The Settlers Alternative Pioneers of Pagonia: “No RTS Battle, No Campaign”

Envision Entertainment is currently working on Pioneers of Pagonia and obviously wants to revive virtues of classic The Settlers games.

Pioneers of Pagonia Steam FAQ

PCGH had already presented the new project by Die Siedler co-inventor and Envision co-founder Volker Wertich. After Wertich was on board for the reboot of Die Siedler, he probably felt the urgent need to set up a game with settler virtues after the departure. That can be seen from the Read the game’s FAQ.

In typical settler fashion, you start the game with explorers who explore the area, or a watchtower, since the guards quickly set up additional boundary stones so that the collector secures the first source of food. Or you set up a treasure hunter who investigates the suspicious clues on the coast. But of course carpentry, sawmill and quarry also play an important role.

The question of controlling the armies can also be interpreted as an alternative to the new settlers. They will “not offer RTS-style unit controls,” according to the FAQ. Instead, military and mystical units should be tied to buildings as a base and controlled from there. For example, the units are told where to claim new territory, which area to guard, or which location to scout for enemies. This indirect control is reminiscent of classic settler parts.

The questions about campaign and co-op are also interesting. There will therefore be no classic campaign. Focusing on the procedural creation of maps and objectives to “ensure high replay value with unlimited variations” – rather than a limited number of handcrafted maps. In Early Access from Q4 2023, they wanted to “offer joint cooperative gameplay” directly. This should make it possible to play your own tribe together with a friend. Altogether one plans with around six months in Early Access.

Technically, there is also an interesting detail. In the forum of 3DCenter confirms one of the developersthat Pioneers of Pagonia uses an “entirely homegrown” engine. This relies on Direct X 12 without fallback for older Direct X versions. Currently only Windows is targeted as a platform.

The construction simulation is about exploring the eponymous Pagonia islands and entering into alliances with the inhabitants. On the economic side, according to the announcement, more than 40 different building types and over 70 different resources and production chains are already available for early access. These should help players to express their creativity in their own unique economies – thanks to randomly generated maps, every single game round should feel unique. Exploring the islands in Pioneers of Pagonia also plays an important role, especially since not all residents are peaceful.

Do you have Pioneers of Pagonia on your watch list? Use the comment function and let us know what you think. You must be logged in to PCGH.de or the Extreme forum to comment. If you don’t have an account yet, you can consider registeringwhich brings many advantages.