Settler with Spring?

[liamdawe]

Pitty the website isn't english, they hardly updated it before when they had an english page. Good job chrome can translate it...ish.

[manolo_]

what do u wanna know? the downloading is pretty easy and the gallery too.

[Raghna]

I played nearly all Settlers and I enjoyed the 4th the most. Although I hated how you couldn't play with the Dark Tribe at all =(

But I wonder who else than me ever bought a Settler game, I thought I was the only one, I don't know anyone else irl that even played one before.

[Caydr]

Trivial to do, compared to some of the things people here are working on (not me, I shun work). It would be a decent project for one person to work on and maintain.

[Google_Frog]

I think we scared him away.

[Machete234]

If you want to play a settlers 2-like game, I suggest trying out widelands.

I wanted to say that too, theres already settlers2 remake.

Another question is if spring players like a game in which you build settlements for hours before you build an army and attack,

But I wonder who else than me ever bought a Settler game, I thought I was the only one, I don't know anyone else irl that even played one before.

Its better known in germany, maybe a lot of people who know it here are germans.

[KDR_11k]

Another question is if spring players like a game in which you build settlements for hours before you build an army and attack,

http://springfiles.com/show_file.php?id=180

[releppes]

I owned Serf City (Settlers1) and played a little of Setters2. Although the graphics in Settlers2 (and beyond) looked much nicer, I preferred the game play in Setters1.

I liked the economy of the Settlers series. From a simulation perspective, it was great to see a self sustaining economy play out on screen. After playing a game like Serf City, I could never go back to playing games like SimCity.

The things I didn't like about Settlers was the pathing system. Where you put flags as road markers for serfs to walk on. I always felt it was clunky and it detracted from the appearance of the game. It was also one of the more tedious parts of the game. Maybe the later games had an autopathing system. Not sure, I never looked at anything beyond Settlers2.

I also never liked the fighting system used in Settlers. It's not really an RTS. It's more a simulation. Like a cross between SimCity and Civilization, but with real time harvesting/processing of resources. I liked how you build towers to expand ones kingdom, but I didn't like how you were limited in where you could spread your kingdom. Here's how I'd change the strategy game play of Settlers:

1) No roads or way points. Let serfs find the best route between destinations (ie: A* algorithm) but allow one the ability to create roads. A serf traveling near a road would likely changes it's path to use the road due to lower cost and will reap the benefit of faster travel.

2) No control over individual units what-so-ever. That means you do not select a fighting unit and assign it to attack. You select a garrison and give it a command to send a percentage of it's units to attack another structure. I think that's how Settlers1 was but also allow fighting units to attack near enemy units (Settlers2?). At the garrison, you set soldier AI for how you want it to behave (ie: ignore enemy units or attack them if in a specified range). I think Settlers may already be like this, but I don't remember exactly. I want to think that later Settlers games allowed for micro management of units, which I thought was clunky.

3) Remove the concept of the kingdom border. Have it such that you can build anywhere on the map. However, if you build in a area with no protection from a garrison (or castle), then those buildings are vulnerable to attack.

4) Remove the geologist. Although the geologist is key in regards to finding resources, I didn't like the micro managing and luck involved. It seems like in some maps the geologist would plant a flag showing a coal hotspot, then right next to that flag it'd plant another showing no coal at all. After a while, you'd have a hillside covered in flags but not really where you were interested in mining (due to border restrictions). Then the flags would auto disappear before you could make a decision on where you wanted to mine. Like the road flags, I felt this made the game look clunky and also introduced micromanagement of units which I always thought was wrong for this particular game. Just have available resources visible (ie: the gold mine in WarCraft or crystals in StarCraft).

All these ideas are already implemented (I think) in one fashion or another within the Settlers series, but some of the implementation (like road markers) seem clunky.

In regards to creating another Settlers spin-off, you may want to consider the Blender Game Engine. It may or may not suffice for what you want to do in regards to performance, but if you had to start from scratch, it'd probably be a quick way to get a working game fast.

[KDR_11k]

They tried abolishing roads in Settlers 3. People didn't accept it.

[Otherside]

i recently aquired a copy of settlers 4 and i got a copy of settlers 3. I love the economy so much epic win the only game were ive found ecoing to be truely fun.

[releppes]

They tried abolishing roads in Settlers 3. People didn't accept it.

I do like the visual appeal of roads. I just didn't like the micromanagement of constructing them. I didn't like the look of numerous flags on the screen either.

I never played Settlers3 (or seen it), so my comments are likely very outdated. All my game experience is based on Settlers1 (Serf City). Of which I really liked. I played the demo of Settlers2 but never finished it.

My thoughts for abolishing roads would be have serfs make their own. Let a basic A* algorithm guide serfs between buildings, but allow them to deform terrain as they move. I think Settlers2 was like this a little wasn't it? As foot paths get trampled, roads would form. In addition, allow a player to construct roads (or widen them) if they really wanted to change the flow of traffic. The "constructed" road would affect the A* algorithm just like any other road and if placed logically, however there's no guarantee serfs would follow the new road.

[releppes]

i recently aquired a copy of settlers 4 and i got a copy of settlers 3. I love the economy so much epic win the only game were ive found ecoing to be truely fun.

I'm not a big fan of Sim like games, but Settlers was different. It wasn't just that you built a working economy, but it was interesting to see it visually play out on screen. Farmer sews seeds, crop grows. Farmer harvests crop. Crop goes to mill. Mill creates flour, flower goes to baker. Baker makes bread, and so on. Then you get to see the transport on screen as the economy goes to work. Traffic get bogged down, so you set priorities on goods as they travel. Then the kingdom gets crowded. You need to expand. You build garrisons to expand the kingdom, but garrisons need stone and wood to build as well as soldiers to defend. Soldiers need food, water and weapons. You can't grow more food unless you have room. Everything was interrelated. Yes. Lots of fun to get it all working.

There was the fighting element of Settlers, but getting a working economy was really where the fun was at. To me, the fighting system felt clunky. It was fun to see soldiers battle on screen, but it was like playing Populous where you controlled the battles indirectly. I could be wrong, but I think later Settler versions tried to take the game more WarCraft like in regards to battles. For this type of economy game, micro management never seemed to fit (in my opinion).

[FLOZi]

I've played 1 and 2, the demo of 3 and 4, and the 10th anniversary version of 2 (in full 3d).

2 is far and away the best. One of the best games ever, 10th anniversary is nice improvement graphically, yet true to the original, but is basically the same game with no additions (except being harder because the AI can use ships).

[knorke]

To me, the fighting system felt clunky.

cant compare to RTS, but for settlers 2 it was perfect. watching the battles and cheering for the goldhelmet soldier when he kills all attackers (waiting in line lol) was just part of the "watching stuff happen."

And while the geologists were sometimes annoying ("yippie! yippie! yippie! yippie! yippie!" - yea nice, now thats enough water found, get back to the mountain) it was just fun watching him and hope he finds gold.
Or the hunter, watching him wander around hunting, for some reason we never liked him killing the sheep but hated the elks/moose

In later versions this aspect of the game was lost for me.

My thoughts for abolishing roads would be have serfs make their own. Let a basic A* algorithm guide serfs between buildings, but allow them to deform terrain as they move. I think Settlers2 was like this a little wasn't it? As foot paths get trampled, roads would form.

In S3 they lost the roads, S2 still had them. But you could breed donkeys, they would transport goods on the most crowded roads.

[FLOZi]

Freaking donkeys were awesome man.