A few months ago I reviewed The Settlers III strategy game from Blue Byte (see June 1999 PC Register). The Settlers III Mission CD is an add-on disk that allows you to take your gaming experience further with the addition of three new campaigns (one for each race: Romans, Asians, and Egyptians) with eight missions each; ten new multi-player maps are provided for local area network (LAN) and Internet gaming. The Mission CD also includes The Settlers III Level Editor for creating your own maps and scenarios. You must have the full version of The Settlers III to be able to use the Mission CD. No hard-copy manual is provided, although extensive help files are provided in html format on the CD (more on that in a moment). The setup screen loads automatically when the CD is inserted. Installation was no problem, but you have to install both the new missions and the level editor separately (there are buttons for these on the setup screen).

I found the new missions to be varied, interesting, and challenging (like the original Settlers III). Blue Byte has obviously put a lot of effort into this product. It would have been nice if they had included some new characters (e.g., new occupations, heros, etc.), but there is still plenty of stuff to keep you occupied. And I have just received word that Blue Byte will soon release an additional add-on disk containing a fourth race, Amazons (that should be interesting!).

The level editor is extremely powerful and flexible, and is a lot of fun to play with, although it's not for the faint-of-heart. I found it to be somewhat frustrating in trying to create a map that was actually playable in the game. The level editor has a "map check" feature that will tell you what is wrong with your map, reminding you of all the things you've left out. However, you have to be careful in defining Victory Conditions (I created a map that appeared to be fine in the level editor, only to load the map in Settlers III and be immediately told "You've Lost!"). Luckily, extensive help for using the level editor is provided in html format on the CD (I had to access it through the menu items created on the Windows 95 "Start" button, since the online help button from within the level editor did not work for me). Nevertheless, the level editor provided on the Mission CD is an excellent tool that should give Settlers III extended life. You can do just about anything you want with the editor, from designing the lay of the land (trees, rocks, bushes, elevation, swamp, water, etc.) to specifying available resources and types of settlers present, and defining specific conditions for victory.

Bottom Line:  If you're a Settlers III fan, you don't want to be without this add-on CD. There are plenty of new missions to dive into, and the level editor alone is worth the price of the product.

System Tested On:  IBM-compatible PC with a 133Mhz Pentium; Windows 95; 64-bit PCI-bus SVGA video card; 32 Mb of RAM; 8x CD-ROM drive; Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold sound card; mouse

Minimum System:  Requires a full licensed copy of The Settlers III PC CDROM; IBM PC & 100% compatibles; 100 MHz Pentium (166 MHz recommended); 32 MB RAM; 2 MB Graphic Card (DirectX-compatible); 250 MB free hard disk space; 4x CD-ROM; Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0; DirectX 6.0 (included on CD); DirectX-compatible soundcard; and 28.8 modem (for Internet gaming).

Technical support is available by phone (toll number), fax (toll number), e-mail, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.bluebyte.com or http://www.settlers3.com. Retail price - $19.99

Blue Byte Software, 8140 North Mopac, Suite IV-230, Austin, Texas 78759; Phone: (410) 568-2390