Interviews// Settlers: Rise of an Empire: Benedikt Grindel

SPOnG: So you would describe the series’ evolution as different methods of achieving the same goal, based around creation?

Benedikt Grindel: Yeah, the same kind of core motivation. The core motivation of Settlers has always been to create something and to see how it works. It is both about the building and the simulation of what happens when you finish building. In a way it is the same core of motivation as in SimCity, but with Settlers I think there is more of a ‘people’ element in it.


SPOnG: What about the evolution of the genre itself, such as creation and simulation games? Do you think that Settlers, from the first to the latest game, had a part to play with the evolution of God simulation games along with SimCity?

Benedikt Grindel: Yeah, definitely. I would not say that Settlers is a God game per se, it’s more of a building and structure game, but there is a strong evolution, yes. And I think if you look at the way Settlers has evolved you can see how the genre has tried to go in different ways. Building and strategy games will also be popular in the future, I think they are wonderful and offer some of the most rewarding gameplay that you can find. You are really creating something and are encouraged to do whatever you like to progress.

In contrast you might have an action game, which is very linear, has a very specific set of goals. Shoot the guy and he’s dead. Yeah, that is cool – and you can make the shooting funnier or less funny or feature more action… but generally action games have a very limited set of functions and rewards. It’s very straightforward how you do things. With creation in games like Settlers it's different. You feel good when you create something, and with that you get to choose exactly how you do things and there will be different consequences for that.


SPOnG: Women are featured in this game for the first time – why has it been so long to add females to the series?

Benedikt Grindel: During Settlers V, our graphical artist said ‘women only cause problems’. With Settlers it was quite a challenge how we were going to add the women because on the one hand we didn’t want to make sex a game mechanic. We didn’t think something like that would fit into the Settlers style. But we still wanted to have a realistic way to introduce women to the series. To do that, though, we needed focus and dedication to implement them so it wouldn’t be out of place. One of the things we focused on in Settlers VI was to give that feature the attention it needed and I’m very proud with the way we’ve done it. It can be improved obviously, but as an introduction I think we have made a good start.

And it’s a complex issue too. We don’t have kids in the game for a similar reason. It is just very difficult to implement them into the game without having to deal with various logistical problems. That might be something for the future, but right now I don’t have a clue how to include them [Laughs].