The Settlers

[mattbarton.exe]

Hi, guys. I just posted a video on The Settlers, one of my all-time favorite games. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=SAYZm2IGGuQ

What's your favorite game in the series? I'm very curious if the new one is worth seeking out.

[Bloodwych]

Excellent video Matt as usual. Loved Settlers and played it split screen many times - usually resulted in an all night gaming session due to the pace of the game! Great fun.

Have you covered the Populous series yet? I recently went back to play Populous and Populous II - great games. Then I pulled out Populous the Beginning and it's still a brilliant game - great graphics and playability for its time.

[lilalurl]

Thread hi-jack:
I'll take this opportunity to promote the free game Widelands, which is heavily inspired by Settlers I and II and adds and tweaks various gameplay elements.

It is already in dreamkatcha's list of remakes, but it as now reached a very playable (and enjoyable) state.

Some elements are still lacking a bit, like the smooth and detailed animations that made Settlers so enjoyable to watch and play.
But they are welcoming any contributors/testers/etc... willing to take part in the project. So anyone feel free to give a hand (of course, if you only have 10 minutes of free time every week, spend those watching Matt Chat )

[Locash]

Nice vid, personally for me Settlers 3 was the peak of the series. It had just the right blend of Economy and Military that made multiplayer games incredibly rewarding. Saying that Settlers 7 does look like a massive improvement over the last couple of games.

I have still yet to buy a copy due to the horror storys that keep cropping up over UBISofts always on DRM, coupled with the problems with the authentication servers leaving people unable to play.

[Bloodwych]

Is Settlers 7 the one where you have to keep your PC connected to the internet at all times or the game kicks you out? Stupid form of DRM if you ask me.

I refuse to buy games with silly levels of DRM - I usually wait for the less restricted budget series. Shame because others are making it out to be a nice game.

[cosmicfrog]

I have happy memories of settlers on the amiga, 2 player
1 player had screen from rgb and the other had screen from composite, that way we could be at different ends of the room

shall not even consider settlers 7 as DRM is stupid

Great Vid as usual Matt

[birdy-scc]

It's one of my favourite game series as well - I think settlers 3 was the best though. I got Settlers 6 but couldn't be bothered with how professional-looking it had all become.

[mattbarton.exe]

I bet the DRM is not the developer's idea. It's usually put on at the insistence of the publisher.

I hate DRM with a passion, especially as a collector. I bought a used copy of Half-Life 2 and was unable to install it--STEAM wanted to pay $40 or more for a new access code. They didn't even care that I had a legit copy of the game. Ended up with a coaster.

I agree, though, we should NOT buy this shit, and we need to let them know that's specifically why we didn't buy it. Only then will they get the message. I consider it deeply insulting to be forced to submit to such onerous procedures just to convince some database that I'm a law abiding citizen. If they can't trust their customers enough to buy their software, then they won't get a dime from me.

It's really laughable how long they've tried to fight piracy by harming the very people who BUY their software! It's rather like scolding a class about skipping school, knowing the same people who skip aren't there to hear it! Of course, the real pirates can still easily get the software whenever they want, fully cracked, and never have to worry about any of this shit that will drive us legitimate customers bonkers!

[Nostalgeek]

If they can't trust their customers enough to buy their software, then they won't get a dime from me.

It's really laughable how long they've tried to fight piracy by harming the very people who BUY their software! It's rather like scolding a class about skipping school, knowing the same people who skip aren't there to hear it! Of course, the real pirates can still easily get the software whenever they want, fully cracked, and never have to worry about any of this shit that will drive us legitimate customers bonkers!

Couldn't say it better, but I doubt they will get the message...

Piracy fighting is really getting ridiculous. How can't they understand that punishing the legit customers (your school metaphor is perfect) is pushing them toward piracy and therefore totally anti-productive? That's a shame that greed and cash ruling everything make the legit customers suffer while cracked version users enjoy a more compatible, less likely to have problems and faster/lighter to load version.

[mattbarton.exe]

Yeah, I don't see why they don't just focus on getting the torrents taken down and such. If you want to fight piracy, fight pirates, not paying customers. They could also thank you for buying their products and treat you right. Would you eat at a restaurant that was run in the same manner as a software house? Oh NO--don't let your mate sample that dish! That will get you ten years to life. Oh, and let's check those IDs, finger prints, retinal scans, and body cavities for the fifth time. Oh, screw it, let's just have a continuous cavity search going as you try to eat your meal. THAT would be a popular place.

[cosmicfrog]

how about a Matt chat on different anti piracy measures after all they have been part and parcel of game playing for years now

like that school metaphor very apt

[mattbarton.exe]

I made it my tweet of the day.

[Bloodwych]

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

I hate DRM with a passion, especially as a collector. I bought a used copy of Half-Life 2 and was unable to install it--STEAM wanted to pay $40 or more for a new access code. They didn't even care that I had a legit copy of the game. Ended up with a coaster.

I made the same mistake and it made me angry too. I had to find a way to make a legit copy of the game work.

One of the reasons people buy games at high prices is because they know they can recover some of the cost by selling them on in the future. It's part of the games market and helps collectors and enthusiasts such as yourself.

I realise second hand shops abuse this and it annoys publishers, but by killing the second hand market they are reducing the number of new sales too and driving more people to consoles. I wonder how long before console games makers sell user licenses only to gamers rather than a copy of the game itself? They'll probably try in the next generation.

STEAM affects this too, so now when you buy a title you know you can't recover any of the cost. The only way to pass on STEAM games is to sell your whole account. I think STEAM is a great idea in principle as it offers some big advantages, but you should be able to trade games between STEAM accounts so you can sell the hard or digital copy to someone else.

I much prefer buying a complete copy of the game - not a user license to play it. Hopefully the market will find a nice compromise in the future.

[Jope]

Only Settlers 1 for me.

[seuden]

Nice video Matt. I got to admit I prefer Settlers 2 tho.

[Npl]

There should be laws against using names ending with .exe, always rings a malware alarm in my cerebrum if I see your name below threads =).

Played Settlers 1 to no end on the Amiga, random map gen FTW! Does any other Settlers have this feature? Can`t remember any apart from the first part and the (great) S2 remake certainly has none.
Also played S3 alot (1-2 online games aswell, I got hammered brutally so I never tried again), but the series lost it for me with the 4th part.

[Locash]

I cant remember random maps making it as a feature from Settlers 2 onwards. Sadly it was another Amiga innovation that never made it when the series transitioned to PC.

[Locash]

Just an FYI, Razor 1911 broke the DRM and also built a cracktro into the exe including trainer.

[ Show youtube player ]

[mattbarton.exe]

Nice, but of course Ubisoft will just say "Look, here's why we should focus on consoles."

[Locash]

I dont disagree, however I think thats the route they want to go anyway.

A bit of honesty from them and straight statement saying they are dumping the platform would be nice.