The Settlers - Economics 201 (How To Win the Game)
    ____                      by Eric Penn
   (_  _)
    / / have found that the best way to view the structure of the game is
   / / from a `bottom-up' perspective.  Think about the END PRODUCTS you
 _/ /  want, and then work backwards from there.  So, having said that....
(____) 
The key to the game is amassing land and military strength.  In order to
"win" you must control over 75% of the map and have over 75% of the
Knights.

Knights need three things, from two different systems:

I. Sword and shield (without these they cannot be Knights).
   Both come from the Armourer who needs:
   A. Coal, which comes from a Coal-mine, and
   B. Steel, which is created in a Steel-forge which needs:
      1. Iron-ore, from an Iron-mine, and
      2. Coal, from a Coal-mine.  And II. Gold (which raises their morale
         and makes them fight -significantly-
         better).  Gold is produced by a Gold-forge, which requires:
    A. Gold-ore, from a Gold-mine, and
    B. Coal, from a Coal-mine.

So, essentially, each Knight is equivalent to the following raw material:
  5 Coal
  2 Iron-ore
  1 Gold-ore

However, the Miners that produce ALL of these raw materials require food
in order to do their work.  Food can come in one of three forms, each of
which comes from a different system:

I. Fish, from a fisherman.  This only requires a single building, but
   fish only reproduce at a set rate.  Too many fishermen will over-fish
   a single body of water, which will render it "dead", and no more fish
   will be caught.  A lake the size of the entire screen is large enough
   to support two fishermen, without over-fishing.  Or,

II. Meat, which is the product of a Butcher.  Butchers require only a
    single raw material (a pig) to produce Meat  Pigs come from a
    Pig-farm, which requires Wheat from a Wheat-farm.  At _minimum_ this
    requires three large buildings, one of which (Wheat-farm) needs to be
    near a large semi-level area.  I have not yet determined the optimal
    mix for this system.  Or,

III. Bread, which is made by a Baker.  Flour, which comes from a
     Windmill, is the sole input needed by the Baker.  The miller
     requires Wheat, which comes from a Wheat-farm.  At _minimum_ this
     requires one small building (the Windmill) and two large buildings
     (the Bakery and the Wheat-farm), and a nearby large semi-level area
     for the Farmer's wheat crops.  Optimally, one Baker can work fast
     enough to support two millers.  In order to keep both millers
     working continually, the dedicated output of three Wheat-farms is
     needed.  This mix will ensure a constant and continual output of
     food.

So far, we have discussed the needs of Knights (needed to win the game),
Miners (who are needed to support the knights), and food production
(required by the Miners).  These three eco-systems are all that is
required to win the game.  However, in order to construct the buildings
that are required to build the products needed, and the buildings which
will house the knights themselves, one must have three things:

I. Building materials.  These come in two forms:
   A. Timber, which is produced by a Joiner (???) at a Sawmill.  The
      Sawmill uses tree Trunks, which come from a Woodcutter.  A single
      Sawmill can cut enough wood to support three Woodcutters.  However,
      three Woodcutters will denude even the densest forest in a very
      short time frame.  A Forester will plant new trees, so placing
      one near each woodcutter will make a self sustaining wood
      production unit.  And,
   B. Stones, which can come from two sources:
      1. a Stonecutter will break the large grey blocks found on the
         landscape into usable Stones.  But when these are gone, they are
         gone.  Or,
      2. a Stone-mine will dig the Stones from the bowels of the land.
         Obviously, the Miner will require food.  Again, when the source
         of mined Stones runs dry, there can be no more produced.

II. Manpower.  New Settlers are made... in the way that new people are
    made. This costs nothing except time.  Settlers always start out in
    the Castle or in Stock houses.

III. Tools.  Each `job' that a new Settler can take requires one or more
     tools.  If the requisite tool is not available, no new Settler can
     take that job.  For example, if there is no Axe in storage, then
     no Woodcutter can be made.  You can still build the building for
     one, but no Settler will go to live in it and nothing will be
     produced by it.
     Tools are created by a Toolmaker who requires:
     A. Timber, and
     B. Iron.

When viewed in the `bottom-up' perspective, economic planning is much
easier.  Place buildings which are inter-dependant near each other, with a
connecting road with no intersections.  Avoid road intersections where
supply routes cross.

Most materials are already present in small quantities in your Castle
store-rooms; use these to supply end-product workers while you plan and
build the mid- and raw-material professions.  Thus you can build a Butcher
shop right away, Pig-farm (or two) next, and finally, several Wheat-farms.
Build your eco-systems from the bottom up.

I hope you found this mini-tutorial interesting and useful.  I don't know
how complete the demo version is, so I cannot vouch for it.  The actual
game comes with a 138 page BOOK that explains each ecosystem and all of the
menus and options in great detail.  And there a LOT of options that can be
set, each of which will vary depending on play style, landscape, and enemy
placement.  Buy it, you fools!

The Settlers is published by  Blue Byte Software
                              GmbH Aktienstrabe 62, D-45473
                              Mulheim Germany

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