The Settlers () is a 1993 city-building video game with real-time strategy elements for Amiga and MS-DOS. Developed and published by Blue Byte Software, the Amiga version was released in Germany in June 1993 and in the United Kingdom in November. The MS-DOS version was ported by Blue Byte and Massive Development. Blue Byte published this version in Europe under its original title in May 1994, but in North America, it was published in December by SSI as Serf City: Life is Feudal. In 2018, the game was re-released for Windows as The Settlers: History Edition. It is the first game in The Settlers series.

The game is set in a medieval milieu, and controlled via a point and click interface, with the primary goal on each map being to build a settlement with a functioning economy, producing sufficient military units so as to conquer rival territories, ultimately gaining control of the entire map. To achieve this end, the player must engage in economic micromanagement, construct buildings, and generate resources. The game can be played in one of two modes; a series of thirty sequential missions against computer controlled opponents of increasing difficulty, or a free-game style mode, in which the player competes in individual games involving either computer-controlled opponents, human opponents, or a combination of both.

Originally envisioned as a standard god game, similar to Populous, the concept of The Settlers was altered by the game's designer and programmer, Volker Wertich, after development had already begun. Wanting to create something unlike other titles available at the time, Wertich decided to focus on creating a game which could simulate a complex economic system, and which would feature gameplay built around a simulation of real-world supply and demand. However, due to the complexities of writing a codebase which understood and could realistically duplicate such a system, as well as ensuring the computer could handle military and economic matters simultaneously, the game required over two years of development. Wertich worked on the programming for a year, writing 70,000 lines of code, before any work began on the graphics.

The game received positive reviews and was first released on the Amiga and one year later ported to DOS due to its popularity on the Amiga. Critics especially praised the complexity of the economic system and the interrelatedness of the various buildings, as well as the graphics and sound effects. While some saw it as a god game, comparing it favourably to Populous, others saw it as a city-building game, comparing it favourably to SimCity. Others, however, felt it defined a new genre altogether by blending elements of god games and city-building games. It is often cited as one of the best Amiga games ever made. It was also a commercial success, selling over 400,000 units worldwide across both systems, considerably more than Blue Byte had anticipated. It went on to form the basis for The Settlers series, one of Blue Byte's most successful franchises.

Gameplay

The Settlers is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements, To achieve this end, the player must engage in economic micromanagement, construct buildings, and generate resources.

Game modes

The game can be played in one of two modes. The first is a series of thirty sequential missions where the player, either alone or teaming with a second player, competes against computer controlled opponents of increasing difficulty. The second is a free-game style mode, played on either a randomly generated map, or a pre-built map, based on data input by the player prior to commencing. The player can then refine the game by selecting the number of races (from two to four), choosing which commander should lead each race (there are ten different commanders, ranging from peaceful and placid to warlike and aggressive The basic gameplay revolves around serfs (the titular "settlers") who transport materials, tools and produce, and who populate and perform the requisite task of each building. As the player constructs buildings and thus requires settlers to occupy them, the settlers automatically emerge from the castle as needed. As the settlement continues to grow in size, the castle's quota of settlers will eventually be reached, and the player will need to build a warehouse to generate more settlers. At no point does the player directly control any individual settler - instead, general orders are issued (such as ordering the construction of a building), with the AI handling the delegation of orders to specific settlers.

thumb|Screenshot of The Settlers. The [[HUD (video gaming)|HUD shows part of the player's settlement, with the various buildings linked by roads. The roads are demarcated by waypoints (turquoise flags), which function as hubs for the distribution of goods, with a single settler operating between each flag.]]

An important game mechanic is the construction of a road network to allow for an efficient transportation system, as any settlers transporting goods must use roads. To build a road, the player must place a flag, and then manually build the road using a series of on-screen prompts advising as to the best direction in which to build. To maximize distribution, the player must set as many flags as possible on each road. Flags can only be set a certain distance apart, and serve as transport hubs; a settler will carry an item to a flag and set it down, at which point the next settler along will pick up the item and continue, freeing the first settler to return and pick up another item at the previous flag. The more flags the player has, the more settlers will operate on a given road, cutting down the distance each settler must travel, and reducing the time to transport one item and return for the next, thus avoiding item congestion at each flag. Waterways can also be constructed over small bodies of water in the same manner as roads, although the settlers need boats to cross. Similarly, the player can select what tools are made when; by increasing the significance of a particular tool, that tool will be produced before others. Tool production is important insofar as all buildings require raw materials and a worker with the right tool. For example, if the player has built a blacksmith, and the building is still empty despite idle settlers in the headquarters, pliers will need to be manufactured in the toolsmith.

