at up to one hour.
The slower paced game can potentially make time-dependent features longer to play out. Training knights to the highest levels or waiting for fishermen to catch fish may take a while.
As well as ensuring military supremacy, the entire economy
of the kingdom is under the player's control.
Several food resources exist, and are necessary to feed miners, who dig for four materials: coal (for smelting ore), iron ore, gold ore and stones (for buildings). Two types of smelter will take one unit each of coal and gold or iron ore and produce ingots of gold or iron. Gold bars improve military strength; on larger maps more gold is required to reach the same level of strength.
Stone cutters cut from piles of stones that lie on the surface; once these are exhausted, stone must be mined. Woodsmen plant trees and woodcutters chop them down into logs. Logs are taken to the sawmill to be cut into planks. Planks and iron can be used to make tools by the toolmaker. Iron and coal are required by the weaponsmith to make weapons, without which the knights cannot be armed.
Simple buildings require only one plank and one stone; complex buildings may require more resources and time to complete. The player may divert resources according to need; for example, once a stock of boats is built up, it is no longer necessary to waste planks by giving them to the boatbuilder. In cases where more than one profession compete for the same resource, the player must choose how to set the proportion of supply each will receive. While some resources such as trees and wheat are available in infinite supply, others are eventually exhausted. Players must attempt to cut off enemies from these resources, and invade their territory to capture them.
A series of graphs and flowcharts allows the player to supervise the economic life of the kingdom and make small adjustments to optimise production.
A key element of The Settlers is planning building and road layout to allow for efficient transportation of resources. If too much traffic is set to pass a single point, or the tilt of the road slows settlers, queues arise, slowing down the economy or even causing defeat if reinforcements cannot get through. The game is designed in such a way that a resource or settler will always travel the path to their destination with the shortest number of intersections (marked by flags), giving the player freedom to plan the distribution of goods.
as The Settlers. When the game was first released in the United States
, it was renamed Serf City by U.S. publisher SSI
. However, starting with the second part in the series, The Settlers also became the official title of the series in the U.S.
#209 by Sandy Petersen
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
computer game by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
developer Blue Byte Software
Blue Byte Software
Ubisoft Blue Byte is a video game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany, founded in 1988. The company has produced popular titles like Battle Isle and The Settlers. In 2001, the company was purchased by Ubisoft.-History:...
, first released in 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
for Commodore Amiga and in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
for the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. The first in The Settlers series
The Settlers
The Settlers is a slow-paced simulation computer game by German developer Blue Byte Software, first released in 1993 for Commodore Amiga and in 1994 for the PC...
of video games, it was the first game of its type, blending together principles that had not been seen in a single game before, and defined the line of the later Settlers games. On the hardware available at the time, the game could control a maximum of 65,536 individuals, all behaving autonomously.
Gameplay
The game is played through a mouseMouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
-operated point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface. The player cannot directly control units, but instead places orders to build or attack buildings. Except when attacking, units are further controlled by designating the paths on which they may walk.
Choosing a new game
A new player may begin a series of predefined games against computer opponents of increasing difficulty. Alternatively, the player may select a landscape of any size (memory permitting) and play against up to three other opponents of choice. The computer will generate a random landscape, or one based on a seed number given by the player. Finally, the player may opt not to play and allow up to four computer controlled opponents to play against each other; the player may spectate freely on all of them, including their statisticsStatistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
.
Transporting goods
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. The ends of paths are always denoted by flags. People and goods circulate through this path network. Goods circulate in a human chain system, in which workers take goods from one flag and drop them at the next one, and goods accumulate at flags (a maximum of eight items per flag); a priority system, which is tweakable by the player, decides which goods are to be taken first.
Priorities are there to decide which goods at flags should be transported first, which of the four mine types (iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
, gold ore, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
or stone) receives food first, where raw materials coming from mines go, where iron goes (blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
or tools maker), and a variety of other prioritisations. Tweaking them properly is encouraged.
