''Widelands'' is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

, slow-paced

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the Four Freedoms (Free software), four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was th ...

. ''Widelands'' takes many ideas from and is quite similar to ''

The Settlers ''The Settlers'' (german: Die Siedler) is a City-building game, city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich. The The Settlers (1993 video game), original game was released on the Commodore Amiga in 1993, wit ...

'' and ''

The Settlers II ''The Settlers II'' (german: Die Siedler II), originally released as ''The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici'', is a city-building game with real-time strategy elements, developed and published by Blue Byte, Blue Byte Software. Released in Germany ...

''. It remains a work-in-progress game, with development still required in graphics and bug-fixing. The game runs on several operating systems such as

AmigaOS 4 AmigaOS 4 (abbreviated as OS4 or AOS4) is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code developed by Commodore, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner. "T ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution or Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) is a discontinued operating system based on Research Unix, developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berk ...

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

, and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Gameplay

''Widelands'' has single-player, local network and internet multiplayer modes, single-player campaign missions,About Widelands
Widelands Wiki and an

internationalisation In economics, internationalization or internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strateg ...

system with translations for British English, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Low German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Slovak, Spanish, and Swedish.Widelands release announcement for Build 20
/ref> Players may select one of five different tribes: the human-like "Empire", the "

Barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

s", the "

Atlantean As an adjective, Atlantean (or Atlantian) means "of or pertaining to Atlas or Atlantis". Atlantean may also refer to: * Atlantean figures, a type of ancient artifacts * ''Atlantean'' (documentary series), a trilogy of TV films discussing the ori ...

s", the "

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

", and the "

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...

". The game provides four basic tutorials and four tutorial campaigns. Advanced players can create their own maps with the included

map editor In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...

. It is also possible to import and play original '' Settlers II'' maps.

Development

The first version of ''Widelands'' was published in August 2002. ''Widelands'' 1.0, the first stable version, was released 19 years later in June 2021. The latest release of Widelands as of October 2022 is version 1.1.

Reception

The game was reviewed by ''

Linux Journal ''Linux Journal'' (''LJ'') is an American monthly technology magazine originally published by Specialized System Consultants, Inc. (SSC) in Seattle, Washington since 1994. In December 2006 the publisher changed to Belltown Media, Inc. in Houston ...

'' which noted: The German

LinuxUser ''LinuxUser'' is a German computer magazine for Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Lin ...

magazine reviewed ''Widelands'' in issue 4/2008 in a three A4-paged article. The German '' c’t magazin'' wrote a short review of ''Widelands'' in their 4/2008 issue and included a Windows version of ''Widelands'' Build 11 on their magazin DVD. The French free software website

Framasoft Framasoft is a popular education social network created in November 2001 by , Paul Lunetta, and Georges Silva. Since 2014, it is supported by a nonprofit organization of the same name based in Lyon, France. Mainly focused on free software valori ...

remarked: ''Widelands'' was selected in September 2010 as "HotPick" by ''

Linux Format ''Linux Format'' is the UK's first Linux-specific magazine, and as of 2013 was the best-selling Linux title in the UK. It is also exported to many countries worldwide. It is published by Future plc (which produces a number of other computer magazi ...

'' magazine. In 2022 the Slovenian magazine ''Jazbina'' briefly reviewed ''Widelands'' in a ''Settlers'' retrospective, describing it as "another unfinished free alternative, but one that is friendly, ambitious and maverick".

References

External links

{{Commonscat
Official Widelands pageWidelands project page on GitHub
Amiga games AmigaOS 4 games Free software programmed in C++ Fangames Strategy video games Linux games MacOS games Open-source video games Real-time strategy video games Unix games Windows games Lua (programming language)-scripted video games

Gameplay

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links