• Anno 1800
  • DevBlog

Multisession gameplay in Anno 1800

  • 14.09.2017

Time to get serious! As previously announced, we want to use the Anno Union to give you more insights into various aspects of Anno 1800. Starting things off is our Creative Director Dirk Riegert, who has been working on the series since the Anno 1701 days. In today’s extensive DevBlog, he will explain a core aspect of our new game: the multisession gameplay.

Our entire team is following the comments and feedback on the Anno Union with great interest and that of course includes myself. One topic that I keep coming across during my evening reading that many of you seem to have questions about is the so-called multisession gameplay. As we had always planned to start our proper DevBlogs with a meaty subject, this seemed like a perfect candidate to do so.

Looking back at Anno 2205

To be fully able to appreciate the changes we made to the system in Anno 1800, we first have to circle back a bit. Multisession gameplay is a fairly new element for the Anno series, as it was first introduced with our last game Anno 2205. This allowed players to connect several separate worlds (called “sessions”), and to transfer goods between them. Our goal for it was to create a larger, persistent game world while combining various different maps (in the case of 2205 for example, Earth and Moon). At the basic level, we were pretty happy with this new feature as it offered us many new game design possibilities. Moreover, players seemed to like it as well, voting the multisession gameplay as one of their favorite new elements of 2205 (alongside the ability to move buildings and production modules).

How can we go further?

Despite all that, our post-mortem analysis of Anno 2205 also showed us that there were many avenues where we could go even further to improve the multisession gameplay beyond that game’s implementation, as the expansion of the game across several sessions had some big implications. We identified four main parts that we wanted to address to ensure that the multisession gameplay fully met our expectations.

  1. Gameplay freedom
  2. The size of the game world
  3. A focus on your home session
  4. The game world’s integrity

To spoil the good news- we have made major improvements to each one of these aspects. So read on for much more details how we achieved this.

A question of freedom

The gameplay freedom to do as you please within the provided systems has been a core pillar of the Anno philosophy since we started with 1602. However, the multisession gameplay implementation in Anno 2205 did not fully deliver on this, as players were quickly required to settle in additional sessions to progress in the game. While it was possible to stay in your first session for as long as you wanted, this effectively limited your game progress. This lead to some players feeling limited in their ability to play Anno the way they want to, including the option of moving to additional sessions at their own pace (or not at all, even).

One session? Multiple sessions? It is up to you!

By comparison, the multisession gameplay in Anno 1800 is a lot more flexible. From a certain point on, players will be able to decide if they want to move to a new session. We know that exploration and that sense of discovery it instils are important aspects for some of our players, so we want to allow you relatively early on to set out and discover not only new islands, but also new sessions.

But there are also those players who prefer a “my home is my castle” approach, and who are more reluctant to move beyond their home island. These players prefer to make the move to another session much later in the game, once they feel fully familiar and comfortable with the gameplay. Allowing this flexibility is important for us with Anno 1800.

We are even going further to allow for those players who would prefer to only play on their starting map, as we aim to make the move to a second session entirely optional. We expect that the vast majority of players will spread out after a certain point to fully experience the full breadth of gameplay, but we will enable players to stick to their home session by focusing on trade to acquire other goods. As a side note, we currently plan to limit the classic multiplayer experience to one large session for 2-4 players.

Size matters after all

Fully understanding our goals for the multisession gameplay requires us to dive a bit into hard numbers. Staying forever in on one map is all nice and dandy- but only if it delivers the intended gameplay fantasy. For example, while the individual islands in Anno 2205 were much bigger than in previous Anno games, the maps were in turn much smaller. To see a concrete example, take a look at this graph, showing the respective to scale sizes of the game worlds in Anno 2070 (comparable to Anno 1404), Anno 2205 and our plans for Anno 1800.

As you can see, Anno 2205 had the smallest game worlds at 800×800 grids (grids being the name we use for the square units you build on). The worlds of Anno 1404 and 2070 were comparatively much bigger at 1200×1200 grids. And with Anno 1800, we take it a step further with massive 1600×1600 grid worlds.

For those of you hoping (or maybe fearing) that this means that the game world has also proportionally grown, we present this next graph, which shows the distribution of islands you can build on in the world. Whereas Anno 2070 offered around 25 islands per map, Anno 2205 reduced the number to five islands on average (we made some post-release changes with free patches and DLCs). With Anno 1800, we are going back to an island count that is more comparable to 2070 and 1404, offering up to 4 players (be they human or AI) enough space to advance to the highest civilization level. The reason that the world is comparatively bigger is that we have increased the size of the islands (especially your starting islands) to allow for more buildings, mountains that are more impressive and our huge monument. Thanks to these changes, each session should offer players enough space to for a full-fledged Anno experience. Which begs the question why we are even bringing back sessions? I am glad you asked!

A safe harbor

Similarly to how the fantasy of settling on the Moon drove the decision for the multisession gameplay in Anno 2205, our new setting in the age of industrialization and imperialism will also benefit from allowing players to move beyond their home map. We consider the players first session as kind of a home base, where their capital city will be located, and where they meets their allies and foes. After taking roots there, they are free to spread out and extend their area of influence to other regions.

Thanks to the inclusion of the multisession gameplay, we are not limited to your stating session when it comes to breathing life into the game world. After all, what proper empire would be limited to just one map?

On the other hand, we don’t want players to have to spread themselves too thin across to many sessions, leading to constant switching between them as could be the case in Anno 2205. This is why we will be very careful with the introduction of additional sessions. Our current plan is that we will offer a second big session beyond our stating map at launch. Here we are following the notion that sometimes less is more. This especially the case as (as explained above) the individual sessions are far larger and offer more gameplay than they did in 2205.

