Hey Anno Community,

It’s been a long time since our last DevBlog dedicated to a Cosmetic DLC – the last one was back in 2024 for the “End of an Era” Pack – and we’re super excited to restart the tradition with our first CDLC for Anno 117: Pax Romana. We did tease you a bit in the past week on our socials, and as promised, today you are getting all the details on our upcoming content: the Marvellous Mosaic Pack CDLC!

In today’s DevBlog we showcase the content of the pack and shine a light on the amazing work behind it together with Laura, Senior Prop Artist, and Rolf, Expert Artist. So, if you don’t want to miss out – keep reading! And don’t forget to check out the VOD of today’s livestream on Twitch, where Reiko and Rolf walk us through the content of the CDLC.

The beauty of Mosaics, tesserae by tesserae

When we think of the Roman Empire and its art, one of the first things that come to our minds is: mosaics! Beautiful, colourful, detailed patterns or images made up by geometrical blocks called tesserae. So, what better way to beautify your cities than by using these gorgeous large ornaments? We love placing them in a plaza surrounded by other ground plates or at the centre of a residences’ block to create the perfect private courtyard.

A lot of work was put into these 4 charming and intricate mosaics – so we asked Rolf to explain to us how they were created, step by step:

“First, a Concept Artist draws a loose sketch of a mosaic where individual stones aren’t visible (1); then I draw a greyscale on top of it (2). After that, I use a software that lets me detect the edges of the greyscale and place the tiles along those edges and shapes by using a complex “node network” (3). At the end of this process, you get a mosaic which then is tested in game and tweaked here and there if needed (4).”

Ground plates for all tastes

This pack goes big on ground plates – as you can see from the list at the end of this blog – and we know that the Anno beauty builders out there will make the most out of all of them!

If you’re building a rural settlement in Albion, we recommend using the Grassy Pavement to match the overgrown and lush vegetation vibe, for example. And if you’re working on a little plaza in Latium, why not use some classical yet elegant marble tiles? Whatever the style you’re going for, there are 7 different types of “stone” ground plates in total.

If you’re going for a more maximalist look, then there are 13 colourful ground plates to choose from – which perfectly match the vivid ornamental mosaics we mentioned above. Purple, russet, green, yellow tesserae perfectly laid in complex or simple patterns: your choice.

These ground plates will make your cities shine, quite literally:

“The idea is to use a wide range of surface roughness to create reflections that change depending on the viewing angle. At certain angles and heights, the surface relies less on colour and more on reflective patterns, which adds a subtle sparkle as the camera moves. The contrast is intentionally pushed further than what you’d normally see in real life to make the visuals more striking in-game.” (Rolf, Expert Artist)

Pretty walls & building skins

Among all the ground plates, this pack also adds two wall systems, both perfect in their own way. The Hortical Wall, together with its Gate of Heroes, adds some classical walls ideal for a Roman settlement to surround the Governor’s Villa, for example.

Conversely, the Oppidum Wall and the Druwid’s Gate are the ultimate choice for Albion and Celtic settlements (and perfect for all the Lord of the Rings fans out there that would like to recreate The Shire in Anno 117: Pax Romana…)

Finally, to complete this pack, we also added building skins for the Bathhouse and the Forum, both with a Latium and Albion variant to give you even more choice! Who knew that the perfect Bathhouse would come in pink shades?

A chat with the Art Team

Now, let’s have a chat with the two artists that worked on this Pack, Senior Prop Artist Laura and Expert Artist Rolf. Whilst Laura focused on the wall systems and the four building skins, Rolf took care of all the ground plates and mosaics.

Q: Which piece of content from the pack was the most challenging to work on and why? Which one the most fun?

A (Laura): For me the organic, Celtic inspired wall was hardest to work on, more organic stuff usually is. Also, to get the textures quite right and the amount of vegetation on top so it wouldn`t merge with the background too strongly – that took a lot of fiddling with it.

A (Rolf): The 3×3 mosaics, which represents pictures, were challenging and needed a lot of hands-on craftsmanship and problem-solving skills. It was stressful, but in a good way, it was still a lot of fun creating them.

Q: Real life inspiration: how much research goes into a CDLC like this one? How do you balance it with creative freedom?

A (Laura): Usually our amazing Concept Artists do the biggest research part. After that, the assets go through a lot of back and forth even before we get to the 2D Concepts. Then we build it in 3D, mostly focusing on getting the “feeling” of the concept right, so as long as that still translates into our final model, there is quite some freedom really.

A (Rolf): I had a look at a lot of Mosaics, but they are not dramatically helpful. They do teach you a certain history and character which you need to take and extrapolate. Since we have such a specific perspective in our game, I will make it more exaggerated than in real-life and weave in all the Anno knowledge I have collected in the past 13 years.

Q: On a personal level: among all the ground plates, skins and ornaments, which one would you pick as your absolute favourite and why?

A (Laura): My favourite pieces in this pack are all the amazing mosaics, especially the “Intwined Verdant Mosaic”, since I love Celtic patterns and the colour green.

A (Rolf): The “Lavish Garden Mosaic” for sure. I had a lot of creative freedom playing around with all the different tile sizes, patterns, and contrasts. Additionally, I started my career as a Concept Artist, and since I’ve been working as a 3D artist for most of the time after that, it was great to get the chance to paint again, which I had really missed

Q: What recommendation would you give to players who want to beautify their cities with this pack?

A (Rolf): Place a unique mosaic in the middle and let it shine with some patterns around it. and don’t forget, less is sometimes more, decide for 2 or three and combine them, more might feel a bit overwhelming in terms of colours.

And with this, we are at the end of this (long) DevBlog dedicated to the first Anno 117: Pax Romana Cosmetic DLC! The Marvellous Mosaic Pack will be available starting 19^th February on PC and consoles, for the price of 7€ or your regional equivalent.

We cannot wait to see your marvellous creations!

List of full content

• Lavish Garden Mosaic (ornament 3×3)

• Latium Mosaic (ornament 3×3)

• Sol Magnificus Mosaic (ornament 3×3)

• Sacred Tree Mosaic (ornament 3×3)

• Papyrus Mosaic (ground plate 1×1)

• Purple Papyrus Mosaic (ground plate 1×1)

• Purple Florals (ground plate 1×1)

• Russet Florals (ground plate 1×1)

• Russet Fan Pattern (ground plate 1×1)

• Purple Fan Pattern (ground plate 1×1)

• Sandstone (ground plate 1×1)

• Granite (ground plate 1×1)

• Irregular Sandstone (ground plate 1×1)

• Rustic Stone (ground plate 1×1)

• Marble Tiles (ground plate 1×1)

• Irregular Marble Tiles (ground plate 1×1)

• Sunkissed Stone (ground plate 1×1)

• Ornate Russet Square (ground plate 1×1)

• Intwined Verdant Mosaic (ground plate 1×1)

• Four Winds Mosaic (ground plate 1×1)

• Verdant Winds Mosaic (ground plate 1×1)

• Aureum Pattern (ground plate 1×1)

• Light Granite (ground plate 1×1)

• Grassy Pavement (ground plate 1×1)

• Forum Latiorum (Forum building skin 12×17)

• Forum Albionum (Forum building skin 12×17)

• Baths of Hygieia (Bathhouse building skin 11×20)

• Baths of Sulis (Bathhouse building skin 11×20)

• Druwid’s Gate

• Oppidum Wall

• Gate of Heroes

• Hortical Wall