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 Marvellous Mosaic Pack will release on 19th February on all platforms.

On the same day, we’ll also release patch 1.4 with a variety of bug fixes and improvements. Expect the full patch notes on Wednesday, 18th February.

For now, let’s focus on small stones and bright colours:

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

Hello Anno Community,

As you might have seen in our latest teasers on social media or yesterday’s  livestream, we will soon release a brand new Cosmetic DLC, the “End of an Era” Pack!

To be totally honest with you all, when first approaching this DevBlog, we struggled to find the right words to talk about it and give this Pack full justice – both because of its grandiosity and the fact that it marks, for real, the end of an era. If you don’t know this already, this CDLC will be the last piece of content developed for Anno 1800, after an amazing journey that lasted 5 years, with 16 beautiful Cosmetic DLC – not to mention the post-launch game content released over the years.

… *Nervously clears throat* … But let’s not get emotional now, we haven’t even started talking about the Pack! So, without further ado, let’s join the festival.

“A crazy unicorn festival of lights, flowers and dancing”

In this pack there are Funfair Stalls for all necessities, big and small: whether your residents would like to smash some unicorn pinatas, eat some food or enjoy the famous Anno cocktail at the Cocktail Bar – the Margarita Hunt – for an evening of fun, the End of an Era Pack contains everything you’ll need to build the perfect festival in your Anno cities.

For the residents who enjoy movement, a Dance Floor is in order – together with a Beer Tent for when they need a break and a fresh drink after all the late-night waltzes.

Flowers are a central theme of this pack as you might have noticed: Lily Pond Lights, Dazzling Dandelions, and colourful Fairy Flowers installations – each of them with multiple variations. And who knew flowers could pair this well with an Aquatic Streetlights and an Aquatic Light Tunnel?

A burst of colours and pure joy

Anno 1800 looks SO stylish in neon pink, don’t you think? Or neon blue, green, yellow… all the colours! Well, colours extravaganza is another recurring theme in this pack. Engineers’ and Investors’ residences have never looked this great – and so sparkly!

“The Jorgensens – The Musical” in Theatre now!

Fun for the whole family: the latest musical masterpiece starring Bente Jorgensen, Sir Archibald Blake, Carl Leonard von Malching (and his pink tutu), and The One True God of Anno, is in theatre now! Treat your residents to a show they will never forget, thanks to the Musical Stage included in this pack. Some of you might remember “The Jorgensens – The Musical” from the credits scene in Anno 1800, which was masterfully recreated by the talented Laura in this shorter version for the ornament (more info on this in the Q&A section). And do not worry about limited seating for the show, we even included an Auditorium to accommodate a big audience.

Paint your sky with fireworks

What kind of festival would it be without fireworks closing the night? Actually, let us rephrase that – what kind of End of an Era Pack would it be without fireworks celebrating the support you’ve showed us for the past 5 years? These fireworks will paint your Anno sky with our gratitude and appreciation, as well as… flying pigs and unicorns? (Editor’s note: no animals or magical creatures were harmed during the production of this CDLC)

Q&A with Laura

And now, it is time for our favourite part: Q&A with the Art Team! We asked some questions to Laura, Prop Artist and CDLC Overlord™ on Anno, to get some insights on the creative process behind the End of an Era Pack.

Q: It seems that you had a lot of fun creating this pack! What were the main sources of inspiration for it?

A: So, after some brainstorming the decision was made: we wanted to go out with a big festive bang, a celebration of Anno and the Players and since it would release around Christmas time the first source of inspiration had to be fairy lights, lots of lights in the dark, like a Christmas Wonderland kind of theme. But the idea of another Christmas Package didn`t quite do it for us, so we went ahead and made it into, what I call, “a crazy unicorn festival of lights, flowers and dancing“. Luckily, I had been to Tokyo earlier in the year and took away quite some inspiration from the teamLab Exposition, which is an amazing thing, everybody who can go see, do it! So, in short, the main sources of inspiration would be a mad mix of Christmas Wonderland sparkle and the fantastic teamLab Tokyo.

Q: What was the hardest ornament or skin to create? Why?