And while our restraint when it comes to the number of initial sessions is primarily driven by gameplay considerations, it comes with some has technical benefits. We were able to minimize the loading times between sessions, as they are simulated in parallel (after an initial load when you start).

The integrity of the game world

The last point of focus when it comes to improving the multisession gameplay in 1800 is the integrity of gameplay. This was an issue in 2205 as some of the typical Anno elements did not come together in a satisfying away, which sis something that we aim to rectify with 1800.

For example, there was a lack of immersion when it came to the transportation of goods, as they were not really transported from A to B, and rather managed via abstract balance sheets. To fit into the world of the 19th century, all goods in Anno 1800 once again exist as physical items that need to be transported between locations. This happens with the classic carts on the islands, and of course with ships when it comes to transportation between islands. And we are paying a lot of attention to the changes that happened to shipping during the industrialization, as time is an important factor during shipping. And not just between islands, but of course all when sending your transport ships between different sessions.

Also, contrary to Anno 2205, military engagements are no longer taking place in special “event sessions”. They are once again part of the main session in Anno 1800. How exactly these engagements work and what role multisession gameplay has there is however a topic for another DevBlog.

What do you think?

Now that I have spent two and a half hours typing up this in-depth answer to all of your questions regarding the multisession gameplay, it is your turn- we want your feedback!

This this DevBog help you to get a clearer picture of where we are headed with Anno 1800? What sounds most exciting to you, and what aspects of the multisession gameplay are you worried about? Would you personally prefer to stick to your home session, or are you more interested in exploring to world to its fullest? We look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks and until next time,

Dirk, Creative Cart Pusher

Comments

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74 Comments
  1. K Kingaidan02

    Really looking forward to the session gameplay, a hybrid between the traditional anno map experience and it will hopefully only add another fantastic key element on to the game.

    I’m excited to see what environments these sessions will occur in? Perhaps based on the scramble for Africa or other colonial regions.

  2. D Daniel4anno

    As a die hard fan of rts games, The Settlers and the old Caesar games by Sierra and a new comer to the Anno series I’m absolute in love with the idea of multisession, I’m going to buy a €1500 pc just to play this game.

  3. O OptimaForma

    Horrible. The fact you have not learned from 2205 strikes me. No sessions. No immersion breaking switching to another map. I know it takes a lot of RAM memory, i do not care. No sessions. Guess i won’t buy this one as well, maybe you learn then

  4. h haraserh

    Greetings, well well…well..
    Also, contrary to Anno 2205, military engagements are no longer taking place in special “event sessions”. They are once again part of the main session in Anno 1800. How exactly these engagements work and what role multisession gameplay has there is however a topic for another DevBlog.

    For those of you hoping ( redacted all that ) I am glad you asked! ///**

    All i have to say its : it BETTER be like it was in anno 2070 settle, expansion, build,whatever,whatnot,and combat ALL on one map ALL at the same time…exactly like anno 2070 it was perfect.

  5. r ruuti0

    I like this new multiple sesssions idea! Can’t wait that I can more about it or play it myself!

    I also liked that you are making bigger maps, map system was great in 2070, maps could been just bigger and now it is happening!

    I am wondering that are you planning add more regions/biomes to 1800? There could be anything from sand to tundra and it would work! Hopefully we see more different regions in one map than before! (Only wish but still 🙂

  6. S Sandi.V.

    I’m thrilled about all the new changes and returning back to the roots of the anno series and all the upcoming improvements. I salute them.
    But let me get another word about the ocean itself … Yes, about the ocean 🙂

    I’ve been playing an ANNO series for years, I love it. Its essence has always been in economics, development and naval power. The rule over the oceans!

    But last time I saw the ocean was in ANNO 1701. In all other ANNOs, I only saw watermarks. ANNO 1701 was the last one to have an ocean. Large spacious area with wide sea and horizon in the distance.
    In all new ANNOs you can observe from one island to another, separated by the river only …
    We’re talking about bigger maps in the upcoming ANNO 1800 and I’m excited about it, but what about the oceans?
    The islands are placed far too close

    It always seemed to me that the ships in ANNO were his heart, and the ocean was his lungs. Spacious ocean, which separates islands from one another, gives the ship its magic.

    THEREFORE, MY PROPOSALS:

    – In the last few articles, I noticed that the concept of the wind will be included in the game. Fantastic!
    If the oceans in ANNO were larger, this concept could expand. On the vast broad sea, the wind could turn into smaller and larger storms that could
    1. damaged ships,
    2. Sinking ships and
    3. changed their direction

    Spacious and larger Oceans also represent further trade routes and a touch of adventure when the ship is on its way. And, of course, a hint of risk that has always been present throughout history.

    The concept of the arrangement of the islands could be in the form of archipelagos with a maximum of 2-4 islands. Many archipelagos would be separated from one another by the wide ocean.

    These are only small suggestions that would conjure the magic of the sea.
    And the larger oceans, as we had in the ANNO 1701, would return the lungs to the series.
    So, I hope that bigger oceans will once again grab the horizon in the series.

    With best regards

  7. M MasterMind99999

    Yes ! finnally bigger map for a real co-op & territory fight 🙂 , i hope many thing about this news anno 1800 and a bigger map is surely one of them .

