Software:Anno 1404

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Short description: 2009 city-building game
Anno 1404
Developer(s)Related Designs
Blue Byte
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Composer(s)David Christiansen
(Dynamedion)[1]
SeriesAnno
Platform(s)Windows
ReleaseJune 25, 2009[2][3][4]
Genre(s)City-building, business simulation, real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Anno 1404, known as Dawn of Discovery in North America, is a city-building and economic simulation game with real-time strategy elements, part of the Anno series. Released in 2009, it was developed by Related Designs, produced by Blue Byte, and published by Ubisoft. Anno 1404 is the sequel to Anno 1701 and is followed by the futuristic sequel Anno 2070. Though the game centers on a series of fictional events, the overall concept of the storyline is based upon real life aspects of medieval and renaissance history such as the Crusades, advancements in gothic architecture, construction of cathedrals, and hanseatic trade involving the rise of patrician merchants and early forms of capitalism.

An expansion, titled Anno 1404: Venice, which adds multiplayer and other features, was released on February 26, 2010.[5]

The game received several awards, including a Red Dot Design Award and the German Computer Game Award.

Gameplay

As with other Anno games, the player, at the will of their unnamed country of origin creates and manages their fief aside AI players. The player must colonize islands, plan settlements, set up factories and farms to meet their citizens' needs, enter diplomatic relationships with AI players, and engage in naval and ground combat with others.

One of the main focuses of the game in the "city building setting" sense centers on the construction of monuments, namely a Gothic cathedral and an Arabic mosque. The construction phases of these monuments are dependent on certain preconditions which have to be met in order to continue building. The player also needs to stockpile building material in order to commence such a project. The process of the construction of the cathedral resembles very closely the castle/palace (and Asian Dragon Temple) feature that was displayed in 1404's predecessor, Anno 1701.

Trade is an essential element of forward progress. Occidental populations can not grow past a certain level of success without Spice, and later Quartz, that can only be generated in Oriental lands. Although populations generate taxable income, it is difficult to generate enough gold to make meaningful capital investments without extensive trading. This is simplified by an automatic trading process that allows an island to make resources available to visiting merchant ships.

As players progress through the game, they gain access to naval vessels and troops which allow them to invade and ultimately to defeat other players. Anno 1404 features an updated interface, bigger islands and worlds to explore, a sandbox mode and other features new to the Anno series.[6]

New features

Anno 1404 has several new features that distinguish it from its three predecessors: These features include:

Occident and Orient

Anno 1404 differed from previous games in the series, by allowing players to build two different styles of settlements. The latter, set within the Orient, provides various items needed to help produce goods for the main style of settlement.

As was the case in Anno 1701, the game world is divided into two culturally distinct zones. In Anno 1404, these zones are inspired by, though not intended to be historically accurate to, northwestern Renaissance Europe and the medieval Near East, referred to as the Occident and the Orient respectively. One of the major differences between previous entries in the series and Anno 1404 is that players are required to build both occidental and oriental settlements simultaneously in order for the inhabitants of their settlements and available buildings to advance. Despite the addition of player-managed oriental settlements, the Occident remains the primary focus of the game. The Orient acts more of a trading partner in order for Occidental people to advance in class. In order for this to occur, Oriental goods such as spice, indigo and quartz must be produced and shipped from Oriental colonies.

Housing levels

There are a total of six levels of housing including both occidental and oriental settlements (one more than the levels included in Anno 1701). The four occidental levels are peasants, citizens, patricians and noblemen. The two oriental levels are nomads and envoys. In the Occident, the player starts by building peasant housing, and in the orient, the players start by building nomad housing, both of which advance when conditions are met. These conditions include the acquisition of goods as mentioned above, as well as the construction of specific buildings, such as a debtors' prison, bath house or a cathedral.

Civilization class ratios

In Anno 1701, every residential structure could be advanced to the uppermost class, so a city could be entirely made up of Aristocrats by the end of a game. In Anno 1404, a number of peasants are required to support a moderate number of citizens who in turn support a number of patricians and noblemen. There are several other factors that can impact the ratio of lower class to upper class, however. For instance, the number of envoys settled in the player's oriental settlements will satisfy a sum of the peasants and citizens required to support patricians and noblemen in occidental settlements.

New goods

Since the game takes place in the year 1404, the range of goods available is significantly different from the goods available in the previous games, which took place later in history (although goods like fish and beer were retained from the previous installments). Some of the new goods include spices, bread, meat, candlesticks, leather jerkins, and brocade robes for the Occident and dates, milk, carpets, pearl necklaces, and marzipan for the Orient.