A: In terms of designing, the hardest were actually the tiny festive stalls. We have so many stalls in the game already, it was quite hard to come up with something completely new. So, after initial rather tame designs, I decided to go more bonkers with this and make them out to be weird, dreamy flowers from the top view, which in the end fit in quite well with the flowery overall theme.

Q: This CDLC is filled with content, which ornament or skin is your favourite? Is there a particular reason?

A: I think I have two favourites. The first will be the blue lights tunnel with the goldfish “swimming through”, just because I would love to go through there in real life, sit down and just endlessly look at it. The second one are the waterlilies. They just look so pretty, better even in the dark and if precious production time was spent with a darkened monitor and only those lilies on the screen staring back at me…. It was…. Ehm… I was quality checking them, yeah…

Q: How was it to work on the last CDLC for Anno 1800? It’s literally the end of an era!

A: Working on it was great, as is true for most of the CDLCs. It’s true though that this time around there was mixed in a hint of sadness, to let my precious CDLC-babies go, to let go of my self-organised authoritarian overlord state, and the uncertainty of what would come next-task wise didn`t help either. But there was also relief, because it grew so hard to come up with new, purely cosmetic ideas. So, it was a cocktail of emotions, but staring at the waterlilies soothed about everything.

Q: Flying pigs fireworks?! We love them! But why?

A: Well…. Only when the pigs learn to fly, will there be an end to Anno 1800!

Q: How complex was it to create the theatre ornament?

A: The Theatre was a self-evolving, not-certain-to-be-created-at-all kind of thing. We wanted to have a really big festive tent as a main attraction, but it ended up looking a lot like a circus tent no matter what. And I had been having this idea to bring the credits into the CDLC (because “The End”…), so I just threw the two of them together, the big tent with the theatre stage in front of it and there it was. What was a bit tedious was the animation of the puppets, which I did frame by frame imitating the exact movie animation. That took a lot of endurance… But the result was quite worthwhile, I think. So yes, it was the most complex ornament to do in this package, but also the most rewarding.

Q: Which Anno 1800 CDLC would you combine with this one to decorate your own city?

A: Well, this is something that I do really like about this package in particular, that it is so very universally combinable with a lot of the stuff we already have in the game. Be it the Holiday -, the Amusement -, the City Lights -Pack or the Seasonal Decorations, even the Chinese New Year Pack CDLC or the ornaments from the High Life DLC, you can just build a huge festival throughout the city, throw in basically everything: the madder, the better.

What’s left to say? We could write words and words about how weird it feels to be writing the last DevBlog for Anno 1800, and how bittersweet it is to be at the end of this journey – but that’s for another day.

The End of an Era Pack will be available starting December 5th on PC and Consoles, for the usual price of 4.99€ or your regional equivalent.

We cannot wait to admire your festival-ready cities in Anno 1800!

List of full content

• Musical stage
• Auditorium
• Dance Floor
• Beer tent (2 variants)
• Lily Pond Lights (4 variants)
• Dazzling Dandelions (3 variants)
• Wisp Lanterns (4 variants)
• Fairy Flowers (4 variants)
• Flowery Funfair Stall (2 variants)
• Unicorn Funfair Stall (2 variants)
• Cocktail Bar
• Sunflower Swing
• Aquatic Streetlights (2 variants)
• Fireworks Podium (2 variants)
• Aquatic Light Tunnel (3 variants)
• Festive Light Tunnel
• Funfair Arch (3 variants)
• Balloon Pole (2 variants)
• Flower Power Flag
• Large Banner (4 variants)
• Bunting (2 variants)
• Sun Gate
• Umbrella Seats (4 variants)
• Iluminatree (3 variants)
• Parade Pavement (4 variants)
• Glowing Garlands (3 variants)
• Festive Skin – Engineers Residence
• Festive Skin – Investors Residence

Hey Anno Community,

Prepare yourself a cup of steamy tea and get ready for a nice read because today, after much teasing, it is finally time to dive into our upcoming Cosmetic DLC: the Steampunk Pack! If you watched our End-of the-Year livestream back in December, you might have noticed a small teaser that redirected you to a mysterious page set up by none other than Old Nate, who was secretly “leaking” important information and clues on the content of the Steampunk Pack. Safe to say we got that situation under control now… right?

