settlersofcatan
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ICYMI: Pollution concrete, EV wireless charging and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists at UCLA have made concrete by first extracting greenhouse gases from power plant smokestacks. An EV prototype to wirelessly charge cars is making the rounds, and the group's big plan is to design a 50 kilowatt charger that can juice up cars as they drive. You could put that future charger inside your garage where a new opener comes with extra modules that can detect obstacles and about 10 other things. Finally, we were tickled by the idea of a robot that can best you at Settlers of Catan, so please check that out. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Settlers of Catan to be made into a movie or TV show
Settlers of Catan was perhaps the first board game I ever played that made me think board games were cool. The goal? To rule the fictional island of Catan. In order to do this, you build roads, settlements and cities with resources like brick, wood, sheep and ore, all while hoping you don't get robbed. It's a surprisingly strategic game, which is perhaps why it's won so many awards and gained quite a cult following, even spawning iOS and Android adaptations in recent years. But is it cool enough to be a movie? Gail Katz certainly thinks so. A producer known for movies such as Pawn Sacrifice, Air Force One and The Perfect Storm, Katz recently bought the film and television rights for the German-style board game, stating that she's excited by the "vivid, visual, exciting and timeless world" of Catan. Really?
Microsoft unleashes 'Settlers of Catan' on the web
Microsoft has something of an extracurricular activity: When it's not releasing Office for iPad or updating Windows, it has a habit of helping other companies build websites. Its latest project is a web version of Settlers of Catan, the popular board game, which it co-developed with Bontom Games. As with previous Microsoft-backed sites, the appeal is that anyone, even Microsoft haters, can use it: The web version will run in any browser that supports HTML5 (in other words, not just IE). That's obviously a different approach from the existing Settlers of Catan apps for Android and iOS, which are of course reserved for people using those platforms.
Review: Settlers of Catan for Mac
Catan (US$16.99) is the Mac app incarnation of the well-known board game Settlers of Catan. If you haven't played Settlers (as my family refers to it) before, you're in for a real treat. And a whole lot of stress too. Oh, and did I mention the strife? Settlers is, in a way, similar to Monopoly, but more complex. It requires more forethought and strategy, and usually a lot more time too. Add the Cities & Knights or Seafarer expansion packs, and things get even more exciting. It can take many played games just to understand all the rules, and many more before you claim the coveted Lord of Catan title. That is unless you're one of the very annoying, and very lucky, first time winners! TUAW's covered Settlers of Catan and Catan for iOS in some detail before, so I'll jump straight into how Catan performs on the Mac. The Mac version of Settlers, also titled Catan, remains true to the original board game. You're able to play the original Settlers of Catan rule-set or add the Cities & Knights or Seafarers expansions. Catan can be played in one of two ways: solo campaign with the expansions, or scenario, where you choose from a variety of pre-set maps, including playing the original rule-set. Scenario mode also lets you play with others in a hot-seat style, multiplayer mode, similar to the iOS version. I guess you'll have to trust your friends not to look at your resources when it's your turn! Unfortunately there's no cross-platform multiplayer mode, let alone a simple online multiplayer mode for the Mac version of the game. Catan would be the perfect game to start playing online on your Mac, pause and then continue on your iPad or iPhone, but it's not so. However, there is Game Center support in the form of achievements and local game statistics. Campaign mode offers you ten challenging competitors to overcome in order to win the game. There are three difficulty settings to make sure you're always challenged. Pre-game banter between the characters preludes the start of each game. It's fun, but I mostly skipped through it all to get on with the game. %Gallery-195250% Visually, the game is represented in two ways. Either the tradition board game style view or a 3D representation of the game with moving graphics and animations to illustrate gameplay. For me, the 3D version was a no brainer. Either way, it's easy to zoom in and out of the board, but the game naturally focuses in on parts of the board as gameplay dictates, so most of the time you'll not have to worry about navigating around the board. While the graphics are fun, and basically lifted from the iOS versions of Catan, I was a little disappointed with the graphical performance of the game on my Retina display MacBook Pro. Anti-aliasing can be turned up, which made a big improvement, but I guess I was expecting more detail, less pixels. Visually, the game is really easy to follow and simple to navigate, provided you understand how to play the game. I loved the audio in Catan. The sound effects add character and life, and the soundtrack is wonderful too. It really encapsulates the emotional heart of the games, pulling you deep into the world of Catan. Of course, both effects and sound track volumes can be adjusted or altogether turned off. One of the biggest challenges with playing Catan is understanding how the game works. Thankfully, Catan for Mac comes with the Catan Almanac, covering every aspect of the game, including the rules, for quick reference. However, this itself doesn't really explain how to play the game, including navigating and understanding the game in its Mac format. Fortunately, there's a tutorial mode where Prof. Easy talks you through the game rules and components, though there's no tutorial demo environment to practice in. Unfortunately you can only access the almanac in game-play, not the tutorials. You need to save and exit your game to get to those. It would be nice to have a help mode during game-play, where you could hover the cursor over something in the game, which would then give a description of what an item does or how you can use it. Regardless, there's plenty to help you get your head around playing Catan in the almanac and tutorials. Finally, there's an editor to create your own Catan maps and scenarios. These can then played or even published to other players through the Catan online network. However, I didn't get round to trialing this myself. Overall, I really enjoyed playing Catan for Mac. I think that's because there's no denying that Settlers of Catan is a great game. But also because the port of Settlers to the Mac has been done, for the most part, really well. There are quite a few reviews on the Mac App Store saying that Catan crashes a lot. However, I'm pleased to report that in many hours of game-play, Catan didn't crash or hang on me once. Regrettably, the game suffers in multi-player mode, but that's primarily due to the fact that your limited to a single screen to play on. Furthermore, there's no online game-play, which would be a great way to enhance the multiplayer aspect of Catan. Having said that, I hooked my Mac up to my living room TV and played the game with a few friends and we had a great time. It would be great to see Catan evolve, taking advantage of OS X and iOS features like Game Center and AirPlay, so that Catan on the Mac can truly become the multiplayer game it's supposed to be. But for now, it's a great way to play Settlers of Catan on your own or with a friend.