  8. B Black_birt

    Hello,

    My first question would be, what will be the technical requirements for Anno 1800. I don’t want to go through the painful experience like with Anno 2205. I was hoping so much for it’s release until I found out that my laptop wasn’t able to handle it (the graphic card wasn’t strong enough). It took until this years summer until I could afford to buy a new laptop, this time it has the second strongest graphic card that was available last summer. Now I hope 12 GB RAM would be enough for ANNO 1800.

    Back to the main point, I also found the new function of sessions a serious improvement. (However the most important improvement is still the possibility to move buildings). The lack of different maps (the random chosen maps) was the thing I missed the most. And what happened with wars in ANNO 2205, it disappeared and it was replaced with… OK, I stay silent, everyone knows this issue.

    I feel great that we can go back in the past with ANNO 1800. This feels more like ANNO and with the promises that Blue Byte is giving now I’m really looking forward too it.

    What I’m really happy with is that we have trains in the new ANNO 1800, I found it a missing thing in the last two ANNO’s.

    One thing I hope that it’s possible to build a separate island that operates without trade routes and is still profitabele. It’s an old habit that I have from the old games of ANNO to make independent islands to use as back-up if trouble comes( war, disaster, etc.) and the stable income from it is also welcome.

    Now I still have a few questions:
    – Do the different sessions have a different climate? This is something I’m hoping for a long time that their are more than one climate.
    – Is their one or more than one faction?
    – How many level have the people in you’re cities? The usual four or five? I hope their isn’t a level like in ANNO 2205 that doesn’t generate an income.
    – Is their a neutral point like the arc in ANNO 2070 or some central point in the session for the trade routes or can we make trade routes directly from an island in a session to another island in another session?
    – Will ANNO 1800 be released in early winter 2018 or in late winter 2018? I want know this because I will probably move in the middle of the winter 2018. So, I need to know where I can pre-order it when it’s available for pre-order (I prefer to buy a physical copy of ANNO 1800, an online purchase like I did with ANNO 2205 took way to long to download. I took a couple of hours for downloading and no it’s not my internet that is slow).
    – Are their some rare materials that you can collect in the game, like with ANNO 2205.
    – Do you need enough workers in the cities, or does that system with workers from ANNO 2205 disappear?
    – Is their a concept of tourist with an hotel or something in it, so you can transport people from on to another island?

    I think I’ve asked more than enough questions and the rest of them to be a surprise.

    With kind regards,
    Black_birt

    • A Anno Community Team

      Lots of questions! Let us answer some of them:

      My first question would be, what will be the technical requirements for Anno 1800.

      Do the different sessions have a different climate? This is something I’m hoping for a long time that their are more than one climate.

      We don’t know yet, as the game is still being developed. Suffice to say, once we’re closer to launch, we will reveal details about that.

      Will ANNO 1800 be released in early winter 2018 or in late winter 2018?

      For now, we just have Winter 2018. We will get more precise when we move closer to launch. Same with pre-order options, those will get nailed down once we’re at launch.

      As for your other questions, we’ve noted them down and you might see them on a Blogpost. 🙂

  9. B BiA_Dark_Blade

    Hello, when I read this text so I´m very happy. Because everything what was wrong in Anno 2205 will be repair. Real goods, fight in normal map, multiplayer …!
    Multiple session and bigger maps are good ideas and Your thinking about it is right way. Possibility settle new session is here, but decisions is in players hands. It is really good way. But please implement normal trade road between session (build ship and harbor – create trade road, or something similar) – same system as in Anno 2205 was bad.

  10. g globus5000

    hop on co-op like in anno 1404

  11. k kbwerx

    my last PC based version was Anno 2070. i then moved over to Anno Online and got addicted there. from reading many comments i sense most have not played or referenced Anno Online, where the “multi-session” mode was essentially built in by quickly loading new islands for development of resources, production and trade between the islands.

    i was tempted to do Anno 2205 but, like 2070 i found that the so-called “futuristic” civilizations and technologies were basically an approximate idealized projection of the present technologies and social situations. frankly i found it quite ludicrous to view 200 years into the the future and find we are still dependent on “rocket” propulsion transport, when even it has already been acknowledged by the US military that “electro-gravitic” aka “anti-gravity” technology is already implemented on the B2 bombers and presumably on the classified transport, too (hence the long-overdue retirement of space shuttle). same goes for Vortal Teleportation (not quantum like in Star Trek) via portals and wormholes. thus 2205 was big disappointment IMHO and not worth the investment of time and money.

    so back to the past in Anno 1800 is looking great, so far.

  12. Q Quetzalc0atl.

    Exploration to find new session or new islands and looking for goods and blueprints (legendary building, know-how).

    Multi-sessions (best loading speed as possible).

    Multi-sessions with 1200×1200 maps is good.

    Freedom with trade.

    Random session tipologies (temperate, polar, desert).

    Multi-sessions goods chain.

    Single session military engagements (like anno 2070).

    Multi-sessions military engagements (big five war like risiko).

    Side missions with multi-sessions dynamics.

    I want mission “find the person” back and more complex.

    Italian subtitles.

  13. s sbauman2014

    The reason the multisession gameplay worked in Anno 2205 is that the sessions all felt distinctly different. Building in the arctic or moon had an entirely different setup and resources from developing in a temperate zone. I hope that the same mentality of changing the feel and available resources of each session is taken. Building and connecting three identical cities with the same resources won’t be as fun.

  14. I ImperatorAD

    Greetings o/

    I absolutely love the logistic aspect of anno games, spreading out productions and setting up trade networks was always my most favourite part. I am very excited to see a return of physical goods. And the possibility of trains on the now larger island just makes me giddy with excitement.

