The Settlers
The Settlers box art.
Developer(s)	Blue Byte Software
Publisher(s)	Blue Byte Software
Designer(s)	Volker Wertich
Release date(s)	1993
Genre(s)	Real Time Strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Platform(s)	Amiga, PC-DOS
Media	3.5" disks (3)

The Settlers (aka "Serf City", original German title: "Die Siedler") is a slow-paced Real Time Strategy computer game by German developer Blue Byte Software, first released in 1993 for Commodore Amiga and in 1994 for the PC.^[1] It was the first game of its type, blending together principles which had not been seen in a single game before, ^[2] and defined the line of the later Settlers games. On the hardware available at the time, the game could control a maximum of 64,000 individuals, all behaving autonomously.^[3] Historically, people who migrated to settle permanently in colonies controlled by their country of origin were called colonists or settlers. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Blue Byte Software is a computer game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Blue Byte Software is a computer game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay. ... Dune 2 (1992), an early RTS A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... Online gaming redirects here. ... The original Amiga 1000 (1985) with various peripherals The Amiga 500 (1987) was the most popular variant of the Amiga. ... ... Instructions on how to use the directory command. ... Dune 2 (1992), an early RTS A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Blue Byte Software is a computer game developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany. ... Amiga is the name of a range of home/personal computers using the Motorola 68000 processor family, whose development started in 1982. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Gameplay

The game is played through a mouse 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. Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... Point and click describes the simple action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen (point) and then clicking a mouse button, usually the left one (click), or other pointing device. ...

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 statistics. This article is about the field of statistics. ...

Transporting goods

In-game screenshot (Amiga)

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. Image File history File links Settlers-uae. ... Image File history File links Settlers-uae. ... For other uses, see Castle (disambiguation). ...

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. General Name, symbol, number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Standard atomic weight 55. ... Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a volume of rock containing components or minerals in a mode of occurrence which renders it valuable for mining. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... A blacksmith A blacksmith at work A blacksmith at work A blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i. ...

If placement of buildings and roads is not carefully planned out by the player, so that different paths for goods use the same waypoints (as an extreme, having only one central castle), it inevitably will lead to traffic jams. 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. This aspect of the game could be seen as simulation of a centrally directed system vs. a distributed system. A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation. ... Traffic jams are common in heavily populated areas. ...

In-game screenshot (PC, SVGA)

Description: screenshot of the SVGA interface from the DOS version of The Settlers Source: taken from DOSBox using The GIMP. This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... Description: screenshot of the SVGA interface from the DOS version of The Settlers Source: taken from DOSBox using The GIMP. This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ...

Graphical environment

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. For other uses, see Hexagon (disambiguation). ...

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

Compared to modern games, The Settlers is quite a slow-paced game- and unlike its sequels, it has no way to accelerate the time. Some time-dependent features of the game can therefore take a long time, for example upgrading a freshly recruited knight up to the fifth and highest level. But knights also get stronger with the amount of gold you have, so you can mine more gold to get a stronger military. And while the statistics dialog of The Settlers features a 50-hour scale, and on a big map you may play a game lasting even longer than that, a typical campaign is won in far less time. The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ...

In-game screenshot (PC, VGA)

Consequently there can occur seemingly curious aspects of time dilation. For example, a farmer can sow and reap a full field of crops in half an hour, the same time it may take a fisherman to catch a fish, or the player to carry out an invasion against an enemy stronghold. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Economic Aspects

Lots of different jobs and resources exist. Jobless people convert (forever; they cannot be converted back, with the exception of knights killed in battle) into dedicated people when there are new buildings finished which require them; and in order to do so, they need tools, which are specific to each job. There exists a building type which makes tools, but it makes more or less of each kind according to tweakable priorities.

As well as ensuring military supremacy, the entire economy of the kingdom is under the player's control. There are three sources of food:

• fish (which are caught directly but are scarce and rapidly run out if over-fished)
• bread (which must be baked by a baker, from flour which is milled by a miller, from wheat which is grown by a wheat-farmer)
• pork (which is produced by a butcher, from pigs grown by a pig-farmer, fed by wheat from the wheat-farmer)

All types of food are necessary to feed miners, who dig for four materials: coal (for smelting ore), iron ore, gold ore and stones (for building with).

Two types of smelter will take one unit each of coal and gold or iron ore and produce (respectively) a pure ingot of gold or a bar of iron. Gold is required to "pay" the knights (and increases their likelihood of successfully repelling enemy attacks).

Many other classes of worker exist in the game. Stone cutters cut from piles of stones which lie on the surface; once these are exhausted, stone must be mined. Woodsmen plant trees as a renewable resource. Woodcutters chop down the trees 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 smith to make weapons (without which the knights cannot be armed). Geologists may be sent out into the hills to prospect for ore. Boatbuilders take planks and make boats for transport across water. Finally, builders take planks and stone and construct new buildings to order. Simple huts require only one plank and one stone; complex buildings (such as a new stock house) may require several units of both planks and stone, and a long time, to complete. The Geologist by Carl Spitzweg A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system (see planetary geology). ...

The player may divert resources according to need; for example, once a good stock of boats is built up, it is no longer necessary to waste planks by giving them to the boatbuilder. The player must also choose how much wheat goes to the miller and how much to the pig farmer.

A series of intuitive graphs and flowcharts allows the player to supervise the economic life of the kingdom and make small adjustments to optimise production.

