################################################################################ # # File: readme.txt # # Purpose: Documentation for Jens Willibald's Settlers of Catan computer game. # # Authors: # - jens Jens Willibald Developer, assumed author of original manual+readme # - dsr David S. Raley Manual writer - RaleyD@ix.netcom.com # - txe Travis Emmitt Organizer, commenter # - bill Bill ??? Commenter # - Babelfish babelfish.altavista.com (translation software) # # Modifications: # - 1998-05-23 bill Wrote or emailed translat.doc to a player. # - 2000-05-21 dsr Wrote editor.txt. # - 2000-05-22 dsr Mailed catan.txt & editor.txt to Travis. # - 2001-03-12 txe Wrote initial version of readme.txt. # - 2001-09-17 txe Moved all documentation into readme.txt. # - 2005-07-13 txe Added Troubleshooting section, updated most of my text. # - 2005-07-15 txe Updated Troubleshooting section. # ################################################################################ CONTENTS: 1. Introduction...................................................Travis Emmitt 2. System Requirements............................................Travis Emmitt 3. Game Manual...................................................David S. Raley 4. Editor Manual.................................................David S. Raley 5. Scenario Notes.................................................Travis Emmitt 6. Bill's Comments.........................................................Bill 7. Trav's Tips....................................................Travis Emmitt 8. Troubleshooting................................................Travis Emmitt 9. English Translation of Original Manual......................Jens + BabelFish 10. English Translation of Original Readme.txt..................Jens + BabelFish 11. Closing Comments...............................................Travis Emmitt ================================================================================ 1. INTRODUCTION (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ First, I'd like to make it clear right off the bat: I did not develop this game! I didn't have anything to do with the programming. Jens Willibald did all that stuff. My role has simply been to organize its documentation and scenarios, and then provide a download on my site. So you can think of me as the librarian. :) Anyway, this file/page that you're reading right now contains all of the known (English) documentation for Jens Willibald's PC version of Settlers of Catan. The key parts are the manuals (written by David Raley) and some of my commentary and play tips. For full-fledged Settlers of Catan rules, I suggest you look at some of the online resources listed on my Settlers of Catan page: http://txe.swa.com/games/catan.htm http://www.tripalot.com/games/catan.htm My page also lets you download the latest version of this game and its scenarios and documentation (including versions of this document). I found the original version of the game on Kulkmann's G@meBox website: http://www.boardgame.de/ What I did was take the original version and added a bunch of extra stuff, including: 1) David S. Raley's manuals for the game and editor (English) 2) English translations of original manual, readme, and scenario names 3) tips on how to use the game and editor 4) additional scenarios All of the documentation is included in the sections below, so the only thing you need to print is this one document. ================================================================================ 2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ The game runs on most DOS and Windows computers. Some people report problems with Windows 2000; I'll talk about them in the Troubleshooting section. Here's a summary of the compatibility findings so far: Operating System Compatibility: DOS 5.x -- ? DOS 6.22 -- OK Windows 3.1 -- ? Windows 95 -- OK Windows 98 -- OK Windows NT 4.0 -- didn't run at all for me Windows 2000 -- people report partial screen errors Windows XP Pro -- OK According to the original (German) readme.txt, the game *should* run on Windows 3.11, but I haven't tried it yet, nor have heard from anyone who has. As far as chipsets, I've run it on a 486, Pentium, P2, P3, and Athlon XP. See the Troubleshooting section if you're having problems. ================================================================================ 3. GAME MANUAL (written by David S. Raley) ================================================================================ Manual for Settlers of Catan Computer Game Board Game Designer Klaus Teuber Program Designer Jens Willibald Program Translator John Hoffman Manual Writer David S. Raley INTRODUCTION Settlers of Catan is a board game developed by Klaus Teuber. The board game is published by Kosmos in Germany and Mayfair Games in the United States. This computer version is a freeware program written by Jens Willibald and translated into English by John Hoffman. Distribution of this game is with permission of Kosmos and Klaus Teuber. This computer game incorporates the rules for Settlers of Catan and Seafarers of Catan. It does not support any of the later expansions, such as Cities and Knights and the Historical Scenarios. The Settlers computer program is designed to run under MS-DOS, but it runs fine on Windows 95 and Windows 98 systems (I have not tested it under NT). Just run CATAN.EXE in the usual manner in which you'd run a DOS program. If you want to set up a shortcut for the game, there is an icon (SIEDLER.ICO) available in the game directory. This package also includes a scenario editor (EDITOR.EXE). The editor is in German, but the program is small enough to make this only a minor problem. Read EDITOR.TXT for instructions on how to use the editor. OBJECT The object of the game is to be the first player to gain the specified number of victory points during your turn. If you somehow manage to gain the appropriate number of points during an opponent's turn, you must wait until the end of your next turn before you can win the game (assuming no one else manages to win before then). The number of victory points required to win depends on the scenario being played. the game constantly displays the number of victory points you currently have, as well as the number that you need to win. You gain victory points in five ways: building