Tried again this morning, and it seems that 1800 is installing! Hope it works…
Thanks for mentioning it. Installing as well.
Ditto, thanks @ooomalley for mentioning Anno 1800 was added. I signed myself up and its downloading now.
I played the campaign in the trial, is it worth seeing it through to the end from a game play perspective?
I could be mis-remembering, but I think the campaign just sort of ends and let’s you have control to play it out like a normal skirmish game after a short bit of teaching you how to play? Maybe I’m thinking of something else. I don’t remember there being a ‘story’ or anything that went anywhere, though.
A question to the crowd - did they ever add the stats building? There were some minor quibbles I had with the game at launch, despite liking it a great deal over all - what kind of shape is this in now, months post-release?
Sorta… after the story ends, you get the option to rebuild the main island area with like 500 engineer population. I never finished past that.
Sadly, I’m at work now. I hope the game finished installing in my absence. You all let me know if it launches for you!
It’s fairly long though, right? I think the trial let me play the first 4 chapters and that was several hours long I think.I didn’t think that was even halfway, but I could be wrong.
There are only 4 chapters, you were right at the end most likely.
OK, thanks
edit: looking at the wiki I think maybe the trial ended at the start of chapter 3 - so I think I mis-remembered how far the trial went. Maybe I’ll play it again as a refresher.
I really think it’s just an extended tutorial, so good as a refresher, but the game is mostly about the skirmish/sandbox setup.
It took a little while but I made it through the campaign. It seemed like it introduced most of the features. I don’t think it really touched on the players relationships with the AI players. I pretty much ignored that part - didn’t do their quests or worry what they thought of me. I kept my nose to the grindstone and built.
I will probably get one more game in before the UPlay+ trial ends. Not sure if I should start my own random map game or continue my campaign. I’m thinking start anew so I engage with the systems without the scripted parts.
It’s a great looking game and for the most part easy to use. I would have liked some overlays - maybe a color coded overlay to show fire risk, maybe another for happiness.
The thing that makes the Anno series one I like to play a game or two and be done vs. it having staying power is I wish they placed a greater emphasis on logistics. The magical warehouses of giving access to goods anywhere makes it trivial. I’d like something that gives city layout a bit more weight and importance…
Although Anno 1800 was one of my most anticipated games of 2019, I haven’t purchased it due mainly to Denuvo and partially to UPlay. What I am hoping for (but which will most likely take years to come about) is to purchase the game DRM-Free from GOG. Anyone in a similar frame of mind might want to add their vote to GOG’s Community Wishlist. I don’t know how much good it will do, but it couldn’t hurt.
Seems unlikely that it will be on GoG any time soon. I appreciate you sticking by your principles, sorry that you’ll miss this one (for a while).
@robc04 I see what you mean about logistics but I think ultimately that’s just not what the game’s about. It doesn’t bother me, I really like it for what it is, and 1404 had great staying power for me. If I want that kind of logistics then I fire up Factorio, the king of logistics games IMHO. Pharoah/Zeus were city-builders with that kind of logistics, of course, and Pharoah also had great staying power (Zeus didn’t grab me for some reason). But I like the Anno games for having slightly more complex (or at least interacting) production chains, and boats. I love boats.
I also think the old SimCity-style logistics were great; a combo of being in the radius of the service buildings (e.g. police) and having a logistics network (e.g. transit and roads) to link up the RCI zones. And it was fuzzy too, not like Pharoah where the walkers had a range so you’d end up with these crisp, precisely sized neighborhoods. I guess I should really try out Cities: Skylines…
I keep meaning to!
That’s also what I like about Tropico, but I just can’t get into the politics of the game and pleasing factions. I think Settlers also had a more satisfying logistics system.
That is a good thing about Anno - trying to get goods from one island to another where they are needed.
Yeah, this just got added into my game last night (Uplay+). All that I noticed was that there’s a botanical garden that I can’t yet build, but which I assume is similar to zoos/museums. I’m not sure they needed a third attractiveness booster, though I understand the appeal of collecting the items.
I think maybe I’ve had enough of Anno 1800 - thanks UPlay+ trial!!
After completing the campaign I started a sandbox game on the 2nd difficulty (advanced?). I built up my main island enough to then go grab 3 islands near me to ensure my future supply. The AI seemed to get cranky but they never declared war.
I steadily advanced my main island until I needed some goods from the New World and launched an expedition. I switched my focus to over there so I could ship rum and then cotton fabric back to my main island.
After getting to the engineers it just started to feel too much like work. I hate stopping because I feel like I’m giving up, but I need to remember the whole point is to have fun. It was fun getting those initial production lines up and having some trade routes from supporting islands.
I still think the actual city building mechanics of Tropico is one of my favorites, but the faction system annoys me. Kind of like how in Anno 1800, the ‘extra’ systems annoy me. No citizen, I don’t want to find your cows. No AI, I don’t want to go collect your stuff floating in the water, nor do I want to escort you or deliver anything for you - just leave me the hell alone! So I pretty much ignore anything the AI says and just keep building.
That being said, I’m glad I got to dink around with this and not have to drop the money on it. Hats off to those of you who have the staying power to keep those production chains going until you get to the most advanced pop type!
While there are some issues with the various subscription services, one of their best features is being able to try out games just like the old days with actual demos.
Is there a clear end-game / victory condition in the sandbox game? I’m basically just messing around treating it as a city builder
You set them when you start. So there are win conditions dependent on what you wanted to do.