Quests

Although quests are not new to Anno 1404, both it and its expansion Venice feature far more quests than previous games in the series. Quests are given at different intervals to the player by neutral powers, mentors like Northburgh and Al Zahir, and from various people living in the player's settlements. Computer opponents, if they become allies through diplomacy, will also offer quests to the player. Quests offer rewards such as honour points, ships, gold, goods or upgrades for settlements or ships (such as items to boost goods production in a settlement or increase the firepower of a ship). There are several quest types, including fetch quests, reverse fetch quests, sinking enemy ships, or finding specific individuals in a settlement (a mini game similar to Where's Waldo). Some of these quests can be quite complicated, with multiple smaller quests in the chain. The Anno 1404: Venice expansion adds 300 new quests and two new types of quests: trading race and ship boarding.

Achievements

Anno 1404 and its add-on Venice add the possibility of rewarding achievements to the player. Those achievements can be seen as 'milestones' and vary from quite easy to extremely hard, since a lot of them are 'hidden'. The achievements are divided in 5 categories: diplomacy, setup, economic, military and general. Quite a few of the achievements are interlinked, being part of another 'bigger' achievement. In the base game there were 206 achievements to be had, the Venice expansion added another 110 of them, totalling 316. As of patch 2.1/1.3 not all achievements are reachable, as syntax errors in the games' xml files are still present. Trying to correct these game files will result in the achievement not being awarded as the game recognises this as modification. This has been addressed by an unofficial user-made patch.

Plot

Lord Richard Northburgh, the treasurer of the Occidental Empire, is concerned for the health of the Emperor, after he fell ill with a mysterious illness. Seeking to pray for his recovery, Northburgh works to build a magnificent Cathedral in the Empire's capital, and grants the player with a fiefdom to build a new settlement and support his plans. As the cathedral's construction progresses, both find themselves recruited by Cardinal Lucius, an unscrupulous religious leader, into helping with the preparations for a Crusade against the Saracens of the Orient, under the supervision of Lucius' second-in-command, Guy Forcas. During their work, Northburgh becomes suspicious about the Emperor's illness, and slowly begins to suspect there is a plot to overthrow him.

With the crusade completed, Lucius leaves it under the command of Marie d'Artois, who joyously brings most of the forces assembled to the Orient. However, Northburgh discovers that children from a settlement she had been governing went missing in her absence, and leads the player to the Orient after discovering Forcas moving several ramshackle ships out of the region. Making contact with the Grand Vizier of the Sultan, Al Zahir, the group discover that the children were abducted by Forcas into order to ensure the crusade cannot be stopped. Although they rescue the children, Forcas has Northburgh arrested for interfering in Lucius' plans. Concerned about the crusade, Al Zahir works with the player to find evidence of Forcas' betrayal in order to convince Marie to end her involvement. In response, she lends her fleet to the player, which is ultimately used to defeat Forcas.

Angered at discovering his plot has been unmasked, Lucius pursues after the player and Marie, as they flee the area. Although they initially attempt to fight against him, Marie ultimately is forced to receive aid from Al Zahir, whereupon he brings them to the island where the Emperor had been since falling ill. After Marie leaves to defend her homeland from Lucius, the player works with Al Zahir to cure the Emperor, along the way freeing Northburgh after learning he was imprisoned nearby. The group swiftly learn the Emperor had been poisoned, and that Lucius was behind the plot. Seeking to stop this, Northburgh and the player return to the Empire's capitol to thwart Lucius' plan, with the Emperor arriving with reinforcements that help to end the war and bring peace to the Empire.

Development

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was produced by Dynamedion. To combine Eastern and Western sounds, exotic instruments and vocal music were utilized, with live orchestra musicians engaged instead of synthetic samples. It was recorded in collaboration with the Staatsorchester Halle and the Philharmonic Choir Leipzig.[7]

Digital rights management

The game has a rigorous digital rights management (DRM) system based on Tagès. It forces users to activate their game online once by submitting an activation code after each installation on a different computer or a significant hardware change. The activation can be performed on any PC with an Internet connection. It can only be activated three times by default and unlike many other DRM systems, it does not support revocation of already used licenses.[8] Further licenses could be requested free of charge by contacting Ubisoft.[9]

The copy protection has been completely removed with patch v1.1 for the DVD version. Digital download versions retain the copy protection,[10] with some exceptions such as the version sold by GOG.com.[11] With the latter, online multiplayer still requires a Ubisoft Connect account and key code; offline multiplayer needs only a LAN connection.

