the-settlers-7 posts

The weekend, and indeed the end of the month, is fast approaching. We have plans to check out Darkspore. What about you?

• Steam has new automatic updates for Tommy Tronic, Cities in Motion, Team Fortress 2, The Settlers 7 and Sol Survivor.
• The country of Australia is thinking about replacing the R15+ game rating to R18+ but there's a catch.
• IGN has posted up a preview of the Free Comic Book Day edition of The Darkness II comic.
• Do you want a Duke Nukem Papercraft doll? Of course you do.
• Portal + Super Mario = This video.

So we suspect a lot of you lost some sleep last night to try to complete Portal 2. Don't worry; we feel the same way.

• Steam has new automatic updates for a number of games including Team Fortress 2, King Arthur The Roleplaying Wargame, Audiosurf, ProtoGalaxy, the Mac version of Civilization V, and Garry's Mod.
• Retailers in the UK are breaking the embargo on the planned Friday launch of Portal 2 due to the PC game being released early on Steam.
• As promised the fourth DLC pack for The Settlers 7 has been released.
• How much work has been put into Duke Nukem Forever? Between 6,000 and 7,000 man months, according to Gearbox's Randy Pitchford.

While it's not yet listed on the official Settlers 7 web site, the 2010 released fantasy strategy-sim game will be getting its fourth paid DLC expansion pack on Monday, according to a pre-order listing on the GamersGate web site. The DLC will cost $4.99 but will be free to download for owners of the Settlers 7 Gold Edition.

The DLC for the Blue Byte Software-Ubisoft game will add a new two player map (Forest Realm) along with two more maps, Tower Island and Throne of the Kings, that have been made especially for the game's new co-op mode. That new mode will be made available for free via an upcoming patch update that will allow all players and all maps to have access to the co-op mode. This new gameplay mode will allow players to share things like technology, trade posts and victory points with his or her team partner along with sending resources and goods to each other.

There's just a couple of days left before Steam ends its massive annual holiday sale event. Remember that nearly every game is on sale on the download site to some degree and that even more savings can be found with special publisher bundles. From now until 1 pm Sunday you can get the following PC games with even deeper price cuts.

Company of Heroes series - Save 75 percent off all games in series
Football Manager 2011 - $26.79
Zeno Clash - $3.75
Medal of Honor - $29.99
Swarm Arena - $2.50
Divinity II The Dragon Knight Saga - $19.99
Half-Life series - Save 75 percent off all games in series or 85 percent if you own Left 4 Dead 1 or Left 4 Dead 2.
The Settlers 7 - $24.99
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - $2.50
Bionic Commando Pack (Bionic Commando/Bionic Commando Rearmed) - $12.49
Mafia 2 - $12.49

Earlier this year publisher Ubisoft decided that it would make all of its current and upcoming PC game titles require an "always on" internet connection in order to be played. This DRM set up, which affected even single player-only games like the PC port of Assassin's Creed 2, was met with massive protests by PC gamers.

Now a story posted on Reddit by a gamer claims that the "Always On" requirement has now been relaxed a little bit. While PC gamers will still need to have an active internet connection to start any of the affected Ubisoft games, it looks like the internet connection can now be cut and active games can still be played. Previously if you lost your internet connection during play of titles like Splinter Cell Conviction your gameplay would be interrupted as well. We have emailed Ubisoft to find out if they have indeed relaxed their DRM PC game policies or if this is just a lucky technical glitch.

[Via Blue's News]

Fans of The Settlers 7 are getting a surprise early Christmas expansion pack this week. Developer Blue Byte Software and publisher Ubisoft have released a new and large downloadable expansion pack for the fantasy strategy-sim game. It's the third such DLC expansion for the game since The Settlers 7 was first released earlier this year.

The $14.99 expansion, which can be purchased and downloaded from Ubisoft's online store, has two new scenario maps (The Awakening of the Eternal City and Perils of the Coast) along with Rise of the Rebellion, a new five map mini-campaign for the game. If you don't feel like getting the entire expansion in one shot, Ubisoft has split off each of the scenario maps in separate DLC packs for $4.99 each as well as the mini-campaign for $7.99.

This manual patch for The Settlers 7 updates the game to v1.11, which includes free new content such as the Monhaim Valley map and the 'Occult Science' technology tree. A list of changes can be found after the jump, and The Settlers 7 playable demo can be found here.

Download The Settlers 7 v1.11 Full Patch (1 GB)
Download The Settlers 7 Demo (2.55 GB)
Check out all Settlers 7 downloads

Sorry for the late post but we didn't want to wait until late in the day today to get all this info to you. We will be back to your normal Bits and Bytes posting schedule this evening:

• New bug Steam bug updates are available for Bullet Candy, Pound of Ground, and Team Fortress 2.
• A major content update has been released via Steam for Super Laser Racer, adding online multiplayer, 12 new tracks, new weapons and more.
• Steam also has a new update for The Settlers 7 adding a new map and six new "occult technologies"
• Steam has a new tower defense game, System Protocol One, with a week long sale of 10 percent off.
• There's some video evidence of that unannounced James Bond stealth action game.
• Saturday's Video Game Awards will feature the world premiere of a new Portal 2 video.

This patch for The Settlers 7 updates the game to v1.1, which includes a number of bug fixes and game improvements. The patch is available in two versions: the smaller one will update the game from v1.09 while the full version has changes from all past updates, including the free multiplayer maps (like Moorach) and other content. A list of changes can be found after the jump, and The Settlers 7 playable demo can be found here.

Download The Settlers 7 v1.09+ - v1.1 Patch (87 MB)
Download The Settlers 7 v1.1 Full Patch (819 MB)
Download The Settlers 7 Demo (2.55 GB)
Check out all Settlers 7 downloads

Fans of The Settlers 7 are getting some new maps and missions to try out via a new paid download via Steam. The second paid downloadable expansion for Ubisoft's latest game in the strategy-sim series is now available to grab.

The Empire Expansion adds three new multiplayer maps to the Blue Byte-developed game. One is the water-themed level Whitewater Falls while the second is the mountain-themed Twin Peaks (we need a good cup of coffee now). The third map is the rural themed Grassland Media. The DLC costs $3.99 to purchase and download. You can also get both the DLC releases on Steam for $5.99, a $2 savings versus buying each separately.