The Settlers is a real-time strategy/management game which was published by Blue Byte a few years back on the Amiga. This game is a beautifully slow-paced title, and serves as a great antithesis to the frenzied battles of Warcraft and its ilk.
Unlike many real-time strategy games whose sole preoccupation is combat, with resource collection tacked on to help pace the production of offensive units, 'the settlers' seems primarily focused on resource gathering and infrastructure creation.
You see the world from a god's-eye point of view you instruct villagers of your tiny micro-nation to chop down and collect trees, then build mills to turn them into timber, they mine ore, and build blacksmiths to turn the ore into workable items, they can even grow wheat to feed to pigs, who are then in turn harvested to make food.
The Settlers is a real-time strategy/management game which was published by Blue Byte a few years back on the Amiga. This game is a beautifully slow-paced title, and serves as a great antithesis to the frenzied battles of Warcraft and its ilk.
Unlike many real-time strategy games whose sole preoccupation is combat, with resource collection tacked on to help pace the production of offensive units, 'the settlers' seems primarily focused on resource gathering and infrastructure creation.
You see the world from a god's-eye point of view you instruct villagers of your tiny micro-nation to chop down and collect trees, then build mills to turn them into timber, they mine ore, and build blacksmiths to turn the ore into workable items, they can even grow
wheat to feed to pigs, who are then in turn harvested to make food... The chain of production never seems to stop expanding, and unlike other games whose playtime is measured in short 50-120 minute bursts, a good game of settlers on a large map with a few computer players can take tens of HOURS! Unlike other RTS type games which leave you with a blackened battlefield at the end of a play session, the 'settlers' leaves you with your own majestic kingdom to watch over.
The only criticism I can level at this game is that it may be a bit too slow paced. This really isn't a pickup and play title, and unlike examples of this genre made by blizzard studios, the interface might seem counter-intuitive to new users... One other thing to note is that although the AI that the characters se in their day to day lives is brilliant, it tends to fall flat on its face when faced with a combat situation - like an invading army. If you destroy a nation’s roads and pathways, the villagers end up wandering around without a purpose.
This game would be a great toy for those of you who want an ant farm but can't be bothered feeding the ants! Watching the villagers go about their daily business is an intriguing way to while away the hours on a lazy Sunday. What is great about this game is that it really does give you a sense of achievement when your kingdom is running along so perfectly that you can afford to spare some iron ore to send across in the form of swords and soldiers to a rival nation!