Settlers of Catan rolls an eight, will get Android in early June
Labeling The Settlers of Catan franchise a success might just be the biggest understatement of our generation. The award-winning game evolved into several expansions, online communities, and an iOS version -- heck, even a prototype for the Microsoft Surface was shown off. But will Android fanboys and girls be left out of the loop forever? Many of you who fall under this forsaken category have waited an eternity to taste of Catan's sweet nectar, and that patience will pay off dividends early next month. Longtime fans will love the inclusion of "The First Island" and the "Seafarer" expansion blended together with an extensive campaign; if you're a first-timer, welcome to the madness. Just don't plan to get any work done for a while.
Settlers of Catan in development for Microsoft Surface, still can't help you trade sheep for wood (video)
It's a pretty well-known fact that The Settlers of Catan / Die Siedler von Catan is fantastic fun, and though the original board game has seen a few digital incarnations, all the cutthroat hexagonal colonization sim ever really needed was a giant screen with multitouch. MayFair Games let Vectorform build this version for Microsoft Surface, which is on display at the Origin Games Fair this week; CNET reports the final version will be available this August. Good luck finding enough resources to trade for the table to play it on. Video after the break, more details at our source links.
Catan: The First Island brings tabletop gaming glee to iPhone
Catan. If you've ever visited, there's a good chance you're passionate about it. First unveiled as a traditional board game in 1995, the now-classic trading and settlement game has evolved over the years to include dozens of scenarios, expansions and reworkings, from limited edition game maps to browser-based Internet versions. Naturally, the Settlers of Catan is now also available for the iPhone [iTunes link], and it's a a damn good condensed version. First things first. This is the full, but basic, game. The original ruleset isn't condensed at all, but none of the expansions are present in the current version. While long-time board gamers might scoff at simple "vanilla Settlers," the basic game as presented in Exozet's iPhone version acts just like the tabletop big brother. You can choose to play on the fixed beginner board or a random map, you can play with three or four people (or bots), you can trade, you can go for longest road, etc. All the things that make Catan such an enduring game are here, and that's great to have in your pocket. Read on to find out more about Catan: the First Island on the iPhone (and iPod Touch). %Gallery-84273%
DS Daily: Variety - is it really the spice of life?
We're curious ... when you're not playing the DS, what are you playing instead? Are you filling your non-handheld time with the Wii, or even -- gasp -- another system? That's where this blogger tends to fall of late; between the Halo 3 Beta and the recent release of Catan on the Xbox Live Marketplace (we love the boardgame), there's a little variety in the gaming schedule of late. After all, for those of us who aren't Poké-fiends, the last few weeks have been a little more on the mediocre side of things ... which, considering our continuing obsession with Puzzle Quest, is probably a good thing for the ol' wallet.But we do wonder what other games take your fancy. Perhaps World of Warcraft or another MMO? Are you one of the seven people who've bought a PS3? Next week, we figure Mario Party 8 will suck up tons of free time, so we're getting that non-Nintendo gaming in now. How about you? Are you sticking with your beloved DS, or do you sometimes branch out a little?