Patches

Version 1.0 of the game was shipped with a number of bugs in it and although patch 1.1 addressed some of them (and removed the copy protection), a new patch was released with the Venice add-on (originally version 2.0), updating the base game to 1.2. On November 25, 2010, a third patch was released to address (among other things) a serious save game bug, patching the base game to version 1.3 and the Venice expansion to version 2.1. The 'Gold' version of the game that includes both the original game and the Venice expansion was also patched in November 2010 to version 3.1, which combines all the changes of the version 1.3 patch of the base game, and version 2.1 of Venice.


Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic82/100[12]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer8/10[14]
GameSpot8.5/10[15]
GamesRadar+favorable[13]
IGN8.2/10[16]

Anno 1404 received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.[12]

IGN gave the game an 8.2, saying it was "a worthy successor to the Anno franchise".[16] D Critic praised the game, saying that "with up-to-date graphics, a great soundtrack, and great gameplay, there's a lot to love about this game".[17]

Expansion

Anno 1404: Venice (German: Anno 1404: Venedig) was released on February 26, 2010. The expansion includes 15 new scenarios, an espionage system, volcanic islands and an added third non-player power known as the Venetian dignitary Giacomo Garibaldi. Garibaldi enables the player to sabotage other player's cities and/or buy them out. Originally, there were also three new computer players planned but these were scrapped for unknown reasons. The Venice expansion also allows the player to play the original 6 scenarios of the base game but with all the added features and improvements of the Venice addon.

Many new buildings were added:

  • A multi-part personal mansion
  • New ornamental buildings such as Saint Mark's pillar

Two new quest type were added: ship race and privateering.

Furthermore, the player now has the option of requesting a quest in order to gain more honour points and/or gold coins/goods.

References

  1. ↑ "Dynamedion - Music & Sound Effects for Games". http://www.dynamedion.de/english/trackrecord/videogames. 
  2. ↑ "Dawn of Discovery Demo Available" (in en). June 17, 2009. https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/17/dawn-of-discovery-demo-available. 
  3. ↑ "Worthplaying - 'Dawn of Discovery' (NDS/Wii/PC) Gets Euro Release Date". WorthPlaying. http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=62042. 
  4. ↑ Kozanecki, James (June 22, 2009). "AU Shippin' Out: Ghostbusters". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/au-shippin-out-ghostbusters/1100-6212308/. 
  5. ↑ "Ubisoft Announces ANNO 1404 Venice The Official ANNO 1404 Add On". wifial1404Forums.ubi.com. http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5181026566/m/7331069608. 
  6. ↑ Goldstein, Maarten (2008-08-20). "GC 2008: ANNO Goes Back In Time, ANNO 1404 Announced". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54275. 
  7. ↑ Ubisoft. "Entwicklertagebuch". http://anno.de.ubi.com/devdiary.php?diary=devdiary_1404_11. 
  8. ↑ "Activation". Tagesprotection.com. http://www.tagesprotection.com/activation.htm#revoke. 
  9. ↑ Ubisoft. "The Official ANNO 1404 Copy Protection FAQs | ANNO Portal | Ubisoft". Anno.uk.ubi.com. http://anno.uk.ubi.com/pc/faq-tages.php. 
  10. ↑ "Patch 1.1 completely removes DRM - Forums". ubi.com. http://forums-de.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5251042375/m/1111082797. 
  11. ↑ GOG.com. "Anno 1404: Gold Edition". https://www.gog.com/game/anno_1404_gold_edition. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Dawn of Discovery for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. https://www.metacritic.com/game/dawn-of-discovery/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  13. ↑ "Dawn of Discovery review". 25 June 2009. https://www.gamesradar.com/dawn-of-discovery-review/. 
  14. ↑ Pearson, Dan (2009-06-07). "Anno 1404". Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/anno-1404-review. 
  15. ↑ "Dawn of Discovery Review for PC". GameSpot. 2009-06-17. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dawn-of-discovery-review/1900-6213429/. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Josh Clark (2009-07-15). "Dawn of Discovery Review". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/100/1004049p1.html. 
  17. ↑ "D Critic. Retrieved 18 June 2010.". http://www.dcritic.com/games/dawn-of-discovery/. 
  • Official US site
  • Official UK site
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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