Settlers 7 History: The Settlers
Page last updated on 2011 / 02 / 08
Way back in 1993, Blue Byte Software imagined a game like no other, and henceforth The Settlers was born onto the Amiga and PC platforms, creating the real-time kingdom sim genre. The Settlers was a first of its kind, weaving an intricate strategy based on military, logistics and economy into a real-time strategy platform. You are in control of a population that you are tasked to defend, expand, and eventually to conquer your enemies.
Much of what exists in the more recent releases of the Settlers series were seeded in the concepts of this original release.
You typically start off with your 'home' castle, and are looking to expand and develop your kingdom to become a force to be reckoned with.
- Give you access to more land & materials you may need
- Get closer to your enemy
- Deny your enemy resources
- Give you control of a choke point in the landscape
The buildings are occupied by troops, who start off as conscripts, little more than an untrained soldier with a weapon. By supplying gold over time, you could promote your untrained soldier to a more sophisticated warrior, with 5 levels of soldier available, who can more readily dispose of lesser-trained foes.
Military Aspect
Ultimately the end goal requires you to expand your territory and conquer foreign lands. You are required to build military strongholds and generate infantry capable of defending your realm and defeating your enemies.
Variable sizes of military building could be constructed, with the larger ones capable of holding more troops. These buildings would be placed around your borders, and when occupied, would expand your frontier. Ultimately, this was done to:
Economic Aspect
You cannot support a large army without weapons and food! Your success is hinged on you developing a strong economy, producing goods that will ultimately be required to expand your military by providing weaponry and gold.
Natural resources are the baseline for much of the economy. An abundance of stone, coal, iron ore, gold and wood are needed in order for your kingdom's economy to reach its full potential. Buildings are created to harvest each, with a settler taking up employment to collect the resource.
These materials are then stored in your warehouses, and can be later utilised to create specialist buildings that refine the raw materials into something more useful. For instance, the sawmill will take chopped wood and turn it into planks of wood, used to construct more buildings. Raw gold can be sent to the mint to be turned into gold bars, which in turn are supplied to your soldiers to give them experience.
The two examples are typical of the Settlers game, whereby a lack of a particular resource has trickle down effects into the rest of your economy. A lack of a resource can radically alter your strategy in the game, and which direction on the map you move to first.
Logistical Aspect
In tight games with tough opponents, the efficiency of your economy is vital. The intricate road network and distance between buildings that supply and demand each resource become a crucial factor in determining whether you expand your kingdom or attack your enemies at any particular time.
All buildings in the game are connected by roads, separated at flagged junction points. One settler is used to take resources between each flag and is the method in which materials flow between buildings. If a building requires a particular resource that is in your warehouse, the settlers occupying the roads in between will transport the resource item between the two points.
As the map contains gradients, steeper hills result in the settlers travelling more slowly up hills and more quickly down hills. Alongside this fact, because settlers can only carry one item at a time, it is imperative that you create an efficient road network, that is:
- Taking resources to where they are required in the most direct/quickest route possible
- Free of bottlenecks where resources build up at flag points
Conclusion
Much of the gameplay revolves around your ability to develop a thriving economy to mass produce soldiers to defend your realm and to kill your enemies. As simple as it sounds, the permutations of gameplay were at the time, ahead of the game. The Settlers proved to be hugely addictive game for many an Amiga and PC owner and proved to be a large success for Blue Byte Software... leading to the much acclaimed sequel in 1996, The Settlers II.
Some useful links regarding the game:
- Wikipedia: The Settlers -- Wiki page documenting the game
- YouTube: The Settlers -- Video of a gamer playing the game, using an Amiga emulator. The music played is the same tune but rendered differently.
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