    I never really liked the multi-sessions in the last game. The difference in style and change in mechanics was good, but the lack of connection kind of threw me off. I hope the reduced loading times and now once again physical transport of wares will make them feel connected.

    Keep up the good work o7

    • A Anno Community Team

      Thanks a lot for the feedback, Imperator!

  15. M Mendahor

    This sounds very exciting ! I will certainly “stay at home” for a while before going to explore the world, but when I will feel the need for change, I will be happy to go for a new session instead of restarting a new game.

    To me, the main drawback of multisessions (as designed in 2205) is the loading time : my PC is decent and my loading time is very short (only a few seconds), BUT these “only a few seconds” are just enough to break the immersivity : I don’t feel like I’m on my way to make important decision in my other session/realm/continent/colony, I just feel like I’m waiting for my game to load, let me build a module to increase my production needed for my first session, then waiting again for my game to load while returning to my first session.

    I understand from this post that this is on its way to be adressed in a certain way, but if some (even few) loading is required, here is a little tip I’d like to see in 1800 : simply change the loading percentage by a cinematic where we are on a ship on the ocean, on his way to the new session. When we reach 80% of the loading, we see the coast at the horizon. This will keep us immersive. You could discretly show the loading percentage on a board instrument (compass, …)

  16. a anno607

    I alwasys loved the exploring, and i was happy to hear in anno2205 to have miltymaps. But i did mis the islands and ships routes. I am a player that will build large cities but i am always struggling with room for the resources needed for all does people. So i am happy to see more islands, and more room.

  17. J Jeffgray213

    Im so pumped for this! I thought i was the only one that didnt care for the futuristic stuff. This one could have been better if it was more in the past. But its looking like it will be great especially with the map size. Ive always wanted a more advanced 1404 with bigger map and even better graphics. 1404 venice is the best game in the series, I still play it alot.

  18. s shop75A5D6D7C

    Can we, please, have some sort animation on ships of people and etc…

  19. s sapps36

    Future events.
    A simple adventure trail with reefs and sandbanks having say special trinkets/maps etc Thus opening up the adventurers chronicle of their journey so forming a challenge for groups and an aid to grow individually.

    ‘An idea formed can grow into a weed or a tree as it depends on the dreamers effort in hope’

  20. C CaptainArgo42

    Sounds good and all, especially the way you’re going to handle multi-session. The bigger maps and what you do with them sounds good too, but just be careful not to make the islands too big, as something i really enjoyed in 2070 and 1404 was space management.

  21. o olblf

    Dear developers,

    Please, please, please make all the achievements reward giving. In 1404 it didn’t matter how small the achievement was, you always earned “gems” from it, which gave a huge replayability! Both 2070 and 2205 was missing this feature and most of the achievements felt unnecessary.

    Thank you!

  22. L Lioti_67

    I’m so thrilled that goods will be once again transportable from one island to an other, and even from one session to an other ! I also strongly feel that you’ve made the right decision by reducing the number of multisessions to 2 – even though 3 would be quite correct – and develop them to give the player a better and more in-depth gameplay, so they can stay in one session for hours, just like in 1404. I’d say 2070 was a perfect example of what you’re trying to acheive this time in terms of not wanting to brake the gameplay : going underwater and then surfacing up to work on your islands is a feature with great fluidity, and it didn’t feel like you were disconnected from the surface, although one could lose track for hours trying to optimize these small underwater plateaus !

    Thanks for bringing back the military features which were extremely poor in 2205. I mean come on guys, you could have done better, when you look at what you did in 1701 and 1404 ! But I do understand the dilema you were in, as you couldn’t possibly have retained every possible feature from previous games while moving on a new plateform for the game. I’m hoping to see some kind of advanced dimplomacy, spying and research (Anno 2205 and 1701 were very good in this matter, but could always be improved) systems. Also, don’t be miserly in the ability to change the visual appearances of buildings, and parks : more choice is always better in terms of polishing your city. Having the possibility to build not just 3 monuments would be good as well.

    I’ve been playing Anno since my childhood, from 1602 to 2205, and I couldn’t be more excited than I am now ! The industrial period allows for a lot of buildings to be built, trading and delivery system to manage, and interesting goods to produce. I hope there will be a very wide choice of goods to produce. I felt that Anno 2205 had on this aspect a great balance, though I felt I wanted to produce a little more with possibly new needs at the last population tier. I’m convinced that something amazingly amazing will come out of these upcoming months !

    Just one question : will modules still be kept in Anno 1800? This was a feature I very much liked in Anno 2205, and I would love to see them again in the new game !

  23. o olblf

    Two questions!

    1:
    Will the AI play on the same terms as you (like they did in 1404) or will they, for example, not have to build residential buildings (like in Anno 2070)? I prefer the first alternative, since it allows for combat options like blockades of their harbors to starve them out.

    2:
    I realize that it’s probably too early for you to answer, but will there be in land battles (like in 1404) or will the combat only be naval (like in 2205)? (Once again 1404 was better.) And I also have a follow up question:

    2.2:
    In one of the trailers there was a few seconds of some sort of police force fighting protesters. Will this (fingers crossed) be a new part of the combat gameplay, like you in 1404 had to deal with bandits if you didn’t take care of your beggars?

    Thanks in advance! 🙂

  24. c chgolover1

    I am excited that you are going back in time for this new game. I wasn’t interested in playing the games set in the future. It seems that you will be handling the 1800 like you did with 1701, 1404, etc. I like it that the warfare, trading, etc would be all in one session. or like in 1701 Make it as much like these older games as possible and I will be very happy.