settlements, upgrading settlements to cities, deploying the largest army, building the longest trade route, and gaining victory point cards. Settlements built in a region where you did not begin with a settlement gain an extra victory point. VARIATIONS FROM THE RULES As with many computer versions of games, there are some variations between the board verion of the game and the computer version. Trading and Building - In the board game, all trades must be completed before you may start building. In the computer game, trades and building are conducted simultaneously, so you may trade, build something, trade some more, and then build some more. Note that some translations of the board game rules (such as the first Mayfair edition) also allowed this. City Limitation - The board game includes a limit of four cities, most likely because you'd rarely want to build more than four in a single game. Since the computer game supports scenarios requiring as many as 20 victory points, the computer game does not impose such a limit. The computer game does impose the board game's limit of five settlemets. Five or More Players - In the board game, if you are playing with more than four players, there is a special building phase after the current player's building phase. In the computer game, there is no such phase, but the safe limit for holding resource cards is increased to twice the number of players in the game (rather than the standard seven cards). Start of Turn - In the board game, your turn starts when you are passed the dice. As such, you are allowed to play a card before you roll the dice (most likely a Knight). In the computer game, your turn starts when you roll the dice, so you cannot play a card until after the die roll. Number Tile Placement - The tile placement procedure used in the basic board game is never used in the computer game, even when playing a scenario where such a method is practical. Instead, the tiles are either placed in fixed positions defined by the scenario or are randomly shuffled. Harbors - In the board game, each harbor only covers two of the intersections adjacent to the tile containing the harbor. I have yet to determine just how the computer game handles this, as it doesn't indicate which intersections are acting as harbors. I can only assume that all intesections are acting in that fashion, but have yet to have an opportunity to prove it. Victory Points - In Seafarers, different scenarios use different rules for bonus victory points. Some allowed bonus points only for the first foreign island explored, while others gave a double bonus for subsequent islands. In the computer game, you get one victory point for the first settlement you build in each new region (in most scenarios, each island is defined as a separate region). Unexplored Territory - In Seafarers, an unexplored hex can become either a land or an ocean hex. In the computer game, they can only become standard land hexes (farmland, pasture, mountain, hill, or forest). Also, in Seafarers, you gain a bonus resource for finding a land territory, while in the computer game there is no bonus (which makes sense, considering that you always find a land hex). STARTING THE GAME Start CATAN.EXE in the same way you would start any other DOS program. If you have problems with the display, then you need to specify a screen type. 1 VESA compatible (the default and the most likely choice) 2 ET4000 3 Cirrus-Logic 4 Mach 64 5 ATI 28800 You specify the video type through the number. So, if you type "CATAN 2" when you start the program, you will start the game in ET4000 format. If you prefer, you can start the game through the START.BAT file, which will prompt you for the format type. The file is in German, but should be understandable. Once you start the program, you will be presented with the startup screen. If you click on the picture, you will automatically run the default scenario, which is SEIDLER.ISL (the basic four-player Settlers game). If you click on "Szenario Laden" (Load Scenario), then you will be presented with a list of scenarios available. Just click on the appropriate scenario and you are ready to begin play. This screen is untranslated in the English version, so don't assume you're running the German version when you see this screen. The game will now present the main screen. The human player is always Player 1 and has the blue pieces. This does not mean that the human player will go first, as the first player to start will be selected randomly. MAIN SCREEN The main screen is divided into five areas, as shown below. To the left is the map area, which shows you the game map, including the location of all roads, ships, settlements, and cities. On the right are four smaller areas: the action area, the player status area, the opponent status area, and the dice area. _________________________________ __________________ | | | | | | | Action Area | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | Map Area | | Player Status | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | | | Opponent Status | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | | | Dice | |_________________________________| |__________________| The action area changes depending on the current action that is being taken. This can include information as to what a player just did, instructions that the player should follow, a question, or a menu. To respond to a question or a menu, click on the appropriate button (or click in the status area outside the button to respond "No"). To continue after receiving instructions, click on the dice. During your turn, the action area will display the main menu. This includes a list of all of the actions you may take during your turn. The first five actions are purchases. The resource costs for each of these purchases are shown in the menu to the right of the button. Build a Road Build a Ship (deactivated if not using ship rules) Build a Settlement Build a City (replaces an existing settlement) Purchase a Development Card Trade with another player or through a port Play a Development Card Move a Ship (allowed once per turn; deactivated if not using ships) End Turn Most of the other prompts are self explanatory. The greatest potential source of confusion is the message when the computer wishes to trade with you. The prompt lists the