The Settlers History Collection under Test
Only a few games can boast of having founded their own genre. An Amiga classic certainly belongs on this very short list, because with “The Settlers” the Mühlheimer game forge Blue Byte created the forefather of all development strategy games, which still serves as a model for numerous titles today. On the occasion of the release of Die Siedler History Collection, a complete package containing all seven parts of the series, we look back at the beginning of the series and its development over the last 25 years.
Structure strategy – what is that??
To be precise, the settlers did not recreate a whole genre, but only a subtype of it, namely that of the build-up strategy. But at the same time terms like cuddly look and Wusel factor were invented for this game and have been inseparably connected with the series since the first part. But what exactly are the differences between conventional strategy and the game principle of a settler? While the military aspect is clearly in the foreground for some, and resource extraction and processing only serve to finance new troops, the main objectives of development strategy games are the establishment and operation of a functioning, complex economic system. Warlike conflicts are not always absolutely necessary and usually play a subordinate role in this genre. When it comes to the further question of how to come up with such a game idea at all, you only need to take a look at the most successful titles in the early 90s. Settler inventor and Blue Byte co-founder Volker Wertich simply made use of the economic game elements of the Sim City, published a few years earlier, borrowed the feeling of rulership from Peter Molyneux’s god simulation Populous and garnished it with the cute look of the industrious lemmings. Outside the German-speaking countries, however, the genre of build-up strategy games is rather less successful, especially American players apparently don’t really like the more peaceful strategy version – maybe that’s why the fifth part of the game is about realtime strategy.
The Settlers
The series started in 1993, when after almost two years of development Volker Wertich presented Die Siedler to the public for the first time on the Commodore Amiga. The game principle was explained relatively quickly: The goal is to build a successful settlement and use it to defeat the opposing settlements. But the whole thing sounded simpler than it was in the end, because in order to build a functioning economic system, it was first necessary to understand the complex production chains and economic cycles. Raw materials had to be extracted from the various sources of resources, which were then transformed into goods in the various processing plants in order to finally reach the end consumer. Of course, it was up to the settlers themselves, from lumberjacks and pig farmers to bakers, to do all the work, to pretty much every occupational group. In total, the first settler empire was divided into 20 different work areas, each of which covered only a small part of the economic system. The central building and junction was always the castle, because all raw materials and goods were brought here. The carriers responsible for this task were those who transported the goods to their destinations via the road network developed by the player. Exactly this transport system became a central component of the game principle of “The Settlers” and the busy activity of the providers on the screen was already then often called “scurrying”. Even without the player’s great help, the hardworking settlers performed the tasks assigned to them and even the military could only be controlled indirectly.
In addition to the 30-mission campaign, in which 10 different computer opponents had to be defeated, the split-screen multiplayer mode, in which players were allowed to play together on a single computer, was particularly popular; in addition, the randomly generated maps provided long-lasting gaming fun. Almost a year later “The Settlers” was converted for the PC, whereby the already very chic graphics, with which up to 64,000 males were allowed to scurry at the same time, could be improved again by a trace. Volker Wertich’s weakness for Disney is unmistakably reflected in the Settlers’ graphics, because the comic look, and especially the character design and intro sequences, inevitably remind us of the cartoon characters of the same name and coined the term “cuddly look”. For a smooth gameplay you needed at least a 386’er computer with 550KB RAM and about 5MB space on the hard disk, or 3 floppy disks for the Amiga version.
IMPROVEMENTS OF HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, different game speeds, classic RTS control (optional), language selection (English, French, German), key mapping, device support for split screen, additional resolutions (Full Screen, Medium, Low)
The Settlers II – Veni, Vidi, Vici
The successor, which appeared three years after the first album, offers more of the same. These include new professions, buildings and animals have been added. A further novelty were the four different peoples (Romans, Vikings, Asians and Nubians), which differ however only optically and not playfully from each other, as well as the function of the map clearing-up. The most obvious changes concern optical improvements. The 2D-Engine was completely rewritten and now supported pre-calculated Gouraud Shading for 3D-Elements, which was quite remarkable at that time. In addition, there are three zoom levels, observation windows in which you can watch the settlers scurrying, and a split-screen multiplayer mode that now also supports two mice simultaneously. With the Die Siedler 2 Mission CD, which is also included in the History Collection, a map editor was introduced, which added further geographical topographies such as Africa, Greenland or Asia. Even though The Settlers II has brought some playful improvements with it, the success factor was the reworked presentation, whose pixel optics can still keep up with current standards. From the first settler team only the graphic artist Christoph Werner remained involved, inventor Volker Wertich was no longer involved in the development.