This Wednesday: XBLA settles on Catan, hosts Centipedes and Millipedes
THE CATAN GAZETTE -- 30 APRIL 2007 Six Corners City, Island of Catan. The astonishing rate at which the settlers of Catan have transformed the previously uninhabited and decidedly unimpressive island into something civilized is set to slow down this week, when primary construction on the Xbox Live Arcade comes to a close on Wednesday, May 2nd, at 9AM GMT (2AM PST). Mayor Taus Kleuber, whose city will host the entertainment complex, noted that, "I encourage all our settlers to visit the arcade and forget about their jobs for a few hours." It seems that customers are already doing just that, lining up outside the arcade with the required 800 MS Points entry fee already in hand. "It seems like a reasonable price," said one excited teenager. "Then again, our currency never made any sense to me." Another woman expressed dismay at the growing excitement. "This new-fangled tomfoolery disgusts me. Why, my little girl's school was attacked by bears the other day because the guy who was making the fence went to check out this arcade. If I were a witch or something, I'd put this thing on a hex for sure!"%Gallery-1729%The most important part of establishing a successful arcade is filling it with quality games. So says self-proclaimed "gamer," Thaddeus McMac. "It's all about the games. When the Xbox Live Arcade opens this week, they're putting up some Centipede and Millipede machines." McMac notes that this "retro" package deal, which lumps together the two similar titles, costs 400 MS points and is perfect for those that enjoyed it before they moved to Catan. "Personally, I think I'll just wait for Catan to get some sunglass stores. I'll need a rose-colored pair before I tangle with those bugs again!"Turn to Page 2 for our riveting poll: How do you pronounce Catan? (Hint: It doesn't rhyme with Satan!)%Gallery-2876%
2.5er in XBLA this week; Catan, Centipede & Millipede
For the last two weeks in a row, Microsoft has put out two Xbox Live Arcade titles each Wednesday. This week, however, they're changing it up by giving is three titles! Well, two and a half, really, but still, it's pretty badass. We got some retro love with Centipede and its sequel Millipede, packed together for 400 Microsoft Points, complete with "Evolved" versions of both. On the newer side of things, Catan, for 800 MS points, will also be available. We know a lot of readers have been looking forward to Catan coming Arcade, and now the wait is almost over, with two more sleeps to go. So, which off these three two are you going to play Wednesday?
Catan to hit XBLA this quarter
Big Huge Games has announced that Catan, the Live Arcade version of the classic board game, will be arriving on Xbox Live Arcade in the 1st quarter of this year. While this was somewhat expected, given Microsoft's recently announced lineup of Arcade games, it's still a good sign that the game should show up soon. Also confirmed is that Catan will support three to four players over Xbox Live and that AI opponents will be available. The designer of the original board game and the Arcade version, Klaus Teuber, has been working closely with Brian Reynolds to create challenging opponents. Teuber even admits that he has lost several game to the CPU.If you can't get your fill of Catan, be sure to visit the game's official website, where you'll find screenshots and strategies for the upcoming game.[Via IGN. Thanks, Scott]
Settlers of Catan ... hot! Now where is it?
Joystiq readers have long asked for Settlers of Catan to be brought to Xbox Live Arcade. When Microsoft confirmed that they're working on the game, some readers rejoiced: "Now THAT is cool. It almost makes a Nintendo fanboy like me want to buy a 360." -- RiemannMeetLebesgue "A dream come true. All current online versions of Settlers of Catan are missing the main aspect of the game... voice communication. I cannot wait for this game." -- Ray Kasten "prepare for the new most addicting game on XBL" -- Deadpool "YES!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS BOARD GAME SO MUCH! This is the best news I've ever heard for 360 :-)" -- CrossFireXT17 (You get the picture.) But some Joystiqers (self included) never really understood what all the fuss was about. Well, count another convert, as of last night. Here's a (brief) tale of how I became a Settlers of Catan addict. The invitation to the New Year's Eve get-together encouraged partygoers to bring their favorite board or card games. Being provincial, I brought over a couple DSs with Tetris DS, intending to share my love of head-to-head Tetris with attendees. When I arrived, however, a game of Settlers of Catan had just been laid out on the dining room table. Curious to see what the fuss was about, I put away the DSs. They were not touched all evening. We had trouble tearing ourselves away from the game board for the New Year's countdown, we were so into the game. After the ball dropped over the slack-jawed revelers in Times Square, we returned to the den and played for a couple more hours. Settlers of Catan plays like a multiplayer version of Civilization, with four players taking turns to build roads, settlements, and cities in an attempt to control scarce natural resources. It's simple, it's fun, and it's -- huzzah! -- coming to XBLA, eventually. Waiting's hard, though -- I've already filled and abandoned two shopping carts full of Settlers merch, but will wait to see if the XBLA version satisfies the jones. [Image credit: Shifting Lands.com's homebew 3d Settlers of Catan set.]
Leipzig Games Convention roundup
In case you've missed it, or if your slavish devotion prevents you from checking other websites, below is a roundup of Microsoft related news from the Leipzig Games Convention. GC is a pretty big deal in Europe so, there's plenty of stuff to see. Microsoft unveils new peripherals, Vision Camera Settlers of Catan on Live Arcade? Wha? Long promised Lost Planet multiplayer vids Sweet videos of HL2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Microsoft nabs FIFA and Pro Evo 6 exclusivity A healthy selection indeed. May they help our American friends make it through a tedious workday, and our European friends settle in for the evening.[Via Joystiq]
Xbox Live Aracade to get Settlers of Catan & other Euro board games
Microsoft has announced plans to port European tabletop favorites like The Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne and Alhambra to Xbox Live Arcade. Price details and release dates have not been revealed, but the Catan port is likely to appear first as MSN Games has been hosting an online version of the German board game for nearly two years.