Unreal new skins

The focus of this Cosmetic DLC is innovation and progress, which perfectly marries with the overall vibe of Anno 1800 and the Industrial Revolution era. However, with the Steampunk Pack, you’ll discover a new peculiar side to the age of innovation: steam-powered machinery and aesthetics, highly advanced, but quite unnecessary in application. This was the humorous twist that Laura – Prop Artist on Anno and self-appointed CDLC Overlord – wanted to give to this pack, and we are all for it. The Dragonfly Man taking off to the sky from the “Unreal University” is a perfect example of this, don’t you think?

The University building is not the only one receiving a new skin with the Steampunk Pack. This pack also includes skins for the Investors’ residences and the Church, that will be transformed into the “Temple of Progress”: considering the huge telescope towering over the building, the name sounds like perfect fit. Who knows what they will find?

It’s all in the details

Is it getting steamy in here or is there a bath house in your city? The biggest ornament of this CDLC is the Steam Spa, the place that will make your residents relax and forget about their daily worries. Plus, it’s all automated! Of course, the Steam Spa is only one of the many ornaments in this pack, all characterised by moving clogs and wheels, almost mesmerising your residents: from a beautiful Celestial Fountain surrounded by bubbly steam to a small aquarium hosting the most exotic underwater creatures. However, one statue reigns supreme in this pack: Eva.Porator, an ornament that emblematically symbolises one of the biggest inspirations of this pack, Metropolis – a German science-fiction film from the 1920s.

Celestial tiling and bronze lining

Needless to say, we are obsessed with the colour theme in this pack: from the metallic shades of bronze and gold shining under the light of the sun to the celestial blues of the ground tiles and building windows. This colour  in the different tiles, as well: not just one, but three different tiles for you to build the perfect paths and plazas around your cities.

All aboard the New Era Express!

It wouldn’t be a Steampunk Pack worthy of its name without a train skin, don’t you think? Well, in this CDLC you get two of them! The “Steamliner” and the “New Era Express”. And speaking of means of transport, the flagship is completely unrecognisable with the “Nautilus” skin, a beautiful reference to the fictional submarine belonging to Captain Nemo in Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas”.

The Steampunk Pack will be available starting 14th May on PC and consoles, for the usual price of 4.99€ or your regional equivalent.

If you’d like to see the new ornaments in action before that, we recommend watching our birthday livestream VOD, where we had a first look at the full pack with the guidance of its creator, Laura.

We cannot wait to admire your cities decorated with the Steampunk Pack!

List of full content

• Eccentric Overpass
• Celestial fountain
• Eva.Porator
• Steam O’Clock
• Aquarium
• Adver-Turner
• Steam Spa
• Celestial Tiles, three types
• Steam Pipe
• Investors residence skins
• “Temple of Progress” Church skin
• “Steamliner” Train skin
• “New Era Express” train skin
• “Nautilus” Flagship skin
• “Unreal University” University skin

Boo, Anno Community – happy Halloween!

What better day to finally showcase one of the most awaited Cosmetic DLCs of all time in the history of Anno 1800? This is not a drill, you read that right in the title – our next Cosmetic DLC will be the Eldritch Pack! Those of you who have been following us for a long time have probably seen this name pop up a couple of times in the past, mostly during the Community Vote for CDLCs – and you probably know that it holds a special place in the hearts of the Anno team.

Last week, you might have seen a small teaser of what you will find in this new Cosmetic DLC, but are you ready to be spooked and let yourself get carried away by glimmering lights, twisted trees and gargoyle statues? If your answer is yes, then…

… Something wicked this way comes!

Forgotten places, mysterious statues and Gothic architecture

Let’s start with one of our favourite ornaments from this pack: nothing screams Eldritch (pun intended) more than the Forgotten Abbey you saw in our teaser, don’t you think? It seems that this place has been abandoned for years, becoming a distant echo of the past. Left in ruins, now overrun by nature and eerie tranquillity. Is that all there is? Those green, flickering lights on the quiet surface of the water suggest something else…

The Eldritch Pack would not be complete without gothic statues: did anybody say Gargoyles? Not only is there a Gargoyle statue in the pack, but you can also spot some gargoyles on the Gothic Fence, standing tall and peering into your deepest thoughts. Not to mention the majesty of the Statue of Lady Morningstar. Look at all that grace! 