Military

The player's territory can only be expanded by building a military complex near the territory border. Knights are automatically created from the pool of existing settlers in the headquarters, with each individual soldier requiring a sword and shield. They can also be promoted through five ranks, receiving training in the castle, or when stationed in a building, although they rank up slower when stationed.

The player also has control over the structure of their military, and is free to change the number of settlers who become knights, the rank of first-line defence knights, how many knights from each building can be used offensively, how many knights counter the enemy if nearby buildings are attacked, and how many knights take up positions in buildings not visible to the enemy, buildings visible but not immediately under threat, buildings under threat, and buildings about to be attacked. The player can also order lower-ranked knights to leave military buildings and return to the castle, replacing them with higher-ranked knights.

For the player to attack an enemy building, they must click on that building, and select the number of units they wish to use to carry out the attack. If the player's units defeat all soldiers stationed in the building, they will occupy it, with the player's territory increasing according to the building's radius. Originally, he intended the game to be similar to existing god games, with early development working to that end, but wanting to create something different, Wertich scrapped his initial concept and decided to focus on creating a game which could simulate a complex economic system, and which would feature gameplay built around a simulation of real-world supply and demand. Wertich worked on the programming of the game for a year, writing 70,000 lines of 68000 assembly code, before any work began on the graphics. Thomas Häuser, who did quality assurance work on the game, and was promoted to project manager for The Settlers II, explains "the Amiga source code was completely undocumented. To implement it, we used a team that had written a compiler for the assembly code. With that, the Amiga source was compiled to a PC assembly code and assembled afterwards. This was, of course, very complex and prone to errors". The only significant graphical differences between the Amiga version and the MS-DOS version were that whilst the Amiga version is limited to 64 colors, the MS-DOS version uses 256 colors .-->

Reception

The Settlers received positive reviews upon its release, especially on Amiga, where it was more widely reviewed than on DOS.

Amiga User International scored the game 97%, calling it "a true masterpiece" and "an awesome piece of programming that could only have been achieved by creative talent of the highest order". They compared it favourably to Populous, and praised it as the best god game ever made, writing "The Settlers has broken new programming ground and will be the benchmark in years to come for any up-and-coming software writer". They especially lauded the interrelatedness of the various buildings, and the complexity of the economic system. By May 1998, it had sold over 400,000 units.

Legacy

The game has been cited as one of the best Amiga games ever made. In Amiga Jokers 1994 Reader's Choice Awards, it won both "Best Game" and "Best Strategic Game". In 2010, the Polish edition of CHIP ranked it at #1 in their "Top Ten Amiga Games". In 2011, Wirtualna Polska ranked it at #16 in their "30 best games for the Amiga".

The game formed the basis for The Settlers series, leading to nine further titles, and becoming one of Blue Byte's best-selling franchises. Upon the success of the first game, Blue Byte began work immediately on a sequel, seeking out feedback from fans, and working to address anything they disliked or felt could be improved upon. In a 2009 review of Build13 for Linux Journal, John Knight wrote: "Widelands is a breath of fresh air in an extremely stale genre, whose roots ironically stem from way back in the past in RTS history. Whether you're chasing a fix of that original Settlers feel or just want a different direction in RTS, this game is well worth a look".

Freeserf, developed by Jon Lund Steffensen and made available at GitHub, is an attempt to reimplement the Settlers game mechanics in C++. Begun in 2010, Freeserf still requires the original game files to work.

In August 2018, Ubisoft re-released the original game as The Settlers: History Edition, optimised for Windows 10, and featuring adjustable game speed, adjustable resolution, options for mouse, keyboard, and controller inputs, key mapping for keyboard and controller inputs, and different device support for split-screen, allowing any combination of mouse, keyboard, and controller inputs (i.e., one player can use a mouse and the other can use a controller). In November, the game was also included in The Settlers: History Collection, with the same features and Windows 10 optimisation as the stand-alone August release. Available only on Uplay, the History Collection also includes re-releases of The Settlers II, The Settlers III, The Settlers IV, The Settlers: Heritage of Kings, The Settlers: Rise of an Empire, and The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom.

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