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The Settlers - Review

​(Blue Byte, Commodore Amiga Game, 1993)

 

The Settlers is a real time strategy game, simulating the building and expansion of a medieval type settlement. Released for the Amiga in 1993 it was the first game of its type on any platform, the IBM PC release not following for another year. It gave rise to countless follow ups and even the smash hit modern-day tablet game Clash of Clans has its roots firmly planted in Settlers' territory. You can play against another human opponent or against up to three of a selection of potential computer opponents each with varying ‘personalities’. Everything is controlled via the mouse by using a series of on-screen menus.

 

You start with a castle which you have to place on a map taking into account the terrain, the proximity to trees (which will provide you with wood), mountains (for mining raw materials; coal, granite, iron ore and gold) and water (for fishing). Once sited you have access to a ready stock of raw materials to get you going and there are a number of villagers who are ready to carry out your wishes. You can then select from a variety of buildings which, once commissioned, the villagers will build for you, providing you have sufficient raw materials in stock. You don’t directly control the villagers, you simply place the footprint for the buildings and they do the rest. Once a building is complete a villager will move in and will go to work. You must also ensure that everything is connected by a network of roads.

 

The genius is the simple way that everything links to something else. So, for example, a Forester’s Hut sees a Forester set about planting trees which grow in real time. A Lumberjack’s Hut will enable another villager to start cutting down those trees. The Sawmill will turn the trees into usable wood which is required for construction and other professions such as the Tool Maker. Each time something is produced it is physically transported to where it is next required by your villagers. It becomes increasingly important therefore to keep linked buildings close to each other, since everything happens in real time and your roads can become very busy as the game progresses, you don’t want your resources to be carried right across the map and back unnecessarily as this slows progress significantly.

 

You send a geologist to the mountains who shows you where the raw materials are buried. You build mines to gather these resources which again are essential to progress. You construct farms and grow wheat (which goes to the Bakery via the Windmill) and keep pigs (which will keep the Butcher busy) all to feed your population. You have an Iron Worker, Tool Maker and Armourer all who need the relevant raw (or produced) materials to work. There are too many buildings to list; over twenty are possible, each with its own role to play and requirements to be active. You can build as many of each as you like (and have the required resources for). As the number of buildings grows, so does your population. The game can be played on a variety of sized maps depending on your machine’s capabilities, a game on a powerful Amiga can handle up to an incredible sixty-four thousand settlers all acting individually and autonomously.

 

The thing that is so impressive is that the interconnectedness is not just for show, it all works. If you run out of wood, your construction stops. Fail to produce enough food and your villagers slow down or down-tools. If you run out of iron ore or coal, your Iron Foundry grinds to a halt and then when your iron stocks are exhausted the Tool Maker and Armourer’s output ceases. Everything has to balance and to help achieve this you have a series of supply and demand displays and options, which allow you to see where the bottlenecks in your production are and adjust the flow of your materials accordingly.

 

Eventually you will run out of space in your designated area, so you can build more Guard Huts which, once occupied by a Knight, will expand your boundary. Your Knights gain experience and get stronger as they train and receive gold and, once strong enough, you can send some to fight with your opponent’s Knights. Win the battle and you take over their Guard Hut and your territory expands around it. Any other enemy buildings in that newly claimed area are instantly burnt to the ground. Once the last enemy Knight is beaten that enemy is defeated and disappears from the map.

 

And that in a very long nutshell is the game. Build and expand your settlement. Defeat your opponents. Move to the next level and repeat.

The game starts gently, easing you in with some simple missions to get you used to the gameplay and interface, but before long you are having to build large settlements to progress. This takes time, lots of time. This isn’t a game you can put on for five minutes; each level can take many hours, so it is helpful that you can save progress whenever you choose. It is a very relaxed affair though, you spend a lot of time just watching your buildings being completed and your villagers going about their business. Dinner ready? no problem, go and eat, everything will still be ticking along when you return. It is important not to do too much too fast as resources get stretched too thin and everything grinds to a halt. Careful planning is needed to make the best progress.

 

The graphics are wonderful, each building being beautifully designed and animated. The sound is absolutely stunning, with a plethora of sound effects that play to accompany whichever building you happen to be focussing on at the time. Look at the Tool Maker and you will hear the distant clink of a hammer on metal. Visit the Lumberjack and you will hear the sawing of wood. This is all accompanied by a medieval tune that captures the mood perfectly and never gets irritating. The whole effect produces an atmosphere that is utterly delightful and completely engrossing. 

 

On the down side this isn’t a game that will please those looking for a fast thrill; you have to invest plenty of time to reap the rewards. It is also possible to hit a bit of a wall, with resource or transportation problems stopping construction altogether, when the only option is to start a level again. Bearing in mind you may be several hours in, this can certainly be frustrating, but each time it happens you learn an important lesson and vow to improve next time. There can be periods when there is not much for you to do, so an ability to fast forward time (like, for example, Sim City) would be welcome. Finally, you can reach a point where you are clearly going to win, but it can take a long time to train enough Knights to finish the opponent completely, it would be more sensible if they surrendered a little earlier when their settlement becomes untenable.

