Widelands

Widelands is a free and open-source real-time strategy (RTS) game. It is a fork of the Settlers II engine, aiming to provide a similar gameplay experience with improvements and expansions.

Gameplay: Widelands focuses on building a thriving settlement by managing resources, constructing buildings, and training military units. Players must carefully balance their economy, ensuring a steady supply of raw materials like wood, stone, and iron, which are then processed into more complex goods such as tools, weapons, and food. A hierarchical transportation system using carriers is crucial for efficiently distributing these goods throughout the settlement. Military units are used to defend the territory and expand it by conquering enemy settlements.

Key Features:

• Multiple Tribes: Widelands offers several playable tribes, each with its own unique buildings, units, and gameplay style. This provides significant replayability and strategic variety.
• Single-player Campaign and Skirmish Modes: The game includes a single-player campaign with a storyline, as well as skirmish modes where players can compete against AI opponents on various maps.
• Multiplayer Support: Widelands supports online multiplayer, allowing players to compete against each other.
• Modding Support: The game is designed to be highly moddable, allowing players to create and share custom maps, tribes, and scenarios.
• Active Development: Widelands is under active development, with regular updates and improvements being released by a dedicated community of volunteers.

Licensing: Widelands is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), ensuring that it remains free and open-source software.

Origins and Development: Development started in 2001 as a fork of the Settlers II engine, aiming to create a more open and extensible version of the game. The developers have since focused on creating a unique game experience inspired by, but distinct from, the original Settlers series.