            Manual for Settlers of Catan Computer Game

Board Game Designer     Klaus Teuber
Program Designer        Jens Willibald
Program Translator      John Hoffman
Manual Writer           David S. Raley


INTRODUCTION

Settlers of Catan is a board game developed by Klaus Teuber. The board game
is published by Kosmos in Germany and Mayfair Games in the United States.
This computer version is a freeware program written by Jens Willibald and
translated into English by John Hoffman. Distribution of this game is with
permission of Kosmos and Klaus Teuber.

This computer game incorporates the rules for Settlers of Catan and
Seafarers of Catan. It does not support any of the later expansions, such
as Cities and Knights and the Historical Scenarios.

The Settlers computer program is designed to run under MS-DOS, but it runs
fine on Windows 95 and Windows 98 systems (I have not tested it under NT).
Just run CATAN.EXE in the usual manner in which you'd run a DOS program. If
you want to set up a shortcut for the game, there is an icon (SIEDLER.ICO)
available in the game directory.

This package also includes a scenario editor (EDITOR.EXE). The editor is in
German, but the program is small enough to make this only a minor problem.
Read EDITOR.TXT for instructions on how to use the editor.

OBJECT

The object of the game is to be the first player to gain the specified
number of victory points during your turn. If you somehow manage to gain
the appropriate number of points during an opponent's turn, you must wait
until the end of your next turn before you can win the game (assuming no
one else manages to win before then). The number of victory points required
to win depends on the scenario being played. the game constantly displays
the number of victory points you currently have, as well as the number that
you need to win.

You gain victory points in five ways: building settlements, upgrading
settlements to cities, deploying the largest army, building the longest
trade route, and gaining victory point cards. Settlements built in a region
where you did not begin with a settlement gain an extra victory point.


VARIATIONS FROM THE RULES

As with many computer versions of games, there are some variations between
the board verion of the game and the computer version.

Trading and Building - In the board game, all trades must be completed
before you may start building. In the computer game, trades and building
are conducted simultaneously, so you may trade, build something, trade some
more, and then build some more. Note that some translations of the board
game rules (such as the first Mayfair edition) also allowed this.

City Limitation - The board game includes a limit of four cities, most
likely because you'd rarely want to build more than four in a single game.
Since the computer game supports scenarios requiring as many as 20 victory
points, the computer game does not impose such a limit. The computer game
does impose the board game's limit of five settlemets.

Five or More Players - In the board game, if you are playing with more than
four players, there is a special building phase after the current player's
building phase. In the computer game, there is no such phase, but the safe
limit for holding resource cards is increased to twice the number of
players in the game (rather than the standard seven cards).

Start of Turn - In the board game, your turn starts when you are passed the
dice. As such, you are allowed to play a card before you roll the dice
(most likely a Knight). In the computer game, your turn starts when you
roll the dice, so you cannot play a card until after the die roll.

Number Tile Placement - The tile placement procedure used in the basic
board game is never used in the computer game, even when playing a scenario
where such a method is practical. Instead, the tiles are either placed in
fixed positions defined by the scenario or are randomly shuffled.

Harbors - In the board game, each harbor only covers two of the
intersections adjacent to the tile containing the harbor. I have yet to
determine just how the computer game handles this, as it doesn't indicate
which intersections are acting as harbors. I can only assume that all
intesections are acting in that fashion, but have yet to have an
opportunity to prove it.

Victory Points - In Seafarers, different scenarios use different rules for
bonus victory points. Some allowed bonus points only for the first foreign
island explored, while others gave a double bonus for subsequent islands.
In the computer game, you get one victory point for the first settlement
you build in each new region (in most scenarios, each island is defined as
a separate region).

Unexplored Territory - In Seafarers, an unexplored hex can become either a
land or an ocean hex. In the computer game, they can only become standard
land hexes (farmland, pasture, mountain, hill, or forest). Also, in
Seafarers, you gain a bonus resource for finding a land territory, while in
the computer game there is no bonus (which makes sense, considering that
you always find a land hex).



STARTING THE GAME

Start CATAN.EXE in the same way you would start any other DOS program. If
you have problems with the display, then you need to specify a screen type.

    1   VESA compatible (the default and the most likely choice)
    2   ET4000
    3   Cirrus-Logic
    4   Mach 64
    5   ATI 28800

You specify the video type through the number. So, if you type "CATAN 2"
when you start the program, you will start the game in ET4000 format. If
you prefer, you can start the game through the START.BAT file, which will
prompt you for the format type. The file is in German, but should be
understandable.

Once you start the program, you will be presented with the startup screen.
If you click on the picture, you will automatically run the default
scenario, which is SEIDLER.ISL (the basic four-player Settlers game). If
you click on "Szenario Laden" (Load Scenario), then you will be presented
with a list of scenarios available. Just click on the appropriate scenario
and you are ready to begin play. This screen is untranslated in the English
version, so don't assume you're running the German version when you see
this screen.