IMPROVEMENTS OF THE HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, autosave, 4K and dual monitor support, device support for split screen, various bug fixes
The Settlers III
Some have a heavy head after a binge, others have a big problem. After a centuries-long barrage of boozing, the gods Jupiter (Romans), Horus (Egypt) and Ch’ih-Yu (Asia) have fallen out of favour with their boss and must now prove themselves again. The only way to escape a terrible punishment is to find a leader who will lead their people to the economic and military great power most quickly. The funny background story together with the animated sequences in animation quality let you guess that the ancestor of the settler series, Volker Wertich, has again taken over the development of part three. In direct comparison to the predecessor, there was one less people, but they not only differed optically, but also received individual abilities. Also in a playful way there were serious changes, which caused some heavy criticism from the fans. Thus, the route system was completely deleted and the settlers could now move freely on the map, so the construction of roads was no longer necessary. Also the higher importance of the military and the direct control of armed troops, similar to a real-time strategy game, was seen by many fans as a break with the tried and tested settler game principles. But especially this criticism was probably the reason why Settler 3 became the most successful multiplayer title of the series. Playing together was no longer limited to one computer and two regents, but could be settled via LAN or over the Internet against, or with up to 20 competitors.
The biggest change in the two years between part two and three, this settler title made especially in the technical field through. Play figures and buildings were completely modeled in 3D, the typical cuddly look of a settler was further enhanced by the comic-like and exaggerated presentation of the units. More than 150 different types of settlers were responsible for the detailed Wusel graphics, which were brought to life with more than 50,000 animation phases. Another technical feature concerned copy protection. This worked unnoticed by the user in the background, so that the creation of a pirated copy was possible without problems. This became active only during the game, i.e. in such a way that cleared trees no longer grow back and so at some point no lumber was available. During the development of the third part, the discussion about female settlers also flared up for the first time. However, this idea was rejected, as all graphics would have had to be drawn twice and this would have gone beyond the time and technical scope of the game. However, this thought was not completely off the table, because with the Add-On women in the form of the Amazon people entered the settler universe for the first time. The secret of the Amazons not only extended the game by another faction, but also by numerous new game contents. In addition to this expansion there is also a Mission CD for Settlers III, which contains a variety of new maps and a level editor.
IMPROVEMENTS OF HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, Autosave, 4K and dual monitor support, multiplayer via Uplay, new menu settings incl. language selection and options for graphics as well as control
The Settlers IV
To be precise, the fourth settler part published three years later was only a minor further development of the predecessor, which primarily concerned optical improvements. The meanwhile established cuddly look was retained, but Settler IV got a new interface, a stepless zoom made it possible to see the scurry at close range and the units and buildings were more detailed than ever before. The playable races this time were Romans, Mayans and Vikings who had to fight against the evil god Morbus and his dark people. Playfully little new was offered. Even the fourth generation of settlers did not need a road network for the transport of goods, but many used paths to paths and donkey carts accelerated the transport of goods. After the great success of the multiplayer mode of part three, they tried to expand it further, including new game modes. Settlers IV, however, were denied the great success of the predecessors, which was mainly due to the very faulty sales version, which only ran correctly with numerous patches on all systems. A Mission CD followed six months later and the add-on “The Trojans and the Elixir of Power” continued the story around Morbus a year later and even let the player slip into the role of a ruler over the Trojans. In addition to these official extensions, there are also numerous maps from the community that can still be found on the Internet, or that have been summarized in some commercial map packs.