  25. P Prince_Diego

    Really excited about the direction this game is going. What an amazing turn around from the direction of the previous game. You mention traditionally multiplayer which is great, but I hope you still allow two players to control the same faction through the campaign and during sessions.

    Just the ability for two players to work together made 2070 an amazing game to play with friends!

    • m moving_average

      I would really like to second this comment, even if we are limited to a single session. Working together with my partner or friends to build and administer different parts of the same faction was very satisfying.

  26. M Mr_Boatyface

    Woah, being able to have multiple sessions sound really exiting to me, especially if there would be different climates (and therefore fertilities) in different sessions. This system sounds like something you will find sort of difficult at first, since you have to switch between different ‘maps’, if I understand correctly. However, it is a whole new challenge to discover and conquer, and that’s what ANNO is all about!

  27. A AgronaAlecto

    To be honest I would not mind having more sessions from the start. I do not mind loading times or switching between sessions. But everything else sound great!

  28. c clesius

    Merci pour ce blog !
    Ca fait vraiment plaisir de voir que les fans ne sont pas mis à l’écart, je vous suis avec intérêt.

  29. C ClemensX

    I am getting all hyped up for the game now.
    This is what i wanted to hear.
    especially the part about freedom of play and the management of physical goods.
    But I am still curious about the plans of transporting goods between sessions.
    I woud love it to be so you would have to sent physical ships that take a certain amount of time (like real ships would) and set up trade routes between special inter-sector harbors in both sectors with bigger ocean steadfast ships. That would realy make my day.

  30. d diddle783

    thxs for this post, most of the time i like to play alone so happy that that option is also in the game. i hope this version will also be a little bit like 1701/1404 so there will be plenty of time to play also as single player

  31. f fredlangva

    A most excellent blog entry addressing a number of our most major concerns. I imagine that additional sessions would be offered further along the game as you progress which would be a great incentive to expand.

    I haven’t really played multiplayer as I got into 2070 rather late in the game. I hope that I may have a chance to beta test 1800 to try out the exciting new features.

    I hope that you put a delay in the transfer of goods from one session to another to represent the distances and to add the challenge of supply chain management.

  32. w wildrems

    Great! that’s the main issue i had with 2205, I hate the way multi session were handle. again great idea to keep the multi session for exploration, already hope for indigenous inhabitant and in land battle. (I hope)
    Love that you but back the one main sessionfor expansion and trading, hope the other AI will compete there as well.

  33. t thaatom

    Woah loved to read it!

    My biggest fear for a new anno would be that it would lose its charm and i believe with the things you stated in this post will remediate it! Especially the feeling of transporting was doing my taxes i didnt like about 2205.

    I will start it up again soon because i only played vanilla.

    Regarding multi sessions. I love the way your going. What i would love to see is that maybe you need develope some technology to go to your first nee session en discover what kind of biome it is. Than bases on that i would like to see that you scientists would have to develope new technology to be able to settle there. And later on maybe the ability to sens a ship out to discover a new area when the player is ready. Than have a bunch of different biome.
    Also a thing i always liked is that you first see your settlement develop from poor and basic to more abundant and rich and then i love it when you can move an era. So maybe start the industrilisation later in the gameplay.

  34. A AgmasGold

    Will there be neutral powers (and quest lines associated with them) in Anno 1800?

    If you complete the prerequisites for a quest-line in a different session – would you still get the quest from the neutral power in the current session?

    •   Bastian Thun

      There is a lot of content and features which intertwine with multi session gameplay. We will go more into detail when we give the certain features their own DevBlog spotlight.

  35. A Arkenophas

    Nice devblog ! What you said was amzing, but I’m a little afraid about the map size :/ I will see in game, but it may be a problem with the quest, it can take a lot of time to go to a point to an other.
    But I’m happy to see the return of the army, multisession maps and all the points you said 🙂

    •   Bastian Thun

      Having a satisfying flow with quests and the game speed is an important aspect. We will also have a variety of quests but more about that later. Playtests will surely help to get feedback about the game flow and experience from our community.

  36. S Swimming-Paul

    I would also like to know more about the shape of the islands. The preview included in this post shows islands with a very rounded shape, but I wonder if this is the way they´re going to look in the final game.

    I remember how it was possible to choose the “difficulty” of the islands in Anno 1404, so we could use islands with very intricate and irregular shapes, which I personally enjoyed very much. It would be very beautiful if we could have very irregular islands again, or islands which are composed by several smaller islands which can be connected with bridges ala Anno 2205.

  37. B Boldzmann

    Thanks for the detailed information. I liked very much to read. Sumptuously!
    I want to know more about that
    1. Will there be a different climatic zone in different sessions?
    2. Will there be different kinds of fertile resources on different islands in one session?
    3. I want to add an AI player to the card, not only at the
    beginning of the game but also later, at any time. If conditions
    allow for its development. It’s possible?

