- Anno 1800
- Union Talk
Union Update: About Writing Adventures
- 29.01.2020
In this week’s Union Update, we bring you another episode of our Union Talk show, this time we invited Game Writer África Curiel Gálvez to talk about inspirations and work on The Passage’s tense campaign story and background.
With the Union Talk show, we not only want to keep you in the loop about recent developments and news from the world of Anno, we also want to provide insights into the work of our developers. Is there anything you always wanted to know more about? Are you curious about a specific aspect of game development or an ingredient of the Anno series? Let us know in the comments below for future episodes of the Union Talk!
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A new episode of Anno Afternoon with a very special throwback to a classic
A nunchuk? What are Thorlof and Trenchcoat up to now? Better turn into this Friday’s very special Anno Afternoon Stream, as we dive into an old classic even many of you veterans out there might not be that familiar with!
Tune in this Friday at 5pm CET at twitch.tv/ubisoftbluebyte
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Anything missing? The Anno series is currently discounted during our big Ubisoft Lunar Sale, the perfect opportunity to grab old classics or even dive into the world of the industrial revolution.
And if you reading this right now on January 29, you can grab Anno 1800 Gold Edition in our flash sale for the price of 38 Euro (or regional equivalent). Yes your calculation is correct, -60% discount for the Gold Edition, including the Base Game, Anarchist DLC and the Season Pass!
Hmm. I think we might get the Great Eastern as a DLC as a kind of a monumental naval project and a Far East Session before the African one.
So said BlueBreath 1 Feb 2020.
I really think that the previous comments hit on something, and I want to add my part.
I think of an East Asian expansion as well. It can be called just the Far East in the Anno world (FE for short). There can be a storyline involving the princess. For example, her diplomatic ties can lead the player to an FE adventure that involves a military conflict – like the Emperor of the East needing help against pirates (Wokou-inspired Japanese pirates) or some other aggressive competitors. Once the player helps, the Emperor will allow a trading post, a Hong Kongish one, with the embassy, and endless opportunities for population tiers and production chains. The things shouldn’t be peaceful, though – the locals won’t like the “foreign devils” too much and there should be sabotaging, secret societies, opium traders, rebellions (Taiping, Boxers and so forth) to make the whole experience more challenging.
The reward of the expansion can be something like this – once the FE accumulates a certain amount of all its luxury goods (tea, porcelain, silk, etc), the player can use clippers to transport them to the Old World and host an exhibition with these goods. The reward of the exhibition can bring full satisfaction of all the luxury needs in the Old World for a certain period, depending on the level of the exhibition. That way, we can have a nice addition to the game world without making the old session more complicated.
It was really cool to finally hear about the game writers’ perspective 🙂 I really think writers did a great job in Anno 1800: from the story itself to expeditions, and to little things like goods or items descriptions. Some really add to the atmosphere to the game while others are funny and cheer me up while playing.
When it comes to future content, I definitely would like to have a solid atmosphere, it’s something I always consider important in games. I love the idea of story and gameplay being closer together and sort of intertwined. I don’t mind the atmosphere being more dark, in fact I always thought Anno is a bit too cheerful and not really representing the times as close to reality as it could. That’s one thing I liked about 2070, the feeling of the importance of pollution and degradation of the Earth, the fights between opposite factions etc. – some darker themes.
I also like the Passage for such a more grim atmosphere and I would like that the future content has not only a happy side, but also this sad, grim and more dark side to it.
I would love to see an Asian region being added, Basti knows what I am talking about ;), I am really missing goods such as tea or silk etc. However, if you have other ideas and they seem to make sense and have a cool gameplay attached to them, then I will also be happy. Still, I’d love to see Asia in Anno, the 19th century isn’t real without tea 😉
I’m extremely eager to hear/read/see what your ideas for future content are, I really can’t wait.
That is a good question to ask Basti. I honestly like all the DLC and the story that goes into the game and how it is related to real life history. That is one of the things I love most about ANNO. That it also teaches you some history. I didn’t know much about the Franklin Expedition until The Passage released. And when I went online to learn more and do some research I learned a lot about that moment in history. They even talked about it on the History Channel once on TV (which I frequently watch a lot). So this was a learning experience for me. To understand and learn how it was for them back then in those times when doing such a dangerous expedition. I do agree that it is a bit grim, dark, and sad. But I acknowledge that. I’ve heard many stories of other ships that got stuck/lost in the ice. And how difficult and dangerous it is for ships to go that far north. One thing that surprised me that airships did exist back then in that time and where even used in the Artic. I expected that to come later in the 1900s or 1910s with the Zeppelins of that era. But learning this history was very interesting. That airships have been around much earlier than I had previously thought.
