The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom

[toblix]

So I've been having this game lying in my Steam library for a while, and thought I'd give it a whirl. Turns out it's pretty good. I'm still in the beginning parts of the game, being taught new mechanics, etc. but I'm already getting the great feeling of controlling and constantly tuning this clockwork-like system of resources moving around from place to place. So far the combat aspect has just been another strategy mechanic: you have to create resources to recruit soldiers, and when you have enough, you can conquer the next area, which gives you more/new resources and room to expand. There hasn't yet been any stressful combat elements like having to defend stuff, an arms race or anything like that, and I hope it's kept to a minimum – the real pleasure is seeing your little men walking around like good little communists, carrying the meat from the hunter's cabin to the butcher's, and then the sausages to the tavern via a complex and optimized grid of roads and storehouses.

Also, there's a whole "community" thing in there too, as well, where you log on to your Ubisoft account and then you can probably pay money for dumb things, but I'm going to ignore that and focus on what looks to be a sweet single player experience.

[toblix]

So I'm still learning new stuff each level, but that's because there are just so many things going on, they have to portion it out so the player doesn't go insane. As I feared the game is moving away from the soothing free play mode of just building sweet villages, is focusing more on combat and has gone from objectives to victory points. Victory points are points that you get from achieving an objective; the difference is that even after getting it, you usually have to work to keep it. There's a victory point for having the most areas, the largest army, the most money, the most prestige, etc. So now I'm getting all stressed because the AI is working to get the points before I do (or take them from me if I get them first,) and there's just so much stuff in the game, and so many strategies to mix and choose. I won one level by selling hundreds of jackets down at the docks.

Basically, I'm experiencing the typical strategy game thing where you play these long matches (they can last for hours) and there isn't necessarily a way to tell if you're winning or losing.

[Hermie]

I was considering getting Settlers 7 a while ago, but then I remembered Ubisoft's DRM, and promptly went to Gog.com PC d/l wink to get Settlers II instead.

Ironically, it seems I've had a lot of the same trouble as you. They've slowly taught me how to make the city go around, and I'm like "hell yeah, everything going like clockwork". Then they suddenly asked me to "hey, go kill those guys", which several times has ended in me not being strong enough to invade because of the soldier cap, so I just kept going back and forth on the border.

Btw, the PDF manual has the credits, and there's like 6 guys. Old timey game development!

[Orv]

I've avoided Settlers 7 so far because of the price. I bought other things the last couple times its gone on sale (the last two Gigantor-sales from Steam) so I haven't gone around to getting it. The DRM doesn't bother me, and I really sort of want another management sim, because I never have enough of those.

'blix, would you say it's 30-of-the-dollars, worthy?

Addendum: Holy fuck, Bruce Shelly worked on S7? Fuuuuuck, nooooo, my wallet!

[toblix]

'blix, would you say it's 30-of-the-dollars, worthy?

Although I'm not good with money, especially foreign currency, I'd say definitely. I don't know how far into the game I am, and how much more it has to reveal, but so far it's been nice and stable, seemingly full of extraneous features like being able to buy useless crap and DLC, and if you like the settlersy kind of gameplay I guess it's good maybe.