Anno Series

[Luke159]

I've never played any of the Anno series so i was woundering if anyone could give me an idea of if they are worth buying and apart from the latest one which is the best, my computer wouldn't be able to play the lastest one hence the reason i said not that one.

 

[rupertlittlebear]

you might find this thread usefull.

 

[Luke159]

Thanks, aviod 1404 at all costs then, well i couldn't play it if i wanted because of the system specs been too high for my computer, the early versions from what i can see seem to be good. I will look for some demo's and see what i think. Thanks again Rupert.

 

[modernknight1]

Well Mateys, I must admit that I have played every game in the series since they started. Anno 1604, 1503, 1701, and now Anno 1404/Dawn of Discovery. Aside from the goofy protection, the games are not bad. However you need to be extremely patient. These are not just civ builders, but centered around fairly advanced economy development.

You can't do anything fun in the games until you master complex chains of harvesting or trading raw materials to produce goods that you sell to your own population as well as competitors when you have surpluses. As you advance you develop colonies that produce specialized goods of higher value. Only when you are importing/producing spices, silks, wine and jewelery, and you have built public buidings like the Catherdral, University, bathhouse, and theater will you be able to generate the upper classes. The middle class really gets your economy going. The chains are extremely challenging to keep balanced. Multiple end products rely on different specialized factories and common raw materiels.

If you don't keep your population happy depending on the game, their houses will revert to earlier classes or collapse or they will turn into destructive mobs. Only when you've mastered the economy can you really have fun with the exploring and fighting aspect of the game. The city building is fun and you can lay out a Rennaissance metropolis with walls, towers, ports, castles/armouries, etc. The art/graphics is really beautiful down to every cobblestone and roof tile. You also have to contend with fires, the plague(neat grim reaper icons accompanied by Mozart's Requiem in 1503) and pirates (their ships all look exactly the same). You can really build a large, beautiful Medieval/Rennassance city which gets boring after you've mastered the game. The bigger it gets the more grander building options you open and if you defeat a competitor you can build triumphal arches, obelisks, etc.

I enjoyed 1503 the most, but the AI is really lacking. The advantages 1404 offers is better AI and a way better combat system. You can literally lay seiges with catapults, cannon, etc and you can put your various soldier types in and on the walls, towers and equipment.

I must warn again though that the learning curve is high in these games and you have to be extremely patient. If you're into art and creating it can be pretty neat. If you're a shoot-em-up death and destruction type gamer, stay away, this is not for you, (although there is some satisfaction in launching multiple threbuchets at your enemies grandest structures, watching them catch on fire, fall apart and collapse as you continue to fire.)

I had hoped that EIC would've worked in a lot of the complex trading aspects from the ANNO games but with the added great ships and combat of COAS or POTC. The ships in ANNO are very limitted. You get to choose from about five merchant classes and three warship classes. The largest warship is somewhat reminiscent of a Dutch Galleon of the early 17th cent. Hope this is helpful to anyone considering the ANNO games.

V/R AS

 

[Luke159]

That sounds very similar to a game i use to play called Children Of The Nile here are some video clips.

I couldn't find the ones that are talking about the game, but anyway thats a game you have to ballance things out and you have 3 different classes of people, so its very similar in that way. If you haven't played this already then you'll like this game.

But back on topic thanks, i'm trying to get my hands of Anno 1701, my friend thinks he has it or has one of the Anno games ,he forever buying games and alot of them he's never played (don't ask why, perhaps he buy's them because he likes the sound of them or because they are cheap at the time) Hopefully he does have one of the Anno games, because this does sound like a game i would like. Its not as similar to Port Royal as i thourght with the trade system which is ok its more a city building game than anything i guess?

 

[modernknight1]

Yeah, They are similar I guess, but the anno series is much prettier. If I had to rate them overall first to last I'd go 1503, 1404, 1701, and 1602. For combat and ease of play 1404 wins. 1602 is just old and dated. 1503 has limitations in that you only get four cardinal direction views in 3rd person pan views. In 1701 and 1404 you can pan anywhere 3d. 1404 looks much more realistic than 1701. 1701 looks a lot like a kiddie game. The things that bother me the most about it are goofy city centers with this stupid morale statue you are forced to build around and all the ships look like something you'd cut out of the back of a Captain Crunch cereal box. They look like toys. Also this game is the only one with aggregate military formations and they are all one monocolor as opposed to the other games where every little soldier is like a little work of art. I was disappointed in 1701. 1404 is the better game. 1404 also offers eastern style cities and caravans as well. I much prefer POTC and COAS for pure satisfaction. The anno series are like the old Civilization games in that they are absolute time killers and after hours of play you generally leave having really not accomplished a whole heck of a lot.

