Author: Ubi-Thorlof

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DevBlog: From Bug Report to Game Update

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

In summer, we talked about the work of our QA teams, which focus each team has and the importance of these teams for the overall production process of the game – doing a lot more than just looking for bugs or playtesting Anno 1800. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we heavily recommend you do so before you continue reading to first learn about the tasks and areas of responsibility of our three teams: our internal QA team, the Live QA team and the Quality Control teams.

And as we mentioned back then, we now want to give you some insights into which steps are taken from finding an issue to a fix being released

In order for you to get a quick first overview, have a look at the graphic below. We will then go into more detail in the blog itself.

Finding or Reporting an Issue

Usually, there are two ways for an issue to pop up on our radar: either it’s being reported by you via one of our channels (or forwarded to us by one of the Anno Companions) or we notice it during internal testing – or playing 😉

In both cases the issue is being put into JIRA, which is a tool that can be used for various purposes, in this case, we use it to report and track bugs. During this process, each issue is categorized on several factors and tagged if required, most importantly: severity (impact of bug if encountered) and probability (how likely will players encounter this issue)

These two factors then make up the priority (e.g., a high probability but low severity issue will result in low or medium priority).

Reproduction

The next step is super important: We attempt to reproduce the issue, meaning we try to make it appear on purpose on our end. This helps us locate potential causes for the issue which in turn makes it a lot easier for us later to address and fix the problem later.

This step can sometimes be quite work-intensive. For example, to reproduce issues from the live version, the QC team sometimes needs a very specific hardware combination for tests, which might be extremely hard to come by.   Sometimes this also means having to work with hardware manufacturers like AMD or Nvidia directly to get or test specific hardware combinations to reproduce and investigate specific issues.

It’s therefore extremely helpful for us if you, when reporting issues to us, add as many details as possible: Can you reproduce it yourself? What did you do before the issue appeared? Which hardware are you using? Etc.

For Anno 1800, due to the variety of options to set up a game and each player’s unique playstyle, it often happens that the Live QA team might need to ask for save files, screenshots, videos or system information after receiving the initial report. This is when the Customer Support and the Community Management teams come into action: They will reach out to the player and provide more information if possible.

These reproduction steps are therefore also detailed in each JIRA ticket so that everyone working on this issue can quickly check it for themselves. Also added is a reproduction rate: Can the issue be recreated every time when following certain steps or does it only happen occasionally? Or are we even unable to reproduce an issue that has been reported to us?

Fixing the Issue

Fixing the issue means further investigating the cause of the problem based on the information provided.

This happens based on the prioritization we’ve done in step 1. Additional factors are available resources inside the team, which can mean that even if an issue has a low priority, the fix will still end up in the update if we have free resources in the responsible department. Keep in mind that the team is simultaneously also working on the next content update or DLC.

We also want to highlight here that of course the team responsible for the fix greatly depends on the kind of issue. A wrong quest text? A missing texture? An item effect not working? Misaligned icons? Each might need a certain specialist to address it.

While in some cases it can be, for example, possible for one of our coders to figure out the cause and location of an issue without reproduction steps, this is not the norm and always greatly extends the time required to create a fix.

That said, any kind of fix can take time because usually finding the exact cause is not a matter of minutes: We must figure out what exactly is leading to the behavior we have observed and reproduced. Additionally, there are possible risks, especially since video games like Anno 1800 are super complex: Fixing one issue can lead to a different system not working as intended anymore, new bugs can appear, etc. Some systems of the game are far more tricky to work on than others.

Testing the Fix

Therefore, each fix needs to be tested properly. Not only isolated just for itself (is the bug solved?) but also in combination with the rest of the Game Update – i.e., the new version of the game. This is to make sure that a fix is not breaking something else, as mentioned above.

Detailed reproduction steps are therefore also important for the testing since we need to know how one could initially encounter the bug: Does the issue now NOT appear anymore after following the outlined steps?

As you might have guessed, similarly to the previous steps, testing isn’t done in a day. We usually enter a “validation period” before we deploy a Game Update. This period usually is about 2 weeks long and consists of two phases:

  1. The first one happens internally here in Mainz and it’s a “Feature Freeze” which we call the “Golden Ticket Phase” – because only QA-approved, “golden” JIRA tickets are still allowed to be worked on and included in the update. Everything else will have to wait for a future update.
  2. In the second week, our colleagues in the QC teams are doing the validation of the update. We are not working on the update anymore at this point.

Of course, it can happen that a specific fix or even the Game Update itself turns out to be not working or to have issues. In that case, we need to go back to the previous steps (including another round of validations) which in the worst case can mean having to delay the release of the Game Update.

Game Update Release

When the new version has been tested and validated, we’re almost ready for release. During this process, we’re also in contact with colleagues in other teams so everyone is aware we’re planning to release the update that day.

We also usually bundle multiple fixes together in such a Game Update: This might mean that some issues are already fixed and waiting to be released to the live version of the game, but due to the amount of work involved, there is a balance we have to strike between addressing a problem in time while still not overburdening our teams with constant releases.

The “Hotfix” is an exception, and we talked about it in our previous DevBlog.