Now going forward. What do I like to see next for ANNO 1800 DLC? Well honestly I have had this idea/vision for awhile. I was thinking about the great clippers and the great tea races where the big clipper ships such as the Cutty Sark would race each other down south from London and down past the south tip of Africa and past Madagascar and go to china to get the tea. And then race back to London. And these races where always talked about even in the newspapers. Because the first ship to return to port would get the tug to moor. Thus selling it’s cargo immediately. Making the profits the company that owns that ship needs. These races where often tight. As there where plenty of Clippers that would race each other. But my favorite is the Cutty Sark. Having such a session in ANNO 1800 would be a very interesting experience. We already have clipper ships in the game. That is one element already right there in the game. Why not complete it and add a China session and have it based off the history of the great clipper tea races? Also maybe we could have another pirate in that session? After all there where pirates even back then who would try to raid the clippers. Despite how fast they are. There where pirates from Madagascar and even Asia that would try to raid them from what I heard. But I haven’t heard of any confirmed cases of such attacks on ships like the Cutty Sark. But then again there where many of these clippers sailing at the time. So maybe one of them where attacked by pirates. All that tea is expensive and valuable. A pirate may see it as a opportunity to steal it. If they can catch the clipper.
On many an occasion, these clipper ships would race each another and one of the most reported clipper races of all time was the ‘The Great Tea Race of 1866’. Five ships would participate in the race: Ariel, Fiery Cross, Serica, Taitsing, and Taeping. Are some of the other ships I have heard about. But the Cutty Sark is still my favorite. I even have a model of her in my room. And a second clipper as well unfortunately she is missing her nameplate so I can’t identify her. But I do have a couple clippers. And I am a fan of these ships. And I absolutely love the clipper ships in ANNO 1800.
Some more history on the Cutty Sark: Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development, which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.
And the Cutty Sark is still around today. She is kept in England as a museum ship. And she is still fully intact.
Name: Cutty Sark
Owner: Cutty Sark Preservation Society
Acquired: 1953
Out of service: December 1954
Status: Museum ship
Class and type: Clipper
Tonnage: 963 GRT
Displacement: 2,100 tons (2,133.7 tonnes) at 20 ft (6.1 m) draught
Length: Hull: 212.5 ft (64.77 m) LOA: 280 ft (85.34 m)
Beam: 36 ft (10.97 m)
Propulsion: 32,000 sq ft sail (3000 hp)
Sail plan: 1870 ship rig barquentine rig
Speed: 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h) maximum achieved
Capacity: 921 tons
But I been thinking that this would be a great DLC idea for ANNO because it ties in perfectly with the time period. As sail ships where still around and steam ships started to gradually beat sail ships. And we have both the clippers in ANNO and the steam ships too. So I believe that this would be a great DLC idea for the game. We could send our clippers out to get the tea and bring it back to Europe. And maybe have tea as a new luxury need for the Investors. That would be a great idea to think about.
Also another element to this. Is we already have some Asian characters in the game like Prince Quing. And she talks about her lands back home. So I believe having a China session would be a fantastic addition to the game. Because then you have a DLC with plenty of options. Where you can have a story that can include Princess Quing. Or the great tea races of that time period. I think that this particular DLC has many ways it can go. And the team can take the time to think it out and get creative with it. Because as a player I feel that gap. We have the Old World which is Europe. Then we have the New World which is South America. Then we have Cape Trelawney with the huge Continent island. Then we have the Artic. But then I still feel like something is missing. There can be something more added to the game with elements that already exist in the game like with the Clippers and Princes Quing. So I was thinking that a China session would be a really good idea to consider.
I hope this gives the ANNO Team some ideas. I am eager to learn what is next for ANNO this year. I am very much enjoying the game. And I look forwards to seeing what is next for the future of ANNO 1800. I am glad to hear the team had a much needed rest. I can agree that 2019 was a crazy, busy, and successful season for the team. And I am impressed that they where able to deliver all that promised content on time and on schedule. The ANNO devs never disappoint me. Truly a great, amazing, and passionate team. Please keep up the great work! May ANNO live on for many years yet to come!
Best,
Feruda