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The Settlers: Heritage of Kings Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
26/11/2004
TVG talks exclusively to Blue Byte on the return of The Settlers...
The Settlers came to prominence way back in the 1990s and since then we have had 4 great titles and a number of âadd onsâ which have build this fine German brand into a massive seller. Although it may not have the outward gloss and flair of some other UBSoft titles, you are assured of great gameplay and a number of captivating ideas.
The Settlers: Heritage of Kings is a world-building strategy game where players can dive into a detailed medieval world offering a unique mix of RTS and simulation gameplay. A fully functioning community can be created; new advancements can be discovered, and enemy forces will be repelled! A living environment, a wide variety of animals and plant life immerses the player as you manage more than 70 types of intelligent inhabitant within an interdependent community. The in game features are extensive with each character type having its own benefits, uses, skills, and abilities. Barter materials, items, and advancements, with sales people to acquire new abilities and options. Discover important technological breakthroughs by using inventors, scholars, and alchemists. Derek dela Fuente chatted with Benedikt Grindel, Producer, at Blue Byteâ¦
TVG: What are the striking qualities of this new title?
The Settlers: Heritage of Kings is a game in which the player can create his own realm. It is a lot like building sandcastles on the beach. The features that have always been key for the Settlersâ success are the attention to detail (which we call the âaquarium effectâ); the idyllic, beautiful world in which you are playing; and the fact that in Settlers you are the creator and leader of your people. For The Settlers: Heritage of Kings we also like to think that our players identify more with their onscreen people â“ the Settlers themselves â“ than might be true in some other games, as our people are not mere ciphers. They have needs and desires that must be fulfilled, if you want them to be most productive for you.
The big focus for Heritage is the 3D interface. Firstly, how do you believe the game will be improved in 3D and what are some of the interesting features of the teamâs 3D engine and technology?
3D gives us a lot more options when it comes to the creation of a ârealâ world. This is of course in part because the real world is 3D too! You can now rotate around objects; zoom in a lot closer; show characters and buildings from a very close distance and really feel immersed in the game. Many people who have seen our demos say that our Heritage world looks more like a first-person RTS game than a real-time strategy game, and we appreciate the compliment.
We are informed that the game has been in development since 2002. What have you been doing all of this time, are there still members of the team who created the original game still working at Blue Byte and what is the team set up?
We have a real Settlers All-Star Team here at Blue Byte. We have developers of all four Settlers titles on the team - e.g. this includes Thomas Häuser, the mastermind behind Settlers 2. We currently have 24 people working on the game. When we started to develop the game, we did many, many prototypes to define in which direction we wanted to take the brand. The changes we have made did not appear overnight; e.g. the new graphic style is the result of many intermediate steps. It is really interesting to see the first 3D models we have done in the past.
TVG: Will you give readers a basic overview to the player, goals, tasks and focus?
There are several goals in The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (some economic, some military, some trade-related, some exploration-related). The ultimate goal, in the solo game, is to restore the rightful heir to the throne â“ you â“ of a shattered kingdom. The multiplayer game is not markedly different from the solo game, with the key exception that there will seem to be some disagreement as to exactly who this rightful heir might be. For some reason, in this mode, each player seems to think he or she is the rightful ruler!
Accomplishing oneâs strategic goals is done in a fairly traditional RTS manner, although we think we have added some unique features and refinements. Tasks include the construction of a wide variety of buildings (up to 70); conducting research in various fields (including alchemy â“ for a little taste of near-magic); managing your Settlers by giving them proper housing and other amenities; and, when needed, using your military to defend your own settlements and attack those of your enemies. Settlers will also explore the map, harvest various resources, and create products.
TVG: Will you explain a little please about both the management and economic systems within the game? (Have you adopted or created any new ideas?)
We changed some things, as we wanted to both reduce the level of micromanagement and give the player an easier entrance into the game with instant rewards. As a consequence, the goods are a lot less important in this game, and the focus of the management and economic systems are more on the Setters themselves. The player needs the Settlers to get resources and purify them; the better he takes care of the Settlersâ environment, the better they will work for him. Whereas in the old Settlers games, you would build a rather complicated economy to get a certain good, e.g. a hammer, and then you would reproduce this economy many times, in The Settlers: Heritage of Kings you start with a very simple economy and then improve it step by step. We consider this not only a new idea â“ for the Settlers system, at least â“ but also a marked improvement.
TVG: What do the team see as the most innovative gameplay feature?
The most innovative feature for a Settlers game is the level of interaction with the Settlers themselves â“ how the player motivates them to work hard for him. That is a challenge, and to find the right balance is a key component of the game. Others like the fact that the combat system is far more sophisticated than in the past. And some people on the team consider the very realistic 3D look, if not a feature as such, a great improvement in the game over previous versions of Settlers.
TVG: How important are the graphics and presentational detail to the team and would you explain the games Multi-Layer-Terrain-System?
As per my answer previously, we consider this extremely important. It can be said that good graphics and good gameplay are not the same thing, but to us, good graphics is part of good gameplay, as the overall gaming experience has to include the look of the game. We think that the world of The Settlers: Heritage of Kings looks like a very real world, and we hope that the players will find that this look adds to their being able to better imagine they are ruling real people in a real world. The goal for the terrain system was to have a very detailed terrain without any repetition. The terrain system is based on patterns and transitions between these patterns. There are two kinds of transitions: smooth and sharp ones. Our system allows the level designers to freely combine any pattern with any transition. To achieve this the system uses multiple layers. And the result is simply cool.
TVG: What is the storyline to the game and factions involved?
The player takes over the role of Dario, a young prince who rebuilds his empire that has been taken from his father when Dario was a newborn child. Dario meets other heroes who help him achieve this, and he has to build, trade, explore and fight in order to finally achieve his goal and beat the despicable, but strong and ruthless, Black Knight.
Finially, with 20 medieval missions, how diverse will they be and would you tell us about one mission, maybe a fav that conjures up the real essence and excitement of Heritage of Kings?
I cannot disclose any details now â“ sorry. What I can say is that the missions will have different goals, and many of them offer more than one path to success. The clever player will find alternatives to the standard âbrute forceâ way of solving missions in our game.
THANK YOU
As you would expect, The Settlers: Heritage of Kings is looking pretty slick, full of outstanding ideas and features which include an exciting combat system with upgradeable RPG elements, plus enhanced abilities, weapons, and technologies!
Weâll have more on the title soon.