Our major Game Updates which release alongside a DLC usually go live at 6 PM CET while the smaller ones usually go live at 2 PM CET. And if you haven’t noticed yet: Our favorite release day is Tuesday. ?

Since we regularly see misunderstandings about our internal processes and the time it takes to address and fix bugs and other technical issues, it was a priority for us to shed some more light on this topic specifically.

As we have hopefully made clearer in this blog, the process behind bug reporting and bug fixing is not an easy one: It takes time and, most importantly, a lot of patience and resources. If you have any questions about it or would like to know more about other specific processes, don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments below!

Union Update: Pedestrian Zone Pack & Game Update 12.1

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Annoholics, today we released the “Pedestrian Zone Pack” Cosmetic DLC! 

In addition to canals for both your cities as well as your industrial areas, the DLC is also adding several pedestrian-focused ornaments like an underpass, public toilets, a pavilion and new groundplanes.  

We went into detail on all ornaments and the development of the canal system in last week’s DevBlog, click here to check it out or quickly recap the content while waiting for the download to finish. 

We can’t wait to see your transformed cities! 

Game Update 12.1 

Together with the “Pedestrian Zone Pack” we’re releasing Game Update 12.1 and address several issues you have been reporting to us. If you haven’t done so already, check out the full Release Notes. 

 

Since we noticed some questions regarding some points of the Release Notes and some issues which did not make it into this Game Update, we also want to use this opportunity to address your questions: 

Starting with some bad news, but it’s something we have seen multiple comments about recently: We have investigated the issue with Anno 1800’s achievements having been unlocked for some players at the beginning of September during the technical issues with Ubisoft Connect. Unfortunately, this issue cannot be fixed retroactively, and we are not able to reset your achievement progress. 

 

A point from the Release Notes that has been discussed and asked about since yesterday is the tree planting feature: As stated in the Release Notes, trees can now not be placed next to roads and buildings anymore (i.e., the places where they would disappear from after loading). 

The reason for this is, that the game automatically removes trees etc. close to buildings to make sure they’re not “growing” into the building model itself. You can already see that when you place a building or a road somewhere: Vegetation nearby is automatically removed. Upon loading, the game does this check again and removes vegetation that is too close to a building. So, to avoid that you can place trees in these spots which would lead to them disappearing after loading, these spots are now blocked automatically. 

We are investigating options to add more ornamental trees in a future update. 

 

Further Issues

Furthermore, we’re still investigating more issues you have reported to us, for example, the one regarding rewards from Anarchist defector quests, which does not seem to be solved for all affected savegames, and that for some players the Orchards are not unlocked even when reaching the requirements.

We have also received reports about more quest issues which some players are facing, some related to resident quests and others like for example the Skyline Tower construction being stuck during the “barbecue event” (as a workaround, demolishing the tower and rebuilding it will allow you to finish it, albeit without the related questline). 

 

As usual, we will keep you updated on future Game Updates. 

Until then, we hope you continue to enjoy Anno 1800 and have a lot of fun with the newest Cosmetic DLC!

DevBlog – “Pedestrian Zone Pack” Cosmetic DLC

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

We have shown you some first pictures of the “Pedestrian Zone Pack” Cosmetic DLC in late August at gamescom – but now, with release less than a week away, it’s time to take a closer look at the contents of this CDLC. Did anyone say “canals”?

What’s in the pack?

A quick recap: In April this year we once more presented you with several potential themes for Cosmetic DLC, with “Pedestrian Zone” winning the vote together with “Vibrant Cities” (to be released at the end of the year).

With this Cosmetic DLC we’re adding a bunch of ornaments to your game that focus on your downtown area to help you improve the daily life of your inhabitants there. Public toilets, convenient during long shopping trips and market halls, especially useful for the traders from the “City Lights Pack” Cosmetic DLC.

“With this DLC, we wanted to create a set of ornaments, that is focusing on the city centre again. With our last Season 3 DLCs, we introduced a lot of new city centre focused content like the hotel or the skyscrapers, so we wanted to provide ornaments that are fitting the cities with are getting even bigger and more modern now.”

– Tim, Lead Artist

A busy downtown area with railroads for electricity and streets for the transport of goods to the Restaurants and Shopping Arcades can be a dangerous terrain for pedestrians in these early industrialized times. Help them out with a Pedestrian Bridge or go below ground with an Underpass.

Generally, we focused on ornaments that fit the city centres and the now more advanced look of our players’ cities. That also meant using more modern construction materials, for example for the underpasses or the market hall. You could find a lot of these structures in big cities back in the days.

There was something several of you have mentioned you would love to see in Anno 1800 and also our Art Team was very keen on implementing: Canals for your cities!

In addition to various ponds and fountains, your population will now be able to take a stroll along the new canals which you can use to decorate your cities. And not only that: The “Pedestrian Zone Pack” does include two types of canals. One fitting to your population centres, a much more decorative and elegant design filled with fresh and clean water. The other for your industrial areas in a darker, dirtier design with sewage pipes to complete the look.

Add to that new ground plates and ornamental trees to create and decorate plazas in your cities with, as well as Pavilions to relax and the Enclosed Greenery system for little park areas and you have a packed bundle of ornaments for your pedestrian zones.

