Evolution Tradition

HOW THE SETTLERS WAS BRIEFLY SPLIT INTO TWO SUB-SERIES

In a response to fans who criticised the changes made to the Settlers formula over the years, Ubisoft decided to split the series into two strands – ‘tradition’ and ‘evolution’ – starting with a tenth-anniversary remake of The Settlers II to kick off the ‘tradition’ strand in 2006. Thomas Häuser, who directed the original version of The Settlers II, was brought in to help out on the remake, and the game also spawned an expansion called Die Nächste Generation – Wikinger (The Next Generation – Vikings), although this was only available in the game’s core market of Germany. A standalone sequel in the same vein, Die Siedler: Aufbruch Der Kulturen (The Settlers: Rise Of Cultures) was released in 2008, again only in Germany, and was developed by Häuser’s company, Funatics.

In an interview with Eurogamer Germany in 2008, Aufbruch Der Kulturen game designer Kathleen Kunze responded to the question of why Ubisoft had decided to split the series: “So basically it wasn’t our decision, but the decision of the fans. There are people who say, ‘We want to continue this old Settlers concept.’ You have a lot of fun playing the old Settlers II concept. And then we have the people who always want new things. It developed more or less that way. Because of this, there was a lot of disagreement in the community. It was decided to label the things as ‘tradition’ and ‘evolution’. And that’s where the whole thing came from.” [Translated from German.]

The Settlers II remake stayed faithful to the game mechanics of the original, with road building and without the direct control over settlers that was introduced in The Settlers III, but it updated the game with 3D graphics and made the different races more visually distinct, as well as added minor tweaks such as the ability to upgrade military buildings. Its expansion introduced the Vikings as a playable faction, while Aufbruch Der Kulturen introduced different economic models for each race and altered a few parts of the economy: for example, making bread required salt as well as flour and water.

The ‘tradition’ strand didn’t last long, however: Aufbruch Der Kulturen marked the final entry in the series’ offshoot.