The Settlers Series

[Tyjenks]

How in the Hell is this thing still going? Do any of you play this game?

I played II's demo and it did not really grab me. I was in on the III Beta Test and it was fun for a while as the series does have it's own quirky little feel. It is not as much of a rush game as many other RTS's (this was refreshing), but in the end your goal is, most often, to kill the other guy. I did not, however, find it endearing enough to purchase the final product and have not tried IV's demo at all as it seems to be pretty much the exact same game, but prettier, of course.

I read Bernie Dy's review on Gamespy and that pretty much summed up my feelings.

This was prompted because I just found that Settlers V is in the works.

<**does double take**>

Wha? I assume it is the wacky tastes of those nutty Europeans that support Blue Byte and one of their few viable products. I cannot see that it is worth BB's efforts to ship it to the U.S. and Canada at all unless there are a lot of closet fans.

There are sooo many games out there that deserve sequels and will never get them. Settlers is going on it's fourth. Wow.

[GregB]

I dunno. I kinda like The Settlers. It has a calming effect when I play.

[Tyjenks]

I dunno. I kinda like The Settlers. It has a calming effect when I play.

I would agree, but only in small doses. Play a day or two and then put it down for several months. Which I found can also be done using the demos. Play the demo for a few days, it is different and pretty fun for a little while, and then play again when the next game in the series comes out.

[Bernie_Dy]

Yes, the Settlers series is really getting old. I really thought the first one was cute. The second and third ones added some nice details, but the fourth bored me pretty quickly. I do love the music in all of them though. That's why I keep my copies of II and III around...there are some really soothing tracks on them.

Blue Byte: they've gone through some changes, eh? For a while they were consistently hitting some nice ones. Settlers was OK, Archimidean Dynasty and Extreme Tactics (I may have gotten the name wrong - it was a futuristic helicoptyer action game) got good reviews, and some of the Battle Isle games were OK too. There was a great one in there too for you X-Com fans but I forgot the name. It was a pretty good turn-based alien killer. But the difficulty on the expansion pack was harsh.

[Tyjenks]

There was a great one in there too for you X-Com fans but I forgot the name. It was a pretty good turn-based alien killer. But the difficulty on the expansion pack was harsh.

Incubation and it's expansion Incubation:The Wilderness Missions. That was a great game. I still pull it out and re-install every now and again. Once again, I believe that game certainly deserved a sequel. It was hard to even find the expansion pack in the U.S.

Thanks for chiming in Bernie. Maybe you can work on getting a preview copy of V. Hopefully, they will make actual gameplay changes and not just sprucing up the graphics and adding a race and a few new units as they seem to have done in all the previous sequels.

[Chris Nahr]

Wha? I assume it is the wacky tastes of those nutty Europeans that support Blue Byte and one of their few viable products.

The Settlers series continues to be extremely popular in Germany where it's being made. No, I don't understand it either.

[Saam]

Not sure if any of you all remember, but I think before Settlers 1 there was a game called Serf City which was sort of a 'prequel' to the Settlers series. And if I remember correctly, that was also made by BlueByte (and published by SSI I think?).

Yeah the helicopter game was Extreme Assault, and it rocked, as did Incubation, Settlers 1, 2 (didn't play any after that..), and Game, Net, Match.

[Bernie_Dy]

I remember Serf City...I thought it was the US version of Settlers 1, but I could be wrong.

Incubation! Yeah, that was the name. I liked that system and the graphics were pretty good for the time. The Germans must not have liked it :)

[Tyjenks]

I remember Serf City...I thought it was the US version of Settlers 1, but I could be wrong.

Incubation! Yeah, that was the name. I liked that system and the graphics were pretty good for the time. The Germans must not have liked it :)

I think Bernie is right about the Serf City thing. That is how I remember it, at least.

Incubation; Mmmmm..Mmmm..turn-based gaming goodness. I loved the skill development system and the weapons specialties. It was simple, yet fun. You built up separate attributes within your team members in order to cover all of the different weapon's proficiencies. You pretty much needed at least one of each type to make it through. Sniper, heavy gun, light gun, flame thrower, medic, grenade gun. You also had the overheating to consider when deciding whether you wanted to fire off several shots in one turn or not.

Yippee!! Yahoo!! I am getting all pumped again. Wilderness missions here I come.

[Anonymous]

Yup, Serf City: Life is Feudal is the insipid US renaming of the original The Settlers.

Rather like Diablo, the game's also spawned a raft of clones from teams that include ex-Settlers folks. Knights & Merchants, Cultures and Nations are thre that come to mind.

Peter

[Tyjenks]

None of those are even as good as Settlers and yet they continue to pop up. I suppose they sell reasonably well as they continue to spawn even more clones.

And even Cultures is getting a sequel. Oh, the horror.

Are you listening Blue Byte? Where is my Incubation II !?!?! ARghhh!

[Anonymous]

... that Blue Byte is now owned by Ubi Soft and they like nothing more than squeezing every last cent (or franc) out of a franchise.....

[Bernie_Dy]

Well, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I wouldn't mind more IL-2 Sturmovik! But where's that Incubation 2? :)

[balut]

And Incubation already was 3d so it's not like they have to make that huge mental leap of making a 3d sequel to a 2d game. Dammit, you people are gonna make me hunt for my Incubation discs and reinstall.

- Balut

[Brad Grenz]

Incubation... Glide game. I reinstalled it and tried to play on my Banshee card a while back and it wouldn't work. Maybe a glide wrapper...