Anno 1404: Dawn of Discovery

[Tairnyn]

Processing buildings can also pull resources directly from resource producing structures if they are close enough, bypassing the need for a cart to bring the good to a market and then another cart to bring it in for processing. In fact, if you put building right next to each other they will transfer goods almost instantly. However, the market will still be necessary to provide the area of influence needed to place the buildings and crops.

Not really a spoiler, but some people enjoy figuring out this kind of optimization stuff themselves.


You can always check if a building has market access by selecting it and seeing if there is a market in range that lights up green. However, if there are too many buildings within a market's radius it can sometimes become too much work for the carts and buildings that are far away may not get visited. In this case you can upgrade the market to get more carts, add a new market to ease the load, or use the small 'emergency pickup' button in the upper right of the status window.

[LK]

I had some trouble getting a Paper Mill to work even with boatloads of wood, but it seems like it kinda worked?

Has anyone been able to get to Chapter 5 and get the Optional Mission "Emergency Call from the Sultan"? I thought completing all Optional Missions before moving on to the campaign would be a good idea.

Also, this game? Very, very fun.

[LK]

During the campaign I saw a premade 'shirt farm' that seems deadly efficient:

Chapter 5 introduced me to efficiency that I had before then not seen. You definitely don't want to auto-assign fields once you get rolling. Wheat is pretty good about being very efficient.

[Tairnyn]

Chapter 5 introduced me to efficiency that I had before then not seen.

Yeah, I started Chapter 5 last night and spent the first few minutes marvelling at the crop organization. It blew my mind, maaan. Completely changed how I preplan my resources.

[Yegolev]

So, does playing the campaign give you some sort of tutorial/guide?  I'm just playing the open game.

[schild]

So, does playing the campaign give you some sort of tutorial/guide?  I'm just playing the open game.

The campaign is like one super long tutorial.

[Yegolev]

So, does playing the campaign give you some sort of tutorial/guide?  I'm just playing the open game.

The campaign is like one super long tutorial.

This explains the horrible manual.

[Tairnyn]

I started out playing a Scenario and found it to be very overwhelming with victory conditions that included the daunting task of having 2,000 nobles. After building myself into a spghetti mess I decided to start over and try the campaign and found it to be a very good gradual introduction that doesn't punish you severely for crappy logistics along the way. Would have saved me 6 hours of flailing blindly had I known.

[Yegolev]

Noted.

[Dtrain]

Campaign mode went pretty smoothly for me. Some doldrums while I figured out how to keep my economy black. But yes, mostly a huge tutorial.

However, I just started the mission that introduces land combat, and I must admit to feeling a little overwhelmed. Especially since the residual effects of the invasion are so sudden and unavoidable. It's also a little too heavily scripted.

Anyhow, I think I know enough now to play the other game modes, which really seems like where the fun is at anyways. Maybe I'll come back to the campaign when I have a little more patience for that sort of thing.

[Yoru]

I bought this last night and spent a couple hours playing it this afternoon - the first three campaign/tutorial missions, and then on into a "continuous game" where I've already begun to overstretch my resources before figuring out how to get spices.

I'm liking it; it's the exact sort of resource-system-building and colonization game I enjoy. Still muddling through figuring out what does what, when to build stuff, when to expand my cities, etc.

I really wish there was a better way to see production/consumption figures for the various commodities though - I have a difficult time balancing the supply of the various goods my cities demand and end up just running a surplus at all times, expanding whenever the surplus disappears.

[LK]

I really, really, really like how ground combat is handled. It's not twitch at all. It's very strategic.

[Tairnyn]

I like what little of the combat I've seen from the campaign. The slow pace allows for pretty interesting strategy, but I worry how it will play out in open games with less scripting. It also seems like you could be totally screwed if an enemy attacks a crowded island with little room for defensive camps.

[Sjofn]

I hate when a perfectly good city builder/trading game adds in combat, even if it's perfectly good combat. I don't want to do combat. 

It's why I suck at RTS games, I just want to build and gather resources in peace WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME WAAAAH.

[Valmorian]

I hate when a perfectly good city builder/trading game adds in combat, even if it's perfectly good combat. I don't want to do combat. 

It's why I suck at RTS games, I just want to build and gather resources in peace WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME WAAAAH.

Hmmm Settlers of Catan, the RTS!

[LK]

I think the Wii / DS versions are sans-combat. Not sure. They looked way more cartoony and goofy while the PC version is just right for that.

There's always room for defensive camps. But I haven't gotten into the part of the campaign where you are on the offense, i.e. I'm the one building a castle.

[Baldrake]

Sigh, going to be hard waiting for this one to go on 1/2 price sale on Steam.

I assume the Steam version has no DRM (other than Steam's usual stuff)?

[LK]

I didn't have any DRM craziness.

Just get it. This is one of those genre breakers that needs more love.

[Raging Turtle]

How's the replayability on this?  Is it Civ style, with a new world each game that requires new strategies each session, or is it a series of campaigns, a la regular RTS?

[Sky]

Have none of you guys played an Anno before? This is the fourth one!

[Tarami]

3rd-party DRM: TAGES™
3 machine activation limit

http://store.steampowered.com/app/33250/

[Modern Angel]

Does it vary from the other Anno games at all?

[Ingmar]

So I played the first couple missions - one thing I'm not sure, does your population actually matter at all beyond opening up whether things are available to build? It doesn't appear that there's any actual 'employment' in the game, like I could have 324 lumberjacks with just 2 peasant houses if I for some reason wanted to?

[Tairnyn]

From what I can tell population has no effect on providing workers for resources or production. In fact, you can have islands with no housing at all, just production and markets. The reason you need citizens is to unlock new technologies and collect taxes as income, otherwise the costs of the economic buildings will put you in the red. While it isn't exactly the most realistic approach it does simplify the economy side of things and allows you to use the resources on multiple islands without having to import food and drink just to keep them from deteriorating into chaos.

[bhodi]

3rd-party DRM: TAGES™
3 machine activation limit

http://store.steampowered.com/app/33250/

Yep. Fuck that. Loved Anno 1701. I won't be buying this.

[Lantyssa]

Have none of you guys played an Anno before? This is the fourth one!

I've never even heard of it until this thread.

[Der Helm]

3rd-party DRM: TAGES™
3 machine activation limit

I have seen games that could only be activated on 3 machines at the same time, not three times total. That is not as unreasonable. No idea if that was "Tages(TM)"

[Sky]

Have none of you guys played an Anno before? This is the fourth one!

I've never even heard of it until this thread.

[Lantyssa]

It's a gender neutral term these days.

[lac]

Is there a reason some of the peasant houses stay peasant houses despite being very well satisfied on every account?

[LK]

The population advance does elude me just a bit. I spent maybe... what... 16 hours? It was a until-7am play session (starting at noon). I did the Electress scenario and I was kept busy the entire time learning production chains and cycles. The ratio of Products in a production chain are something I need to learn. For instance to make Marzipan you need 1 Confectionary for every 2 Almond Fields, 1 Sugar Mill, and 2 Sugar Cane fields.

I think if you're not granted licenses in one settlement for Patricians and Nobles, you need to develop your Orient town more. Those bastards love carpets...

[Ingmar]

Is there a reason some of the peasant houses stay peasant houses despite being very well satisfied on every account?

It kinda seems like there's a minimum amount of peasants you'll always have, and only people above that amount will advance. You can see it happening - plop down some new peasant houses and those old maxed out ones will usually instantly advance.

[LK]

Is there a reason some of the peasant houses stay peasant houses despite being very well satisfied on every account?

Oh yeah, click on a Marketplace to see if you have any room for Citizens. You need more Peasants / Beggers to open up Citizens, you need lots of Envoys to open up Patricians, and you need a certain number of Patricians to get Nobles, I *think.*

[lac]

Yep, it seems like building more shacks is the key.

[Sjofn]

So, yeah. It ate my head. I actually like that there isn't really an unemployment issue, I always hate when I'm supposed to have X number of people but I'm trucking along perfectly with a smaller number, and then I have to create a bunch of bullshit jobs, etc.

I didn't totally hate the combat once it was introduced, but I would be perfectly happy if it never showed up again. But it will. IT WILL.