DevBlog: Have it your way

Let’s start with the settings affecting your game world: Start World Size – A small archipelago for a quick match or a huge sandbox to play around in?

Island Difficulty – Harder islands will challenge your city planning with a higher density of mountains, smaller beaches, and rivers. Island Size – Many small islands for outposts or large-scale landmasses ?

Raw Materials – You said there isn’t enough copper on your island? A high amount of raw materials will not force you to expand as quickly and will, therefore, make the game easier.

Fertilities – Dictates how much of a factor the various fertilities your island can (not) have.

Next up are the various starting conditions, which can have a big impact on the speed and overall challenge of your game: Starting ships – Is your flagship enough or would you prefer a small fleet of trading vessels or a fleet of warships?

Starting Capital – The more money you have at the start of a game, the easier it is to establish your economy before getting into financial trouble.

Starting Harbor – Do you want to start with an already settled island, or do you prefer to establish your first Imperial Harbor on an island of your choice?

Revealed Map – Being able to follow the moves of your enemies or friends in multiplayer can speed up things quite a bit. After setting world and starting conditions, you also have some options to change the game’s rules: Income – Defines the ratio of how much money your residents generate.

Refund of Construction Costs – If you destroy buildings to make space for your new leisure park area, do you want to get some previously used materials?

Building relocation – Decide whether you want to be allowed to freely move buildings around, or if there should be an attached cost. Trading Post Restocking – Influences how quickly third-party characters will restock their trade goods on offer.

City Incidents – Some people want to see the world burn while others prefer a peaceful building experience without fires or riots. Inactive Upkeep – Turning it off will make the game significantly easier.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Anno game without a distinctive cast of characters. Choose up to three second-party AI characters as well as neutral factions such as traders or even those pesky pirates. Each character comes with their own personality, which also gives them their own difficulty rating.

And if you really like the world you find yourself in and want to share it with your friends, make sure that you note down the unique match seed code to recreate your experience at any time.