  38. N Nephenthos

    Dear Dev Team,

    first of all! Thanks for all this information in such an early stage of the game development.

    now then … multi session! one of the good new features of anno 2205, or was it???
    the problem with multi session in anno 2205 like you said yourself is that it REQUIRED you to keep switching between your sessions.

    but for 1800 it almost seems like the optional session is just an expansion of your starting map. my question here is: you are talking about physical goods transportation, does this mean that theres also physical good transportation between sessions? ( example: in session 2 goods get loaded onto a ship, the ship then goes to the edge of the map and onto the big ocean. a few minutes later it shows up at the edge of session 1 where it can go to its destination island and drop off its goods )

    next up i wanted to talk about something i have been hoping for since anno 1503.
    in 1503 you have these small patches of ice/snow in the north. i remember venturing out to those edges of the map to be able to get some lamp oil and other climate exclusive stuff. then later on in 1701 and 1404 you had the green islands and sort of desert islands. are you guys planning on adding multiple climates again? will this be multi session ? why im asking this now is because i dont think multiple climates will be put on 1 map. but on the other hand you dont want to force players to go multi session. i myself really liked the northpole aspect with a few eskimos and some rare resources. yes anno 2205 had a snow area but it just didnt feel the same.

    back to the physical goods transportation!
    like a few other commenters also acknowledged, you have been talking about good carts and of course the ships. but i have seen a train a few times in your presentation on gamescom. so immediatly i started brainstorming… if you have these islands… you cannot transfer goods from 1 island to the other by train. does this mean we will get inner island goods transportation. ( example: in the past you could unload a barrel of fish on the left side of your island in a warehouse and immediatly after the people on the right side of the island took the barrel of fish out of the marketplace.) how did that barrel of fish get from warehouse left to marketplace right? are we going to see transports between warehouses and marketplaces?
    ive been brainstorming about how this could work out and i’m just too eager to find out.

    alright, lets finnish this comment.

    – Multi-Session: i like it! but im very pleased to see people are able to stick to 1 area
    ( point of concern: multiple climates will probably be multi sessioned. this might mean that there will only be 1 climate??? )

    – Bigger Maps: i like it! 2070/1404 was big enough for me but ive maxed out those maps before. seems fun too see how far i can push it this time ^^

    – Physical Goods Transportation: i dont like it…. I LOVE IT!!! this is THE feature ive been missing. setting up all those trade routes and seeing all those dots on your mini map going from one island to the next… that was one of the best features of ANNO! glad to see its back!

    – Military Aspect: i have never been the more war driven agressive player in ANNO but if you decide to make war it feels extremely good to just crush an enemy settlement. not only was the infantry military gone… the military itself in 2205 didnt feel satisfying at all… really happy to see that war is back on the main island and this also means that you have to strategically place buildings/walls/towers in and around your city.

    I’ve been player and big time FAN since 1602 and so far this ANNO seems to be one hell of a game! Thanks for all the information so far! i really hope this feedback is usefull to you guys. and i think i can speak for everyone in the community, if you need help with any feedback, testing or whatever, we are always happy to help out.

    Lets make this the best ANNO, Together!

  39. R Ristonhawk

    First comment of something that quickly stuck out to me:
    Anno 2205 has 9 800×800 sessions = 5.76M tiles
    Anno 1800 proposal is 2 1600×1600 sessions = 5.12M tiles

    Second topic of something that stuck out: What about Trains!! Carts and Ships?? You must have purposely excluded trains in the blog…maybe next devblog…

    Lets focus on the topic, Multi Session. I’m loving it for all the reasons mentioned. But what will be special about them individually? (I’m guessing you guys have ideas) Will I want to go to the second session and get more of the same gameplay as my last 80 hours?
    – Will the new sessions have different Biome distributions (ie session 2 is 80% orient)
    – Will a new session be 90% inhabited and therefore be more confrontational?
    – etc.

    Second: My Wish to optionally add more randomly generated sessions. Ok so we will get two sessions with well polished features to explore, I’m 130 hours in and loving it but have unfortunately filled each tile to the brim. I’m not going to start a new game. I want to add more randomly generated sessions, and not wait for DLC. They don’t need to be anything special, or maybe if they are I can configure them so they aren’t so random, for example I want an 80% orient session so I select that slider option upon generating. This would allow me to have my insane 17 session game, where I make one session all of my Agriculture, just because its a different challenge.

    Thirdly: you are right about session loading, this wasn’t a super big issue for me, but I admit, Session Load time affected my decision making as I played the game. (to avoid it if possible)

    Forth: Don’t be bashful about monitizing new sessions as DLC if they are “special” when compared to a randomly generated session, I think this game lends itself very well to a DLC model. Maybe experiment with $3 or $5 meaningful add-ons as opposed to exclusively $15 add-ons. I think the 2205 controversy was blown out of proportion, I thought your messaging was clear for the season pass. But the perception of a pre order “gold edition” would need to leave the door open that it doesn’t include every future expansion if that is going to be the case. We want as much content as possible!

    Fifth: Can randomly generated sessions have a seed number such as in 2070 sandbox? I would like to be able to browse community seeds so I can cherry pick my 17 different sessions.

    Sixth: Warning, crazy talk. User created maps(sessions), maybe a map generator tool. Internet downloadable blank sessions or even importing some amazing built up session someone else created into my pre existing 17 session world. This would be insane.

    Other topics saved for future devblogs! Thanks for reading.

    On a final note: The first Ironclad warship came out in 1862!!!!

    • s sbauman2014

      I agree that randomly generated or seeded maps will increase the game’s longevity. Anno 2205 having only a limited number of maps to explore and build on definitely shortened my enjoyment of the game.

  40. M MinneIceCube

    You still haven’t answered a burning question that I have. are the maps randomly generated?

    • N Nephenthos

      during the presentation on gamescom, ive almost 100% certain they were talking about the maps being randomly generated.

      •   Bastian Thun

        Hold my b……coffee, I will make sure you get a satisfying answer to your burning question in the next QnA part of the Union Update.