For all the fans of gothic architecture and style in the Anno Community: this pack will be undoubtedly a dream – or a nightmare, if you prefer – come true. Once you decorate your cities with the new ornaments, you will find yourself wandering around the Dreamspire at dusk or sitting at the Wishing Well hoping for your desires to become reality.

Gothic ornaments call for Gothic building skins

Do not get fooled by the cheerful atmosphere around the Old Inn, as the thick fog can bewilder anyone when they least expect it. The Worker and Artisan residences, on the other hand, are surrounded by a strange tranquillity. However, we heard rumours about… ghosts? Weird figures have been spotted creeping into the night, making our residents’ dreams less sweet and more frightening.

Even the Hospital now seems to be changed, somehow. Is it just us, or does it look even more imposing than before? A thick, mysterious haziness surrounds it, hiding all its secrets from prying eyes. 

After all this ornaments & skins talk, it is time for our favourite part: Q&A with the Art Team! We asked some questions to Laura, Prop Artist on Anno, to get some insights on the creative process behind the Eldritch Pack.

What’s left to say? Get ready for a treat – no tricks here, promise – because the Eldritch Pack Cosmetic DLC will be available starting from 14th November on PC and consoles, for usual price of 4,99€ or your regional equivalent.

We cannot wait to see your spooktacular creations with the new Eldritch ornaments, we can sense they are going to be terrifying – in the most amazing way, of course.

We hope you are looking forward to the CDLC release as much as we are! For the bravest and the detectives amongst all of you, a quest awaits: will you find all the secrets hiding within the Eldritch Pack?

List of full content

• Forgotten Abbey
• Dreamspire
• Cathedral Square
• Wishing Well
• Dead Tree
• Twisted Tree
• Gargoyle
• Statue of Lady Morningstar
• Fiery Lantern
• Fire Pit
• Stone Bench
• Nostalgic Pavement (3 variants)
• Ornate Pavement
• Gothic Fence (modular system)
• Black Gate
• Victorian Skin for Worker residence (4 models)
• Victorian Skin for Artisan residence (4 models)
• “Old Inn” Pub Skin
• “Asylum” Hospital Skin

Hey Anno Community,

Please grab your walking sticks and the picnic basket, we’re going on a hiking trip!

With the “National Park” Pack we’re leaving the city completely and are looking at the wild side of your islands – you left some space for recreation, right? In the Cosmetic DLC vote in 2021, the “Nature” Pack received many positive comments – and we also loved the idea of doing something different so much that it soon ended up in our plans for this year.

Along the hiking trail you might meet people sitting down to catch their breath or spot some wild animals, curious about who is making all the noise in their forest.

There also are some majestic trees to discover, as well as old ruins and grand rock formations.

And if the terrain just gets a little bit too rugged or swampy: Don’t worry, there are elevated boardwalks to keep your feet dry while providing a slightly better view on your surroundings.

Sometimes, however, you just want to sit down and grab a snack or simply rest for a moment. For that, you have multiple different options: A picnic in the forest, maybe even with pizza? Or do you rather want to sit down at the Hiker’s Hut and enjoy the reassuring feeling of having a roof over your head?

These more spontaneous rests aside, you certainly should not miss a visit to the “Eagle’s Nest” Café. Not only do they serve the probably the best coffee and cake in the whole national park, but the eponymous tower also offers a fantastic view over the area.

And what if it starts getting dark? Don’t worry, find a nice place to set up your tents, start a little fire and enjoy the sounds of nature. And if you made some friends along the way, why not set up a proper large campfire to share both food as well as spooky stories with them?

The lake system

Walking through the forest all day may of course become a bit tiring – you will want a refresher! And is it even a proper hiking trip if you’re not getting attacked by mosquitoes while camping? So, let us visit the lake now:

The “National Park” Pack comes with a modular lake system that lets you create both small rivers as well as larger bodies of water. Leave small islands in the lake – and maybe connect them with bridges for any adventurous hiker to reach. You can pick between 3 different bridge sizes, crossing 1, 2 or 3 tiles of water.