The game will now present the main screen. The human player is always
Player 1 and has the blue pieces. This does not mean that the human player
will go first, as the first player to start will be selected randomly.


MAIN SCREEN

The main screen is divided into five areas, as shown below. To the left
is the map area, which shows you the game map, including the location of
all roads, ships, settlements, and cities. On the right are four smaller
areas: the action area, the player status area, the opponent status area,
and the dice area.

   _________________________________   __________________
  |                                 | |                  |
  |                                 | | Action Area      |
  |                                 | |__________________|
  |                                 |  __________________
  |                                 | |                  |
  |        Map Area                 | | Player Status    |
  |                                 | |__________________|
  |                                 |  __________________
  |                                 | |                  |
  |                                 | | Opponent Status  |
  |                                 | |__________________|
  |                                 |  __________________
  |                                 | |                  |
  |                                 | | Dice             |
  |_________________________________| |__________________|


The action area changes depending on the current action that is being
taken. This can include information as to what a player just did,
instructions that the player should follow, a question, or a menu. To
respond to a question or a menu, click on the appropriate button (or click
in the status area outside the button to respond "No"). To continue after
receiving instructions, click on the dice.

During your turn, the action area will display the main menu. This includes
a list of all of the actions you may take during your turn. The first five
actions are purchases. The resource costs for each of these purchases are
shown in the menu to the right of the button.

    Build a Road
    Build a Ship (deactivated if not using ship rules)
    Build a Settlement
    Build a City (replaces an existing settlement)
    Purchase a Development Card
    Trade with another player or through a port
    Play a Development Card
    Move a Ship (allowed once per turn; deactivated if not using ships)
    End Turn

Most of the other prompts are self explanatory. The greatest potential
source of confusion is the message when the computer wishes to trade with
you. The prompt lists the name of the player that is offering the trade,
states what the player wishes to buy, and what they are offering for it.
The resource being offered will be listed below the requested item. If you
accept the offer, click OK; otherwise click somewhere else in the trade
box. If you refuse the offer, the computer will either end trade
negotiations or offer something else in return for the product.

The player status area includes your current score, the number of cards you
have for each commodity, the number of development cards you are currently
holding, and the number of knights currently in play. If you hold the
longest road card, it will be indicated on the right side of the
development card line. If you hold the largest army card, it will be
indicated on the right side of the knight line.

The opponent status area is an abbreviated version of the player status
area. It includes the player number and color, the number of commodity
cards (but not their types), the number of development cards (blue backs),
and the number of knights in play. The longest road and largest army cards
are indicated in the same way as in the player status area. Use the F5 key
to scroll through each opponent's status.

At the bottom right are the dice, which indicate the latest resource roll.
Click on the dice to start each player's turn or to continue when you are
not being prompted for a response.


FUNCTION KEYS

    F1  Display the Help Screen (click on the screen to return to the game)
    F2  View Statistics (only available at the end of the game)
    F3  View the map, showing any harbors and number tiles
    F4  View the map, omitting the harbors and number tiles
    F5  Cycle through the opponents on the opponent display
    F6  Show victory point progress throughout the game (only at game end)
    F7  Show production levels throughout the game (only at game end)
    ESC Quit the game and end the program (note that the game is not saved)
        ESC will not work if you are being prompted for some action.
        Since you have a menu available during your turn, you will not
        be able to quit while it is your turn.


START OF GAME

After you select your scenario, the program will present you with the main
screen, with the copyright information in the action area. The dice
indicate your roll for determining the first player, so the higher the
roll, the better your chance of being first. After you click on the dice,
each player in turn will be asked to place a settlement and then a road.
For the first round of setup, each player in turn builds a settlement and a
road, proceeding in numerical order. For the second round, the last player
to build a settlement in the first round builds the first settlement in the
second round, and building continues in reverse order. When you place your
second settlement, you get one resource from each hex that borders the
intersection (except for ocean and desert hexes).

When it is your turn to place a settlement, simply click the intersection
where you would like to place the settlement. An intersection must meet
three requirements before you can build a settlement there. First, it must
connect to at least one land hex. Second, all three of the adjacent
intersections must be empty. Third, the intersection must be within one of
the setup regions defined by the scenario.

After you place the settlement, click on one of the three adjacent lines
to place the road or ship. If you are playing with ships and you click a
line along the coast, you will be prompted to choose whether you want to
build a road or a ship.

Once all initial settlements have been built, the player who placed the
first settlement begins the game.


TURN SEQUENCE

1   Press the Dice to roll for resources. Any territories that contain a
    number chip that matches the die roll produce one resource for each
    settlement bordering it and two resources for each city bordering it.
    A territory holding the robber does not produce anything.