(As with previous Cosmetic DLC, please note that they’re purely ornamental and do not serve any gameplay purposes. While your inhabitants, the “feedback units”, will interact with the ornaments, your transports will not, for example, use underpasses or bridges.) 

Canal System

We already mentioned the new Canal System above, but with it being the highlight of the “Pedestrian Zone Pack”, it certainly deserves some special attention. We once again brought Tim, our Lead Artist, onboard to provide some insights for this section and answer some questions, like:

Were two types of canals planned from the beginning?

I remember we initially had only planned the urban version that fits the city centre. While discussing and scribbling the first ideas how the canals could look like, there was also this one more industrial-looking canal as an idea. So, we ultimately decided to do both, one more city-themed, and one more fitting the industrials areas.

The system gives you a lot of freedom to be creative with the look of your city. You can decide the whole look by yourself: Do you want to build small, tight canals or big rivers or even lakes? – It’s up to you, with the tiles (like you might be used to from “Land of Lions”) automatically combining themselves to larger water areas when placed next to each other. You will even see some of your citizens enjoy a boat trip on the canals (not the sewers, though, brrrrr). 

Designing and creating a system like the canals is always more challenging to create than single ornaments because we need to create a whole set of assets (different canal tiles, different corners, “open” tiles for when multiple canal tiles are combined etc.), so you can build any shape you want with them. On the other hand, there are a lot of technical constraints. It takes a lot of time to test this feature in game, because with all the other assets and the corresponding game mechanics it can create a lot of issues and edge cases we need to find and fix (e.g. crossing with roads, with the new bridges, …). 

Defining the style, on the other hand, was very much straight forward. There are a lot a real-world references we used as inspiration. The most famous one is probably Venice. But there are also a lot of other European cities like Birmingham, Amsterdam, Bruges or Annecy, for example, that are iconic for their canal systems. 

What is left to say? Well, below you can find a full list of all ornaments included in the “Pedestrian Zone Pack”. Stay tuned for Tuesday next week at 6PM CEST, when the Cosmetic DLC will be available for purchase for the usual 4,99€ (or your regional equivalent). 

We can’t wait to see how you’re incorporating these new ornaments – and especially the canals – in your cities!  

List of all ornaments: 

  • Pedestrian Zone Entrance Gate 
  • Pedestrian Bridge 
  • Archways (3 total: one with a lamp, one with flags, one with a clock) 
  • Underpass 
  • Underground Toilet  
  • Toilet House 
  • Market Hall 
  • Pavillon 
  • City Canals (consisting of multiple elements) 
  • Sewer Canals (consisting of multiple elements) 
  • Canal Bridges (a small, a medium and a large one) 
  • Groundplanes 
  • Enclosed Tree 
  • Enclosed Greenery  

DevBlog: Game Writing and detective stories

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Hey Anno Community, 

 

We’re often focusing on the mechanics of Anno 1800, talking about features, new buildings and (of course) items. At the same time, because of the popularity of ornaments and the number of screenshots all of you are taking, we know many of you also care for the little details of the Anno world. 

Today, we want to dive into different kinds of details when we talk with Lotta, one of our Game Writers, about the work of the Narrative Team and bringing the world of Anno 1800 to life. 

In broad strokes, what kind of tasks is the Narrative Team responsible for?

The Narrative team is split into two roles: Narrative Designers and Game Writers.

Roughly, Narrative Designers focus on creating the broad narrative structure (the setting, the plot, the questlines) and then implement these structures within the game: How and when a quest is triggered, what gameplay aspects are involved, what art assets are needed etc.

Game Writers on the other hand write in-game text: Quests texts (audio text, text in the quest books etc.), gameplay and flavour text (for items, ornaments etc.) and support for technical texts (menu texts etc.)

But very often the team comes up with story ideas together. Especially at the start of a new project or a DLC, ideas are shared and expanded upon through research and discussions.

Once everything is written, some of the texts need to be recorded. This is also something the team is involved in. They work together with a recording studio and the actors to bring the characters to life.
And finally, Game Writers are also involved in the localization/translation process: They communicate with the localization team, give feedback if there are any questions and check the final edit.

(All text is written in English. But depending on the writer’s mother tongue, they are also involved in proofing another language. I, for example, was also involved in proofing the German translation and attending the German audio recordings.)

Part of your job also is research for new DLCs. Can you tell us a bit about the process?

Research is a big part of Anno.

Once the focus for a DLC is agreed upon – like the skyscrapers in the high life DLC – we start focusing our research on the specific setting, timeframe, building type etc. In the case of “The High Life”, our focus was the late 19th/early 20th Century in America. Specifically, the construction of early skyscrapers, the rise of department stores and the history of patent products.

But the Narrative Team is by no means the only department conducting research. The Game Design Team, for example, is also very research-focused. This is important to ground goods, buildings, and new mechanics in a historical context. At this stage, a lot of the research gets shared between the teams, and we discuss how to best use all the information we gather in-game.

(But other departments also do research, the art team for example. Different places in specific time periods have very distinct looks. The architecture, the fashion, etc. So, it is important to gather references.)

How do you go about making the world come to life?