name of the player that is offering the trade, states what the player wishes to buy, and what they are offering for it. The resource being offered will be listed below the requested item. If you accept the offer, click OK; otherwise click somewhere else in the trade box. If you refuse the offer, the computer will either end trade negotiations or offer something else in return for the product. The player status area includes your current score, the number of cards you have for each commodity, the number of development cards you are currently holding, and the number of knights currently in play. If you hold the longest road card, it will be indicated on the right side of the development card line. If you hold the largest army card, it will be indicated on the right side of the knight line. The opponent status area is an abbreviated version of the player status area. It includes the player number and color, the number of commodity cards (but not their types), the number of development cards (blue backs), and the number of knights in play. The longest road and largest army cards are indicated in the same way as in the player status area. Use the F5 key to scroll through each opponent's status. At the bottom right are the dice, which indicate the latest resource roll. Click on the dice to start each player's turn or to continue when you are not being prompted for a response. FUNCTION KEYS F1 Display the Help Screen (click on the screen to return to the game) F2 View Statistics (only available at the end of the game) F3 View the map, showing any harbors and number tiles F4 View the map, omitting the harbors and number tiles F5 Cycle through the opponents on the opponent display F6 Show victory point progress throughout the game (only at game end) F7 Show production levels throughout the game (only at game end) ESC Quit the game and end the program (note that the game is not saved) ESC will not work if you are being prompted for some action. Since you have a menu available during your turn, you will not be able to quit while it is your turn. START OF GAME After you select your scenario, the program will present you with the main screen, with the copyright information in the action area. The dice indicate your roll for determining the first player, so the higher the roll, the better your chance of being first. After you click on the dice, each player in turn will be asked to place a settlement and then a road. For the first round of setup, each player in turn builds a settlement and a road, proceeding in numerical order. For the second round, the last player to build a settlement in the first round builds the first settlement in the second round, and building continues in reverse order. When you place your second settlement, you get one resource from each hex that borders the intersection (except for ocean and desert hexes). When it is your turn to place a settlement, simply click the intersection where you would like to place the settlement. An intersection must meet three requirements before you can build a settlement there. First, it must connect to at least one land hex. Second, all three of the adjacent intersections must be empty. Third, the intersection must be within one of the setup regions defined by the scenario. After you place the settlement, click on one of the three adjacent lines to place the road or ship. If you are playing with ships and you click a line along the coast, you will be prompted to choose whether you want to build a road or a ship. Once all initial settlements have been built, the player who placed the first settlement begins the game. TURN SEQUENCE 1 Press the Dice to roll for resources. Any territories that contain a number chip that matches the die roll produce one resource for each settlement bordering it and two resources for each city bordering it. A territory holding the robber does not produce anything. 2 If the roll was a 7, no lands produce anything and the current player moves either the robber or the pirate ship. If you move the robber, you may take one resource from any one player who has a settlement or a city adjacent to the robber's new location. If you move the pirate ship, you may take one resource from any one player who has a ship adjacent to the pirate ship's new location. Note that if a player has more than seven cards in their hand (or more than twice the number of players in a game with five or more players), then that player loses half the resource cards in their hand (rounded down). 3 The active player may now trade, build, buy cards, move a ship, or play a card. These actions may be taken in any order the player chooses (the computer does not enforce the board game's requirement that all trades be conducted before builds). When it is your turn, the action area will display a menu from which you can choose your actions. 4 End the turn TRADING To trade during your turn, just press the Trade button on the main menu. You will then be asked if you want to buy a commodity from another player, sell a commodity to another player, or perform a port trade. If you choose to buy a commodity, you will be asked what commodity you wish to buy. You will then be presented with a list of possible payments you could make for the requested commodity. Any payments with a number next to them indicates an offer made from another player. If you want to accept that offer, then click on the player's number. If you don't like any of the offers or if there are no offers, then click on the menu away from any numbers to terminate the trade. If you choose to sell a commodity, you will be asked what commodity you wish to sell. You will then be presented with a list of possible offers. Any offer with a player's number next to it is an actual offer, which you can accept by clicking the number. If you choose to conduct a port trade, the game will show you a list of possible commodities you can sell to the port. This list is based on the harbors you control and does not take into account what resources you may currently have in hand. If you select a resource for which you have enough to make the trade, you will then be asked what resource you want in return. If it is not your turn, the computer will sometimes prompt you with an offer from the current player. The resource shown on top is the resource that