What the HP don’t show is just how much better SOL’s are than frigates because as you lost half the HP of a SOL you’ve already lost a frigate and hence half your firepower.
OK, old Anno vet wanting to run through a realtively easy learning game to get a handle on the (seemingly substantial?) new stuff in this version. I never play the campaign and after having made a brief attempt here I’m going to leave that streak unbroken, I don’t want or need a story mode in my city builder.
So, I’m setting up a continuous mode game, mostly defaulting to easiy-ish settings (particular advice welcome). My big question is, do I leave all the DLC on? I gather it adds additional maps to juggle? Would that be a bad thing for learning? Also, how bad are the pirates, and why are there two of them?
The lady pirate is in the old world, the other in the new world. They can be kind of annoying, especially if the other players have made peace and aren’t keeping their ship numbers down. But if you don’t have them (or make peace yourself, it’s not too expensive to do so) then you don’t have much to point your guns at.
You can skip the campaign if you like, I didn’t think it was bad. IMHO it doesn’t really get in your way too much after the very beginning, until you get some stuff to do towards the end. But you’re also not missing much.
DLCs:
- Botanica adds the botanic gardens, and that’s it. It’s basically another museum/zoo thing. Won’t get in your way, might give you something more to do late game. Might as well leave it on, unless you’re really susceptible to gotta-catch-em-all set collection mechanics and don’t want to be distracted.
- Sunken treasures adds a whole new region that is of the “old world” type. It can definitely put a bump in your game as you basically build up a new city that’s essentially a repeat of your main city, and divides your attention. And if you ignore it, nothing too bad will happen, but the AIs will probably settle the other islands in the region that you need for red peppers or whatever (but see below about the easy AIs). But it’s on a pretty sweet island. Also adds some diving mechanics that are pretty optional. I’d say probably skip it the first time.
- Arctic adds a new region that plays very differently. It doesn’t open up until the end-ish so it’s not as much of a bump or distraction. I’d say leave it on, by the time you get there you’ll have figured out if you want to start over and make a cleaner go of it or not. (You can also ignore it without issue.)
- Can’t speak to the newest DLC, haven’t tried it yet, but I gather it gives you a palace to build.
Default easy settings are fine. The 1-star opponents will ask you for permission before settling an island so you don’t need to worry so much about racing them. Consider throwing in a 2-star if you want some pressure, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed the first time through, so most people recommend against it. (If you do, I’d go with George Smith as he’s “friendly” and won’t declare war on you.) The one thing I’d consider turning up for an Anno vet is the money setting (I forget exactly what it’s called). When it was on easy I found that I “beat” the money game way too early, even on my first time through.
Thanks so much for the detailed explanation/advice!
So to be clear, there’s a new world map and an old world map. Sunken treasures adds another old world map (?). Arctic adds a third type of map. So if I had everything on I’d be juggling 4 (?!) maps?
Plus an African type map when the final DLC releases.
I’m honestly not sure whether that’s amazing or horrifying, though it’s hard to complain about having too many options - I suppose no one ever said you had to turn it all on at once.
You got it. I look at it as options–depending on what type of game you want to play you can tailor it to fit. The last one I played I just wanted to focus on my one island so I turned off Sunken Treasures and didn’t think too much about the arctic (until I wanted gas power). If I were to go back to it I’d consider doing the whole shebang–campaign (which kind of gives you an extra island) + sunken treasures + arctic and just go nuts.
One of the things that I had to adjust to with 1800 (vs 1404) is that you can just let some stuff slide. You really don’t need to go on every expedition when it comes up. You can ignore the main island for a while while you get the arctic sorted. And so on.
That makes sense. In all the previous games I’ve played (1701, 1404, 2070) there were quasi-stable states you could get into that were self sustaining and profitable. I’d use them as breaks to go do questing or other projects. Clearly finding those here is going to be really useful.
Yes and that’s definitely still true, but there’s much more of a feeling of urgency you’ve got to work through in 1800. IME at least.
Interesting. Well, it certainly seems like a rich iteration of the formula. Should be fun!
Were they ever going to add a functional pause button? :\
Unfortunately no. The game is slow-paced enough that it doesn’t really bother me but the absence of pause-and-issue is strange in a game that is otherwise so sedate and well-thought-out. It’s also odd because IIRC that feature was present back in Anno 1701.
And come to think of it, that kind of functional pause seems to be getting a bit rarer, which is a bad trend. Northgard needs it too, for example.
Really enjoying this thing, it’s vying for my favorite entry in the series and that’s very high praise indeed! Already grabbed both season passes, considering the time I expect I’ll put into this they’re bargain-priced.
Small question in case anyone knows: in terms of sandbox victory conditions, what consistutes a “monument?” I know the World’s Fair counts, but I wouldn’t want to build 3 of those for a 3 monument victory condition. Does the palace in the new DLC count? Anything else fit the bill?
I’ve been holding out on this because I think I can wait until its price falls lower, but the moment someone comes out with a decent Scythe mod I’ll cave.
Bringing the Industrial Revolution to my agriculture in a way that not only looks cool thematic but which also carries with it tangible gameplay impacts to block design and such? Absolutely sold.
I’ve discovered the undocumented alternative rum production line. It goes like this: build frigates -> sink pirates -> collect rum.
Turns out sugar cane is for suckers.
Looks like Ubi is remastering some of the older games.
I’m really not sure 1404 and 1701 need remasters, they both still look good to me, but I’m happy to see what they come up with. They’re both great games. I missed the first two entirely, but surely the gameplay is a little less… substantial?
I never played 1602 nor 1503 , so I’ll gladly give them a go, once the collection is on deep sale.