It is always fun to find little details, anecdotes and stories during our research and then still try to sneak them into the game. While the big picture is important, it is in some way the accumulation of details that really gives a game setting depth and makes it come alive.

This of course can be done through easter eggs but also in item fluff texts, quest names, characters etc. Little historical anecdotes are often hidden in Anno 1800, references to old games or little details that try and capture the Zeitgeist of the setting.

One of those are the hidden detective scenes in the “The High Life” DLC.

Then let’s talk about just that. What are these scenes, where can players find them?

Once the Skyline tower is built two people can be found atop a balcony, sitting by a chessboard, enjoying a drink and a conversation. They are the two protagonists of a mysterious easter egg. One is a 1920’s Noir Detective, dressed in a dapper suit and a hat. And the other is his confidant and close friend, the drag queen – dressed in ruby red. Just get close to the tower to experience one of their conversations – they happen in random intervals.

About the two characters

Private Investigator

He is the classical 1920’s hard-boiled noir detective who’s seen a little too much in his line of work. He started his career of snooping as a journalist but got tired of printing rumors and lies and turned to the pursuit of truth instead. Although the dead rarely pay.
He cares for the people and their stories, but that makes it all the more difficult. To deal with it all he likes to take to the rooftops of the city after a case, where he meets with his friend and confidant the Drag Queen.

Drag Queen

She knows the city and its people just as well as the detective, if not better. When he tells her of his cases, she can picture it all: the faces, the scenery, the consequences… She’s a good listener and probably the only one the detective has got. But she’s not just there out of the kindness of her heart she likes the stories too, she likes the mystery that unravels thought a conversation.

Whenever our Detective has closed one of his grueling cases, he goes to this balcony atop the Skyline Tower to meet his friend. There he reflects on the events of the case, his client, the clues he found, and of course the outcome. The drag queen always has an open ear for him, curious to know the reveal, ready with a bit of advice, and a sympathetic smile.

In total, there are ten different cases you can overhear.

As you know “The High Life” is heavily inspired by the American skyscraper boom at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. To strengthen the atmosphere of that setting we choose to include another American staple from around that time: The noir detective genre.
Noir stories were first published in so-called pulp magazines. Among the many heroes of these stories, the 1920’s hard-boiled noir detective might be the most famous. He is a complicated antihero, a broody, pessimistic private investigator who’s seen a little too much in his line of work but still cares enough to take on case after case. Despite his air of indifference, he always gets invested and when his cases reveal a tragic tale – which they often do – he drowns his sorrows in a stiff drink.

The most famous of his kind must be Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlow.

Have you already encountered one of their scenes? If not, find below one of the ten conversations to listen to – and make sure to check out the others in-game!

(Music Credits: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com)

 

 

That was a short look into the work of a Game Writer on Anno 1800. Do you want to know more about their everyday tasks? Curious about details on the work of the Narrative Designers? Let us know what you want to learn more about!

Union Update – Game Update 12 Issues & Community Spotlight

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Hey Anno Community, 

Our latest DLC, “The High Life” was released over a week ago, time to take a look at the recent events and the cities you have built since! 

Issues following Game Update 12

First of all, though, let’s talk about the issues several of you encountered following Game Update 12.

While we deployed a quick fix for the problems with Ubisoft+ and the Free Weekend last week, the issue with the Game Update some of you are facing (an “update loop” which downgrades the version to 11 again) unfortunately was a trickier situation, not only affecting Anno 1800 but also other Ubisoft titles. The Ubisoft Connect team deployed a fix this morning and the problem should now be solved.

Let us know if you’re still facing these issues.

Please be aware that this coincided with some general Ubisoft Connect issues starting yesterday which might have impacted you, resulting in an “incompatible savegame” warning mid-game (can usually be resolved by restarting Ubisoft Connect), issues in multiplayer and with the cloud sync feature.
These should now also be solved.

 

You have also reported several new bugs to us, be it regarding campaign quests, the anarchist defectors or trade routes and we’re also looking into those.

As usual, as soon as we have news regarding the next Game Update, we will share it here on the Anno Union as well as our other channels.

We apologize for the inconveniences caused.

Community Spotlight

Over the last week, many of you also shared plenty of awesome screenshots from your transformed cities and discussed the new features and mechanics. We had a hard time deciding which ones to include in this week’s Community Spotlight.

The first one is this wide panorama shot by imnekosama, showing the new skyline of their city including several of the new hot-air balloons.

In contrast to that, Eremon485‘s screenshot shows a market place in the city, surrounded by Shopping Arcades as well as plenty of Skyscrapers.

Lucasmello777 clearly got inspired by the Central Park in New York when creating this new district on Crown Falls.

Of course, “The High Life” came with several new ornaments – including the Spotlights which create especially majestic scenes at night, as Mithaldriel demonstrates.

On Discord, Paul showed off how the Skyscrapers can serve as a nice backdrop for the Palace.

We conclude with this Screenshot by AnnoEffect, a city divided into districts and the wealthy Investors in the back clearly enjoying a great panorama over the island as well as the nearby mountains.

Union Update – It’s “The High Life” Release Day!