the other player wants. The resource on the list is the first item the computer player offers you. If you accept the offer, click on the OK button. If you click elsewhere in the action area (thus refusing the offer), the computer will either make another offer or terminate the trade. BUILDING To build a road, ship, settlement, or city, just click on the appropriate item on the menu. If you have enough resources to meet the cost, you will be prompted to select a location on the map. A road must be placed on an empty line adjacent to a land hex that connects to one of your roads, cities, or settlements. A ship must be placed on an empty line adjacent to an ocean hex that connects to one of your settlements, cities, or ships. A settlement must be placed at an empty intersection that connects to one of your roads or ships and that is at least two intersections from the nearest settlement or city. You must place a city at a location where you currently have a settlement. Note: As in the board game, you may not have more than five settlements on the board at one time. If you want to build another settlement after you built your fifth, you'll need to upgrade one to a city first. DEVELOPMENT CARDS You may purchase development cards during your turn. You may play only one development card during your turn and you cannot play a card on the turn that you draw it (note that Victory Point cards are never really played - they just immediately add to your victory point total without your opponents knowing about it). There are five possible development cards: KNIGHT - A Knight (known as a Soldier in some American editions of the board game) allows you to move the robber or pirate to a new location. If you have three or more knights in play and have more knights than any other player, you gain the Largest Army card (with two victory points). You keep this until another player exceeds your army size. ROAD CONSTRUCTION - You are allowed to build two roads or ships as if you just paid the resources to build them. MONOPOLY - Select a resource. You gain all cards for that resource that are currently in play. DISCOVERY - You gain any two resources you want (they may be the same or they may be different). VICTORY POINT - You gain one victory point. These take effect immediately, but they are not displayed until the player declares a victory. Most players assume that a development card that is kept face down for a long period of time must be a victory point card. END OF GAME A victory is registered at the end of the winning player's turn. So, if you have gained enough victory points to win the game, just click on the End Turn button and you will be declared the winner. Once a winner is determined, you will be shown the victory point total for each player. The site victory point total includes points for settlements, cities, and bonus points for building settlements in new regions. The remaining columns list points for the largest army, the longest road, and any victory point cards you have. You may use the F6 and F7 buttons to show statistics for victory point totals and production levels. You may use F2 to return to the victory point summary list. If you click the display with the left mouse button, you will be shown the high score table. If you have one of the top 20 scores, your score for the game will be highlighted. Just type in your name (and perhaps the name of the scenario) and press ENTER. You can now click on the left mouse button to exit the game. If that high score table is filled with scores of people you have never heard of, you should delete the REKORDE.DAT file, which includes the high scores, after you leave the program. After your next game, a new REKORDE.DAT file will be created with all empty slots. ================================================================================ 4. EDITOR MANUAL (written by David S. Raley) ================================================================================ THE EDITOR OF CATAN This document written by David S. Raley I'm not sure who wrote the editor, but I presume it was Jens Willibald INTRODUCTION If you don't find the included scenarios to be enough, then you can develop your own through the editor (named, appropriately enough, EDITOR.EXE). As with the main game, you start it in the same was as you would start any DOS program. The editor is in German, but isn't all that difficult for an English speaker to figure out. I have noticed two limitations for the editor: the maximum board size is smaller than most Seafarers scenarions, and the load utility only displays up to 45 scenarios. If there is a paging mechanism to find additional scenarios beyond 45, I haven't found it. The game itself supports more than 45 scenarios (I suspect its limit is 60). Since this game consumes less than a megabyte, you could try placing a copy the game in more than one directory, each with its own set of scenarios. The editor does provide a help screen, which you can see if you press F1. I was amazed I actually understood enough of it for it to be useful, as I do not speak German. EDITOR SCREEN The editor screen is divided into five areas, as shown below. To the left is the map area, which shows you the current status of the map. On the right are four smaller areas. The top area provides you with information on the current hex that is highlighted in the map area. The second area allows you to select the basic terrain type for the highlighted hex. The third area allows you to specify the scneario rules. The bottom area allows you to load or save a scenario. _________________________________ __________________ | | | | | | | Selected Terrain | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | Map Area | | Terrain Selector | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | | | Scenario Rules | | | |__________________| | | __________________ | | | | | | | File Box | |_________________________________| |__________________| The map area represents the game board. The map is nine hexes wide and seven hexes high (alternate rows are eight hexes high). The outermost hexes on the map can only be ocean hexes, while the interior hexes may be set to any terrain. Use the left mouse button in the map area to select a hex and the right mouse button to alternate between an ocean hex and a land hex. The Selected