Hey Anno Community,

With the mod browser now implemented for Anno 1800 on PC, adding community creations to your savegames has never been easier! We’ve been very happy with the reception following the release last week and hope many of you will give some of the fantastic creations from the Anno modding community a try – especially if you haven’t done so before.

Since we owe a big thank you to said modding community, we of course want to feature some of their creations on our channels. This of course includes the Anno Union, and today we’re not only featuring some mods, but also have an interview with their creator: Kurila!

Read on to learn how he got into modding and what he recommends to players who want to start creating mods.

Hey Kurila! Thank you for taking the time. Let’s start at the very beginning: How did you get into modding Anno 1800? What was the reason you started?

As is usually the case with modding, I wanted to try to implement my own wishes and ideas.

I had already modified existing mods before, but my first own mod was that farms with tractor barns have fast transporters like the electrified factories.

But that was only the start, as we know. What other kind of mods have you worked on so far?

So far, I have created mods that include completely new products and their production, such as smoked fish.

My aim has been to find a way to make fish interesting for engineers and investors.

I have also created mods that have expanded existing productions, for example, the production of schnapps and beer requires either clay or glass in addition to the existing products. Since their previous production was too simple for me.

But I have also created smaller mods that only involve minor changes, such as making the Arctic canteen also function as a warehouse.

Did you have any prior modding knowledge or specific skills (programming, 3D art, …) when starting to mod Anno?

I had no idea about modding at the beginning. I had been playing computer games since I was a child, but otherwise I had nothing to do with computer-related work. My beginnings with mods were with XCom2 where I had adapted values in existing mods, so it went on at the beginning also with Anno 1800.

But at some point, this was no longer enough to achieve my wishes and ideas, so I started to look at how I could achieve this myself.

So, having started from zero yourself, what would you advise someone who wanted to get into modding Anno themselves?

Not to be deterred because everything seems too complicated and incomprehensible.

You have to start small and then develop your work. Otherwise, it’s too easy to get caught up in complex processes without understanding the basic structure of the mods.

I was very sceptical at the beginning about trying to learn how to edit graphics as a person with no experience in 3d graphics, as it seemed so incredibly complex.

But with the help of other modders and their modding tools it is possible with patience and will to learn everything you need.

And, final question: is there something (new) you’re working on right now?

One of the mods I am currently working on is an extension of the production of clothing.

Sewing thread and Wool Fabric should have a relevant role in their production.

Thank you, Kurila! We’re looking forward to your future mods, making a complex game yet even more complicated 😉

At the end of today’s blog, we want to highlight one specific mod by Kurila, the “Production Works” one. In true industrial revolution spirit, this one is all about factories, adding for example a Cable Factory – with cables now being required for the construction of elevators as well as for the construction of various buildings, like Power Plants or Radio Towers.

Drinks now also need materials to produce the container it’s filled into: glass for bottles, wood for barrels etc.

You’ll also find more uses for Wanza Timber (from Land of Lions) in adjusted recipes as well as new needs for your population – like potatoes!

Check out Kurila’s mods on mod.io or search for his mods directly in the in-game mod browser.

You would like us to feature your mod in a future spotlight? Reach out to us here in the comments or on Discord!

Hey Anno Community,

it’s Tuesday, and release day! The new Cosmetic DLC National Park Pack is now available on all platforms (on Steam it will be available from 7PM CEST onwards as usual).

• Ubisoft Store
• PlayStation Store
• Xbox Store

Build dedicated parks for your citizens or simply add hiking paths and picnic opportunities to already existing forests on your islands – and create lakes and little streams. This CDLC is all about being outside in nature. For your people used to ever-growing cities and industrial smog, this should be the ideal opportunity to relax and unwind.

There’s more releasing today than just the National Park Pack, so, let’s take a look:

Release Notes

Together with the National Park Pack, we’re also releasing patches for both PC and Console.

On Consoles, it addresses an “out of memory” issue on PS5 and potential causes for desyncs on all consoles.

On PC, aside from addressing two exploits, the loading times of the game with mods have been drastically reduced and we fixed the unbuildable area on one of the New World islands.

You can find the full Release Notes for Consoles here and for PC by following this link.

Mod Browser

Very importantly, players on PC will now also be able to make full use of the new integrated mod browser thanks to mod.io!

Scroll through the available mods either on the mod.io page in your browser or – even easier – in the game directly! Subscribing to any mod of your choosing will trigger the download. Check for each savegame which mods are used and leave an update or a nice comment on the mod pages for their creators.

For you mod creators, we’d love to spotlight your creations ingame and on the Anno Union, so, don’t hesitate to upload them to mod.io, too!

Read more about the mod browser here.

We also set up a subpage right here on the Anno Union with the mod browser itself as well as links to FAQs with more information and redirections for further resources. Check it out: https://www.anno-union.com/mods/

Hey Anno Community,

Today’s Union Update will mainly focus on a selection of great community creations in the “Spotlight” but first we want to announce two upcoming Annoversary livestreams:

• The first will be an Anno 1503 livestream on this Friday, June 2nd, starting at 5PM CEST.
• And next week Friday (9th) we’ll be following it up with an Anno 1602 livestream.