2   If the roll was a 7, no lands produce anything and the current player
    moves either the robber or the pirate ship. If you move the robber, you
    may take one resource from any one player who has a settlement or a
    city adjacent to the robber's new location. If you move the pirate
    ship, you may take one resource from any one player who has a ship
    adjacent to the pirate ship's new location. Note that if a player has
    more than seven cards in their hand (or more than twice the number of
    players in a game with five or more players), then that player loses
    half the resource cards in their hand (rounded down).

3   The active player may now trade, build, buy cards, move a ship, or play
    a card. These actions may be taken in any order the player chooses (the
    computer does not enforce the board game's requirement that all trades
    be conducted before builds). When it is your turn, the action area will
    display a menu from which you can choose your actions.

4   End the turn


TRADING

To trade during your turn, just press the Trade button on the main menu.
You will then be asked if you want to buy a commodity from another player,
sell a commodity to another player, or perform a port trade.

If you choose to buy a commodity, you will be asked what commodity you wish
to buy. You will then be presented with a list of possible payments you
could make for the requested commodity. Any payments with a number next to
them indicates an offer made from another player. If you want to accept
that offer, then click on the player's number. If you don't like any of the
offers or if there are no offers, then click on the menu away from any
numbers to terminate the trade.

If you choose to sell a commodity, you will be asked what commodity you
wish to sell. You will then be presented with a list of possible offers.
Any offer with a player's number next to it is an actual offer, which you
can accept by clicking the number.

If you choose to conduct a port trade, the game will show you a list of
possible commodities you can sell to the port. This list is based on the
harbors you control and does not take into account what resources you may
currently have in hand. If you select a resource for which you have enough
to make the trade, you will then be asked what resource you want in return.

If it is not your turn, the computer will sometimes prompt you with an
offer from the current player. The resource shown on top is the resource
that the other player wants. The resource on the list is the first item the
computer player offers you. If you accept the offer, click on the OK
button. If you click elsewhere in the action area (thus refusing the
offer), the computer will either make another offer or terminate the trade.


BUILDING

To build a road, ship, settlement, or city, just click on the appropriate
item on the menu. If you have enough resources to meet the cost, you will
be prompted to select a location on the map. A road must be placed on an
empty line adjacent to a land hex that connects to one of your roads,
cities, or settlements. A ship must be placed on an empty line adjacent to
an ocean hex that connects to one of your settlements, cities, or ships. A
settlement must be placed at an empty intersection that connects to one of
your roads or ships and that is at least two intersections from the nearest
settlement or city. You must place a city at a location where you currently
have a settlement.

Note: As in the board game, you may not have more than five settlements on
the board at one time. If you want to build another settlement after you
built your fifth, you'll need to upgrade one to a city first.

DEVELOPMENT CARDS

You may purchase development cards during your turn. You may play only one
development card during your turn and you cannot play a card on the turn
that you draw it (note that Victory Point cards are never really played -
they just immediately add to your victory point total without your
opponents knowing about it). There are five possible development cards:

KNIGHT - A Knight (known as a Soldier in some American editions of the
board game) allows you to move the robber or pirate to a new location. If
you have three or more knights in play and have more knights than any other
player, you gain the Largest Army card (with two victory points). You keep
this until another player exceeds your army size.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION - You are allowed to build two roads or ships as if you
just paid the resources to build them.

MONOPOLY - Select a resource. You gain all cards for that resource that are
currently in play.

DISCOVERY - You gain any two resources you want (they may be the same or
they may be different).

VICTORY POINT - You gain one victory point. These take effect immediately,
but they are not displayed until the player declares a victory. Most
players assume that a development card that is kept face down for a long
period of time must be a victory point card.


END OF GAME

A victory is registered at the end of the winning player's turn. So, if you
have gained enough victory points to win the game, just click on the End
Turn button and you will be declared the winner.

Once a winner is determined, you will be shown the victory point total for
each player. The site victory point total includes points for settlements,
cities, and bonus points for building settlements in new regions. The
remaining columns list points for the largest army, the longest road, and
any victory point cards you have.

You may use the F6 and F7 buttons to show statistics for victory point
totals and production levels. You may use F2 to return to the victory point
summary list.

If you click the display with the left mouse button, you will be shown the
high score table. If you have one of the top 20 scores, your score for
the game will be highlighted. Just type in your name (and perhaps the name
of the scenario) and press ENTER. You can now click on the left mouse
button to exit the game.

If that high score table is filled with scores of people you have never
heard of, you should delete the REKORDE.DAT file, which includes the high
scores, after you leave the program. After your next game, a new
REKORDE.DAT file will be created with all empty slots.

