So, what is the “Annoversary Update”?
The “Annoversary Update” is the last big free Game Update that we’re planning for Anno 1800 on PC (the update will not release for the Console Edition). It includes two larger new features, several quality-of-life improvements and a laaaarge number of bug fixes. As the name implies, it’s releasing just in time for the 25th Anniversary of the Anno series! That’s a quarter of a century full of Anno! Specifically, the release is planned for April 4th, and in addition to what we mentioned above, you can also look forward to a few surprises for the Annoversary in particular. We keep those for later. ???? Instead, let’s take a look at the contents of the Update.The Creative Mode
The Creative Mode is a completely separate game mode, an alternative to campaign or sandbox mode. Important to note here also is, that this is NOT the intended way to play Anno 1800 since it does not simulate a regular game. Instead, it’s a mode targeted towards our beauty building community, making it easier to build the city (or industrial district) of your dreams!
Accordingly, in Creative Mode, multiple core mechanics are disabled or changed, for example:
- Money is unlimited
- The influence system is deactivated
- You won’t have to worry about incidents
- Buildings don’t need a street connection, don’t have construction costs, and don’t require input goods or workforce to function
- Immediately place any type of residence building without needing to upgrade
- Place unlimited numbers of decorative versions of all monuments
- Place any of the Museum, Zoo or Botanical Garden exhibits freely without having to first acquire them
The Stamp Feature
Yes, this certainly is something we have seen being requested a lot over the years: A way to save layouts and use them again later or even in a different savegame. And that’s exactly what the Stamp Feature does. Like with the copy tool, you can select a number of buildings, streets, ornaments etc. that are then saved as a “stamp” in a separate menu. You can rename each stamp and select an icon (from any of the buildings included in the stamp) and there are folders you can sort your stamps into. To make things much easier, you can organize and rename your folders and stamps also outside the game in the Windows File Explorer. Additionally, this allows you to share your stamps with other players, for example on Reddit or Discord. Be it a perfect production layout or a beautiful park for your city, we’re already looking forward to seeing your creations. If a Stamp includes content that is either limited to the Creative Mode or part of a DLC you don’t own, you can still place it, but the unavailable objects are placed as blueprints and cannot be upgraded (or, in the case of DLC content: not until you own it).More Quality-of-Life Improvements
In addition to these changes, there are also some smaller quality-of-life improvements in this update, a quick selection below:- Roads can now be upgraded/downgraded via the upgrade tool, like regular buildings
- You’ll be able to enable fully colored minimap islands (an improvement we took from the Console Edition)
- In Warehouses and the expedition preparation menu you can now search for specific goods
- We’ve reworked the Happiness calculation for residences to better factor in Hotels/Tourists that previously had too little impact
- Some smaller improvements for our modding community