V/R AS

 

[Luke159]

Are the Anno games open ended like COAS and POTC where the game never ends?

I know the feeling, in Children Of The Nile you can spend hours and not really do much because you can't expand too quick otherwise you could do more harm than good, however its not impossible to rush and still remain on top of the game. I like games that require you to use your imagination but more so makes you think of where to put things, i've played many games that you can place buildings etc anywhere with no adverce effects which was veryy annoying. At least in Children Of the Nile they got the fact that no one wants to walk miles to buy a matt or go see to there crops.

Anno 1404 wouldn't work on my computer so i'll have to try and get hold of 1701, i use to have one of the Anno games i'm sure i did but i can't find it now. I think it was 1503 the one i had. Strange because i only saw it a few weeks ago in less i took it in to get rid of when i was having a clean out of games i would never play again.

 

[modernknight1]

Yes they are open ended. I never eliminate all opponents - I always leave one alive to trade with and if you get a powerful one they are difficult to kill. You can take over their colonies and they will still live on. I've kept games going for months when travelling. I should also mention that they have quests/missions to find things, produce things, etc. These games are very popular in Germany. There is a german website that features screenshots of all the grand cities folks build but I can't find it at the moment.

Here's the 1404 website: http://dawnofdiscoverygame.us.ubi.com/pc/

V/R AS

 

[Stallion]

Is the series something like the Settlers, except far more in-depth in terms of economics and city planning?

 

[Luke159]

Never played settlers although i did have settlers 3 or something like that till yesterday when i swapped it with my friend for Anno 1701. :will

I've just finished the tutorial, the game does look like its going to drag me into the catagory i often find myself in with these games which is hooked. However from what i have seen yes you do need to plan your city layout as to the differences between Anno and Settlers i can't say.

I think i will start a game on easy with easy competators so that i don't get involved in war's early on or till i'm at least ready. I have read a walkthrough for the game http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/932832/47520 and it does say about 3 characters one of which is very aggressive *Igor* i will make sure not to have him in any of my games till i'm ready for such challanges.

The walkthrough say's place markets all over the islands you take to stop the other's from setting up there own trade post there. I don't like using tactics like that because it takes away the fun of the game. In multiplayer mode perhaps its the best way so that the games don't last forever but i'm not going online + in my experience gamespy is not exactly the best at keeping games going for long periods of time. Although Stronghold 2 isn't bad for its online gaming with gamespy.

Anyway i will try Anno 1701 out on single player in a few minutes, first i need to see to my needs which is food my stumache thinks my throats been cut.:

 

[Stallion]

By the sounds of it, Settlers is an "Anno Lite". : It's fun trying to fit all your essential buildings, plus at least a tavern right next to the village fountain, otherwise your citizens scream bloody murder about not being able to find them, even though what they're looking for is just down a side street.

Looks like I might have to start looking for a copy of Anno 1701 for myself.

 

[Luke159]

By the sounds of it, Settlers is an "Anno Lite". : It's fun trying to fit all your essential buildings, plus at least a tavern right next to the village fountain, otherwise your citizens scream bloody murder about not being able to find them, even though what they're looking for is just down a side street.

Looks like I might have to start looking for a copy of Anno 1701 for myself.

: Thats two more fans to the series. Now i've seen to my stumache i'll see how bad i mean good a settlement i can make before having my ass kicked by the AI.

 

[modernknight1]

It is a lot like Settlers, but more complex and economically oriented. Settlers isnt as pretty either...but it is easier to play. There are also some things about Settlers combat engine and unit controls that are better than Anno. Anno is a little clunky in that way although 1404 is an improvement. I didn't like the aggregations in 1701 at all and the ships look a lot like those in Age of Empires III - toys. If I had known how good the POTC builds had been going I would have abandoned civ builders for POTC long ago. I am addicted to POTC and COAS to the point I just abandoned my 1404 games.