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Today is the day! From this moment on you can download “The High Life”, Season 3s last DLC!

Change your Skyline forever by constructing Anno 1800’s first Skyscrapers and fulfill your citizens’ new needs with additional products and buildings.

As a new monument, we introduce the massive Skyline Tower – and also let you send your people up into the sky with hot-air balloons.

 

If you haven’t checked out our previous DevBlogs yet, have a look at the one giving more details into the development of the Skyscrapers themselves and the second one providing a broader overview of all the DLC’s features.

While waiting for the download to finish, you can also check out our gamescom livestream from last week.

Together with the DLC we’re also releasing Game Update 12 – have a look at the full Release Notes for all changes, fixes and improvements.

Twitch Drops

Should the download take longer you can also watch a list of selected streamers playing “The High Life” and earn two new ornaments while doing so. Have a look at this blog for more details and a full list of all participants.

Free Weekend

Do you know someone who hasn’t been turned into an Annoholic yet? Well, we have a great solution: From tomorrow until Monday, Anno 1800 (including all Game Updates but without any DLC) is completely free to play!

This version is also compatible with all existing versions in multiplayer, meaning you can not only lure your friends into playing Anno 1800 but also show the ropes in coop.

You can find the exact times on the map below:

The Anno franchise is also on sale till September 16th, the ideal opportunity to get the few DLC you might be lacking: https://store.ubi.com/anno-franchise

But now… get ready for “The High Life”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gamescom Summary: More to come in 2021

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Hey Anno Community,

Today was a great day for us cause not only could we show you some live gameplay of “The High Life” in our gamescom livestream, but we were also able to talk about what else you can expect to come to Anno 1800 in the next months.

What’s to come AFTER The High Life?

With Season 3 coming to an end with next week’s DLC, we want to give you an overview of what’s still to come to Anno 1800 this year – some of it you already know and expect, some of it will be new.

Cosmetic DLCs

Following the Community Vote in April, you’re probably all very much aware that the two winners are still to be released. As communicated earlier this year, this will happen after the release of “The High Life”, starting with the “Pedestrian Zone Pack”.

True to its name, it will focus on ornaments for your inner cities, from a Market Hall over over- and underpasses to public toilets you can expect a variety of objects to beautify your cities for pedestrians. You can have a first look at some of them below:

And… we’ve seen some pictures of canals! More details on that in a few weeks, because the release is planned for in just about one month: September 28th!

This year’s third Cosmetic DLC, the “Vibrant City Skins Pack“ (name not yet final) will release at the end of this year and bring some more visual variety to your cities! We’ll have more details on this CDLC closer to its release.

History Weeks

For autumn, a quick look at the calendar tells you there are four Annoversaries coming up!

More importantly, they include Anno 1701, the first Anno title developed by us here in Mainz, celebrating 15 years since release! How the time flies…

Expect insights into the Anno history, lots of nostalgia and multiple live streams to celebrate Anno’s long city-building tradition.

Big End of the Year Update and Green Game Jam

We left one big thing for last and some of you might already be wondering “what happened to the Green Game Jam?”.  Well, in December we will release Game Update 13, one big free Game Update including several more quality of life improvements as well as bug fixes.

 

Also part of this release will be the Green Game Jam project: We’re adding a new game mode, in which you will travel to a separate region set in the New World. To fulfill your main goal there, you will have to develop a city, but new mechanics make this endeavour significantly more challenging: Monocultures and overfishing can quickly lead to food supply issues while limited non-regenerative resources need to be well-spent. Will you be able to construct and maintain a sustainable city while keeping your environmental impact balanced?

As usual, we will be able to give you more insights into the new content closer to its release, when development has progressed enough that we can show you something.

Make sure to check out our gamescom live stream and our DevBlogs if you haven’t done so already – and get ready for “The High Life” releasing next Tuesday!

Union Update: gamescom, The High Life and a Free Weekend

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Hey Anno Community,

August is almost over, and we all know what this means… Gamescom time! In today’s Union Update we would like to give you more information on the gamescom stream, the upcoming Free Weekend and finally a quick recap of our latest news. Without further ado, let’s dive into it!

Gamescom

Now it’s time to talk about the most exciting part of this Union Update: gamescom 2021! As you might already know, this year’s gamescom will take place from Wednesday 25th August until Friday 27th. For the occasion, we will be holding a DevStream over on our Twitch channel on Thursday, August 26th at 5PM CEST. Tune in if you’re eager to see what awaits you in “The High Life”: We will show live gameplay of the new content and give an overview of our plans for the coming months.

Free Weekend

Are you still debating if Anno 1800 is the game for you? Or do you know people who aren’t convinced Annoholics yet? Then wait no longer since we got the solution for either scenario to celebrate the release of Season 3’s last DLC:

From September 1st till 6th  you can play Anno 1800 for free!

This Free Weekend version contains the full main game (excluding the DLC) and is completely compatible with the regular version of Anno 1800 in multiplayer. The ideal opportunity to start a co-op game and help your friends set up their first industrial metropolis.

Even better: If you decide to purchase the game after testing, you can simply continue your savegame from the test period!