If placement of buildings and roads is not carefully planned out by the player, so that different paths for goods use the same waypoint
Waypoint
A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation.-Concept:Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. Coordinates used can vary depending on the application. For terrestrial navigation these coordinates can include longitude and...
s (as an extreme, having only one central castle), it inevitably will lead to traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
. If no counter action is taken (re-routing the goods, distributing more warehouses, better planning out where to place buildings), such single bottlenecks can spread out and jam more and more waypoints, leading to shortages because goods can not reach their destination fast enough anymore.
Graphic environment
Although small, the workers in the game are extremely detailed and cleverly animated. Each individual worker may be followed around by the player, and always acts in character. In several of the buildings, workers may be seen working inside. Only when completely cut off from their road network (e.g. by enemy invasion) do workers wander aimlessly around.
The atmosphere is enhanced by background music. If this is turned off, digital sound effects of the various workers are played, alongside other ambient noises such as the tweeting of birds, the grunting of pigs, the yells of the knights in battle, or the sound of wind in the mountains.
Pace of the game
The pace of The Settlers is much slower than other modern games of this nature due to a variety of factors. The characters mostly walk along paths specified by the user, as does materials and resources. Most materials and resources have to be processed a few times before the material is useful to the player.Evidence of slower pace can be seen in the statistical screens, which shows a graph to 50 hours of gameplay, and a reminder to save the game being set at up to one hour.
The slower paced game can potentially make time-dependent features longer to play out. Training knights to the highest levels or waiting for fishermen to catch fish may take a while.
Economic aspects
There are 26 kinds of material resources and the same number of settler classes in the game. Idle settlers start to become specialised people when new buildings are finished. For example, blacksmiths start to appear once a smithy is constructed. In order to upgrade, settlers need tools specific to the job. A toolmaker's building can create additional tools, and the proportions of each tool being created is set by the player.As well as ensuring military supremacy, the entire economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
of the kingdom is under the player's control.
Several food resources exist, and are necessary to feed miners, who dig for four materials: coal (for smelting ore), iron ore, gold ore and stones (for buildings). Two types of smelter will take one unit each of coal and gold or iron ore and produce ingots of gold or iron. Gold bars improve military strength; on larger maps more gold is required to reach the same level of strength.
Stone cutters cut from piles of stones that lie on the surface; once these are exhausted, stone must be mined. Woodsmen plant trees and woodcutters chop them down into logs. Logs are taken to the sawmill to be cut into planks. Planks and iron can be used to make tools by the toolmaker. Iron and coal are required by the weaponsmith to make weapons, without which the knights cannot be armed.
Simple buildings require only one plank and one stone; complex buildings may require more resources and time to complete. The player may divert resources according to need; for example, once a stock of boats is built up, it is no longer necessary to waste planks by giving them to the boatbuilder. In cases where more than one profession compete for the same resource, the player must choose how to set the proportion of supply each will receive. While some resources such as trees and wheat are available in infinite supply, others are eventually exhausted. Players must attempt to cut off enemies from these resources, and invade their territory to capture them.
A series of graphs and flowcharts allows the player to supervise the economic life of the kingdom and make small adjustments to optimise production.
A key element of The Settlers is planning building and road layout to allow for efficient transportation of resources. If too much traffic is set to pass a single point, or the tilt of the road slows settlers, queues arise, slowing down the economy or even causing defeat if reinforcements cannot get through. The game is designed in such a way that a resource or settler will always travel the path to their destination with the shortest number of intersections (marked by flags), giving the player freedom to plan the distribution of goods.
Opponents
Up to four players may compete for a single landscape, up to two of which may be player-controlled (using a vertical split screen). The computer characters vary from being peaceable and placid to being aggressive and warlike. Workers wear coloured shirts to identify their allegiance.Sequels
The series' original title in Germany is Die Siedler, marketed in the rest of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as The Settlers. When the game was first released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was renamed Serf City by U.S. publisher SSI
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
. However, starting with the second part in the series, The Settlers also became the official title of the series in the U.S.
