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DevBlog: The Anno world and authenticity
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“If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.”
― Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
“They make a desert and call it peace.”
—Tacitus, Roman Historian, quoting the Scottish chieftain Calgacus.
As announced with the reveal of Anno 117: Pax Romana just a few weeks ago, we’ll be taking you on a journey through the development of our game over the months until release.
Today, we’ve asked our Senior Game Writer, Matt Cook, to lead us through the world of Anno 117 and how we create Anno worlds inspired by ancient history.
Pax Romana
117 AD. A time of peace… mostly.
The Roman bubble has expanded to bursting, swallowing territory from the Atlantic coast to the fertile crescent in the east. Rome has absorbed countless societies and cultures through conquest, that it is now obliged to call part of Rome, whether or not it is able to govern them.
Gone are the days of powerful voices in the Senate on such matters—ambitious officials gather instead around the Emperor’s throne; a seat easy to fall into, easier still to fall out of. Under the Pax Romana, these Emperors look to consolidate and build. Great projects are now no longer just for the city of Rome. In distant provinces, new cities (neapoles) are springing up to gather local taxes, feats of engineering are undertaken— walls, bridges, aqueducts. This is a global roman template, urban and geometric, to be unboxed wherever Rome is sovereign.
Ambitions for the provinces such as these, fuel decadent fashions back home. Like blood around the body, the heart of the empire controls the flow of goods, luxuries, technology. Its people have demands that must be met!
But some of these fringe provinces, Albion chief among them, are like the wild west. Governed by displaced indigenes, washed-up soldiers, outlaws, and you the player, the freedoms on offer here, don’t yet outnumber the dangers.
To the Romans, Albion is a land of both poverty and opportunity— underdeveloped, but strong in horses, metals and metalworking expertise. As a Roman Governor, you preside over a wilderness, and a people whose culture long pre-dates your own—how will you rule? How open will you be to their ways?
Inspiration vs. Authenticity
The broad outline described above shouldn’t be too contentious to historians, but how much do we stick to history in the actual game? In short, the answer is: we need to cherry-pick and take liberties with the history to keep the game FUN.
Anno is a world of islands. It has no real-world place names, no real-world people, no strict measure, even, of the passing of time. This immediately paints a picture of a parallel universe that does not necessarily have to follow the rules of our own world – while still feeling real!
Roman buildings you’ll see in game are both meticulously researched by the artists, but also products of artistic liberty and design requirements. As for Celtic buildings, sometimes an artist’s guess may anyway be as good as a historian’s. We must always remind ourselves that we are dealing with a period of history about which evidence is often limited.
Still, we designers are committed to sound research, and keen to incorporate as much detail, large and small, that we think creates a true (and fun!) impression of the time period. From beliefs to technological exchanges, we aim to show how Rome’s provinces began to invert the identity of Rome itself.
Naturally we invest in creating plausible historical characters too. We decided, for instance, that we want female characters to play a greater role in our parallel version of history than they did back in Roman times (Everything in the history points to a deeply patriarchal society in which women had very little power or freedom). Nevertheless, we strive to make them appear in roles that have some credibility, though in at least one case we break the rules entirely, simply because we like the idea of doing so. This is the trump card in Anno, reserved for the moments a better version of the game needs us to let go of realism.
The Provinces
Latium
With its serene breezes, azure coves, fields of wheat and lavender, Latium is a forgotten treasure of a province, close to the heart of the empire. Years ago, a volcanic eruption devastated local cities, driving people away from the province, allowing nature to take over.
Now, in the time of the Pax Romana, many officials, including the Emperor, question why such a gem should remain deserted for old superstitions. In their view it is time for renewal: for new cities to spring up where nature ran riot, for the curse of history to be buried once and for all. Surely, with its beaches, villas and marinas, this place will make the perfect retreat for the wealthy of Rome, and be the perfect opportunity for an upcoming Governor to make a name for themselves.
Superficially, it’s paradise, the epitome of Roman Italy— tranquil, restful, a place of luxury and for pleasure-seekers looking to swim with the dolphins. Still, the brighter the summer, the thicker the shade: mysterious forces operate below the surface here, that may at first go unnoticed.
Albion
Roman invaders first encountered the white cliffs of Albion generations ago. Several times they attempted to master the marsh-ridden land and its warlike people, never entirely managing to do so.
When they want to prove themselves, Emperors always look to Albion for triumph and trophies because expeditions to Albion are like mythic quests to Romans. To them, the Celts appear as far removed from civilisation as anything in the imagination.
Still, on paper, they call Albion a Roman province, and exports of strange culinary delicacies plucked with grimy hands from its muddy mires are becoming ever more popular back home—call it a taste of the exotic.
Celts just do everything differently, and while the Romans consider some of them beastly barbarians, they are at the same time fascinated by their craft and ideas, and have no compunctions taking what they need from them, if it works.
As for the Celts, those who come to your cities in Albion in search of shelter may no longer have a tribe or a place to call home. For although the Romans have brought destruction to their door, they also offer peace (a very rare thing in those days), education, warm baths and best of all…wine!
We hope this article also sets your imagination loose and we’re curious: What was your first thought on seeing the announcement of Anno 117: Pax Romana? Which event, theme or even personality was your first association for the Roman Empire and its provinces? We’re looking forward to your comments!
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Im looking forward to see how religion will impact gameplay and, of course, which Jorgensen (or Jorgensus?) will be part of the next anno game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_ancient_Rome
Hispania with abundance of minerals (Gold, Silver and Chalcopyrite).
And agricultural products such as Wheat, Wine and Olive Oil.