        • D DrBillySK

          I really hope that the maps will be randomly generated. One of the reason I never player 2205 second time was that it felt like I’m going to do the exact same thing again.

          The second reason is that 2205 was extremely easy even on the highest difficulty and it soon became boring because there was no real challenge to solve. I hope that in 1800, we will need to manually plan transportation routes.

          “…we have increased the size of the islands (especially your starting islands)…” – I wish there was an option to choose smaller starting islands to make the game more challenging.

          I understand that you are most likely instructed by the publisher to make a game for masses, so you need to make it easy. But what motivates me is the great feeling after I solve something challenging. If the game is too easy, there’s no challenge, which leads to no great feelings. No great feelings, no motivation to play the game.

          Thanks

  41. c crazycraigy

    so far so good lads but like others have said there must be other cultures on either the same map or differant sessions implying differant buildings differant products differant units differant climates and just as an idea but the 18th century was not only a time of expansion but idealogical conflict so why not create a system where by completion of a building of one idealogy blocks the creation of its idealogical opposite increaseing replayabilty hugely

    for instance
    scientific liberty creating an observatory but canceling theocratic pureity’s major religious building

    or

    communism or socialisms congress or welfare building barring capitalisms stock market or other finance building

    republic – monarchy
    democracy – despotism
    ect ect

    all haveing an effect on your gameplay and world ie bonuses to storage- public happyness – military strenght – production speed – tax intake ect

    just an idea

  42. i ilidiose

    i want this game like rigth now, but ok this Dvblog had let me know that you are working really hard to do a game with the most valuable aspects from the others. Thank you so much! really hope that you still working like this and make this blogs to let us know how is going everything.

    Best wishes and keep going like this.

  43. b banan1996.1996

    I really enjoyed reading this, it is exactly the kind of devblogs I hoped to see. Now we clearly know what you plan to do with multisession feature.

    I am really excited about even bigger worlds and more place to build my empire. But islands do not seem much bigger in Anno 1800 than in 2070. They are bigger but not as much bigger as I would hope. For me it looks as if there was just more water and more room between islands, islands are just more spread out. The world in 2070 seems to be more “dense” in islands than in 1800. I wish you made islands in 1800 even bigger than they are right now. And I didn’t like that starting islands were always around the center of the map in Anno 2070, I think they should be always in different random places but I guess they are looking at the map of Anno 1800.

    About the multisession feature – I really liked it in Anno 2205 so I am happy to see it in 1800. I will definitely be interested in exploring everything and every session though I will still be focused on my home session and trying to create a huge metropolis there. I am very curious if the other sessions will be in different climate zones involving different cultures like Orient in Anno 1404 or will it be another European-like island world. That is the biggest question for me. I would prefer another climate, I would love to be able to create my own colony in the other session. After reading: “but we will enable players to stick to their home session by focusing on trade to acquire other goods” I assume that indeed there will be a difference between those sessions and that we can’t produce everything in our first home session. I am looking forward to learning more about how the other session will look like.

    I would like to see more than two sessions at launch though. Are you going to add more sessions with future patches or DLCs? Two feels too few for me. There were too many sessions in Anno 2205 as well. For me around five-six sessions would be the best. As you said we don’t have to switch between them constantly like in 2205 so even long loading times won’t bother me.

    I am glad that multiplayer will only include one session, I was really concerned about how you plan to include both multiplayer and multisession features.

    You briefly mentioned AI players and it reminded me of one issue that is very important for me. I hope that AI players will build real cities like in Anno 1404 and not like in Anno 2070. That they won’t cheat that much and that they won’t stop their growth at some weird point, I have never seen any AI in Anno 1404 building their cathedral or even historic warehouses.

    I really love reading those devblogs, I already want to play Anno 1800 so much, I am so excited. It will be really difficult for me to wait more than one year for the next Anno as I already feel it will be the best Anno game 🙂

  44. S Swimming-Paul

    Size enough to build “our huge monument”? Does that mean that there´s only going to be one monument? I´m not sure if this will be addressed on a different DevBlog, but I´m going to be extremely disapointed if there are no plans to include several monuments in Anno 1800.

    I´m also wondering if this article implies that there´s only going to be one type of civilization. How is this game to be bigger than previous Anno games if the production chains are not going to require players to import and export goods from different types of regions so you can produce the most sophisticated goods in later stages of the game?

  45. j jjalexander

    Can you add the Anno 1404 map in the comparison?

  46. t timhageman

    One question that is not answered in the blog: Is the map generated at the beginning of the game (like most anno games), or is the map fixed and always the same (like anno 2205)? Having generated maps for the sectors would greatly increase replayability (although I must say I really liked the thematics of the 2205 maps).

    • b banan1996.1996

      In DevBlog: Our Vision it was already mentioned that maps will be generated randomly.

  47. k kristo256

    So far looks quite good, however how would this apply in multiplayer gameplay? The post lacks any mention of the multiplayer aside for the maps being meant for 2-4 players. How would it work in multiplayer then (I know, i’m repeating myself), Is it simply turned off? is it possible to turn on? Wouldn’t the changing of the sessions cause a massive lag spike in the game? or does it increase the load on the computer by simultaneously loading them both at the same time which seems like a really ineffective way to go about it.

    • b banan1996.1996

      “As a side note, we currently plan to limit the classic multiplayer experience to one large session for 2-4 players.”
      There is already an answer to your question. “One large session” so no multisession feature in multiplayer.