- The Settlers (19931993 in video gaming-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
, AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
& PC (DOSDOSDOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
), aka. Serf City) - The Settlers IIThe Settlers IIThe Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici is a real-time strategy computer game, released by Blue Byte Software in 1996. Its gameplay is very similar to that of its predecessor, The Settlers, albeit with a Roman theme and improved graphics...
: Veni, Vidi, Vici (19961996 in video gaming-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
, PC (DOS), MacintoshMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
)- Add on: The Settlers II Mission CD
- Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
port (August 2007)
- The Settlers IIIThe Settlers IIIThe Settlers III is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the second sequel to The Settlers, making it the third game in The Settlers series...
(19981998 in video gaming-Events:*Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards...
, WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
)- Add on: The Settlers III Mission CD
- Add on: The Settlers III: Quest Of The Amazons
- The Settlers IVThe Settlers IVThe Settlers IV is a real-time strategy video game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the third sequel to The Settlers and the fourth game overall in The Settlers series....
(20012001 in video gaming-Events:* Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of id Software to the AIAS Hall of Fame...
, Windows)- Add on: The Settlers IV Mission CD
- Add on: The Settlers IV: The Trojans and the Elixir of Power
- Add on: Die Siedler IV: Die Neue Welt (The Settlers IV: The New World - only German language)
- Add on: Die Siedler IV: Große Feldzüge (The Settlers IV: Community Pack - only German language)
- GameloftGameloftGameloft SA is a major French computer and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in 31 countries around the world....
released a port of Settlers IV on the IPhone/IPod Touch App Store in November 2009.
- The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (Q4 Germany; 20052005 in video gaming-Events:*March 6 — The television show 60 Minutes tackles issues within video game controversy. This segment of 60 Minutes has been criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship....
Worldwide 20042004 in video gaming-Events:*January 20 — Wireds Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner Duke Nukem Forever.*March 4 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Peter Molyneux into the AIAS Hall of Fame*March 22-26 — Game...
, Windows), first sequel in 3D- Add on: The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Expansion Disk
- Add on: The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Legends Expansion Disk
- The Settlers II 10th AnniversaryThe Settlers II 10th AnniversaryThe Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition is a remake of the classic real-time strategy game The Settlers II. It was announced in July 2006. The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition features up-to-date 3D graphics and new gameplay additions...
(20062006 in video gaming-Events:* January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.* January 26, 2006 -- Konami Corp...
, Windows)- Add on: The Settlers II: 10th Anniversary - The Vikings
- The Settlers: Rise of an EmpireThe Settlers: Rise of an EmpireThe Settlers: Rise of an Empire , a real-time strategy game, is the sixth game in The Settlers series. It was developed by Blue Byte and published by UbiSoft, with a US release date of September 25, 2007, a European release date of September 28, and an Australian release date of September 30...
(20072007 in video gaming-Events:*March 14: Microsoft announces Games for Windows - Live, a version of Xbox Live for the Windows platform. The service launched on May 8.*March 27: Microsoft announces the new "Xbox 360 Elite" stock-keeping unit . The revision comes with a bigger hard drive and the ability to output HDMI...
, Windows)- Add on: The Settlers: Rise of an Empire - The Eastern Realm (20082008 in video gamingNotable events of 2008 in video gaming. See also history of video games. The release dates listed in this article are the games' original release dates.-Events:...
, Windows)
- Add on: The Settlers: Rise of an Empire - The Eastern Realm (2008
- The Settlers 7: Paths to a KingdomThe Settlers 7: Paths to a KingdomThe Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom is a real time strategy and city-building video game developed by Blue Byte Software and published by Ubisoft. It was released on March 23, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the seventh game in The Settlers series.-Gameplay:Paths to a Kingdom features...
(20102010 in video gamingThe year 2010 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games, including several new titles.-Events:-Game releases:List of games scheduled for release in 2010 in North America....
, Windows)
Reception
Serf City was reviewed in 1994 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#209 by Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
External links
- Blue Byte
- Project to rewrite the game including multiplayer support