Anyone who's played empire building type games eventually tries Settlers 2, the version most all consider the best of the Blue Byte Settlers many generational game. I know I've wasted some months enjoying it.
Widelands has been in development for 8 years, currently build 15, and in some ways, has finally surpassed Settlers 2.
Pros - larger playing field, better graphics, faster speed-up options, random option in editor
Cons - uneven tribe abilities, crash problem, few customizable settings, no useful save in editor
Although unusable for competition yet, I've found trying random editor settings and configurations and single play "find your way from A to B" maps an enjoyable way to get back into it and learn their take on the game.
Hint - Set options fps to 15 or less - this only effects mouse panning and reduces cpu usage. Set auto-save to 5 minutes.
Looking forward to build 16.
Widelands
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