Since Blue Byte’s first Settlers’ game hit the market, the long line of successful Settlers’ games has kept on rolling. World wide, over 1 million copies have been sold. That’s a pretty good record, not to mention all the awards that the series has earned. "The Settlers II - VENI,VIDI,VICI," successor to the very first Settlers’ game, is currently available in 25 different countries. It has been fully localized for the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, and Japan. Further more, it’s been ported to the Macintosh and is available in both German and English.

"The Settlers I and II" are used by many as a synonym for the entire category of economic simulations or god sims. For these genres, "The Settlers II" is the ultimate benchmark for new releases.

The series has gathered fans and friends all over the world. Numerous fan sites can be found on Internet. Every day Blue Byte receives fan mail with questions about the game, suggestions, and even self-edited Settlers’ missions. The two most frequently asked questions by the Settlers’ fans is: "When will a new "Settlers’ II" mission CD be released and when will "The Settlers III" be released?"

The Most Important Innovations

The Settlers’ team has incorporated many of the ideas they received from fans into the "The Settlers III". The following is a list of the five most important changes and developments in the game:

• A totally new game animation, with 3D design of all the characters, landscapes, buildings and other details. When the game was designed strong emphasis was put on maintaining the original charm of the Settlers themselves.
• More importance is given to the strategic element, with construction and strategy now playing equal parts in the game. The on-going real-life battles can be directly controlled by the player. Individual soldiers may be promoted up the military ranks.
• Additional voyages, five different types of vessels, (two civilian and three military) are on hand for each race. The ships are created so that the player can have individual characters enter and exit them.
• New online playability. It is this change that opens up entirely new areas for the player. In the future, gamers will have the possibility to play with other Settlers’ fans all over the world!
• With gods, temples and priests, a totally new element has been developed. The competition between the gods themselves forms the framework for the campaigns. The building of temples and pyramids is really important for the outcome of the game!

The story

The gods Jupiter (Romans), Horus (Egyptians) and Ch’ich-Yu (Asians) have unfortunately lost some of their shape, due to gluttony that comes with centuries of reigning. During one of their parties, HE orders them to appear in front of HIM, through HIS private secretary Q’ngüra. HE is the highest of all gods in the universe. HE is very angry, Q’ngüra gloats, and it’s true that the god of all gods wants to change their terrible lives and grant them one last chance to straighten up.

They are expected to create a new people, to build up a new economy, and to prove themselves by fighting other races. However, only one of the three races can assume leadership, and only the god whose people prevail, won’t be punished. And this punishment is really gory...

The three gods remorsefully get on their way in order to find the right man...

The Game

"The Settlers III" contains three different campaigns:, Roman, Egyptian, and Asian. Just like in the preceding games, the goal is to build up an economy. In "The Settlers III," however, the player can choose the races he wants to use. Depending on the god they’re adoring, the people have different characteristics and skills, and either they’re good at construction or at developing strategies.

The characters of the different races have varying physical features, wear distinct clothing, live in different houses and build special temples for their god. The player assumes the role of the leader chosen by his god. All Settlers’ people are hard-working and energetic, and therefore they start immediately building houses and making food from natural resources like wood, rocks, deer, fish, plants and minerals. There are foresters, lumberjacks, geologists, miners, farmers and carpenters – all in all, more than 30 different types of characters follow the player’s instructions! But soon he discovers: It’s not easy looking after the well-being of an entire race! Here the construction work comes to a halt, over there there’s no wood, and somewhere else the lumberjacks are no longer working because they’ve run out of food. And the gods should not be forgotten either, because they could send catastrophes like blazes and plagues of locusts! Temples and other shrines must be built. The priests and temple guardians adore the gods by making generous sacrifices.

The player must obviously plan ahead, so his economy functions and prospers – and it has to, because the neighboring people and their gods are always on the guard! The better the economy functions, the better the chances are to protect oneself from the neighbors’ assaults or to invade enemy territory. There are sword fighters, archers, spear throwers, and ax fighters as well as scouts. The military equipment is also quite impressive: In ”The Settlers III,” fortresses, towers, and battle ships are now accessible for the Settlers’ characters. The authentic pattern of individual military movements can be controlled by the player. The goal of each of the three campaigns is to defeat the other two races, because this is the only way for the triumphant god to escape his terrible punishment....

Features

Single Player

• Three distinctive races, not only varying in their physical features, their clothing, and building capabilities, but also in their cultures, and characters!
• Thousands of subordinates, each individually and carefully designed, will animate your screen!
• With over 150 different types of characters, brought to life with the help of over 40,000 phases of animation!
• More than 30 different trades for each race, for example fishers, healers, priests, scouts and warriors!
• More than 40 different buildings for each race, with camps, that can be viewed from the inside by the player, and offer his Settlers access to the all fortresses!
• An individual campaign for each race, but be aware of their special characteristics!
• Landscapes with hills and valleys, rivers ,oceans , lakes ,streams, plants and animals, which your Settlers take possession of!
• Five different civilian and military ships, that offer the characters full access!
• Featuring countless battle options. Using your military strategy, place your soldiers and their equipment in the right place at the right time. Make sure that you’re not over-run by the enemy!
• Six training missions allowing the player to start the game right away, without spending too much time reading the manual!
• Amazing gods, with priests that offer them sacrifices, and Settlers that build them incredible temples!
• Numerous cartoon like video-sequences!
  

Multi-Player

• Numerous multi-player levels. Using a LAN, the player has the opportunity to battle with up to 20 different players, or compete on Internet!
• Complete Internet support with a special Internet Settler III- Server. With the Internet server you can fight your battles with other Settler fans all over the world, 24 hours a day!
• A world ranking system that automatically activates itself after each Internet game!
• Using the Internet, build up your clans and play complete tournaments!

Minimum Configuration:
IBM PC or 100% compatibles
100 MHz Pentium®
32 MB RAM
Windows® 95, Windows® 98 or Windows® NT 4.0
100 MB free hard drive space
2X CD-ROM drive
1 MB graphic card (DirectX® 5.0 compatible)
Mouse
DirectX® 5.0

Recommended Configuration:
166 MHz Pentium®™
32 MB RAM
Sound card (DirectX® 5.0 compatible)
2 MB graphic card (DirectX® 5.0 compatible)

Supports:
Local area network (LAN)
Settlers III internet-server

Release:
Fall 1998