''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 video game under the GNU General Public License. ''Widelands'' takes many ideas from and is quite similar to '' The Settlers'' and '' The Settlers II''. 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, Linux,

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, and Windows.

Gameplay

''Widelands'' has single-player, local network and internet multiplayer modes, single-player campaign missions,About Widelands
Widelands Wiki and an internationalisation 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 " Atlanteans", 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. 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 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 remarked: ''Widelands'' was selected in September 2010 as "HotPick" by '' Linux Format'' 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