Settlers 7 History: The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici
Page last updated on 2011 / 02 / 08After the success of the original, Blue Byte Software had a lot to live up to, if they wanted to better the first offering of Settlers.
As with any sequel of a popular strategy game, the developers had to be careful about what was going to be changed, and to be aware of what made the original so popular. With that in hand, they could take advantage of growing computer power to take the original concept to the next level, graphically, audibly and adding more depth made available by bigger memory and more established programming.
And they managed it. Pretty much all of the original game play was left instact, while graphically, things had moved on a long way in the 2 years between Settlers II and the original.
The ability to play against another human player was rare at the time for any game, and was introduced to Settlers II by allowing you to play another person on the same PC, using different mice and having a split screen... the split screen reduced your element of surprise, but playing someone else rather than the AI was a novel option of the time.
Some Changes from the Original
- A number of new professions were added, up from 26 to 32, including donkey breeders, geologists, scouts and shipbuilders.
- Two sizes of building, some of the larger buildings require a larger amount of flat land in order to be built.
- Larger boats, the original allowed transport of resource across water with rowing boats, this version has larger boats for island hopping of settlers and resources.
- An "emergency program" that kicks in when your wood inventory is critically low, deactivated one you build a sawmill and woodcutter.
- A split screen two player mode
The Single Player Campaign
On the Settlers campaign, the main objectives were much similar to that of the original Settlers; develop a thriving and efficient economy, capable of holding an army that at least can defend itself, and at best, conquer all your surrounding enemies. Beginning on the first map, you are hand-held through the basics of the Settlers kingdom and how to maintain your economy... up to the tenth and final mission where your gathered skills are put to the utmost test.
Free Mode
Free mode offers a respectable amount of customisation based on your utmost enjoyable Settlers experience.
- Choose the size of map and number of opponents you face. This option was handy at the time of release as it affects the length of the game, and more importantly for some, would allow larger maps for those who had more system memory.
- Create teams, where alliances can be pitted against each other, or a "David and Goliath" match of uneven alliances
- Toggle the starting position of players, which can make the game easier/harder depending on resource placement, and also quicker/longer depending on opponent placement. The positioning of each kingdom greatly affects the strategy of the game.
- Fog of War, toggle whether each player can see the whole map or only their realm, its frontier, and where scouts are positioned, or the whole map.
- Number of starting resources, pump up resource numbers or start everyone off with a scarce amount of resources, meaning players have to carefully calculate early on to be able to grow their settler kingdom.
Two-Player Mode
A feature unavailable in the original Settlers, this version allowed two Settlers fans to compete against one another using two mice on the same PC and viewing a split screen.
Not only is it fun to play a friend, but it also offers a fresh challenge, greatly increasing the longevity of the game after you figure out the AI's weaknesses and are easily able to beat them.
Conclusion
Settlers II was not massively different from the original, and that's what made it so popular. It took the vast majority and feel of the first game and took advantage of several new features and customisation such as multi-player mode.
Settlers II is held by many Settlers fans to be the best among the series, as it retained the 'feel' of the original that later versions seemed to have deviated from. To this day, there are still fairly active communities online that are discussing Settlers II fifteen years after it was first released.
Due to this held belief that the 2nd version was the best, a 10 year anniversary edition was released in 2006 to rekindle the love for the game among the fan community.
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