  48. C Caritas77

    I am not much on multiplayer. But for this blog and the things you explain, I am just proud to be a fan.

  49. F FHackner

    Bigger map – Check
    Possibility to expand to another map – Check
    Multiple big islands that you can colonize – Check
    Shipment management – Check
    battle in the same map – Check
    option to either settle your own expansion or to just trade – check

    Im loving it!

    just really curious if the islands will have different properties between them like resources and fertilities.

  50. B BlueBreath

    I think the way you chose to tackle the multisessions is the best way possible, diplomatically speaking. It should satisfy every type of player.

    Speaking for myself off course I will be interested to expand at some point. Also the way you presented the map size it means we might have different Computers Players in the starting map and in the other maps. I mean by that let’s say AI 1 in starting map and AI 2 in the expansion map?

    Hmm so this could point to the fact that you consider sending ships in expeditions to a new adventure map?

    • C ClemensX

      I realy like your idea of being able to send ships on to expeditions to Explore other maps and or a special adventure (quest) map. It totaly fits the time period.

  51. V VDluger

    Carts, physical goods, large multisession worlds, real 19th century looks, I’m getting a craving for 1800! The progression seems on point and amazing. Just bring back the oldschool Anno 1404 co-op sessions and you are done! 😀 #BlueByteRocks!

  52. T Transistorm

    I love this idea for sessions, one to two big sessions to keep things focued instead of all over the map/sessions.

    Idea: have expedition encounters as small maps which you can choose to participate in but are otherwise auto-resolved? (Somewhat of a blend between Empire:TW resource points, Anno 2205 military encounter and Anno 1404 Expedition/trade) So you could have a chance of using the navy and massive income to wrestle exotic goods from the natives and foil plans of other industrial nations.

  53. T Twidlledee

    Looks good! My most recent Anno game is 1404 so I don’t understand all about the multisession stuff but it sounds like what would happen back in those times. I was wondering how that 1600×1600 map world compares to an Anno 1404 world?

    • p palemale53

      According to the blog, the 1404 and 2070 maps were about the same size, i.e. 1200×1200. So, the 1800 map is about twice the area, but about the same number of islands.

  54. d depotop3

    firstly thanks for this devblog, really looking forward to all this!!

    What I would like to see from a military perspective is that it would be possible to wage a war in one of the other sessions without having to worry about being attacked in your main session.

    Here are all your trading routes and is your money made, so being attacked here will make you fragile. I personally am one of those this is my castle and leave me alone players, but I also like to wage war without having to worry that afterwards having to clean up and losing a lot of money because one of my goods are not being transported anymore.

    Hope you guys will create something were there are small enemies on other sessions (like pirates) which you could attack and have fun with.

    Also what I loved so much were the small ai events on the islands in anno 1404. The trading posts or castles. Hoping for them to return.

    Thanks for this post again, loved to read it.

    • C ClemensX

      So you would like to wage war but have no consequences 😉 Althoug I get what you mean. You don’t want to be attact in one sector while playing in an other. But in real war if you move your whole amy to the front and leave no one to defend the main City’s you are vulnerable. Waging war (especialy as an imperialist nation) should not be taken lichtly and always have consequences.

  55. d dethzero

    Liking the idea of getting back to 1404/2070 island structure and multi-session sound great if we can to expand to another huge island cluster location.

    I really did not like the 2205 trading/resource management. Can we get back to 1404/2070 style? Maybe even expand on it as different multi-session worlds will have a special resource needed to complete a grand project?

  56. R RotS-Targe

    Ok, I was pretty skeptical of multi-session on 1800, but I really like the route you’re going here. Having it completely optional is great, honestly I’m not sure how much I’ll be using it, but it sounds like I might branch into it a bit later ^^ I’m going to love the bigger map, that’s for sure, and it sounds like we’ll have a bit more room on the islands, and that’s great! I remember seeing in 1404, people were able to cover their entire home island in houses, and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do in 2070, but could never quite manage and still balance needs.
    When we take a look at how shipping works, I’d love a look at multi-session shipping routes as well.
    Main question I have now, will there be different NPC harbors (like the other Arcs in 2070) in the second session? How will AI players handle the second session?
    Thank you!

  57. O OrhunTheHun

    I giggled like a 13 year old girl while reading this… Not much to add as it already sounds great and the right way to proceed for an awesome Anno game…

    Keep it up please! 🙂

  58. p palemale53

    Thanks for investing your time! This is a most interesting blog, and you have given me great insight in the direction things are going. I am pleased with the direction you are have chosen, back to your roots vs 2205.

    Will the maps have different geographic regions, as they did in the earlier games, or will they be more like 2070/2205 with each session pretty much having one climate? I grew up in central Africa, and I would dearly love to see more of the savannah, not just green plains and grey mountains.

    As I see it now, the plan is for a 2070 type world, with pretty much a single climate but each session having a different climate.

  59. O Olinater

    This simply looks AMAZING! I’ll be honost, I was a bit sceptical about the return of the multisession gameplay but this post takes all my worries away. Not only that but it makes multisession look like one of the best things that could happen to Anno! All the possibilities it offers, really looking forward to explore beyond my (huge) home region and discover new islands and maybe some other civilizations (like in 1503). Setting up trading posts in the new world or in Asia (just some ideas).
    One question I have: will all the islands in a session have the same kind of climate, or will we see more diversity?
    Really interested in how things get optimized enought to make such a huge game work on average PC’s. Thanks for the long post, enjoyed reading it 🙂

  60. C Com-mu-nism

    Props for this post, ‘s great! 😀

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