Settlers 4 Enhanced Edition

[Vernie Montagna]

TheSettlers: Rise of an Empire[a] is a 2007 city-building game with real-time strategy elements for Windows. Developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, it was released worldwide in September 2007. It is the sixth game in The Settlers series. In March 2008, Blue Byte released an expansion, The Settlers: Rise of an Empire - The Eastern Realm[b], featuring new single-player campaign missions, new maps for both single-player and multiplayer modes, and an enhanced map editor. In September, they released The Settlers: Rise of an Empire - Gold Edition, containing the original game plus the Eastern Realm expansion, and additional single and multiplayer maps. The Gold Edition was also released on Steam and Uplay. In 2015, it was released on GOG.com, and in 2018, it was re-released as The Settlers: Rise of an Empire - History Edition.

The game's single-player campaign is set in the same fictional universe as The Settlers: Heritage of Kings, albeit many centuries after the events of that game. The player takes on the role of a king trying to re-unite the once prosperous, but now war-torn and divided Darion Empire. Joined by a group of loyal knights, he is opposed by the Red Prince, a dictator determined to be crowned emperor, and the Prince's senior most general, Crimson Sabatt. The Eastern Realm takes place several months later, with the king and his knights slowly re-uniting the Empire. However, when they receive a plea for help from a distant kingdom, they find themselves facing powerful new enemies; a woman claiming to be a goddess, the cult that follows her, and the cities that serve her.

Early in development, the game's designers set out to identify the "Settler gene"; that quintessential component or components which make the Settlers series unique. Having done so, they elected to combine some of the more popular game mechanics from previous titles in the series; the road network from The Settlers and The Settlers II; expansion by means of military outposts from The Settlers, The Settlers II, The Settlers III and The Settlers IV; a correlation between military strength and the prosperity of one's city from The Settlers IV; and heroes, taxation, and soldier's salary from Heritage of Kings. Feeling that Heritage took the series too far from its city-building origins and more in the direction of a traditional combat-based real-time strategy, the designers scaled back the importance, frequency, and difficulty of combat. Similarly, wanting to streamline and re-focus the gameplay, they also simplified the economic model, removing micromanagement and complicated daisy-chain economic processes.

Rise of an Empire received mixed reviews, with many critics finding the streamlined gameplay too simplistic, and the overall game lacking depth. Although the graphics were generally praised, the mission design, AI, and single-player storyline were criticised, with reviewers comparing the game unfavourably to previous Settlers titles, and games such as Anno 1701. Rise of an Empire was a commercial success, selling over 200,000 units in Germany during its first two months of release. At the 2007 Deutscher Entwicklerpreis, it won six awards, including "Best German Game", the first game in the Settlers series to do so.

The Settlers: Rise of an Empire is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements,[3][4][5] controlled via a point and click interface. On each map, the player is required to accomplish certain predetermined goals by building a settlement with a functioning economy. To achieve this end, the player must construct and upgrade buildings, manage taxation and soldiers' pay, ensure workers' wants and needs are attended to, and gather resources.[6][7] Although the game is loosely built around the same supply and demand-based gameplay as seen in previous Settlers titles, the game mechanics are substantially different.[8] Featuring a significantly simpler economic model than any previous game in the series, there is less focus on micromanagement and daisy-chain economic processes, and more on upgrading buildings, evolving the player's settlement, and maintaining a high standard of living.[5][9][10][11][12] Military recruitment has also been greatly simplified, and the importance of combat in general has been reduced.[5][13][14][15]

The game can be played in one of two modes; single-player or multiplayer.[16] In single-player mode, the player can play either campaign missions or individual non-campaign games. In campaign mode, the player must complete a series of missions, each featuring multiple objectives, the majority of which are based around achieving specific economic targets, reaching a certain level of promotion, or fulfilling trade requests. Although all maps feature at least one computer controlled opponent, objectives based around combat are less common.[17] Most maps also feature several optional missions.[4] In the original release of the game, there were sixteen campaign missions.[4] The Eastern Realm expansion added a new campaign of eight missions.[18]

