The only really useful sections are those on the buildings and resources in the game. For example, the sections on building up your military touch briefly on the need for gold coins to train soldiers, then refer you to another section that does not contain any information on the military at all. Most annoying are the cross-references in the manual. It provides some good information and background for the game and covers basic gameplay and options, but it ignores many features completely.
THE SETTLERS GAME MANUAL
The manual for Settlers II is poorly written and organized. It did not take long for the repetition to become annoying enough that I turned it off.
You have to manually change the music to get the different tunes. The music is well done and includes both MIDI and CD Audio versions, but the game constantly repeats one track over and over. Unfortunately, the soundtrack does not live up to the effects. The audio cues to what is happening on and off screen are invaluable and make playing more fun. Settlers II has a stunning array of sound effects - each profession has its own sounds, from woodcutters chopping down trees to the braying of donkeys on the farms. Overhead map views showing the surrounding terrain and tribal boundaries are also available. The map can be zoomed to focus on a particular area, or you can display a separate zoom window that will keep track of individual citizens as they move around.
Each tribe has its own style - buildings from each tribe look different, adding to the variety. Woodcutters wander around chopping down trees, farmers plant wheat or feed pigs, the miller naps in front of the mill, and countless men stroll around the screen hitting things with various implements of destruction.
In addition to terrain features such as different types of trees and ruins, there are lots of entertaining animations to watch while building your empire. The gameplay takes place on an overhead view of the land, with resolutions up to 1024x768. The graphics in Settlers II are fantastic. Usually there is very little reason to continue expanding the economic development of your country once you've started attacking - most of your resources will need to be allotted for creating more soldiers and weapons and cannot be spared. Taking control of the enemy forts and barracks does not help expand your empire's infrastructure - any other buildings the enemy had in the area are automatically destroyed, rather than occupied by your forces. Conquest is a fairly large part of the game, but successfully attacking the enemy requires mostly luck - you have very little control over what troops are sent, and the actual battles take place between just one unit from each side. The combat system in particular is poorly done.
THE SETTLERS GAME FULL
Settlers II has other failings that keep it from living up to its full potential. Sorting out what resources are being allocated to production facilities can get pretty confusing a well-run empire will require a great deal of patience and advanced planning. The meat then goes to the miners, who provide coal and ore to the smelters and smiths, which is used to create weapons for the soldiers in the barracks. The interdependencies can become very complex - farmers grow wheat, which must go to the pig breeder, whose pigs are sent to the butcher for slaughter. The raw materials provided by the laborers are used to develop more complex items that the settlers need, such as tools, weaponry and food. But constructing an infrastructure that will support an empire is more than just positioning buildings - they must be placed so that the economy can function. Starting with a command post and a limited stock of supplies and people, you must build farms, smelters, mills, shipyards and barracks, then connect them with roadways to transport goods and men. The gameplay is best described as SimCity with combat. Settlers II is an enjoyable strategy game that mixes a little economics, some simple combat, and a lot of cute animations.