Terrain Area includes the attributes of the selected land. First it lists the terrain type. You can cycle through the terrain types by clicking on the type. The possible terrain types are listed below. Note that to avoid potential character set compatibility problems, I am spelling all German words without umlauts. Meer Ocean Land Generic Land (final type selected at start of game) Weideland Pasture Ackerland Farmland Wald Forest Hugelland Hill Gebirge Mountain Wuste Desert (or Waste) Goldfluss Gold Field Unbekannt Unexplored (land revealed when road or ship adjacent) Selected lands (Generic Land and Unexplored) will always be one of the five basic lands types: pasture, farmland, forest, hill, or mountain. They will never be replaced with deserts or gold fields. The game maintains a balance with Generic Lands and assigns them to their final type as evenly as possible. Assignments are made in the following order: pasture, farmland, forest, hill, and mountain. So, if a game includes 11 Generic Lands, then there will be three pastures and two of each other land type. Below the terrain type is a list of attributes. OCean hexes have one attribute: does the hex contain a harbor? Set this to "Ja" (Yes), to place a harbor in the hex. You cannot set the hex to a specific harbor type (these will be assigned at the start of the game). If you include six or more harbors in a scenario, there will be one harbor of each resource type and the rest will be generic harbors. If you include less than six harbors, the harbor types will be selected at random (there will be no more than one of any harbor type). Other terrain types have three attribites: Zahlenchip (Production Chip), Position, and Region. The production chip may be set to either Zufall (Shuffled) or a number from 2-12 (excluding 7). Deserts get no value for this attribute, since they never have production chips. For shuffled production chips, assignments are made in the following order: 8, 6, 9, 5, 10, 4, 11, 3, 12, and 2. The Position attribute indicates whether the tile's position is fixed on the map or shuffled with other non-fixed land hexes. Shuffled hexes will be mixed with any other shuffled hex, even if they are in different regions. So if you want to force certain tiles to be in a particular region, you must fix them in a particular hex. The Region is a number from 0 to 9, which is used for setup and assignment of victory points. Whenever a player builds a settlement in a region where they do not currently have a settlement, the player gains a bonus victory point (this does not apply during setup). If the region number is 5 or higher, then the player may not place a settlement there during setup. You may select a land type for a hex by clicking on one of the land types listed in the Terrain Selector. Just click on the land type you want and the hex will change to that type. Unfortunately, the five basic land types cannot be selected in this manner, so you'll have to cycle through those by clicking the terrain type in the Selected Terrain Area. The scenario rules stipulate how the scenario is to be played. There are three attributes here: Spielerzahl (Number of Players), Seigpunkte (Victory Points), and Regeln (Rule Set). The nubmer of players can be set from 3 to 8. The number of victory points can be set from 10 to 20. The rule set can be set to either Seidler (Settlers rules - without ships) or Seefahrer (Seafarers rules - with ships). The Filebox has four possible commands that can be activated by pressing the appropriate button. Laden (Load) is used to load an existing scenario. Neu (New) is used to create a blank sheet all ocean hexes. Speichern (Save) is used to save your scenario to disk. Beeden (Edit) is used to leave the editor and return to your operating system. When you choose the load command, you are presented with a list of all scenarios that are currently in your directory. This list can include up to 45 scenarios. I know of no way to gain access to the remaining scenarios if there are more than 45 present. Just click on the scenario you want to load, or click elsewhere to cancel. When you choose the Save command, you will be prompted to enter the name of the scenario. Just type in the name and press ENTER. ================================================================================ 5. SCENARIO NOTES (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ + I've translated the original scenario names from German to English. Since I don't speak German, this was mostly guess-work. Original Name English Name Comments ------------- ------------ -------------------------------------- siedler.isl siedler.isl Original map/rules. [DEFAULT scenario] settlers.isl Same scenario, English name. bigland.isl bigland.isl Same as original, but bigger island. neueufer.isl newbank.isl Good intro to SeaFarer rules (boats). gr_catan.isl gr_catan.isl Good intro to unexplored territory. keinerz.isl noore.isl You'll have to sail to ore/gold area. neuewelt.isl newworld.isl LOTS of unexplored territory. ozeanien.isl ocean.isl Six islands of varying sizes. wueste.isl wild.isl Lots of land, but much is desert. 4inseln3.isl 4isles3.isl These five scenarios are very similar 4inseln4.isl 4isles4.isl in appearance. They each have four dievier.isl thefour.isl medium-sized islands, but have dievier4.isl thefour4.isl different numbers of (computer) viewisl4.isl 4isles.isl players. + I've included all of the bonus scenarios that have been made available at Kulkmann's G@meBox, as well as some of my own: Scenario Author Date Comments ------------ --------------- --------- ---------------------- 5lakes.isl Randy Schacher 12-OCT-98 barrier.isl Randy Schacher 8-OCT-98 bug.isl Randy Schacher 12-OCT-98 eagle.isl Randy Schacher 13-OCT-98 fantasy.isl Randy Schacher 5-OCT-98 geo.isl Randy Schacher 9-OCT-98 inlet.isl Randy Schacher 7-OCT-98 islands.isl Randy Schacher 9-OCT-98 lagoon.isl Randy Schacher 7-OCT-98 lagoon2.isl Randy Schacher 7-OCT-98 mystery.isl Randy Schacher 11-OCT-98 mystisl.isl Randy Schacher 21-OCT-98 peninsula.isl Randy Schacher 13-OCT-98 ports.isl Randy Schacher 13-OCT-98 river.isl Randy Schacher 15-OCT-98 river2.isl Randy Schacher 15-OCT-98 ron1.isl Ronald Hoekstra 26-MAY-98 ron2.isl Ronald Hoekstra 26-MAY-98 ron3.isl Ronald Hoekstra 26-MAY-98 ron4.isl Ronald Hoekstra 