Once the kingdom has achieved a certain size, it takes on a life of its own, and a flourishing economy will almost run itself, which is one of the many satisfying aspects of the game. While some resources (trees, wheat, etc.) are available in infinite supply, others (notably ores) eventually become exhausted. Strategic players attempt to cut off enemies from these resources, and invade their territory to capture them. On a more minor level, the woodcutter and fisherman will each happily wander onto enemy territory and cut down their trees or catch their fish.

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.

Cheats

• In 1994, Ed Mackey created a savegame file editor which allows visual editing of most aspects of the saved game - including restocking mountains with minerals and lakes with fish. It was released as freeware for the Amiga on the Aminet[1].

Aminet is the worlds largest archive of Amiga-related software and files. ...

Bugs used to cheat

• If a "join of nearby paths" is done to a flag near the frontier where enemy paths are near, sometimes, enemy paths are joined to our controlled flag. Resources from the enemy could be used then. It is believed to be a bug.
• If a large guardhouse is situated near a lake with a boat path on, it is possible to have the knights walk the path over the water if a changing of the guard is performed. If you delete the road whilst the knights are on it, they disappear.
• Surrounding an enemy castle with multiple garrisons, usually 5 or more often causes the enemy castle to burn down without ever attacking it.

Sequels

The Settlers has had five sequels to date: The Settlers II, The Settlers III, The Settlers IV, The Settlers: Heritage of Kings, and The Settlers II 10th Anniversary with a sixth in development, The Settlers - Rise of an Empire.^[4] The Settlers II is a real-time strategy computer game, released by Blue Byte Software in 1996. ... The Settlers III is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the second sequel to The Settlers. ... The Settlers IV is a Real Time Strategy computer game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the third sequel to The Settlers. ... The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition is a remake of the classic computer strategy game The Settlers II announced in July 2006. ... The Settlers - Rise Of An Empire aka The Settlers VI. Which is the sixth series of The Settlers series. ...

Games in the series

• The Settlers (1993, Amiga & PC (DOS), aka. Serf City)
• The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici (1996, PC (DOS), Macintosh)
  • Add on: The Settlers II Mission CD
• The Settlers III (1998, Windows)
  • Add on: The Settlers III Mission CD
  • Add on: The Settlers III: Quest Of The Amazons
• The Settlers IV (2001, Windows)
  • Add on: The Settlers IV Mission CD
  • Add on: The Settlers IV: The Trojans and the Elixir of Power
• The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (Q4 Germany; 2005 Worldwide 2004, Windows)
• The Settlers II 10th Anniversary (2006, Windows)
• The Settlers - Rise of an Empire (2007, Windows)

The series' original title in Germany is Die Siedler, marketed in the rest of Europe as The Settlers. When the game was first released in the United States, it was renamed Serf City by US publisher SSI. However, starting with the second part in the series, The Settlers also became the official title of the series in the US. Notable events of 1993 in computer and video games. ... The original Amiga 1000 (1985) with various peripherals The Amiga 500 (1987) was the most popular variant of the Amiga. ... Instructions on how to use the directory command. ... The Settlers II is a real-time strategy computer game, released by Blue Byte Software in 1996. ... 1996 1996 in games 1995 in video gaming 1997 in video gaming Notable events of 1996 in video gaming. ... For other uses, see Macintosh (disambiguation) and Mac. ... The Settlers III is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the second sequel to The Settlers. ... 1998 1998 in games 1997 in video gaming 1999 in video gaming Notable events of 1998 in video gaming. ... Windows redirects here. ... The Settlers IV is a Real Time Strategy computer game developed by Blue Byte Software, being the third sequel to The Settlers. ... 2001 2001 in games 2000 in video gaming 2002 in video gaming Notable events of 2001 in video gaming. ... 2005 2005 in games 2004 in video gaming 2006 in video gaming Notable events of 2005 in video gaming. ... 2004 2004 in games 2003 in video gaming 2005 in video gaming Notable events of 2004 in video gaming. ... The Settlers II 10th Anniversary Edition is a remake of the classic computer strategy game The Settlers II announced in July 2006. ... Notable events of 2006 in video gaming. ... The Settlers - Rise Of An Empire aka The Settlers VI. Which is the sixth series of The Settlers series. ... (NOTE: Some release dates listed are not global release dates. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Strategic Simulations, Inc. ...

A new port of The Settlers 2 for the Nintendo DS was released in the UK on August 3, 2007, ^[5] and in North America on August 21, 2007. ^[6] In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e. ... “NDS” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Events By place Roman Empire The rule of Augustus is renewed for a ten-year period. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the year 21. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

References

1. ^ Moby Games - Serf City: Life is Feudal. Retrieved Nov. 5, 2006
2. ^ Replication of a review from 1993 out of the CU Amiga magazine Retrieved May. 08, 2007
3. ^ Replication of a review from 1993 out of the Amiga Format magazine Retrieved May. 08, 2007
4. ^ "'Settlers VI' Renamed, Gameplay Update", Totalgaming.net, 2007-04-25. Retrieved on 2007-04-25. 
5. ^ GAME - The Settlers for DS
6. ^ GameSpot - The Settlers for DS. Retrieved July 23, 2007

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The GAME Group plc (LSE: GMG.L), usually known by its high street trading name GAME, is a UK based video games retail company with over 500 stores across Europe in a variety of guises and its European Headquarters and Warehouse in Basingstoke, England. ... GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. ...

External links

• Blue Byte
• Ubisoft