“The High Life” DevBlogs: a quick recap

In case you missed them, in the previous weeks we published two DevBlogs dedicated to our upcoming DLC, which will be released on the 31st of August. The first DevBlog focuses on Skyscrapers, the core element of “The High Life”. The second article gives a general overview of all the content and features of the third DLC: new buildings, new needs, new items – everything you need to know to be fully ready for the new challenges.

Community spotlight

We’re constantly amazed by your creativity, that can clearly be seen in all the screenshots that you share with us. Let’s have a look at our picks for this Union Update!

Augustus_Johnson shared a variety of screenshots on Reddit focusing on this lovely soap factory, together with a little story that revolves around it. It’s a herbal soap factory, run by Perfumier Prunella, and they supply the whole city with vegan soap. Look at those flower and tree fields! We can’t wait to know more about other spots on this island.

Here we have a screenshot posted by skinny_leg3nd on our brand new forums, and – oh my! It looks like this city has been sewed on this island! It fits perfectly with the natural shape of the island and it’s so mesmerising we can’t stop looking at it.

Finally, would you fancy a vacation at one of LeGeektateur hotel complexes? Because we would! We can already see ourselves drinking champagne from one of those hotel balconies, while looking at the breath-taking view, with the fresh breeze coming from the ocean… What a paradise!

Twitch Drops: The High Life

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

Last week we announced our gamescom livestream where we will present you some first gameplay of “The High Life”.

If you want to see even more gameplay of the third and last DLC of Season 3 before its release next week, we got just the thing for you: Watch some of your favourite streamers during our Twitch Drops Event!

The whole event will start on August 27th and last until September 5th.

During the event, you will be able to watch a variety of selected Twitch streamers making their way up to the sky in our upcoming DLC, “The High Life”. And of course, what better way to celebrate this than grabbing some new ornaments for your lovely cities?

Anyone watching those streamers build their first skyscrapers and strengthen their relationship with the Investors, will receive two new ornaments – a Flag and a Lamppost, both dedicated to the “The High Life” DLC. The only thing you need to do is to first link your Ubisoft account to your Twitch account and then watch the streamers during the event for up to 3 hours to receive your loot. You don’t have to watch these hours consecutively to receive your drop; watching them accumulated on participating streamers will also grant you the ornaments.

After receiving a drop, you need to claim it via the Twitch inventory. Please be aware that all rewards will only be delivered to you after the end of the Twitch Drop Event.

If you haven’t already done so in the past, make sure to first link your Ubisoft and Twitch account by following the steps outlined on this website.

You can find the full list of all participating Streamers below:

English

Spanish

French

German

DevBlog: The High Life

Posted on by Ubi-Thorlof

It is a frigid night, a thick fog blankets the city, ahead of you dim lights spill onto bustling streets. A sea of faceless umbrellas bobbing up and down, caught within a current of unending urgency. You feel a cutting breeze, drops of rain, and in the distance, you hear rumbling thunder. You quicken your pace.

You see an immense silhouette, jutting between rooftops – a flash and the goliath skyscraper is illuminated! Beautiful and foreboding. You crane your neck in awe. There is a moment of stillness then, with a resounding clap, the sky breaks open.

You run. Drenched you burst into the lobby where warm lighting greets you. You take a breath. A mellow tune drifts towards you from a gramophone in the corner, its soothing cadence interspersed only by the quiet dripping of your coat, then a soft ding catches your attention, you look up.

The elevator doors slide open. A bellboy smiles at you. He takes a gentle bow and asks, “What floor will it be?”

Hey Anno Community,

After last week’s DevBlog which went into detail on the Skyscrapers, their historical references and the mechanics tied to them, today’s DevBlog provides you – as usual – with the full overview of all features of Anno 1800’s upcoming DLC: The High Life.

Grab a coffee (or a glass of champagne, if you’re feeling as fancy as the Investors), and let’s dive right in:

A Story of Architectural Progress

As we mentioned last week, the “The High Life” DLC took some strong inspiration from the early period of skyscraper construction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These new architectural feats were made possible by new building techniques and supported by inventions like the hydraulic elevator.

Many of the early skyscrapers were built in New York and Chicago after large-scale fires destroyed existing housing and a population boom also required more and more residences. The iconic look of the early skyscrapers was shaped by the Chicago school of architecture by combining the French Beaux-Arts or renaissance style with practical and commercial elements. Influential examples include the 1908 Singer Tower and of course the 1930 Empire State Building.

The story of “The High Life” is therefore focused on these new architectural achievements, but also the exploits of enterprising businesspeople on the consumer market, when we’re looking at Shopping Arcades.

In this matter, you will make the acquaintance of Donald “Donny” Bader, a capitalist visionary who is eager to change the skyline of your cities with Anno 1800’s first Skyscrapers.

Donny’s a prolific Investor – the best in the city if you ask him – and he’s happy to share the tricks of the trade with you. Cutting corners, fudging numbers, splurging the health and safety budget on bubbly, it’s all in a day’s work for him. And he’s rather impressed by you, witnessing your achievements with rapt attention. Truth be told he’s quite the fanboy, eager to hitch a ride on your coattails towards glory and profits. He’ll invite you to the Skydeck to celebrate his victories, but he’ll never once give credit to the people who made them possible. With a winning smile to shame all the losers, his hair slathered with pomade, he’ll call the workers lazy and waste Theodora, his top Engineer, on fetching him refills.