IMPROVEMENTS OF HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, Autosave, 4K and dual monitor support, multiplayer via Uplay, mouse controls updated to current RTS standards (inverted scrolling removed), language selection (English, French, German), new graphics options, various bug fixing
The Settlers V – The Heritage of the Kings
At the end of 2004 the time had finally come: For the first time in their history, the settlers went into a real 3D world, no longer in the tradition of the series as a construction simulation, but as a thoroughbred real-time strategy game. Blessed by UbiSoft, in this part, which listened to the subtitle “The Heritage of the Kings”, one could reenact some feudal stories in a kind of medieval fantasy world, in which one holds power as a king of the so-called old empire. Just as with the predecessors, it was important to maintain an overview of the raw material and financial situation of his empire in addition to the now important troop management. A well implemented feature was the ability to upgrade units and buildings in stages to increase their efficiency. Especially fun was the use of the weather generator, with which you could adjust the weather conditions to your liking, for example to wipe out your opponent. In the fan community, Settlers V is considered the worst part of the series, which objectively has its reason: The structure offers hardly any depth and the focus on real-time battles with directly controllable heroes as well as troop formations breaks with loved traditions. With “Nebelreich” and “Legenden” two more extensions were released.
IMPROVEMENTS OF HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, multiplayer via Uplay.
The Settlers 6 – Rise of a Kingdom
The gameplay of the rise of a kingdom was completely revamped in comparison to that of the fifth settler. While basic game elements remain, our main goal is to build a functioning economic system to meet the needs of your subjects. If you have satisfied the need for certain goods of your people, your knight will be awarded the next higher title. The disadvantage of transport, however, is that it awakens additional wishes among your settlers, such as better clothing, alcohol or cleaning goods to clean their homes. But your kingdom will never be completely self-sufficient, because depending on where you build your settlement, only certain goods can be produced by yourself. This is due on the one hand to the turn of the year which influences raw material production and on the other hand to the four different climate zones. While in Northern Europe the long and hard winter freezes rivers and the otherwise productive grain fields lie fallow, the inhabitants in the southern areas struggle with water scarcity and infertile desert landscape. The few possibilities to eliminate this misery are either by trading with other peoples or by conquering new territories. Does everything sound more like Anno than The Settlers? Right, and that’s what it’s all about. I can only repeat my conclusion from the year 2007 at this point: “Keep it sweet and simple! Never before has the KISS simplification principle been better suited for a game than for The Settlers: the rise of a kingdom. The typical Wuselflair is there, but the purified economic system offers no real challenge for genre experts.
IMPROVEMENTS OF HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, multiplayer via Uplay.
The Settlers 7
The basic game principles of the Settlers series are also retained in number 7 and are again based on the first parts of the series: We set up production facilities and form functioning economic cycles with the goods produced in them. A big plus point for fans: The paths including carriers, which carry the resources back and forth between two points, are finally back again! Also the degree of difficulty was raised in comparison to the predecessor again somewhat. The sector system, on the other hand, is undergoing a major change. Each region must either be conquered with an army, persuaded to do so with monetary persuasion or converted with a monk. The winner is the player with the most victory points. We get them, for example, because we have occupied most of the sectors, because our population has exceeded a certain number of settlers, or because my armed force is larger than that of my competitors. These are all really motivating innovations and make the Settlers 7 certainly one of the best parts of the series. Many players, myself included, boycotted the game at release due to the mandatory Always-On connection – even for single player games. And those who didn’t had to worry about server problems, which made playing games unthinkable for days. Both relics of the past, because the controversial copy protection has been removed and the multiplayer mode now works on Ubisoft’s own platform Uplay.
.IMPROVEMENTS OF THE HISTORY COLLECTION: Windows 10 compatible, resolutions up to 4K, multiplayer via Uplay, no DRM
FAZIT
In my journalistic past I have been allowed to report about Die Siedler very often, but I never believe in such detail as in this article. But the Settlers History Collection also offers enough material for it, because this package contains almost 25 years of game history. If you haven’t tried a single title in the series yet, you should do so as soon as possible, but even old hands can look forward to adjustments for a current operating system and a few additional comfort functions. For me personally there are exactly two reasons to install the settlers again on my computer: First, because for me part three is still one of the best construction strategy games ever and I have always refused the last settler so far. Now I can finally catch up and thanks to zetiloser comic graphics and well thought-out operation, Die Siedler 7 has aged very well and is still a lot of fun today. All in all a great package, not only for fans!
What is The Settlers History Collection? A complete package that contains all parts of the series as gold versions, each optimized for modern computer systems.
Platforms: PC
Tested: on PC Intel Core i5-4440, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 745
Developer / Publisher: Ubisoft / Ubisoft
Release: November 15, 2018
Link: Official Website