 

I have to list negatives in the interests of balance but in reality this is an absolutely magnificent, wonderful game. Nothing is perfect, but this is extraordinarily close. To produce something so detailed, so clever, so atmospheric and so interconnected, that works so well, running on even a basic level Amiga is nothing short of astonishing.  

 

There are moments in video gaming history that are rightly remembered as ground-breaking. Pong, Space Invaders, the first home consoles, the NES, the PlayStation, online gaming, virtual reality. The Settlers deserves to be on that list. It really was that different and genuinely still is that good. It has been voted as the second best Amiga game ever and would comfortably be in my all-time top ten games from any platform.

Truly extraordinary.

Graphics - 95%

Brilliantly constructed and animated. Each building has a distinct appearance, backed up by a comprehensive selection of menus and statistical displays.

Sounds - 96%

Wonderfully atmospheric, with the sounds of settlement life filling the air and constantly adjusting dependent on the building in view. All wrapped up in a perfect medieval tune that never gets annoying. 

Grab-Factor - 90%

A complex game that is easy to play but very hard to master. The manual is comprehensive and the included pull-out reference card listing the various buildings and icons is absolutely essential (assuming you are playing an original version of the game). 

 

Playability - 95%

Brilliantly conceived, deep, involved, clever and absorbing gameplay will keep you entertained for many hours. Not for those seeking a quick 'pick-up and play' thrill though. 

Verdict - 94%

 

 

AG 29/05/2018

Featured in Amiga Addict magazine, issue 13.

© Words and pictures copyright grapeswriting.com

Th Settlers Playing Guide

The Settlers – Playing Guide

Play smart to make your settlement more efficient...

Fishermen provide an early source of food...

The reference cards are invaluable.

Place buildings logically.

Put your Goldsmith and Steelworker near the mines.

Get those mines working as soon as possible.

A good road network is essential to keep everything moving.

Don't try and build too many buildings at once...

Leave space around your Farms for crops to grow.

Keep an eye on your supply and demand meters. This one is telling you that your Miners are going hungry.

Another reference card, it's almost impossible to play the game without these.

Get the basics right and you will be seeing this more often!

The Settlers is a stunning game. Indeed, I awarded it my highest ever score of 94% when I reviewed it in issue 13 of Amiga Addict. But while it is an absolutely brilliant title, there is an awful lot to learn and it can be a little overwhelming. To get the best from it and make progress, it is useful to understand some basic strategies. The following guide should help to make that level you are stuck on just a tad easier...

 

Location, Location, Location

Upon starting a new game the first task is to place the Castle. Even this has a huge effect on the subsequent difficulty level; get it wrong and things become a whole lot harder. When seeking that perfect spot, ideally it should be:

  • In an open space with sufficient room to place buildings to start the settlement, with further space for expansion when needed. Flatter terrain is preferable, as goods transportation will be faster, and larger buildings will be easier to accommodate.

  • Near trees and stone, to ensure a supply of building materials early on.

  • Not too far from mountains, as there will come a time when iron and gold ore, coal and stone will need to be mined. Attacks across mountains are rare since territories don’t often meet there, so they also form a natural defensive barrier. 

  • Close to water, enabling the placement of Fishing Huts to provide an instant food source until Farms are operational.

 

It is unlikely that any location will tick every box, so there needs to be compromise, but careful placement is everything - life is much easier if a suitable site is found.

 

Building for Success

The next stage is to construct some buildings. There are a large number available and an inexperienced player will not know which is which. The reference card that comes with the manual is essential to help recognise and select the right one (a copy of the card can be found online).

I would recommend starting by building one or two Lumberjack’s Huts and a Sawmill. Wood is an essential construction resource and if you run out it can take a long time to get things moving again. I would also build a Forester’s Hut and Stonecutter’s Hut. All resource collectors are best positioned near the resource in question, on the Castle side of it. Every building must be connected to the Castle (and subsequently to other buildings) by roads.  

Sometimes, relocation is necessary. For instance, if a Stonecutter has collected all the available stone in their vicinity; demolish the building and build another near a different supply.

 

Common Sense Pays

It is important to understand that everything connects to something else. Every type of raw and produced material has its own particular journey to make. Each time something is mined, collected or produced it has to be physically transported to where it is next required by your settlers; indeed this is the essence of the game. It is therefore really important to understand these connections and to keep linked buildings as close as possible to each other. Place the Pig Farms and Butcher together, the Corn Farms, Windmill and Baker in the same area, and so on.

It makes no sense to have the Sawmill or Forester on the opposite side of the map to the Lumberjack, or the Goldsmith or Steelworker a long way from the mines. If resources have to be carried long distances unnecessarily this clogs up the roads and slows everything down, since everything happens in real time.

 

What’s Yours is Mine

As soon as it is possible, Geologists should be sent into the mountains to look for raw materials. They will plant coloured notices showing the location of the ore (the colour of the dot denotes the resource and the dot size shows the quantity). By dispatching them early, the player knows where to site the first mines when the time comes.

