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The Settlers II

1996 city-building and real-time strategy video game

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ1995487 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Settlers II (German: Die Siedler II), originally released as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici, is a 1996 city-building game with real-time strategy elements for MS-DOS, Mac OS, and Nintendo DS. Developed and published by Blue Byte Software, the DOS version was released in Germany in April 1996, and in the United Kingdom and North America in August. In December, Blue Byte released an expansion, The Settlers II Mission CD, featuring new single-player campaign missions, new maps for both single-player and multiplayer modes, and a map editor. In October 1997, they released The Settlers II: Gold Edition, containing the original game, plus the Mission CD expansion, along with minor graphical enhancements and gameplay tweaks. The Gold Edition was also ported to Mac OS in September 1997. In 2006, an enhanced remake, The Settlers II (10th Anniversary), was released for Windows. In 2007, the Gold Edition was ported to the Nintendo DS, under the title The Settlers and released in Germany in July, and the United Kingdom and North America in August. Although adapted for the dual-screen display of the DS, and with controls specifically programmed for use with the DS stylus, the gameplay, game mechanics, graphics and storyline are unaltered. In 2009, the original Gold Edition was released on GOG.com, and in 2018, it was re-released for Windows as The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici - History Edition. In October 2025, an Amiga version of the Gold Edition was released. It is the second game in The Settlers series, following The Settlers (1993).

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Settlers II” is 1996 city-building and real-time strategy video game. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Settlers, city-building and real-time, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 1997, 2006, 2007—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1996-04-17, 1996-08-13, 1996-08-31, 1997-09-24—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Settlers, city-building and real-time is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1996 city-building and real-time strategy video game” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1995487. VIAF identifies the subject as 302078367. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 5 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 1997, 2006 and 2007.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Settlers II”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Settlers II primary sources, The Settlers II archive and Settlers research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Settlers II”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Settlers II” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.