The Settlers (1993)

Today it has to check another strategy game, thrown in 1993 for PC and Friend. There talks each other of The Settlers developed and distributed by low Blue Byte design of Volker Wertich and that is framed inside the genre of the strategy in real-time. Although it would not be best sellers, if that would mark certain rules in his system of game of pioneering form, which today are indispensable inside the subgenre, as there are the creation of camps and the resources compilation. This way, the video game centers more on the preparation of the battle than on the battle in itself, being a title that provides very long games that can come to an important quantity of hours of game.

To begin a new game, The Settlers gives us a pair of options. On the one hand, we can begin a predefined game with a concrete stage and a few prearranged opponents. Another option is to define a stage size and to choose up to three opponents, so that the computer generates randomly a new game, what gives us an infinity of different games.

After beginning the game, we will have to choose the emplacement of our castle. This one will do the times of store and refuge of our subjects. Little by little we will have to go colonizing ours surroundings up to managing to dominate the whole map. For it we will have to go gathering different resources as stone, wood or meal, with which we will be able to support our population and create new military structures to be able to expand our domains, occupying them with our military units that, once prepared and strengthened, will be able to attack hostile territory.

The game control is based on a simplification of "point and click", since we will not be able to control units of isolated form, but we will have to indicate areas where to create buildings or, places that we want to attack with our army. On the other hand, we will have to create a system of transport of resources, in such a way that we will define the transports routes, as well as the resources that will be priority in the same one. On the other hand, he emphasizes the system of professions that we will be able to assign to our subjects and that will derive in the development of one or another field. Since we have indicated earlier, The Settlers would be pioneering in this system of game that, later, would be exploited by qualifications as Warcraft or Age of the Empires.

At graphic level we meet a very attractive aspect, especially for for what it was possible to wait in a strategy title, as well as an interesting introductory video. The stages are truly extensive and varied, with different elements that define the type of area. The personages, although of small size, they move fluently and have a design adapted to the activity that they redeem. In this sense, The Settlers also would mean an inflection point inside the genre, which artistic paragraph would be taken care in later qualifications.

After this first title there would begin a long saga, which first consequence would be in 1996 with The Settlers II: Vini, vidi, vici, appearing also in Mac. In 1998, of exclusive form for PC The Settlers III would be thrown and in 2001 The Settlers IV, also for PC. The jump to 3D would come in 2005 with The Settlers: Heritage of Kings and in 2007 The Settlers: Rise of an empire. At the end of March, 2010 it has the date of exit The Settlers: Paths to to Kingdom.

In this video you can see how the game is: