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the ANNO 1404 (DAWN OF DISCOVERY) |OT|

inner-G

Banned
dk_ said:
Could someone post screens of the PC version?
A little late, but here's one of my fire-ass hemp plantations :D

(Those plants have some huge nuggets on top for being 'hemp'. :lol

villiage.jpg
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Oh dear, I managed to miss lunch and then dinner playing this today, and after playing tonight I check the time to see it's 12am :lol Not had a game steal time like this since Civ 4.
 
Chapter VII was very enjoyable. I built a nice city with some great resourse management going on. It's a shame it had to end. Certainly my favourite chapter to date. The money was pilling in. Coffee can be sold for quite a nice sum.:D
 

Naeblish

Member
What an awesome game, i can see myself easily playing it as much as 1701. The amount of detail is incredible! Anno games are so underrated outside of Germany, it's not even funny. How i can buy this for 35 euro and have to pay 50-60 euro for some crappy generic console game is beyond me.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
i want/demand this game at a reasonable dd price. i'm pretty much refusing to hoard boxed copies of anything these days.
 

Crye

Member
Katana_Strikes said:
Ok, I held out from page one but... bought. I'll almost be happy just to own the damn packaging if thats what it comes down to! ;p
But to make me feel like a bit less of a mug for buying something this DRM ridden...
Victrix said:
Any PC, also it looks like the activations auto-timeout (that is, once enough time has passed, you renew your activations up to 3 again). No idea what that time period is.
^ Is this true, like any source? Thats not... too bad I guess.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
Chris Remo said:
Jesus Christ this game is gorgeous. I've never played an Anno game before I'm really considering jumping in with this one.

i thought i heard you talk about it on idlethumbs in your "effortless to play" ui bit.

i've never used a more perfectly intuitive interface in my life. everything did exactly what i wanted it to the first time i clicked on it. i didn't even need a tutorial.
 
ghst said:
i thought i heard you talk about it on idlethumbs in your "effortless to play" ui bit.

i've never used a more perfectly intuitive interface in my life. everything did exactly what i wanted it to the first time i clicked on it. i didn't even need a tutorial.
I mentioned Call of Juarez 2's interface in the latest cast--maybe that's what you're thinking of.
 
Just finished the Campaign last night. Last mission was pretty cool although a bit of a bitch as you have a time limit. So trying to finish up in the required time as well as balancing resources and your money is a bit troublesome and took a few attempts to get it right. Actually went bankrupt on one try.:lol :( The key is to do as many side missions as possible to help with the main quest.

Put in well over 10 hrs in this mode alone. Will try continous and scenario modes next.

Gonna give it a solid 8/10 so far and up there with the best games I've played this year. Considering the ANNO I played years ago, I couldn't get in to and this game almost coming out of nowhere, I'm very pleasantly suprised.

Didn't care it didn't have multiplayer. Not sure I would have even bothered playing that side. Single player for me all the way here.
 

Yagharek

Member
Those PC screens up there look gorgeous. Alas, I only have the Wii version, but that is different enough stylistically not to bother me. It reminds me a lot of the old Space Station Tycoon game on XBLA a few years ago. I enjoyed that one; a simple balance between income/requirements/optimal use of land.

I can see this getting very addictive. Love the presentation on the wii version too.
 
Katana_Strikes said:
Considering the ANNO I played years ago, I couldn't get in to and this game almost coming out of nowhere, I'm very pleasantly suprised.
So you agree that this Anno is a lot different to the previous ones? Online Multiplayer sucks, but Local MP is so awesome :) you miss something I tell you that.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
Chris Remo said:
I mentioned Call of Juarez 2's interface in the latest cast--maybe that's what you're thinking of.

my memory somehow superimposed it over the ui/clean playability conversation you had in the starcraft 2 cast. probably something to do with it being the perfect example.
 
Caesar III said:
So you agree that this Anno is a lot different to the previous ones? Online Multiplayer sucks, but Local MP is so awesome :) you miss something I tell you that.
I don't know, I don't think it's that much of a difference, really. I still play 1701 from time to time and 1404 seems like redesigned version of that game. That's not a bad thing, imo. ;)
 

Tailzo

Member
I've bought Anno for wii. It's a fun and simple game so far. Seems a lot like the DS game I already have.

+ Pretty colors
+ Some funny animals and details
+ Ok pointers

? Very basic shapes on objects and landscapes

- some disorienting button use at first
- seems very much alike the ds game I got, maybe that could make me bored of it fast
 

otake

Doesn't know that "You" is used in both the singular and plural
I hope they do a steam sale soon. I really want to play but my broke ass can't afford it. :(
 
Caesar III said:
So you agree that this Anno is a lot different to the previous ones? Online Multiplayer sucks, but Local MP is so awesome :) you miss something I tell you that.

Well I don't remember a lot about it. I think it might have been 1503 (?) I played. Just couldn't get into it at the time, I guess.

Been playing a lot of continous today. Though I may just start again and make the map smaller. It's pretty mental, other players taking over islands and hating me for colonising ones they want. That and I'm at war with 2 people and they keep blowing my boats up. A rethink is in order...

Anyways was playing with the postcard mode for the first time today. It's goddamn awesome. Really gets you a good feel of your city with some spectacular views. Took some photies anyways...

15obgg2.jpg


eq2ejb.jpg


2hqt3pj.jpg


52g96u.jpg


Beautiful game.
 

Effect

Member
Wollan said:
Have spent 2 hours now with the Wii game.
My impressions so far:


+ Interface and controls are *perfect*.
There's a lot of visual feedback in the HUD elements, animating icons, logical button art..etc.
Dragging some bars is a bit too sensitive with the pointer (we're talking one pixel affecting a ton +/- in wares) but you can use the - and + buttons for fine adjustment.
You speedily shift between different islands, pop down buildings, sell stuff, explore without giving a thought about the controls. It's a lot of fun.
+ Graphics is definitely in the upper echelon Wii wise.
Never a dip in the framerate, everything is colorful and animates comparably to any Maxis (Sims/Spore) game.
+ Most surprising quality is probably the voicework and sound. The 'story' itself so far is basic (disguised tutorial if you will. Though I have only finished 2 of 9 or so chapters) but the characters themselves are well acted and there is some witty commentary. The art is well done, everyone in realistic proportions but with cartoony appearances (they animate and talk in small windows most of the time). Between chapters and sub goals within chapters there's fmw cutscenes in still-drawn images.
- I actually encountered a game breaking bug on chapter 2. You are supposed to pick up a treasure and I did this really quickly and delivered it but at the same time some other sub objective happened. After dealing with that, it went back to asking me to find the treasure again but having already collected it there was nothing I could do. Reverted back to a older save within the same chapter (you can save at any time).

My expectations were definitely met after having read all the reviews and whatched a good amount of videos. It's very polished design.

This is great to know. Plan on picking this up today after work but the lack of reviews for this game is really annoying.

Does anyone know if the game at least as advertised well in Europe (understand this series on the PC is most popular there.)? I saw nothing for it in the US outside of gaming sites.
 

Tailzo

Member
^ I haven't seen it advertised where I live. Any questions about the wii version? I can add from my previous impressions that the cutscenes are ugly, but you can skip them (thankfully). Press A+B to do so.
 

Effect

Member
Does housing have to be within a radius of a resource or special building in order to get the advantages of it (sort of resulting in a bunch of mini neighborhoods) or does it simply have to be on the placed down and connected to a road?

Meaning can you have housing all in one section, and resources on another part of the map and stores, etc in another section or must they all be mixed together?
 
Effect said:
Does housing have to be within a radius of a resource or special building in order to get the advantages of it (sort of resulting in a bunch of mini neighborhoods) or does it simply have to be on the placed down and connected to a road?

Meaning can you have housing all in one section, and resources on another part of the map and stores, etc in another section or must they all be mixed together?

You can have a town area away from industry and farms etc, though there are radius affects (though not for housing in those cases). Certain buildings that citizens need like church, pub etc will need to be placed in your town so people get the benefits of that building.
 
first of all, wtb annopedia. This game has atrocious, scandalously poor documentation.

http://www.anno1404-rechner.de/index.php?lang=en

Helps big time, but only goes so far-I'd like a breakout for tax revenues especially (how are they calculated?). I need MORE numbers because yo dog I heard you like spreadsheet gaming so we put a spreadsheet in your game so you could formulate while you contemplate and what not.

Anyone have any tips for Continuous Mode on medium or especially Hard? I'm having a bear of a time keeping up with the AI and often have to resort to all-in aggressive shenanigans in order to win games.

I think my problems are definitely seated in the midgame-the early game goes pretty quick, but eventually I stall out on econ/taxes trying to keep up with getting midgame goods like coffee for Envoys ( which in turn requires Mosaics ) and bread/beer/glass for Patricians.

I think part of my problem is simply insufficient tax base-I'm not building enough houses to max out my current facility usage, nor am I ramping up support chain to an appropriate level, and then getting mauled over supporting high-end good chains for populations that aren't large enough to pay for the the investment.

Also, currently I'm only building two tool shops at the start once I hit that part of tier 2,and I'm thinking it's just not enough, but it's an expensive chain and hate to double-up so fast right in tier 2. Also am thinking that only gathering from two stone quarries on my first island is also a mistake-I think I might need all three, but that's more expense. I usually do five lumberjacks, which seems about right if a little low.

What is working for you guys in continuous to help get a smooth start? Note that I play mostly default settings.

Enjoying the game, though I think the campaign chapters are dreadfully dull.
 
Caesar III said:
same developer ;)

@DieNgamers: 1701 was too easy. I don't even want to name it Anno tbh. ;)
Too easy, really? I grew up playing 1602 and find 1701 to be a very worthy game in the series. :) Not too easy as well but I like my playing my games in a comfortable way anyway. :D I never really liked the campaigns, Anno games (for me) are all about the endless mode!

I think my personal ranking would be 1701>1602>>>1503 or something like this. ;)
I have to play 1404 a bit more!
 

Effect

Member
Only a half hour into the game (Wii version) but so far the interface is great. Surprised how smooth the game is and how good it looks. Didn't expect them to have the different language options as well. Voice work is well done too (only listened to the English voices so far). Though the tutorial does slow you down but used that from other games. Think I might very well pick up the PC version to go along with this (if the DRM issue is addressed in the future).Will have more thoughts later on.
 
DieNgamers said:
I never really liked the campaigns, Anno games (for me) are all about the endless mode![/qulte]I never liked and never played them as well. ;)
I think my personal ranking would be 1701>1602>>>1503 or something like this. ;)
I have to play 1404 a bit more!
My ranking is 1602>1503>1404>1701. If 1503 would have had Multiplayer it would be on number one.


You can read my bullet points I don't like in the new Anno a few posts back.

Anyway have fun playing the new one ;)
 

Proc

Member
Just made my way through the tutorial last night. I'm very impressed by this game.

Visually its amazing. The building and plotting remind me of Theme Park but that's only because I don't typically get into building sims.
 
Effect said:
Wow. Just checked Amazon.com and the PC version is taking a beating rating wise.
It's doing decently on Steam, was #6 last week and #3 the week before that.

EDIT: Oh, you mean user reviews. I thought you meant sales ratings.
 

Effect

Member
DevelopmentArrested said:
That's because people who HAVE NOT played the game are reviewing it.

True. I can understand being upset about the DRM situation, at least the method they choose but those review scores don't reflect the quality of the game. They will get the attention of the publisher/developer though. They'll ask Amazon.com to look at the ratings but that wont' stop until they address the situation in some way. This has been done on Amazon.com in the past and it has gotten the attention of the right people. However what I don't understand is why the Steam version of the game even has the same DRM setup when Steam itself is a DRM system.

Glad I got the Wii version in the end though I do want to play the PC version.

Chris Remo said:
It's doing decently on Steam, was #6 last week and #3 the week before that.

EDIT: Oh, you mean user reviews. I thought you meant sales ratings.

Yeah. Meant the reviews.
 
User reviews of PC games on Amazon are completely unworkable nowadays. Don't even bother for anything that's come out in the last year or so-if it has DRM, the hater brigade one-stars games to oblivion.
 
Fragamemnon said:
User reviews of PC games on Amazon are completely unworkable nowadays. Don't even bother for anything that's come out in the last year or so-if it has DRM, the hater brigade one-stars games to oblivion.
except for Spore. That game was a turd.
 

Sleeker

Member
Finished the campaign last night

I had a hard time just completing the last level.
Micro-management coming out of the ass
 
DieNgamers said:
I never really liked the campaigns, Anno games (for me) are all about the endless mode![/qulte]I never liked and never played them as well. ;)

My ranking is 1602>1503>1404>1701. If 1503 would have had Multiplayer it would be on number one.


You can read my bullet points I don't like in the new Anno a few posts back.

Anyway have fun playing the new one ;)
Thanks, I'm sure I'll have! :)
And yep, I read your points. I'll play 1404 much more when I have time so maybe I'll come back to that later. ;)
Oh, and on the rankings, I love them all, actually. I couldn't get into 1701 for quite some time but after a year or so I gave it another chance and it sucked me in like no other game that year. ;) Always quality work with an awesome attention to detail and I'm really glad the series is finally getting some attention outside Germany. :D

Katana_Strikes said:
Your screens are awesome. :)
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
ubi you cunts. i know you're reading this. drop the euro dd price so i don't have to be a fucking troglodyte and buy the free coaster edition.

single worst thing about pc gaming for me right now.
 
Good demo, but it doesn't really do a good job of showing off what sets it apart from other city builders - besides the graphics, of course...
 
Does the campaign ever let you keep your city from chapter to chapter? I'm having a lot of fun but there's always a moment of brief depression when a new chapter begins and I have to start with a city that's basically like the one I had before, but not quite.
 

Sleeker

Member
Chris Remo said:
Does the campaign ever let you keep your city from chapter to chapter? I'm having a lot of fun but there's always a moment of brief depression when a new chapter begins and I have to start with a city that's basically like the one I had before, but not quite.

nope.
thats one of my biggest complaints.

you put together this beautifully functional city with a healthy surplus and ascending citizens and next chapter its gone.
 

moowear

Member
couple of questions:

1.trying to make a small warship but i'm lacking one item that looks like the clay(?)icon? it's brown and square-roundish? haha sorry, my icons are so damn small. its under the wood icon.

2.how do you make bread? I have the crop field and the windmill but it says that the land isn't fertile enough? how do i make it fertile?

I have to agree with most here, the game looks awesome.
 
@ taking over your city to the next mission NOT:
That is (for me) the biggest nogo in gaming nowadays! Empire does this as well and I HATE IT! I don't want to start all over again in "the way of independence part IV" :(

@ ^: you can only farm wheat where the symbols on top of the screen show that wheat is growing there. The only possibility is to buy some seeds from the oriental trader to make this land wheat-able.

sounds like cannons or something like that.

If the font is too small, try a 1280x1024 resolution. It seems this is the standard res and all others are downscaled and hard to read. Especially on CRT Monitors. A lot of people have the same problem in the German forums.
 
Urgh, tired this morning, I just had to build one more damn marketplace didn't I, which then lead to more houses and a chapel then a pub etc. which pushed my mandatory West Wing episode for the night back, barely made the train this morning and now I just want to get back and see what the new buildings I got can do. I need to get a laptop so I can play at lunch. :lol
 

moowear

Member
@ ^: you can only farm wheat where the symbols on top of the screen show that wheat is growing there. The only possibility is to buy some seeds from the oriental trader to make this land wheat-able.

sounds like cannons or something like that.

If the font is too small, try a 1280x1024 resolution. It seems this is the standard res and all others are downscaled and hard to read. Especially on CRT Monitors. A lot of people have the same problem in the German forums.

thanks. the more i look at it(haven't exited the game to change my font yet hehe) the more it looks like the clay icon? i'm guessing only because it's asking for the same item when i want to build a large trading ship.
 
moowear said:
1.trying to make a small warship but i'm lacking one item that looks like the clay(?)icon? it's brown and square-roundish? haha sorry, my icons are so damn small. its under the wood icon.
It's probably weapons (made from iron) or rope (made from hemp).

moowear said:
2.how do you make bread? I have the crop field and the windmill but it says that the land isn't fertile enough? how do i make it fertile?
At the top of the screen, under the islands name, are several icons displaying different types of fertility. If your island is missing the wheat icon you need to either:
• Find another island a wheat icon.
• Buy a seed in exchange for honor points from the Grand Vizier and plant it on your island.

Edit:
moowear said:
thanks. the more i look at it(haven't exited the game to change my font yet hehe) the more it looks like the clay icon? i'm guessing only because it's asking for the same item when i want to build a large trading ship.
If it's the same icon as for trading vessels, then it's most likely rope. Build a ropemaker and make sure he has a steady supply of hemp.
 
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