To ensure continuity with the original, the development team included several people who had worked on the 1996 title; Häuser was lead designer and lead programmer, producer and co-designer Thomas Friedmann was a design consultant, and co-designer and art director Thorsten Kneisel was an assistant producer. Although he acknowledged the simple mission objectives echoed those of the original, he lamented the designers' "unwillingness to restructure." He also criticised the touchscreen as unresponsive, the "frequent" crashes, and the pace of the gameplay. The Settlers II (German: Die Siedler II), originally released as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici, is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements, developed and published by Blue Byte Software. Amongst the graphical enhancements in The Settlers II are more on-screen movements and more animations for the settlers themselves, with four aesthetically distinct races. Because at this time, the development systems were much more difficult to use and we didn't have the ability to debug code as we do today. He also opined that the game should not have been a full price-release, writing, "the innovations on the original from 1996 are more of a cosmetic nature and do not add any additional facets to the gameplay. [45] However, they are able to fight their way through, finally returning to the Empire. We have also removed one of the original races from The Settlers II, since they differed only aesthetically. [18], Whether playing in Campaign or Free Game mode, each game begins the same way; the player has one building, a warehouse/headquarters, in which are a set amount of raw materials and tools. Other criticisms included a lack of mission variety and repetitive gameplay, with several critics opining that it should have been a budget title rather than a full-price release. However, these soldiers are comparatively weak. In the single-player campaign, the player controls a group of Romans who are shipwrecked on an uncharted island. As the player constructs buildings and thus requires settlers to occupy them, the settlers automatically emerge from the warehouse as needed. Although he praised the core gameplay, he concluded "The Settlers emerges as a real botched job, and one that desecrates the good name of the series. Begun in 2005, Return to Roots still requires the original game files to work, but features higher resolution OpenGL-rendered graphics, reprogrammed sounds, new maps, new missions, and a new race (the Babylonians).[84][85]. [60], They also pointed out that aside from the use of the stylus and the two screens, the gameplay and graphics were unaltered from the original. Several months later, they encounter a mysterious portal engraved with Coptic writing. "[66], PC Gamer's James Flynn scored it 89%, and was especially impressed with the balance between city-building and combat. [19] To build a road, the player must place a flag, select the "build road" option, and then select where they wish the road to end. The Settlers® 2: 10th Anniversary . Electing Eirigg as their leader, they head towards a nearby village where they see some of the people with whom they had been feasting; a group who they thought were Chinese diplomats were actually pirates. [27][28], The economy is under the player's control throughout the game, and is adjustable in multiple ways. [13][25] When more than one item is placed at a flag, the game has an adjustable goods priority system, which determines the order in which items are transported. [73] By August 1997, it had sold over 500,000 units worldwide,[52] and roughly 600,000 by May 1998. However, a small tribe of Chinese determine to win it back. [9][39], One of the most important early decisions Blue Byte made was to leave the original's gameplay relatively unaltered. The game also features an online multiplayer mode, and a map editor, which allows players to both create new maps and import maps from the original. The winner receives experience points and money, which can be used to purchase new avatars. Additionally, there is a story-driven single-player campaign, replacing the narratively-unconnected missions from the first game, which simply got harder as the player progressed, without any kind of connective plot. He is eventually able to defeat the pirates and retake the city. You can add a lot of features to the game, but it instantly defocuses what the game is all about. [47] As well as enhancing the graphics and sound effects, and increasing the complexity of the supply and demand-based gameplay, there were also certain aspects of the original with which Blue Byte had been unhappy, and which they hoped to address in the sequel. The Vikings, Nubians, Romans, and loyalist Chinese arrive at the capital at roughly the same time, and although the city has already fallen to The Wolf, the Emperor has escaped, and is hiding in a small village. There is the "Traditional" series, which includes the new game Aufbruch der Kulturen, as well as the previously released titles Die Siedler II: Die nächste Generation, and the Nintendo DS re-release of the original Settlers II. As a huge Mac fan, I was disappointed that we didn't receive support from Apple when working on this title. Initially operating independently of one another, but ultimately joining forces, the Romans, Nubians, Chinese and Vikings set out to learn why the portal was destroyed and defeat The Wolf. [9] To achieve this end, the player must engage in economic micromanagement, construct buildings, and generate resources. [49], PC Games' Stefan Weiß scored it 82%, praising the graphics, but feeling that at €45, it was overpriced. Her main criticisms concerned the notification system, which she felt wasn't entirely reliable when reporting on attacks, the "imposed arbitrariness" of where woodcutters work, and the absence of online multiplayer mode. Big fans of the original will find more than enough new stuff to keep them occupied, while the simplicity of the game's controls enable newcomers to easily get to grips with it. An important game mechanic is the construction of a road network so as to allow for an efficient transportation system, as any settlers transporting goods must use roads. The landscape routines which have been optimised for Intel processors have also had to be reconstructed. Ten years after being shipwrecked, they locate the final portal, but are shocked to learn it is guarded by hostile Romans. [58], In an interview with Eurogamer.de, the game's writer and co-designer, Kathleen Kunze, said of the decision to split the franchise, "that was the decision of the fans. The Settlers II is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements,[8][9] in which the primary goal on each map is to build a settlement with a functioning economy, producing sufficient military units so as to conquer rival territories, ultimately gaining control of either the entire map, or a certain predetermined section of it. The DS remake received negative reviews, with many critics arguing it tarnished the legacy of the original, citing unresponsive controls, a poorly implemented HUD, and, especially, game breaking bugs. Meanwhile, the angels Kostas and Theofanos have been observing mankind, and they report to Olympus that if everybody behaved peacefully and respectfully, things would be extremely boring. [48], 10th Anniversary received relatively little critical attention outside Germany. This leads to a very big problem. [21] At no point does the player directly control any individual settler - instead, general orders are issued (such as ordering the construction of a building), with the AI handling the delegation of orders to specific settlers. Because of this, however, there was a lot of disunity in the community, so we decided to label things as "Traditional" and "Evolutionary". [33] In the ruins of the pirate camp, they find fragmented portal stones covered with Vikings symbols; remnants of the destroyed portal, and Kvame realises the pirates are led by a man known as The Wolf, an infamous pirate. They have great fun playing the original Settlers II. [10], The game can be played in one of two modes; single-player or multiplayer. This allows for a variety of different game types, such as two human controlled races against one computer controlled race (and vice versa), two human controlled races against two computer controlled races, two human and two computer controlled races all fighting one another, and two human controlled races competing against one another. "[49] When The Settlers III went into development in 1997, Blue Byte again sought feedback from fans, and one of the most requested aspects for the new game was that the shipping system from The Settlers II be reprogrammed. [24] Defense of the player's military buildings is automatic; as enemies attack, any soldiers stationed in the building defend.[18]. [59] Players would be able to swap which screen displayed what, whilst the game would be completely touch controlled, with the DS stylus substituting for the mouse on both views. "[38] The game's developers, Blue Byte, who had developed all five titles in the series thus far, had chosen to remake The Settlers II because doing so was the most frequent request they received from fans. In 2009, the original Gold Edition was released on GOG.com, and in 2018, it was re-released for Microsoft Windows as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici - History Edition.