A lake with such a mountain panorama makes for a great view, don’t you think? Simply plop down a few tents for the full camping experience. Just beware of bears…

“How long is the hike going to last? Are we there yet?” we hear you asking. Well, the “National Park” Pack is planned to release on Tuesday, August 22^nd. It’s going to be available for the usual price of 5€ – or regional equivalent – on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, the Ubisoft Store, Steam and Epic.

And as usual, we encourage you to check the descriptions of the individual ornaments by selecting them – only this way you learn about the great lightning storm of 1602!

We’re looking forward to what you’re going to create with these new ornaments. Maybe the “National Park” works well with elements of the “Old Town” Pack?

List of all ornaments

Below you can find a list of all ornaments of the “National Park” Pack Cosmetic DLC.

• Trail Brunch – a picnic with friends and family
• Pizza Picnic – What else would you bring on a hiking trip?
• Campsite – Two tents and a little campfire
• Tent
• Campfire
• Majestic Rock
• Eroded Rock
• “Eagle’s Nest” Café – Large forest café with watchtower
• Ruined Tower
• Feeding Station
• Hiker’s Hut
• Observation Point
• Wanderer’s Rest
• Gnarly Oak
• Ash
• Willow
• Trail Sign
• Small Wooden Bridge – crosses 1 tile of lake/canal
• Wooden Bridge – crosses 2 tiles of lake/canal
• Long Wooden Bridge – crosses 3 tiles of lake/canal
• Hiking Trail
• Boardwalk – a hiking path on stilts
• Lake – with dark or light grass
• Grass tile – light and dark

As part of our “What’s next for Anno 1800” blog from December last year, we also talked about our Cosmetic DLC plans – and teased the first of this year’s topics: The “Dragon Garden” Pack!

Today, let’s take a look at what you can soon add to your cities to celebrate the new Lunar Year.

Light up your city and create the right mood with a variety of lanterns: Both Lantern Gates as well as individual ones are highlights especially at night. The Wishing Tree, the perfect place to hang your New Year wishes, is also decorated with a set of bamboo lanterns.

And, of course, let’s not forget the (literal) highlight of the DLC: The Great Dragon itself, easily outshining the rest and making a great centre for the overall celebrations.

Nothing stands in the way of having the best start into the new Lunar Year (the year of the rabbit, by the way, not to be confused with the Rabbids).

Additionally, there are also some ornaments that don’t have as much of a festive character but can be used to create a (dragon-) garden or dedicated district. Starting with the Forbidden City Wall and Gate to frame such an area, you can place mighty stone Lions to protect the entrances. The Garden of Serenity or the Pagoda, on the other hand, are wonderful places to relax or to meet good friends.

With these new ornaments in your bag, you’ll be able to celebrate Lunar New Year in style – and can probably make Princess Qing very happy. We can’t wait to see your creations and designs!

The “Dragon Garden” Pack will release next week, on January 19th, for the usual price of 4,99€. You can find a list of all its ornaments below.

List of all ornaments

• Lantern gate (2 variants)
• Lamp Post
• Lucky Bamboo Lanterns
• New Year’s Lantern
• Fortune Coin Stand
• Wishing Tree (3 colour variants)
• Bronze Bell (with and without roof)
• Gong (with and without roof)
• Wishing Gate
• New Year Stall
• Peaceful Pagoda
• Forbidden City Wall (modular)
• Forbidden City Gate
• Garden of Serenity
• Stone Lion
• Great Dragon

Hey Anno Community,

Just a few weeks ago we shared a first glimpse of the upcoming “Old Town” Pack Cosmetic DLC with a picture of a well-known fountain. Today, we’re going to present you what exactly the “Old Town” Pack contains and how we let ourselves get inspired by our previous titles for this Cosmetic DLC in particular.

Let’s not forget: This theme is the winner of the Community Vote we held in May, coming out on top against the Nature Pack and the Eldritch Pack. You clearly hold our older games dear to your hearts, that’s always great to see for us.