2-JUN-98 ron5.isl Ronald Hoekstra 2-JUN-98 snake.isl Randy Schacher 5-OCT-98 symmetry.isl Randy Schacher 13-OCT-98 trav_333.isl Travis Emmitt 15-JUL-98 trav_mon.isl Travis Emmitt 15-JUL-98 Mystery donut in center. trav_e.isl Travis Emmitt 17-JUL-98 Work your way to the right... trav_e2.isl Travis Emmitt 18-JUL-98 Long & challenge, my favorite! trav_pac.isl Travis Emmitt 29-JUL-98 Pac-Man layout (2nd favorite). trav_try.isl Travis Emmitt 17-JUL-98 Sail to gold,ports,mystery. + Note: Some of the scenarios use the original Settlers of Catan rules (settlers.isl is the original game). Others add the following features: * ships * gold * unexplored territories * increased victory point requirements * different numbers of computer players * discovery cards (get 2 free resources) * restricted starting locations (e.g.: limited to a particular island) + The editor is only in German. If there's enough interest, I can try to make an English translation for it. ================================================================================ 6. BILL'S COMMENTS (written by Bill) ================================================================================ ****************************************************************************** * NOTE: These comments were included in the original version (translat.doc). * * I've fixed them up a bit to make them more readable and current. I don't * * know Bill's last last name; if you're the author, let me know! -- Travis * ****************************************************************************** Subject: Re: Settlers of Catan Computer game for download ! From: yobeowulf@aol.com (Yo Beowulf) Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 12:08 PM EDT Here's info & translations for the Settlers of Catan computer game. Function Keys ESC - Quit. F1 - Help. F2 - Final results (only available at end of a game) F3 - The island. F4 - The island without any markers. F5 - Cycle through the other player's hands. It does not show the cards, just card counts (resource and development) and longest road/largest army awards (if held by that player) F6 - Scoring chart as a function of time (only available at end of game) F7 - Production chart as a function of time (only available at end of game) Clicking on the dice box usually moves things along, except occasionally you have to click on the topmost box (but it's usually obvious... as when another player wants to trade with you.) Have no fear, if you read rec.games.board, you possess the intelligence required to figure out how the computer game works!!! The only problem is if you've never played the game... the read me files include the rules to play the board/computer game, but they're all in German. On the other hand, I recall doing a search on "Settlers of Catan" and I remember one site had the English language rules. Game buttons -- translations of original German release, not needed now Hilfe - Help Strasse - Buy a road Schiff - Buy a ship Siedlung - Buy a settlement Stadt - Buy a city Karte - Buy a card Handel - Trade (opens a new window with the following choices) --> Kaufen - Buy Verkaufen - Sell Seehandel - Port trade (the 4-for-1 resource trades) Karte Ausspielen - Play a card Schiff versetzen - Move a ship (once per turn) Spielzug beenden - End your turn Messages -- translations of original German release, not needed now Besitz - Posessions Ist am Zug - (A color is shown) is playing now. Again, if you know the game, this will get you going almost immediately. I hope this provides some small help. I don't know how to read German, so don't ask me for translations of the text files... I just won't be able to help you. Bill ================================================================================ 7. TRAV'S TIPS (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ ******************************************************************************* * NOTE: I wrote these tips before I saw David's (more comprehensive) manuals. * * He covers most of these issues in them. -- Travis * ******************************************************************************* - To play the game, run CATAN.EXE. If you are having video problems, you can try running START.BAT (don't use it unless you have problems). - When you first start the game, click on "Szenario Laden" at the bottom of the screen. These will bring up a scenario list. - Load SETTLERS.ISL for the standard Settlers of Catan game. - Click on the dice in the lower right until it is your turn. When you are asked to trade, left click in the upper right hand square for yes or right click for no. - There's no way to SAVE during the game, and there are no SOUNDS. So, you don't need to waste time trying to find these features. - When you finish the game, you might get your name entered into a high score list. This is the only time at which you provide your name; during the actual game you will always be called "Player 1" (blue). ================================================================================ 8. TROUBLESHOOTING (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ This game is several years old. Fortunately, it still runs on most Windows PCs. Some people have problems, however. This section will attempt to help you get it working. I can't promise anything, though, since I don't have access to the source code. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.1 Windows 2000 screen glitches - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Several Windows 2000 users have told me that the game doesn't work for them. Most of them say that the graphics only appear on part of the screen. Since I don't run 2000 myself, I can only offer a bunch of suggestions (the "shotgun" strategy) and then wait to hear from people about what worked. Things to try if you're having screen glitches: - try passing numbers to start.bat: -- start.bat 0 (default) -- start.bat 1 (VESA) -- start.bat 2 (ET4000) -- start.bat 3 (Cirrus/Logic) -- start.bat 4 (Mach 64) -- start.bat 5 (ATI 28800) - change your screen resolution and/or colors -- try 640 x 480 x 256 colors - try running the program in different compatibility modes -- does 2000 have such a thing? - try running a DOS or Win95/98 emulator -- or whatever they're called -- you know, the programs which let you run other old games -- if you can recommend one that works with this game, please let me know! - Michael Rosa suggested this: 1) open a DOS window -- this is 80x50 for him 2) run "catan.exe 0" -- this shows up on the left half of the screen for him 3) quit the game by hitting Esc -- this returns you to a DOS window which is 80x25 4) run "catan.exe 0" again -- this works for him - another way to change a DOS window to 80x25 is to type these commands: -- mode con cols=80 -- mode con lines=25 - I also created a batch file: "start2k.bat" which sets the window to 80x25 and then starts the game using mode 0 If any of these fix the problem (or if something else you try does), please contact me so that I can update this document. You can reach me via: http://txe.swa.com/contact/ http://www.tripalot.com/contact/ Thanks! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.2 Clicking the logo at the startup screen doesn't work - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - You need a scenario called "siedler.isl" to be in the same directory as the game in order for the logo link to work. When I first got the game, I translated the scenario names, so "siedler.isl" became "settlers.isl". This prevented the logo from working. In a later release, I copied "settlers.isl" to "siedler.isl" and the link worked again. ================================================================================ 9. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ORIGINAL MANUAL (comments by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ ********************************************************************* * NOTE: I used http://babelfish.altavista.com/ for the translation. * * The result is amusing, though not very helpful. See David's * * manuals (above) for real English instructions. -- Travis * ********************************************************************* 1. PLAY GUIDANCE Target of the play is it to collect points of victory - the exact number is indicated for each scenario. In order to receive points of victory, you must use your raw materials for building. See point 4. Playing one. [You want victory points and get them by building things.] 1. PREPARATION None, the computer takes over that, in order to save you the agony of the selection. They are always players with the blue play figures. When you (blue) are in turn, the computer displays to you - in the box on the right. The computer leads all other players (colours). [You're always Player 1 and blue.] 2. ESTABLISHMENT PHASE The establishment phase extends over 2 rounds, in which each player builds 2 roads and 2 settlements. In the 1. Round begins a coincidentally selected player and builds a settlement to the crossing of its selection, as well as a road, which attach to the settlement. Afterwards the next player follows. In the 2. Round begins the player, who was allowed to build as the latter, 2. Settlement + 2. To build road. The other players do not follow now against the clockwise direction (if were too complicated, a problem, the computer regulate the order!). Their start raw materials receive you, after you built your second settlement. Note: Forbidden courses are not possible! If you want to undertake thus somewhat, and it does not fold, then you should check only whether your internal message is permitted or possible. [During each of first two turns, you place a settlement and an adjacent road (or boat).] 3. PLAY FLOW It begins the coincidentally selected player (also the computer regulates). A play course consists of the following courses of action: 3.1 Raw material yields out cubes (on the field with the cubes click - in the box on the right down) 3.2 Trade (handle trade) 3.3 building or development card (card) buy (appropriate field click). Note: If one is not in turn, the computer displays, what the other players (computer players) make. In order to continue with the play, always on the cubes click. If that cannot be done, there is either a commercial supply, then one must press either on the small switch, in order to exchange, or into the commercial box to click, in order to continue, or one is even in turn. One terminates the own play course with clicking on "play course terminates". Afterwards the next player follows. [Isn't translation fun? You can probably figure the rest out...] 3.1 RAW MATERIALS YIELDS AUSWšRFELN -- LAST WORD UNTRANSLATABLE! 3.1.1 RAW MATERIALS YIELDS Over to cubes, must click you on the cubes, even if the computer is to. That is, you must also for the computer players cubes (to click). Each settlement, which one of of the selected land fields borders on (cube number = number on the land field) produces a raw material, which in the possession box (or (covers) card becomes green with the opponents) appears. 3.1.2 THE ROBBER With gewuerfelten "7" all player, whom more or equivalent 8 (2*Spielerzahl, if 4 or more player along-plays) raw materials possess, must half of their raw materials (rounded off) delivers. Afterwards may the player, who the 7 gewuerfelt the robber (crossed swords) on any land field to set (not on that, on which the robber already), and with one of the adjacent players a raw material steals. Note! The robber blocks the raw material incomes of this field (thus with the robber important fields, on which one does not border, block). Alternatively also the pirate can be used. More pieler, which gewuerfelt the "7", it can select whether he shifts either the robber or the pirate. If the player shifts the pirate (on the center of a field), then he may steal 1 raw material from the owner of a neighbouring ship. So for a long time the pirate a field filled, may be removed on the neighbouring edges neither a ship assigned still another ship. 3.2 TRADE Thereafter can concern the player (trade to click). There are 3 types: a) Buy: Buy meant to receive a certain raw material from a fellow player by raw material exchange. In addition one indicates at the beginning, which raw material one necessarily (raw material click). Afterwards one receives different exchange supplies of the fellow players (or also none, if e.g. nobody possesses the desired raw material). The number on the small switches indicates from whom the supply is. In order to exchange, you must click easily one of the small switches. If one did not like to assume a supply, somewhere differently in the commercial box to click. b) Sell: Sell meant also to exchange with the fellow players. However one offers a certain raw material, which one does not need, in order for it different raw materials to receive here. c) Maritime Trade: With the maritime trade one exchanges not with the fellow players, but with "overseas". The exchange course amounts to basically 4:1 (rather badly), thus one must 4 equal raw materials for another its selection deliver. If one a port possesses (water fields with anchor symbol) improves the course on 3:1. If one possesses a special raw material port (with raw material symbol), the course on 2:1 improves. Note! With a wood port e.g. one receives no wood, but must 2 wood for a raw material of its selection deliver, it is thus ports of exportation! 