In non-campaign single-player and multiplayer modes, which can be played via a LAN or online,[6][19] the player picks a map on which to play, with each map featuring different climatic conditions, geographical features, resource distribution, and mission objectives. In single-player non-campaign games, each map has specific predetermined victory conditions. However, in multiplayer games, all maps can be won by either destroying one of an opponent's "Special Buildings", by promoting one's knight to the highest level possible, or by invading an opponent's city, prompting their citizens to go on strike, which will eventually cripple their economy.[17]

Whether playing in single-player or multiplayer mode, each game begins roughly the same way; the player is positioned at a set location on the map, with three prebuilt "Special Buildings"; the Castle, the Cathedral, and the Storehouse and accompanying marketplace.[20][21] The Castle determines the upper limit of soldiers, is where the player's knight heals if injured, and is where the player sets the tax rate and soldiers' salary.[20] The Cathedral determines the upper limit of settlers. Sermons can also be called here, which generate income, and temporarily raise the city's reputation.[22] The Storehouse is where raw materials are stored and where traders collect items to make their produce. Trade with other settlements is conducted from the Storehouse.[23] Attached to the Storehouse is the Marketplace, where the player can organise festivals.[16][23] When the player calls for a festival, a certain number of male settlers will attend. At the same time, women will emerge from the Storehouse. If a man and woman are attracted to one another, they will talk, then dance, and subsequently become a couple. When the festival is over, the woman will return with the man to his place of work. Women acquire more food and take care of cleaning, thus giving men more time to work, which increases productivity.[24]

The basic gameplay revolves around serfs (the titular "settlers"), who populate and perform the requisite task of each building. As in all previous Settlers titles except Heritage of Kings, the player is unable to directly control any individual settler.[11] Instead, when the player elects to construct a building, a settler automatically emerges from the Storehouse with the necessary construction material, travels to the site, and constructs the building.[25] Unlike all previous Settlers titles, in Rise of an Empire, buildings are constructed and upgraded by the settlers who work within them.[26][27] Each settler's workplace is also his place of residence.[13] Each time a building is upgraded, an additional settler joins the workforce of that building, with the new settler bringing the required construction material to the site, upgrading the building, and then moving in.[28] All buildings can be upgraded twice.[29] When a resource building is upgraded, the amount of resources that can be stockpiled before a worker must bring them to the Storehouse increases from three to six, and finally, to nine.[24] Each upgrade also improves the mode of transport; at level one, settlers carry resources on their back; at level two, they transport resources via a hand-drawn cart, and at level three, they do so via a donkey and cart.[21][30] To assist in the transportation of goods, the game features an optional road network.[31] Initially, the player can only build trails, on which settlers move a little faster than on rough ground. When the player's knight reaches a certain level of promotion, the player can build roads, on which settlers move much faster.[24]

The only settler which the player can control directly is the thief. Unable to fight, the thief can steal goods, gold, and information from opponents. Thieves can walk through enemy territory, appearing as if they are a member of the opponent's settlement. However, if a thief gets too close to an enemy battalion, he will be identified and killed. If a thief is sent to an enemy castle and successfully steals information, the fog of war over the opponent's territory will temporarily lift.[32] Introduced in the Eastern Realm was another specialist settler; the geologist. When an iron mine or stone quarry is depleted, if the player sends the geologist to the area, he will partially replenish the depleted mine or quarry.[33][34]

The game's economic model is considerably streamlined when compared to previous Settlers titles.[35] A settler in a resource building will walk to the nearest source of raw materials, gather them, and return to his building. When the building is full, one of the settlers living there will take the resources to the Storehouse. A settler in a produce building will then walk to the Storehouse and bring the raw materials back to his building, using them to make finished goods, which are then sold from that same building.[15][36] All resources except water are gathered by resource buildings; water is gathered as needed from the well in the Marketplace by the settlers in the produce buildings.[36] New to Rise of an Empire are needs and wants. Settlers in resource buildings have only one need (food), and no wants.[26] Settlers in produce buildings have wants under two headings (prosperity and decoration), and as the city grows, they acquire increasingly diversified needs.[37] Needs fall under four headings; food, clothes, cleanliness, and entertainment. If the player doesn't ensure a settler's needs are met, that settler will eventually go on strike.[24][38]

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