FALLING FOR THE FORESTER

                        by Bev Truter

I was inspired to write this article about the forester in The
Settlers computer game by BlueByte after re-reading Jean Childs'
article in SynTax issue 33 titled "A Day In The Life Of A
Fisherman".  Jean obviously fell for the fisherman, and who can
blame her?  Strutting about confidently with his fishing-rod slung
nonchalantly over his shoulder, he was cute enough to attract the
attention of all female players of Settlers. As for me though, I
fell head-over- heels for the forester. I've spent the last 3
months playing Settlers, and at the conclusion of each mission I
would burn down all my mines which scarred the mountains, build
foresters' huts all over my newly-conquered lands, and watch
beautiful dense forests pop up everywhere.

My settlers all wear blue shirts (as opposed to the opponents'
clothing of red, yellow and pink) but my forester also wears a
gorgeous dark green Tyrolean hat complete with feather sticking up
at a jaunty angle, and a genuine pair of lederhosen. His cute
little legs and knobbly knees protrude beneath the leather hem of
his shorts, and his feet are encased in a pair of sturdy boots.
Oops, sorry, I got all carried away and that last bit isn't
strictly true. The forester, like all the settlers, seems to be
missing vital bits of anatomy between the bottom of his shirt and
his boots - bits like legs, knees and ankles.

The foresters play a vital role in Settlers - they plant trees by
plonking them into the ground with a "poppp" sound, and you
wouldn't believe how quickly the trees reach their full size. Then
your woodcutter comes along and gradually chops them all down, so
it's best to have two foresters per woodcutter, otherwise your
scenery starts looking horribly denuded of trees. I usually place a
forester's hut near my outer boundary, close to an enemy's lands,
so after a while there is a thick forest along the boundary which
prevents enemy guard-huts from being built too close to my borders.
The forester wanders happily over boundary markers to plant trees,
and if there is an enemy forester on the other side, I imagine they
might chat to each other in passing. Perhaps they discuss the
weather? Or moan about the woodcutters who rush about demolishing
their carefully-planned forests? Or possibly warn each other of
impending attacks by knights?...."Look mate, I'd better warn you.
Our knights are preparing to attack, and it looks as though they
might be heading towards your armoury.  Just stay inside your hut
for a while, keep your head down, and hope they don't take over a
guard-hut too close for comfort."

After taking over an enemy's guard hut, your boundaries expand and
all enemy buildings in the vicinity burn down, leaving pathetic
little groups of enemy settlers milling about haphazardly with
nowhere to go. The enemy miners and geologists tend to wander off
into your mountains, the enemy fisherman haunts the edges of your
nearest lake, and the poor enemy forester lurks about your closest
clump of trees. In those circumstances I hope my forester would
invite him in for a cup of tea and a chat, at least.



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