Our 1701 stream will likely happen towards the end of the month – we’ll keep you updated!

Community Spotlight

Today we have a very diverse Community Spotlight for you with multiple different pieces of community creations.

Let’s start with screenshots of the latest Cosmetic DLC: The “Fiesta” Pack.

First we have Tom D. who turned into a big fan of the purple Jacaranda trees and promptly distributed them all over his growing settlement on Manola:

Following that, we want to share Ionovia’s night-time screenshots (one of which we also used as a banner for today’s post)– including celebratory fireworks:

We also really loved Johnnyvanderzwaag’s “Deer in the forest” artwork they shared on Reddit:

A very cool surprise was recently posted by Taubenangriff, who shared almost 10min of alpha gameplay footage from their “New Horizons” mod for Anno 1800:

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To change things up, we’re travelling to the moon with AnnoEffect’s picture of their moon crater settlement from Anno 2205:

Finally, to prove that you can have Anno-related fun even outside the game:

We received an email with a fantastic recreation of the palace from “Seat of Power” – in Lego! The two Anno fans spent multiple months of turning over 100,000 stones into a 80kg heavy palace complex – complete with statues, park elements and a fountain. We were thoroughly impressed!

Last but not least, we have a piece of Anno 1602 nostalgia: Moebius created a rock version of the track “In the Beginning” which you veterans will surely recognise immediately:

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Hey Anno Community,

It’s mid-April, the Anno 1800 Console Edition has been already out for one month, Game Update 17 is released… let’s give you a short news recap and a fantastic Community Spotlight in today’s Union Update.

Firstly: What about those Cosmetic DLC we mentioned earlier in the year? – Excellent question. As communicated previously, we still have 3 Cosmetic DLC releasing this year (both on PC and console), each focusing on aspects that may have been a bit neglected so far, when it comes to beautification.

We’ll have news and first pictures about the upcoming one (to be released in May) in the coming weeks – stay tuned!

Console & PC: Patches

We’ve also seen some questions about a patch for both the Console Edition as well as the PC version.

Right now, we’re working on a patch for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S to tackle some of the reports you sent us over the last weeks, like issues with the diplomacy menu, some crashes and graphical glitches.

On PC, while Game Update 17 was the last major update, we are investigating reports you sent us after the recent release to iron out problems like the always-visible version number or that some stamps are getting created with special characters which subsequently corrupts their file. We are planning to still address these, as well as any high-priority issues, with a patch.

We’ve also received some reports on desyncs on PC. As a workaround for the time being, please make sure that each players of your multiplayer match has started the game once after Game Update 17 and either changed some settings (graphics, audio, …) or loaded and saved the game. If you afterwards regularly close the game, the chance for desyncs should be significantly lower. Please also make sure that all participants either use exactly the same mods or have all mods deactivated before playing.

Keep an eye on the Anno Union and our social channels for news on the upcoming patches!

Annoverse Quiz Event

Finally, the team of the “Annoverse” Discord is soon holding an Annoversary event on their server, with quizes to all Anno titles – and you can win prizes if you can prove your knowledge! Head over the their Discord server and read more in the news and dedicated giveaway channels. It all starts on Monday, April 17th!

Modloader (PC)

Let’s also not forget about our “happy little accident” last week, when we released the integrated modloader for Anno 1800 on PC. This means, the game will now automatically recognise mods in your mod folder and load them for you. This means you won’t need the other one anymore – please delete the files and then verify your game files to prevent any conflicts.

We want both credit and thank meow/xforce (GitHub link), who created the original modloader you have been using for the last years – and whose code formed part of the basis of what we now added to the game. Your work has been an immense factor in enabling the modding community for our game as it is right now, thank you!

We take this opportunity to remind you that mods might cause issues with the game (bugs, glitches, potential blockers), especially when they haven’t been updated in a while. Therefore, please check for potential incompatibilities or ask around on the Modding Discord Server.

Community Spotlight

As you might already know, with the Annoversary Update we added the Stamp Feature to Anno 1800 (PC). In case you missed it, you can check out this blog  to better understand how it works. If you created your own stamps already, don’t forget to share them with the rest of the Community! For example, the Annoverse Discord server has created a dedicated channel where anyone can share their Stamps.

The Anno Community is very dedicated, as we already know for a long time, and reallymilo has created a portal where you can share your Anno Stamps with the rest of the community: https://annostamps.com/

Speaking of Annoversary Update, we’ve seen some of you have been celebrating with fireworks and and lovely decorations in your cities. We hope you keep the celebrations going for a while and keep sharing those screenshots with us!

Let’s start with Qurphi, who shared on Reddit this lovely composition for the celebration. Why a 4 in the middle, you might ask? Well, Anno 1800 turns 4 this Sunday!

Mithaldriel has shared quite a few screenshots on the Annoverse Discord to show off the ongoing celebrations. We chose the one portraying the lovely skyline by night, with the Annoversary fireworks brightening the night sky. What a view!

Would you like to see more Annoversary fireworks? MaxiMALER effekt shared this screenshot on Steam, with a stunning view of the Research Institute and the Iron Tower, while fireworks burst with colours in the starry night. Bravo!

That’s it for this week, dear Annholics. We wish you a great weekend!