Once mines run out of raw materials (confirmed by a notification) they should be demolished so food isn’t being transported to the workers unnecessarily.

 

Unclog Those Roads

The roads can become very busy. Keeping linked buildings close to each other helps with this, but matters can be further improved with careful design of the road network. It is good to try and avoid pinch-points where too many routes converge on the same junction.

Also, when laying the roads it is best to keep them as flat as possible. Busy junctions or steep sections slow the distribution of goods and can create backlogs. A well thought out transportation network will help keep everything moving.

 

Don’t Overstretch

Once a settlement is taking shape it can be very tempting to get carried away and start the construction of too many buildings at the same time. This can cause problems, with resource levels and transportation issues slowing completion times significantly. Building resources shouldn’t be spread too thinly - even if stocks are good they still have to be transported. It is better to limit the number of new buildings at any given time (so they will be completed quickly) rather than sit for an hour and watch two dozen or more half-finished constructions hardly change! Be disciplined and prioritise.

 

Expansion is Key

As soon as it is possible, the territory should be expanded by building Guard-Rooms, Watch-Towers or Garrisons on the edge of the settlement. Upon completion and occupation by a Knight, the settlement boundary will increase. This provides additional space for those buildings that require a larger footprint, such as the Farms, Windmill, Bakery and Butcher – all essential to keep the food chain flowing. When Corn Farms are placed, additional space should be left around them to enable crops to grow.

Keep expanding continually, as fast as possible. Once you have room, try and build at least one of every building, perhaps with the exception of the Boat Yard which is only needed on maps with large areas of water. The sooner a settlement becomes self-sufficient and stops relying on the Castle’s starting stocks the better. The computer controlled opponents will normally only grow at a modest pace; if you act swiftly in the early stages of a level it is possible to gain a significant and decisive lead.

 

Know Your Priorities

A series of information and options screens can be accessed via the menu, showing supply and demand. There are options to adjust the goods flow throughout the settlement by increasing or decreasing the priority of transportation, and setting how much of each goes to each of the recipients. This should be monitored regularly to ensure that everyone is receiving what they need. If gaps are identified then either the delivery priority can be adjusted, or production of the item in question can be boosted.

There is no 'one size fits all' setting here; as time passes the priorities will change. As an example, in the beginning wood and stone should be a high transportation priority to meet the construction demands. However, once the majority of buildings are completed, it might be that these become less important and moving Gold Ore and Coal (to your Goldsmith), Steel and Coal (to your Blacksmith working at the Armourer), and Gold, Shields and Swords (to the Knight’s buildings to train and strengthen the Knights) becomes a priority. The key is to remain watchful and adjust the settings accordingly.

Stock levels in the Castle and Stock buildings should also be monitored and, if something starts running low, production should be boosted and the relevant transportation settings tweaked.

 

Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey

Once Knights have taken residence in the Guard Huts, Watch-Towers or Garrisons they can be sent to fight the Knights of the other players, providing you share a boundary. If they win the battle, they take over that opponent’s building and your settlement expands around this newly acquired property. Any other enemy buildings in the vicinity are instantly burnt to the ground. Once an opponent’s last Knight is beaten, they are defeated and disappear from the map.

Since this is the way to win a level, it can be very tempting to send Knights to fight as soon as there are enough to do so, but inexperienced and untrained Knights will lose, frequently and consistently. It pays to wait until they have gold in their buildings and have trained to be a higher level, as they will have a much better chance of winning their battle. (The reverse of the reference card includes the icons of all the different settlers, including the five different levels of Knight.) If weak Knights are consistently sent to fight, it can be easy to get locked in a cycle of not giving any the time needed to become stronger. Patience is required here – playing the long game will save time in the end.

There are options to select how many Knights take residence in Guard-Huts etc. and how many remain for defence when you send them out to battle. It is worth setting occupation levels for all to maximum and, for those well inside your settlement, defence levels to the minimum - freeing up more for attacking.

You should pick your targets carefully; if several key enemy buildings can be destroyed by defeating a single Guard-Hut, then that is the one to be attacking!

 

Back to Square One

Sometimes games just don’t work out as you plan, with resource or transportation problems causing everything to grind to a halt. Even adjusting the relevant options might not get things moving again, and delays will see opponents gain too much of a lead, making victory virtually impossible.

In this situation it is best to admit defeat and restart a level, rather than to plough on defiantly. It can be hard to make this decision though, as reaching this point may have taken many hours’ play, but there are times when it is the only sensible way forward.

What is important is that lessons are learned from failures so the player can improve next time! 

 

The Beautiful Game

I hope these pages will help you make progress. The Settlers is a compelling, bewitching and utterly engrossing strategy masterpiece and is one of those games that the Amiga can handle way better than its pesky console rivals. If you are a regular player, these hints should make your next campaign just a little more successful.

And for those new to the game, I would encourage you to give it a go and stick with it. Things might seem a little daunting at first but as you become more proficient you will discover an experience that is truly magical. So get building!

AG January 2024

Featured in Amiga Addict magazine, issue tbc.

© Words and pictures copyright grapeswriting.com

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