V/R AS

 

[Thagarr]

Sea Dogs did that to me modernknight! I was happily content conquering Europe with my viking hordes playing Age of Empires 2 until I accidentally ran across Sea Dogs and it just blew me away. The POTC Build Mod and CoAS have taken these games to a whole new level! If we could just find a game that incorporated the city building aspect of the Anno series, the strategy of Age of Empires, the economy of Port Royal, the role playing depth of CoAS and the Build Mod, I would never leave my computer! :nk

 

[modernknight1]

I'm totally with ya brother! The exciting thing is that your(our) desires could very well happen in the next decade the way things are going with advanced gaming and virtual technology evolution(revolution!!!). :will The offerings just seem to get better all the time. I still play ETW and Medeival Total War II (Deus Lo Vult 6.0) aside from POTC and COAS, because of the immersive realism of the historical/medieval battlefields. Twenty years ago when I was playing the original Sid Meiers Pirates on my Commadore 128 I could've never imagined in my wildest dreams, gaming advancing to where it is now. I've abandoned half my social life for precious time on my PC in my immersive game worlds....I love being a Medeival Emperor and Dread Pirate on the weekends. It is an addiction that I am in no way ashamed of nor do I plan on trying to cure myself of it.

V/R AS

 

[Luke159]

Arrr ye weekends be like mine lady. :ixi

Well i edited a map becaise its Anno 1701 Gold Edition i have (not tried its expantion pack sunken dragon or something like that) anyway, i called my map as i saw it island madness because there was so many islands, i have the free reader and all cultures ie Aztec's, Indian's etc etc i accepted trade policies with most of them and war was declared between AI's because blue took an island near to green's location. Blue lost her only ship early on but luckily for her she had everything she needed on the island she was on for the first promotion but the war was slowing her down a lot because i had taken 2 islands one for alcohol and the other for tabaco. I was buying tools off the free traders and my plan was the other islands would send me the resources while i organised my main island to work better. The housing area estates had been organised at the start as had things like wood and cloth, bricks aswell obviously but those are not so important to organise since the way i set it up was the 2 brick makers was as close to the clay pit as possible with a market almost next door to them. That was it for my main island with 700 living on it. I was still loosing 200 gold at a time and the free trader (my mistake i think) was selling me things i didn't need.

In total there was about 37 to 40 islands most of which was the largest of the islands, the mistake i had made was i didn't take into account that each island has a set natural resource which ment for me to get tabaco i would have to travel to the opposit corner (a very long way to travel) to pick up tabaco from my island i had setup for that course the other 3 tabaco islands had already been taken by the AI even so they was just as far away as the island i was using.

I like the idea of having to play straegical for the islands, more of one resource and less of the other's. The AI are.

Carmen Marquez - Blue
Winfield v. Schallert - Green
Francios Bataille - Red
Myself - Yellow

Blue and green announced war on each other straight after bumping into one another and blue made green more angry after she took an island almost right next to green's home land. Myself and Red avioded the war and got on with building our civilisations while i tried to make money while still expanding (plans all failed and i had to accept my money been spent as a pose to making any thing for the future.

Perhaps i built things that wasn't needed or too many of the things too early i don't know but what i do know is in my attempt to make4 money i found myself spending vast amounts on more goods like food and cloth. Any tips on making a profit would be nice. I'm now offically hooked to Anno 1701.:

 

[modernknight1]

:gday My best advice is not to expand too fast and don't build things that you don't need. Often only building two woodcutter huts rather than four and one sugar cane factories per every six sugar cane fields makes all the difference. There are optimum ratios on the chains that you can find advice about online. I say again that patience is required with these games - too much patience sometimes I think. Often I will invest in a chain that I'm going to activate by ensuring everything is built and generating product and then I will build more houses and bring the goods to market knowing that many of my citizens will upgrade to the next class level. Its dangerous and costly if you advance too fast, cant supply the new class what it wants and your city falls into chaos, houses collapse and revert back to peasants and angry mobs destroy your infrastructure. Also if you have consistent surpluses, put buildings to sleep or destroy them altogether to save money. Its all about overhead man. These games are a great economics 101 computer based training course. Lastly if you have questions about any of the ANNOs, I'd recommend you post topics on their forum listed here:
http://forums-de.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/5251042375 I'd add, that I'll bet you're bored with it in two to three weeks. Now please excuse me while I get back to playing POTC and COAS that I don't see myself ever getting bored with in a bazillion years. YAAAAARRRRRR