The Skyscrapers, a Change to Your Skyline

Having set the scene, we’re sure you’re eager to know how to build these Skyscrapers in-game, right? As soon as you reach 5000 Investors, Donny will contact you about his ideas for a new construction project. It would be a shame to ignore such an opportunity, so better get started right away.

How to Build a Skyscraper

Before you can start building, though, you first need to set up a new production line: Skyscrapers require a new construction material, elevators, which are produced in an Assembly Line. We’ll get back on the topic of new production buildings and goods, for now, let’s stay with the Skyscrapers a little while longer.

Both Engineer as well as Investor residences can be upgraded to Skyscrapers. This allows you to increase your population without requiring building space for additional residences. The Skyscrapers themselves are modular, meaning you can upgrade them multiple times until they reach their maximum height: Investor Skyscrapers can consist of 5 levels, Engineer Skyscrapers of 3.

There are multiple different variants for each module and the general style of a Skyscraper also depends on the base residence underneath. You can change the look of each individual block via the building’s menu and clicking on the customization button.

It’s also possible to downgrade a Skyscraper or turn it back into a regular residence of the respective population tier – and yes, before you ask: Residence items also impact Skyscrapers.

 

Skyscrapers inherit all needs from their regular population tier, but with each level, you will need to fulfill additional new needs in order for more residents to move in. New needs can be goods (like cognac or biscuits) or the new Shopping Arcades like the Furniture Store.

While their residents pay taxes like all your citizens, Skyscrapers are special since they cost maintenance. If they’re not properly supplied and placed (check below for the “Panorama Effect”) they can cost you more than they pay you in taxes.

On the plus side, they do provide you with significantly more residents as well as influence points.

If you want to learn more about the development of the Skyscrapers for “The High Life”, make sure to check out our first DevBlog for more details on Design, Art and UI challenges.

The Panorama Effect

The Panorama Effect is a new mechanic exclusive to Skyscrapers. In short, your Skyscrapers will receive a buff if they are next to a skyscraper of a lower height.

This means, if a skyscraper has other skyscrapers of the same level or higher nearby, it has a negative effect on the buff, while taller skyscrapers are not bothered by having smaller ones nearby. A Skyscraper still profits from smaller ones but might not reach the full panorama effect if there’s a same height or higher skyscraper nearby.

A diverse town, therefore, leads to better buffs for the buildings (and honestly it looks much better). There is no punishment for “Skyscraper only” cities, but the buff significantly helps to offset the high maintenance costs.

The buff itself comes in several levels (intense, strong, solid, moderate, weak, none) and reduces maintenance costs, increases the maximum number of residents and provides bonus residents (this one only when supplied properly).

New Needs: Shopping Arcades

With a few Skyscrapers constructed, let’s take a look at the new needs of their residents, starting with the Shopping Arcades.

While department stores already existed in the US, some since the 1820s, they were innovated upon and expanded during the late 19th Century. Their popularity was propelled by a post-civil war economic boom and the demands of a quickly growing population. Retail moved away from local-owned businesses towards large corporations. The shiny new department stores offered personal shoppers, catalogues, and order by mail. But they also brought about a less obvious change. They opened their doors to women, enabling them for the first time to go shopping, and own and manage a budget— a small but significant step for female independence and autonomy.

 

Similar to the Restaurants in “Tourist Season”, there are three different kinds of Shopping Arcades your residents will ask you to build: The Department Store, the Furniture Store and the Drug Store. Each fulfils the respective need of your population, but depending on the patent you decide to equip, they provide a different bonus on the residences (regular ones as well as Skyscrapers) within its area of influence: Reduction of certain needs, a bonus to happiness or an increase in tax income.

From Secretaries over Lipstick and Tooth Paste to Toasters and Vacuum Cleaners there are many exciting products to choose from for modern shopping lovers.

Tutorial Menu

Like the previous DLC of Season 3, the new features and mechanics are also explained in the new in-game Tutorial Menu.

Want to double-check how the Panorama Effect works? Just click the “?” symbol in the top left corner of a Skyscraper’s object menu to receive an overview of all new mechanics.

New Needs: Products for High Society

As mentioned before, you will also need to supply new goods to your residents.

The Chemical Factory, which was added with “Tourist Season” receives a new recipe (Lacquer, requiring Ethanol, Resin and Quartz Sand), while the Orchard in the Old World can now produce Cherry Wood and Resin in addition to Jam.

On top of these additions, we’re adding two more Multifactories to the game: The Artisan Workshop producing many sought-after products like for example Violins (requiring Steel, Cherry Wood and Lacquer) or Cognac. The Assembly Line, on the other hand, is a great example of the technological progress the Industrial Revolution is bringing to Anno 1800: Aside from the already mentioned Elevators it’s also producing Typewriters. We’ve seen some guessing about which products might be needed to produce Elevators, so here you go: Steel, Steam Motors and Wood Veneers.

