ReSiedler.Alpha

A rewrite inspired by the original The Settlers, built with the Bevy game engine. The project focuses on online multiplayer and expanded gameplay.

Assets

This project does not distribute original game assets. Players must provide legally obtained data files themselves.

The game supports the DOS spaed.pa archive and optional sounds and music files from the Amiga version.

Place spaed.pa, sounds, and music in the working directory from which the game is started.

Build

Install current stable Rust.

Ubuntu

common native build dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libasound2-dev libudev-dev

macOS

Install libopenmpt to enable Amiga music playback:

brew install libopenmpt

The game automatically detects Homebrew installations on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, as well as MacPorts installations.

Windows

To enable Amiga music playback, download the Windows binaries from the libopenmpt website and copy all provided .dll files next to the game executable, for example into target\release. Copying only libopenmpt.dll may fail because Windows also needs its dependent libraries.

Multiplayer

Host starts server (UDP port 5000):

RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAX_CLIENTS=4 cargo run --release --bin dedicated_server

# on windows
set RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAX_CLIENTS=4
cargo run --release --bin dedicated_server

Players connect using host IP:

RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SERVER_ADDR=SERVER_IP:5000 \
  cargo run --release --bin resiedler-alpha

# on windows
set RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SERVER_ADDR=SERVER_IP:5000
cargo run --release --bin resiedler-alpha

Replace SERVER_IP with the host's LAN or public IP address. The host must allow UDP port 5000 through its firewall and may need to forward that port on its router.

Controls

Keyboard

Key	Action
W, A, S, D or arrow keys	Pan camera.
F1	Center camera on current player's castle.
F2, F3, F4	Center camera on land-expedition bases 1, 2 and 3.
F9	Reserved for local save loading; dedicated multiplayer reports it as unavailable.
F10	Finish all owned construction sites; server requires DEBUG_MODE=1.
F11	Request maximum resources and people; server requires DEBUG_MODE=1.
F12	Request 100 elite castle soldiers; server requires DEBUG_MODE=1.
Space	Show/hide build markers for flags, mines, small and large buildings.
Hold Tab	Show player territory colors and castle representatives.
M	Show/hide minimap.
Shift+M	Expand/restore and show minimap.
O	Cycle minimap ownership mode.
B	Show/hide buildings on minimap.
G	Show/hide minimap grid.
Z	Switch minimap scale between 1× and 2×.
R	Show/hide stored-resources window.
T	Show/hide production-history window.
Escape	Close popup, cancel road/work-area/expedition placement, or cancel pigeon mail.

New features

• Authoritative online multiplayer with a dedicated server.
• Stone and wood cutters now support any type of rock/ tree.
• New desert economy with water, cactus, juice, and production boosts.
• Gatherer hut, juicery, well, charcoal kiln, and expedition cart production.
• Land expeditions that establish remote territory and storage.
• Bird mail between castles.
• Boats for fishing and two-item water transport.
• Dynamic worker allocation and redirected goods when new demand appears.
• Per-castle military controls, beer-assisted soldier training.
• Building operations pause.
• Minimap, territory overlay, production statistics, movable/pinned popups.
• New graphics effects.
• Ultrawide screens support.

Client parameters

The client has no command-line options. Configure it with environment variables placed before cargo run --release --bin resiedler-alpha:

Variable	Default	Description
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SERVER_ADDR	127.0.0.1:5000	Dedicated-server IP/hostname and UDP port.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_DATA	automatic search	Path to spaed.pa, or an audio-data directory containing sounds/music.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_AMIGA_DATA	automatic search	Directory containing optional Amiga sounds and/or music files.
DEBUG_MODE	0	Set to 1 to auto-ready the client and use server-enabled debug actions.

Example:

RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SERVER_ADDR=game.example.org:6000 \
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_DATA=/path/to/data \
  cargo run --release --bin resiedler-alpha

Dedicated-server parameters

dedicated_server [--seed <SEED>] [--game-speed <0..=40>]
                 [--save-file <FILE.SAVE> | FILE.SAVE]

CLI option	Default	Description
-h, --help	—	Print usage.
--seed SEED, --seed=SEED	8667715887436237	Map seed: exactly 16 digits, each from 1 through 8.
--game-speed N, --game-speed=N	2	Simulation speed from 0 through 40.
--save-file FILE.SAVE, --save-file=FILE.SAVE	none	Load/create server save; filename must end in .SAVE.
FILE.SAVE	none	Positional shorthand for --save-file FILE.SAVE.

Server environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_BIND_ADDR	0.0.0.0:5000	Local address and UDP port on which server listens.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAX_CLIENTS	10	Number of required lobby/player slots, clamped to 1..=10.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAP_SIZE	10	Map size, clamped to 3..=10.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SEED	8667715887436237	Map seed in format described above.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_GAME_SPEED	2	Simulation speed from 0 through 40.
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SAVE_FILE	none	.SAVE file loaded or created and periodically saved by server.
DEBUG_MODE	0	Set to 1 to enable authenticated F10/F11/F12 actions.

CLI options override matching environment variables. Example:

RESIEDLER_ALPHA_BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0:6000 \
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAX_CLIENTS=4 \
RESIEDLER_ALPHA_MAP_SIZE=8 \
  cargo run --release --bin dedicated_server -- \
  --seed 1234567812345678 --game-speed 5 --save-file community.SAVE

Bug reports

If you spot a bug, please report it thru issues in the github project. Try to include as much evidence, e.g. screenshot, *.SAVE file and/or steps to reproduce the bug.

Contributions

Fork the repository, create a focused branch, and open a pull request with a concise title identifying the affected area, for example: assets loader: introduce ....

More importantly, explain clearly what changed, why it changed, and include tests. Keep each pull request focused. Write contributor discussions and review responses in your own words; do not use large language models to communicate with other contributors.

Local test

From this directory, start one server and one client at game speed 5:

./local-test.sh [client-count: 1-10] [game-speed: 0-40]

Defaults: 2 clients and speed 2. Launcher also accepts client/server variables listed above. Set RESIEDLER_ALPHA_SAVE_FILE for persistent server state or DEBUG_MODE=1 for debug mode:

First build takes several minutes. Start more local players by changing 1 to any number through 10. Press Ctrl+C in terminal to stop server and clients.