Settlers Beta Test

[Angelspit]

There is an open beta test for Settlers: Rise of an Empire, the sixth game of the series, developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft. To start testing, all you need to do is head to <a href="/http://www.gamespot.com/test/thesettler ... ameSpot</a>, log in, fill in your computer specifications and <a href="/http://www.gamespot.com/test/thesettler ... ownload</a> the program. Like Disciples 3 and King's Bounty, this game might be a good addition to our watchlist. Anyone here is familiar with the Settlers series?

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1187011788

[Arveragus]

I am familiar with the Settlers series, because back in the day, I made the mistake of buying part III and somewhat later, someone thought he did me a favour by buying me part IV. I was less than impressed with either game.



Now for some reason, the Settlers series is hugely popular in Europe (especially in Germany), but I can not explain why. If there if one word that sums up the series it has to be 'slow'. No wait, make that slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. What the game comes down to is this. You begin the game with a small number of people. With these people, you have to build up an economy, meaning that you build up homes and have to provide the people with food. Getting them food is no easy matter though. You have to build a farm. The farm needs to be watered. The corn has to harvested, the harvested corn must be made into bread. The bread must be distributed. And oh yeah, in order to do this, you need tools, which you must make yourself. Of course, you need iron to make them, which must be mined. Miners have to eat. The iron ore must be brought to the smithy, etc, etc. As soon as your economy is up and running (which usually takes a long time), you can finally start building soldiers. These soldiers have to be equipped. You must make weapons from iron, etc. As soon as you have gathered an army, you then throw them all at the enemy at once and hope that you have more of them than he does, because that is the only way you'll win, as there's no strategy whatsoever.



I do not know if the series has improved since then, but since the series was already succesful, I can hardly imagine this to be the case. Anyway, I did not enjoy Settlers III and IV in the least. I would recommend you to avoid them. And since the Settlers games are not even remotely like the Heroes games, I think this one should not be on the watchlist.

[Ya5MieL]

Settlers series was one of my favourite series back in the times of settlers 2,3 and 4.

However, its not a game for everyone. It's not fast paced RTS, it is calm and nice village god-sim. Perfect choice for nerve-relaxation.



Some people (myself included) enjoy watching their towns grow while fat settlers do their best to make buildings in time.



Settlers 3 was sold in more than half million copies, so i guess there is enough people to keep the franchise going.



Settlers 5 was not made by same studio so I dont consider it as a part of settlers series. It was too different and too close to many other rts games.

[Orfinn]

Settlers 3 was IMO a very funny game, Settler 2 too. But grew tired of it quickly. its the only ones I have tried. But a very nice serie out of what I played.

[HodgePodge]

I vaguely remember buying Settlers and not liking it. That was during my game buying frenzied state of mind quite a few years ago. After getting burned too many times, I have finally been cured. I don't remember which Settlers game I bought, but I no longer have it and won't be buying the next one.

[Infiltrator]

It took an eternity to make a friggin sandwich in this game..

[smith-b-d]

I enjoyed settlers 2, me and friends used to play it split screen.



And yeah its slow, thats why they have the fast forward button. You speed the game up when not in combat. But it also depends how you go about planning everything, good plaining makes everything build up sooo much faster.

[Avalon-Eternal]

lol, I love infiltrator's post. Never played settlers series, but seems a lot like Cesar 2/3 which I enjoyed. And yeah, the whole food for workers, iron for soldiers definitely rings a bell.

[WretchedGnu]

er... If you find economic sims boring and aren't happy until soldiers show up, why on earth would you even start a game like Settlers? I love this idea that the makers of trading sims were somehow trying to make a military-based game, but they somehow failed and ended up putting a bunch of economic "filler" material in instead of the military game they should have made. If you think trade is "filler" toward some other end, you clearly don't understand what "strategy" means in relation to making as efficient an economic system as possible...

[Oakwarrior]

I suggest you to try this one out. I'm one of the "Old Guard" of Settlers, the die hard fan of the oldies. And I like it. It's found somewhat of a balance between the old ones and the new, RTS version. RTS might bug you out? Don't worry, it's only for the combat. It feels like Settlers II and V combined. Which is a very nice thing, really.



Try the beta. Maybe we could even hook up a few games?

[Mozared]

I do not know if the series has improved since then, but since the series was already succesful, I can hardly imagine this to be the case. Anyway, I did not enjoy Settlers III and IV in the least. I would recommend you to avoid them. And since the Settlers games are not even remotely like the Heroes games, I think this one should not be on the watchlist.

Boy, how wrong you are. You're completly right on Settlers III and IV, and I can only add in I and II are exactly the same. A HUGE change came with V though... I suppose you've played Age Of Empires? Settlers V is quite a lot like it, and there is a lot more emphasis on military activities... You still require goods, but it's less extensive; there are 2 buildings you use a lot, called the Mill and... was it Cabin? Either way, you build things like a clay mine on a clay pit, and the people working there need food and sleep. To provide them with that, you put a Mill and a 'Cabin' near the mine. Voila. There are about 5/6 resources. Most of them are used for building and teching, but IIRC you need some iron for cannons. Troops cost only money, and do not need sleep or food.

For as far as I'm into Settlers VI, it seems to be the perfect combination between I/II/III/IV and V. Enough fighting, but enough city-building for those who like it as well.

You might've had bad experiences earlier, but don't be so eager to judge... If somebody just made me play Settlers V without showing me the game's name, I probably would've guessed it was Age Of Empires 4.

Aside from that, Ya5MieL is completly right, and I can only repeat what he said: "However, its not a game for everyone. It's not fast paced RTS, it is calm and nice village god-sim. Perfect choice for nerve-relaxation.

Some people (myself included) enjoy watching their towns grow while fat settlers do their best to make buildings in time. ".

On the watchlist? I don't know... it's definatly a lot different from heroes... Still, I'm trying out this game.

[Oakwarrior]

Sorry, but S5 is not like AoE at all. AT ALL.