BTW did you just call me a lady? I think you meant to say laddy or laddie. I'd hate to start calling you Sally

V/R AS

Arrr ye weekends be like mine lady. :ixi

Well i edited a map becaise its Anno 1701 Gold Edition i have (not tried its expantion pack sunken dragon or something like that) anyway, i called my map as i saw it island madness because there was so many islands, i have the free reader and all cultures ie Aztec's, Indian's etc etc i accepted trade policies with most of them and war was declared between AI's because blue took an island near to green's location. Blue lost her only ship early on but luckily for her she had everything she needed on the island she was on for the first promotion but the war was slowing her down a lot because i had taken 2 islands one for alcohol and the other for tabaco. I was buying tools off the free traders and my plan was the other islands would send me the resources while i organised my main island to work better. The housing area estates had been organised at the start as had things like wood and cloth, bricks aswell obviously but those are not so important to organise since the way i set it up was the 2 brick makers was as close to the clay pit as possible with a market almost next door to them. That was it for my main island with 700 living on it. I was still loosing 200 gold at a time and the free trader (my mistake i think) was selling me things i didn't need.

In total there was about 37 to 40 islands most of which was the largest of the islands, the mistake i had made was i didn't take into account that each island has a set natural resource which ment for me to get tabaco i would have to travel to the opposit corner (a very long way to travel) to pick up tabaco from my island i had setup for that course the other 3 tabaco islands had already been taken by the AI even so they was just as far away as the island i was using.

I like the idea of having to play straegical for the islands, more of one resource and less of the other's. The AI are.

Carmen Marquez - Blue
Winfield v. Schallert - Green
Francios Bataille - Red
Myself - Yellow

Blue and green announced war on each other straight after bumping into one another and blue made green more angry after she took an island almost right next to green's home land. Myself and Red avioded the war and got on with building our civilisations while i tried to make money while still expanding (plans all failed and i had to accept my money been spent as a pose to making any thing for the future.

Perhaps i built things that wasn't needed or too many of the things too early i don't know but what i do know is in my attempt to make4 money i found myself spending vast amounts on more goods like food and cloth. Any tips on making a profit would be nice. I'm now offically hooked to Anno 1701.:

 

[rbray14]

hmmm,if i wasn't so crap at civ builder type games i may give one of the anno's a try
unfortuantly i run a diga city bout as well as the ai listens in coas

 

[Luke159]

BTW did you just call me a lady? I think you meant to say laddy or laddie. I'd hate to start calling you Sally

V/R AS

Well i didn't mean lady i did mean laddie. Anyway i can almost garantee you'll be right i started getting bored last night after i had fully upgraded everything. The games only challange came when i needed marbal which none of my islands produced so i joined two fellow player's on a small island which did have an unlimited supply of marbal and started shipping that to my home land.

The second challange came when i found myself at war with one other player who had a sizeable navy and enough troops defending his home land, i had started producing large warships while his fleets was made up of exploreers or what ever there called for trading and small warships escorting them with a few military ships patrolling his trade routes.

I only built 12 large warships and i split them into groups of 4, the first group set about attacking any ships heading back to his port the second group attacked any ships attacking my port and the 3rd group i used to help defend my trade routes. I lost 2 trade ships of which i only had 1 trade ship per route with no escort at the time, this ment some goods was now running out and so i had to buy them in from the free trader. I completly wipped out all his ships and was about to load a force of troops aboard a s few ships when he offered a peace treaty, i didn't want the war or wish to kill him so i accepted it and restarted my trade routes again. At this point i was starting to get board and was thinking of making a map that was more challanging like some goods been in large amounts while others are not so easy to find just to add a little more of a challange otherwise this game isn't going to be on my play list for long. And i will be heading back to COAS, which like you i'll never get board with.

 

[modernknight1]

Sounds like you're having fun. Gosh dern't hearing about your game and talkin about this makes me want to go build a city. I wish EIC was a better game. Not that I'm bored with COAS/POTC, but sometimes the mood just strikes you to play something different for a little bit. Maybe I'll play a little 1503 or 1404 this weekend.

V/R AS