Anno Online: Preview (Gamemir 2013)

Fatigue at the end of the first day of the Igomir as a hand was removed when meeting with the producer of the MMO project Anno Online Marcus Stark (Markus Stark). He managed to charge the entire subsequent conversation with positive energy from the first words. It would seem that this can be invented in the classical setting of economic strategies Anno? At the German studio Ubisoft Blue Byte There was enough experience to answer this question-the developers decided to transfer their brainchild to online space and allow the players to get into the process of colonial urban development directly from the browser. Anno Online It works for the result and does not recruit advertising – a rather modest presentation was accompanied by a long story about the possibilities of the upcoming « browser ». Moreover, the Russian market has long been warmly met by such projects, so good chances here can be safely prophesied by almost any branch of the little-known series.

Old good Anno

More recently Anno Filled 15 years old. Over the years, we saw five amazing economic strategies in different eras, including conquering the future. The online version of the classical series combines the most interesting ideas and realizes them during the period of Europe’s development of new lands. The game distribution model is universal-Free-to-Play. To enter, only registration in the Uplay system will be required. Each player will have a path from the founding of a small village to the construction of giant cities with a large network of roads and production chains.

It so happened that in the hearts of our editorial office, browser games did not take root. However, the current Gamemir made some of us think about expanding our preferences. For example, until Marcus was taken out Anno Online From the full -screen mode, one would think that we have a full -format client in the person of the two -dimensional version of Anno 1404. The detailed drawing of cards, buildings and interface at first glance causes only enthusiastic exclamations.

The game process itself is the traditional construction of the colonies and the creation of production chains from the original. Old good Anno. But now she has trade in the world market, growing next door to the city, clans and guilds, and in the future there are also conflicts with other players. There is nothing to complain about.

Urban planning madness

IN Anno Online It has become much more difficult to Win Vegas Plus Casino attract the population. Players will have to constantly take care of the needs of the inhabitants of the island, requiring certain goods and places for overnight. Colonization begins with the creation of roads along which the ranks of the houses are built where the townspeople settle. Having equipped, they ask for goods for further development. Farmers, artisans and merchants settle in cities. When the latter are rich, the estate of the nobles appears.

Take, for example, farmers. So that they live and work in our colony, it is necessary to ensure the supply of fish as food, milk and woolen products for clothes. The chain of food production is already drawn: we put fish fishing and a corral for breeding goats. But with clothing it will be more difficult – the economy with sheep gives wool, but it must be processed using the mechanisms of the mill into clothes.

But, most likely, with such a scheme, we will get uneven production – fish can be much larger than milk, and wool, on the contrary, will be in short supply. Then the market will come to the rescue, where we will sell surpluses and buy the missing goods. Over time, residents will ask for a chapel or theater. The construction of the mint will create tax fees from farmers. Successful and busy settlers with good income move into artisan status.

Dedicated to veterans and beginners

Anyone who does not have a special love for economic strategies will probably consider all this too difficult. However, in fact Anno Online received a fairly low input threshold for beginners. It was noticeable during the presentation. Marcus himself paused the following: “It is unlikely, sitting somewhere in a stuffy office, the player will want to spend hours on training, so we created a system of knowledge Anno Online In a mild game form « . By the way, it is precisely this system that in the future will be laid the quest component, which will not be at the time of the release.

Marcus continued to deftly switch to various menu and talk about each gaming element. Series veterans will definitely feel in Anno Online Like at home. But they will have to face a characteristic feature of the MMO strategy: the more monumental the building you are going to build, the more long the expectation will be up to several days of real time. And forget about the « Accelerate » button! Having launched the process of building the cathedral, we leave the game and do our own affairs in real life, while the virtual colony will gradually approach the completion of the next grandiose structure.

Takes time and production. The sheepfire creates wool for several minutes, after which an animated figure of a man with a loaded cart carries raw materials to the mill, where it continues to be processed for several more minutes, and only then the miller takes the finished product to markets or warehouses. Therefore, it is important to think in advance in advance routes for the delivery of raw materials and finished products. On the example of a sheepfire, a full cycle takes from 10 minutes of real time. But in the game there are enough technologies for the « upgrade » manufactory. We will accelerate the farm or optimize the delivery of clothes at the mill – and our business in chocolate.

East India Company joint efforts

Only one island for settlement is originally available to the beginner colonialist. But in the future we will begin to discover dozens of coasts for ourselves, expanding our influence in the world market. Each new Earth promises exquisite wealth and opens unknown production chains. The spirit of adventure is characteristic Anno Online. The spaces of the sea are open to several types of ships, each of which is attached to the captain and officers. This can be a vessel of researchers, treasure hunter or just a merchant shuttle for the exchange of goods with friends.

Chat, internal mail, a list of friends and united guilds expand the economic and geographical expanses of this unknown world. The interaction between players does not come down to typical communication. On their own, merchant guilds help participants develop faster, increasing the activity of individual manufactories. The most dependent on the participation of players in the trade and pricing system. It is important to understand who and where it produces a scarce product. On its resale, an experienced Needbird will make a great fortune and will advance up the career ladder.

Currently project Ubisoft Blue Byte is still under development. Marcus Stark in no hurry to disclose all cards. Perhaps the most predictable question that he could expect from us concerned the reasons for the absence of a military component. Will it be possible that it will be too boring to trade and build without the opportunity to give Lule to your ignorant neighbor? Marcus assured us to the possibility of introducing a combat system in case of a successful release of the game. But at the same time noted the rich potential of the economic component of the series.

And here it is difficult to disagree with Marcus. Before the interview, I studied numerous German forums in finding the missing information on Anno Online. Closed beta test of the English version ended successfully at the beginning of the year. Players noted a wonderful balance and rich tools for creating unique cities. However, it seemed to me that the external gloss of the project was still outweighing his real possibilities. But still there is already something in it now that you want to return as soon as possible.