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

SPOnG: From the announcements and your presentation, it’s clear that you’ve put a special emphasis on the animations and the visual responses of the Settlers. How difficult was it to implement that into the game?

Benedikt Grindel: It was really really challenging. We have put a lot of effort into that aspect of the game. Of course, you have the actual programming you have to code all the data and content – and we’re still working on the game so there is still a way to go. I think the most difficult issue is having to go through all the logistics – you solve one problem and two come back at once. So, for instance, we have these animations that we want to use for this one action, but if you’ve done something else beforehand that action might be different, so you’ll need another animation to cover that. It’s really something we worked on for a long time. We are working with some external planners - in association with the animations department - because there are just so many to the game that we would never be able to do them all ourselves.

One of the most difficult things in the animations side of things is that everything has to be moving from a mechanical and programming point of view and that has to be in tune with the animations themselves.


SPOnG: Blue Byte has been around since 1988, Settlers came out 1993. That was during the Amiga days and there was a big boost in European and British developers at the time. Would you say that, compared to the days of the Amiga, that the European development industry is in decline?

Benedikt Grindel: I was not part of the development scene during the time of the Amiga, although I know the stories [laughs] – so I don’t know what it was really like then. But what I can say is, certainly in recent years and especially in Germany, we have seen some ‘earthquake’ situations where developers disappeared and professionalism was becoming more and more important to be successful. Today, I think we are seeing a very good development scene for the future – Germany was not very good at development but I think it’s improving. I think things are really progressing now and there are some great games coming out.

A current issue with many developers is with their publishers, and the UK seems to be able to maintain its fair share of creativity. I think Germany is not quite as far as the UK, but we are getting there.


SPOnG: Finally, what is your favourite aspect of the Settlers series and how fun has it been to work on this instalment?

Benedikt Grindel: My favourite aspect is pretty dull but it’s the truth – it’s in the creation part. I’ve played SimCity for nights and nights and became addicted to Settlers II and IV as well, because they provide the most beautiful and challenging games based on your own method of construction, and that’s what I love most about this genre of game. The most exciting part in Settlers VI really was to make, possibly for the first time, this type of game happen in a world where you can have a fun time creating things in such a beautiful world while providing such a pleasant mental challenge. I think Settlers VI is the first time I would say we have made a truly immersive strategy game.

You can read SPOnG's preview of Settlers: Rise of an Empire right here.