That, of course, also made it clear to us that the nostalgia of our players is still very strong, and we would need to see what the best ways were of providing you options to create a little bit of a “medieval heart” in your cities. Cities, that otherwise clearly show the advancements of the 19^th century.

Conceptualising the Old Town Pack

Therefore, let us dive into the research and inspiration process that followed the Community Vote. After all, we had to align both our vision and ideas for the theme as well as your expectations to have a pack that scratches that nostalgia itch while fitting into the world of Anno 1800.

The first step was to gather some inspirations and get a feel for what an “Old Town Pack” should look like. Accordingly, our Art Team looked at old medieval German towns and castles first (which we got plenty of), and this part of the research ultimately led to the decision, that the pack should have walls and towers for some castle-feeling.

Other aspects came more naturally with the name of the pack: An Old Town would need buildings with a medieval look, meaning we would have to work on skins. While the exact number as well as the types of buildings receiving these skins were still discussed later, these two aspects (a wall system and various building skins) created the basis for the Old Town Pack. This is important to decide on early for us, since we of course want to offer a similar amount of content for each Cosmetic DLC.

Additional inspiration was drawn from Anno 1404 specifically. With Anno 1404 regularly being rated one of our players’ favourite titles, it became our focus, and we ultimately chose two particular ornaments from that game that we then recreated for Anno 1800. More on this in a bit.

From city walls…

We’ve mentioned a wall system, and it being a key feature of this pack, let’s take a closer look.

The town wall is a modular system like hedges or canals and allows you to, for example, create distinctive districts within your city or emphasize your city centre. Walls come in two variants: A covered and an open version. Plus, there are of course some gate houses and archways. The wall system even allows you to build small castles (we tried it!), especially in combination with the towers.

After all, no city wall would be worth its name without a few towers to stand guard from. Alternatively, you can also set them down on their own, serving as a reminder of older times in the middle of your town square, for example. And talking about reminders of the olden times: Nowadays, these towers serve primarily as an attraction for the local population, a great way to survey the town and feel the wind in your face when you can’t afford an apartment in one of those modern skyscrapers.

Furthermore, we also created a few smaller ornaments for your old town: Build the Hildegarden (a reference to “Hildegard of Bingen”, who you may not know about but should certainly read up on) for all your local herbal needs, build banners, cobblestone ground plates… and two references for the Anno 1404 veterans among you.

The “Large Statue” (that could very well be seen as a homage to the aforementioned Hildegard) and the “Fountain” (which simply took our fancy after seeing it in 1404) make their comeback in Anno 1800. Two old ornaments but freshly re-created for the 19^th century!

… to medieval Skins!

For the first time, this Cosmetic DLC comes with a mix of both ornaments as well as building skins. For that, we picked the Worker and Artisan residences, providing them with new skins for some medieval flair, emphasizing the half-timbered construction style very common still in older German houses, for example. And in Anno 1404 or 1503, of course!

Similarly, we read some comments about different skins for public buildings. And while the Market Place received a few new ones with the Vibrant Cities Pack last year, the Old Town Pack now allows you to put your Town Hall, Trade Union as well as some other buildings into the right style. For all these buildings you can try to imagine how they evolved from their medieval look to the one you’re used to from Anno 1800. The kids will surely appreciate the retro-look of their school!

And finally, one candidate we’re sure you’ll be looking forward to using in your cities:

The church receives a full model variation, with two instead of one church tower, different roofs and some changes to the surrounding park and cemetery. This rework, accordingly, was the most difficult part of the Cosmetic DLC, since it meant creating an entirely new building. However, it will probably also fit well into the non-medieval parts of your cities, don’t you think?

To conclude: No matter if you want to create a small “castle town” somewhere in the countryside or add some elements to your existing cities (like a city wall!) which remind your citizens of their town’s historic roots: We’re sure this pack will give you plenty of options to work with.

The “Old Town” Pack Cosmetic DLC will release on December 8^th for the usual price of 4,99€.

We can’t wait to see the screenshots of what you’ll be creating with these new ornaments and skins!

Happy city-building, Annoholics!