The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom Message Board

With Ubisoft’s recent announcement that Rayman: Origin’s splendid arrival on PC will have the barest DRM for the download version (a single activation – a pointless waste of everyone’s time still, of course) and the retail version having none at all (although Ubi have yet to get back to me over whether it will work without the disc in the drive), it makes you wonder if the company is beginning to see the light. With other recent games having only required a single activation, there does seem to be a movement away from their moronic ‘always on’ system. A system that’s proving its idiocy next week, when Ubisoft take their servers down for an indefinite period, meaning any games using it will cease working.

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The Settlers 7 is to be getting a new patch, which will add a co-op version of the game. Which is a pretty fantastic thing to find thrown in there for free. It’s also part of the fourth DLC pack called Settlers 7: The Two Kings (do you see what they did there), which adds in the new mode as well as some new maps to go with it. But to be clear: the co-op goes to everyone who updates with the patch, regardless of the DLC. More details thisaway.

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Are you and your globe-conquering friends losing that competitive edge over Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom's catalog of expansive multiplayer arenas? Today, Ubisoft added three new competitive maps for the game to its online storefront: Tempest Taiga, Fiery Chasm and the Battle of Tanholm.

Master your kingdom with new content.

Who knew kingdom-building could be so tedious?

Pitch a tent.

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom demo is now available. The demo features one map (called the "River Town") playable in three different modes: single player mode against a predefined AI; free single player mode with no AI / opponent for free building; and in multiplayer mode with predefined victory points.

While you wait for the seventh Settlers game to arrive on March 23, Ubisoft would certainly like you to contemplate the pre-ordering of said game, nonetheless a full on pre-order of the digital-exclusive "Gold Edition." As to entice you die-hard fans to drop the extra $10 on the special edition (bringing the price to a more Modern Warfare 2-ey $59.99), the publisher has offered up an exclusive map, a handful of extra "castle forge elements" and a digital copy of the game's soundtrack.

With just over one month left until the game arrives on both PC and Mac, we suppose you could just put the trailer above on loop until the time finally comes (it does feature Bruce Shelley, after all), but that'd probably make you a lunatic. Also, you might die. And then how would you settle a vast kingdom? Hmm? Didn't think of that, did ya?

Special treats for early buyers.

Earlier this week, PC Gamer got its hands on a retail copy of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 for PC, only to discover that its digital rights management was a bit ... shall we say, "restrictive?" Aside from the initial online registration procedure, the game allegedly requires a persistent connection to the online game server in order to continue stabbing fools. In practice, this means if you were to lose the connection during play, you'd lose your progress and, if and when the connection was re-established, you'd be kicked backed to the last checkpoint -- not exactly diggable management, right?

Ars Technica followed up with Ubisoft on the DRM issue (that also affects The Settlers 7), which said, "As long as you do not quit the game, the game will continue to try to reconnect for an unlimited time ... once the game is able to reconnect, you will immediately be returned to your game ... AC2 reconnects you at the last checkpoint ... There are many checkpoints so you're back to the point where you got disconnected in no time."

Ubisoft also assured that the required internet connection speed is supposedly minimal. "Our online services platform will require a maximum of 50kbps of available bandwidth, so even with the slowest connection, gameplay won't be affected," an Ubisoft representative told Ars. That said, it seems that gamers lacking an online connection (or, say, those on a plane or in the armed forces, as Ars points out) may be out of luck if they're hoping to play Assassin's Creed 2 on PC.

Dominate your enemies and raise a kingdom.

Learn how to make your kingdom's economy thrive.

As spotted by Joystiq's sister site Big Download in a recent gameplay trailer, ex-Ensemble Studios co-founder Bruce Shelley is working on Ubisoft's next installment in the Settlers series, The Settlers 7. Oh, what's that? You've never heard of the Settlers franchise? That's okay, we're right there with you. Popular in Europe (like Jerry Lewis, but less obnoxious), the city-building sim developed by Blue Byte Software will apparently get Shelley's input as a "game design consultant" -- and considering the pedigree that comes with Shelley, we have to imagine that, If you're into that kind of thing, it's time to start getting totally psyched. The game is currently in beta and will be headed to PCs in "late March."

image source: Comedy Central PC gamers have long been vocal about intrusive DRM programs hidden in their games. With illegal game downloads in the millions, publishers are desperately trying to find new solutions in the war against piracy. Ubisoft's upcoming The Settlers 7 will introduce a new DRM model for the company, one that doesn't require disc authentication and allows multiple installations across multiple systems. "If you own a hundred PCs, you can install your games on a hundred PCs," Ubisoft's Brent Wilkinson told GameSpy. Central to Ubisoft's new DRM plan is its online integration. Like select Steam games, Ubisoft will require players to log-in with a Ubi.com account in order to play, even for single-player games. As a plus, the online connectivity allows saves to be stored on Ubisoft's servers, meaning players can resume a game from any computer they own. Wilkinson dismissed concerns that some players may not have a ready internet connection: "We think most people are going to be fine with it. Most people are always connected to an Internet connection." But just in case you don't, may we suggest AOL dial-up? It's the future, we swear! [Via BigDownload]

Get a chance to play the new Settlers early.