3.3 BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT CARDS (CARDS) Finally one can still build (road, ship, settlement or city click). In addition one needs the respective raw material combination (see beside the appropriate switches). a) ROADS A road must be always cultivated at an own road or settlement/city already built. One needs roads, in order to build new settlements (see below). On each piece of way only one road may be built (one can be blocked thus the opponents, or blocked by these). If one possesses most the together hanging roads (at least 5), one receives 2 special points for the "longest one trade route" (consider commercial symbol beside the covered (blue) cards). The "longest trade route" is lost, if a computer player possesses hanging roads more together. b) SAILS A ship must to own ship already built or its own settlement/city be always cultivated. One needs ships, in order to cross sea fields. Ships cannot be cultivated at roads. Ships can also shift one - however not a just built. Ships also take in account, if it concerns the "longest trade route". c) SETTLEMENT Settlements cannot be built directly next to each other (spacer rule). A settlement must always border on at least its own road. A settlement is worth one point. d) CITY One can remove only settlements already existing to cities. A city is worth 2 points. Above all however a city produces each time 2 raw materials (settlement only 1 raw material). In order to build a city, first the building project must be clicked (city), afterwards the settlement, which is to be removed to the city. e) CARD There are 5 types of cards: Knight Cards These permit to shift the player therobber. A out-played knight does not disappear, but is only uncovered. A further advantage is, who has most and at least 3 uncovered knights, receives 2 special points for "largest knight power" (consider knight power symbol beside the uncovered knights). Monopoly Cards These permit the player to receive at any point in time all raw materials of the appropriate sort from its fellow players. Roads Construction Cards These permit the player to build "in vain" 2 roads or 2 ships. Invention Cards These permit to take 2 raw materials of its selection to the player. Point Cards These bring immediately an additional (for the opponents not visible!) Point and cannot be out-played. Bought cards are displayed covered (blue background). One, if one out-plays "card" clicks, receives an exact overview of its cards not out-played yet there can one its cards naturally also out-play. Per round you may out-play only 1 card and also only the cards, which bought you in preceding rounds. 4. SPIELENDE -- END OF GAME? The play ends, if a player has 10 (sufficiently) or more points. Note: different scenarios can require different numbers of victory points to win. The necessary score (normally 10 with special islands also times more or less) is displayed in the possession box (there to be e.g.: Points 5/10, i.e. one has already 5 points and needs 10 to triumph over). Still times in the overview, points of victory there are each Settlement 1 point each City 2 points each Point Card 1 point Longest Road 2 points Largest Army 2 points At the end obtains one, if one achieves a "Highscore", still another play valuation, which calculates itself as follows: 100 * score / durchschnittl. Score + place us -- no clue what this means The placing bonus amounts to thereby for the first 3 workstations 3, 2 or 1 time the player number (normally 4). ================================================================================ 10. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ORIGINAL README.TXT ================================================================================ ********************************************************************* * NOTE: I used http://babelfish.altavista.com/ for the translation. * * Again, it's for amusement only. :) -- Travis * ********************************************************************* Settlers of Catan --------------------- The program is a MS-DOS program runs under DOS, Windows 3,11 and Windows 95. Copy contents of the diskette into their own directory of your fixed disk; e.g. on "settlers". Start the program by input of catan.exe thereafter see you the start display, on which you select a scenario (click) can. After termination of a play the program shows a Highscore list, in which you can input your name - the computer proves the achieved points. If the list is full, then there can be problems in rare cases. Delete then the file rekorde.dat completely. The program produces this file again with the next play. If you have problems with your diagram card while the loading of the program, start the program over start-asked and try the different possibilities out. To the program also a special wordprocessor belongs, with whom you can assemble own scenarios for the computer game. Start with Editor.exe Much fun with the "settlers of Catan" on your PC! ================================================================================ 11. CLOSING COMMENTS (written by Travis Emmitt) ================================================================================ Anyway, enjoy the game, and please let me know if you've found any features that I missed, or if you come up with a cool scenario that you'd like to share with the rest of us! -- Travis ################################################################################ ################################################################################