Wow, if the map is accurate to the game, there is so much potential to the other regions for DLCs and Scenarios. Like ingame Byzantium having a big continental landmass or helping in rebuilding of ingame Corinth. Establishing new trade routes with Egypt or surviving deserts of Mauritania.
The Roman Empire… Albion… Willing female characters to be better represented than what we know of Antiquity…
Even if it’s nearly six decades too late for 117 (and it badly ended for her), why does that all scream to me the name of Boudica? 😉
Or from Albion, sail a bit to the west (and one century earlier, bend the story a bit) for the sake of another source of inspiration: the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Cú Chulainn didn’t simply snap his fingers to instantly become a warrior; it took Scáthach’s guidance and training! Maybe something to be imagined from her? A neutral power (like 1800’s Isabel for the New World) welcoming you into Albion, doubtful about the foreign Roman governor, ready to put them to the test, lethal should they prove hostile (hence the statu quo for the neutral power), ultimately training said governor to fit the needs of Albion?
Staying on the same theme but in a different geographical area, now you’re making me hoping for a Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea)-inspired expansion later on! I mean, if distorting History a bit is fine to actually find sources of inspiration, why not also think of the Amazons? Staying away from the myths such as Heracles’, some works state -although up to ~300 BCE- they were found in Pontus (modern day northeastern Turkey), moving later on to the north of the Caucasian mountains past Colchis & Iberia territories of yore (modern day Georgia)… and then if speaking of Colchis, I can only immediately think neither of Jason & the Argonauts but rather of Colchis’ princess, Medea, as one of my favorite female characters in theater (definitely read Euripides’ play named after her, at least for the French translation the character left that strong an impact in my memory)!
While I’m on the topic of the Pontus Euxinus & the Amazons, no avoiding other works mentioning them amongst Scythian territories. More sources of inspiration for this region! Even more to be found as well in the northeastern shores (specifically northeast of the Azov Sea) and mixed with Tanais, its Hellene (Greek) population mingling with the Sarmatian nomads after the crumbling of the Scythians; the Sarmatians would be closer to 117 AD historical veracity with their presence across the Pontic-Caspian steppes (a vast steppe expanding roughly from modern day southwestern Ukraine to western Kazakhstan, including all the territories to the north of the Caucasus mountains) until the 4th century AD. I mean, when we mention the nomadic people it’s almost always about either Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) and the unified tribes under the Mongol banner or Attila (women in History: let’s quote Ildico, much to Attila’s dismay!) whose hordes weren’t only the Huns (rather Central Asian/Eastern European nomadic tribes at large) but also German tribes (many including later on the -goth suffix in their names); it could be a good opportunity to interest players in peoples that definitely aren’t pictured as often as the Romans or the Greeks, yet played a huge part both in opposing or trading with them – and maybe you see me coming with the real deal which would definitely fit Anno’s theme and 117’s era: the Silk Road!
Back to the topic, to the west of the Pontus Euxinus we could mention the Getae (and their relation to the Thracians & Dacians), and while it gets further away from the topic at hand (women in History, however I know nearly nothing about the western shores so there may actually be a womanly figure to mention) it’s definitely the proper period with Trajan’s campaigns and the Dacian/Sarmatian raids that would still occur during this very era of the early first century AD. Just don’t mention the falx; the lorica segmentata looks good on Trajan’s column, but the Romans had to re-equip hastily their armies against that terrific weapon! A real feat at the time, why not create a scenario inspired by that episode? And while we’re at it, a scenario edito- alright, I digress, I’m persistent with such a tool. But hey, you’re diving ever closer to the period of History that interests me, so I’m just letting ideas flow in on the go! 🙂
In essence, one sentence to sum it all up? I’m really looking forward to what you’re cooking up for us!
I do hope that, when you setlle an island in Anno 117, it will not have immediately 200 inhabitants of all different classes, like it is now in Anno 1800 in the New World. Or at least an option to toggle this on or off. I prefer the behaviour in Enbessa, where you build a trading post, and you then have to build houses to get some inhabitanbts.
I liked the balance you struck with Enbesa in 1800: Racism and colonisation were acknowledged, but allowed the player to experience a noble, wise, and proud African culture successfully navigating imperial interference with their sovereignty. I’d like to see this continue with 117 ie. Not overly idolising the great things about the Roman Empire we know and love (largely written by the Romans themselves) without a quiet nod to the conquest (violent suppression) and slavery (and probably perceived cultural superiority) upon which it was built.
Will there be something for those, who like when game is trying to stop me from “winning”? An option/mode which prevent me from producing everything from thin air (well – fish’n’docks and/or 0 workforce islands or overpowered specialists or … or …)?
Sometimes I like the peaceful game of Anno 1800, but challenge is also fun and tracking and avoiding all/most the exploits destroys the fun (opponents ignoring game rules too).
But apart from peace, education, warm baths and wine, what have the Romans ever done for us?!
Let’s not forget sanitation, medicine… and roads!
Undeveloped lands in Anno games were empty spaces with some resources. That totally makes sense as city builders. But it sounds like you mention something like…local threats and caltural antipathy? So interesting.
Also, I never miss the fact 117 is the first Anno set in the polytheistic world of course. It would provide many features on aesthetics and decisions
The section titled “Inspiration vs Authenticity” could serve as a general Primer for the design of any and all ‘historically based’ games, because no matter how ‘real’ the game tries to be, sooner or later someone has to decide whether to design on the side of Authenticity or Playability. In the past, Anno has done a very, very good job of providing the ‘feel’ of a period while not being slavishly tied to every detail of it.
Looking forward to your vision of Anno Rome!