Finally, we’re also adding one more building to the New World: The southern session receives its own Chemical Factory, producing the very important Ethanol (using Corn and Wood) as well as another modern invention: Chewing Gum!

Based on community feedback from the Diary Study as well as the Technical Test, we made changes to the Multifactories in the construction menu: Each of their products has now its full production chain displayed, making it easier for you to see in advance, which goods and other production building you will need.

The recipes in the Shopping Arcades and Multifactories work just like you’re used to if you played “Tourist Season”: Some of them are unlocked via quests, others by fulfilling certain conditions. If you own “The Passage” or “Land of Lions”, you will be able to choose from a few additional recipes, more on that below.

Items

Following your feedback from “Tourist Season”, we’re adding several new items with “The High Life” which specifically affect the new building types introduced since “Tourist Season”, like Hotels, Restaurants, and the new Shopping Arcades.

The Multifactory buildings even receive a completely new type of item which works a bit differently and usually comes with a trade-off of positive and negative effects. Some of them are more specialized in specific building types like the Chemical Plant, others work on all kinds of Multifactories.

This should give everyone who loves optimizing their economy more options to puzzle and make the most of the often-limited space.

Let’s talk DLC Synergies

Let’s now take a look at the synergies you can profit from when owning several of Anno 1800’s previous DLC, several of which were the results of playtest feedback:

Firstly, as already mentioned above, you will receive additional recipes for each Shopping Arcade with their unique buffs if you own “The Passage” or “Land of Lions”. This way you can supply your citizens with products like Refrigerators, Face Cream and Four-Poster Beds – for a truly luxurious life.

As a result of feedback from the playtests, the Skyline Tower – the new monument of “The High Life” – is a potential need for Tourists and can be connected with the bus network.

Certain sets from the Zoo or the Museum now also influence Multifactories. For example, the Bronze Age Exhibition or the Icebound Exhibition.

Finally, also based on community feedback, if you own “Seat of Power”, several of the Palace’s buffs are now affecting buildings from “The High Life” and “Tourist Season”, as long as they fulfill the conditions. For example, Orchards are not considered farms (just like Lumberjacks aren’t either) and the Artisan Workshop is – in contrast to the Assembly Line – not a “heavy industry”.

One word about the “public service” boost the Palace can provide to buildings like Theatres or Pubs: Shopping Arcades (and Restaurants, for that matter) technically aren’t your usual public services since they require input goods to provide their service – they just fulfill a similar gameplay function to standard public service buildings. They are therefore not affected by the buff from the Department of Welfare.

Further details: The technical side

For the ones among you who want a quick dive into parts of the game logic, here’s some more background on the matter:

Another aspect of this decision is technical reasons: In contrast to regular public services, the reach of Shopping Arcades is at the same time also the range of the carts delivering the required input goods. The Palace buff could increase their reach but not the cart range, which would then require two different visualizations on the same streets, making it complicated and confusing from a UI point of view.

On the other hand, if both ranges should be increased by the Palace buff, the cart logic would need a rework:

The maximum range of carts is currently directly bound to the production cycles of a building, assuring that they deliver the input goods in such intervals that the production building always has enough goods to continue production. Increasing the cart range would thereby also increase the time the cart takes to deliver the resources, leading to gaps in supply.

Let’s assume for a moment we accept this and let players decide if they want to accept production issues cause of delivery times. Here we have two more problems:

  1. Right now, we don’t have indicators for players about such a system
  2. Having production buildings search for a warehouse ‘somewhere’ on the island compared to just inside its set radius would directly impact game performance.

Alternatively, if we wanted to assure optimal supply no matter the distance, certain parameters would need to dynamically change based on the current cart range, for example the speed of the carts (which would end up looking extremely silly) or the production cycle of the respective building.

All this, mind you, would mean making changes to a core system of the game just for a specific new building type for a DLC – which would be a loooot of work. And then we would need to make sure all this is also transparently communicated to you, the players, so you can understand the mechanics and adjust your production accordingly.

For Restaurants, this is even a whole different matter, since here the effect range towards Tourists is decided by the bus network, and not by pure street distance, complicating matters further.

A new Monument

Let’s end this DevBlog with a high point – literally: The “Skyline Tower”.

After you’ve built a sufficient number of level 5 Skyscrapers, Donny will contact you with his most ambitious project yet: a monumental tower!

The Skyline Tower is a multi-stage monument and the tallest building in Anno 1800. It contains the probably most luxurious apartments and can house several thousand Investors. They have all the needs of regular Investor residences but there is a twist: The maximum number of residents of the monument depends on the number of Shopping Arcades in your city. Each Shopping Arcade recipe makes the Skyline Tower more interesting to residents, adding another 100 to the maximum population. The respective Shopping Arcade does not have to be in range but simply has to be located on the same island.

This brings us almost to the end of this DevBlog. But we can’t end it without mentioning that you’ll again receive several new ornaments fitting to the theme – including something red and round which uses hot air… what could that be?

If you’re curious for some live gameplay of “The High Life”, mark the 26th of August in your calendars: At 5 PM CEST the Anno team will do their English gamescom stream on twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte, presenting the upcoming DLC and talking a bit about what else you can still expect to come to Anno 1800 this year. Don’t miss this!