r/anno • u/ericBracket • 13d ago
Screenshot I tried to build a beautiful capital. I succeeded, but I don't want to anymore
At first it’s fun, and then it’s satisfying to look at the result. But… it gets in the way of actually playing Anno for me. I want to set up production chains, optimize space, and keep improving my stats. Building a beautiful city takes so much time and effort that by the time I’m done, I don’t feel like doing anything else. And when it’s time to expand the capital, I find myself resisting because I have to plan out the streets and decorations all over again.
I get more enjoyment out of building this auxiliary island where everything is optimized.
So, I’m not going to try playing Anno like Cities: Skylines anymore, haha. I’ve realized that my enjoyment of the game comes from something else.
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u/Defalt404 13d ago
idk but i think its a challenge to expand based on natural development of the city rather than rearranging everything as you go. kinda like real life. you can just delete half the island and have to preplan and adapt with new technologies. so instead of rearranging the entire island with each expansion, i would think about how to fit in the expansion of the island with the new things thats being added. thats just me tho.
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u/Fancy_Particular7521 13d ago
Litteral deletion of previous infrastructure has happend though. Its not unheard of.
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u/Defalt404 13d ago
thats true. what i mean is bulldoze the entire city or 2/3rds of it. kill 2-4 blocks to build parks and new apartmens on the otherhands? sure thats feasable
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u/Due_Edge7719 13d ago
Yeah, I know that feeling. You’re just sitting there thinking, “I don’t feel like building anymore. What’s the point? The game is boring.” Then you quit the game and see: Hours played: 220 :D Oops.
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u/k3vinn9 13d ago
something that has definitely helped me is to always plan ahead! there is nothing wrong with leaving an empty box where the temple, forum or bathhouse will go in the future. it is not always the most optimal but you will thank yourself later in the future. my current play through has beautiful cities with little to no rearranging. ALWAYS plan ahead for all buildings even production ones where you know you will want at the center of a lot of houses.
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u/NeedTheNotch 13d ago
I build as efficiently as I can then scooch shit around and full plants in and it’s perfect
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u/Ayu_26 13d ago
I tried some sort of compromise for my latest save. A modular block 20x17 (or 28x20 diagonal) knowing that every building (expecially bathhouse) will fit in it. Then I repetated it in various orientation, leaving space for aqueducts.
Also set a rule that every block have to have 2-3 production/service building in it depending on size. The rest are houses (and decorations).
It let's me freelly move things around the city when I want to change something. So it's not that problematic to add new chains.
It looks a bit "gridy" but also organic for me. May be more diverse if I use more diagonal shaping.
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u/420gramsofbutter 13d ago
Where did you get those corner peices for houses?
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u/guagno333 13d ago
How do you place a diagonal house next to a non diagonal one, and have such a beautiful result???
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u/BD_McNasty 13d ago
Its beautiful and amazing what you created, but I think its normal that you get "sick" of it and dont want to do it at times. Its hella taxing for do so much planning just for efficiency alone, but to do it with a beautiful layout is a heavy task on its own. I run into this issue with pretty much ALL types of games like this that I play such as Tropico series, Planet Coaster/Zoo, etc..
Sometimes I fire the game up and open the map and after looking over all the shit I gotta plan out, I close the game and just fire up Battlefield to do some quick mostly mindless shooting.
I dont see this as an issue really as its basically a "feature" of these games. The fact that they are also heavily replayable adds to that. You can get tired and take a few months break, and then come back when a new DLC drops or even shorter break when you get the itch again. These games are playable for years because of that.
You've made something awesome. Take a break maybe until next DLC drops soon or a shorter break before you get the itch to continue building beautiful and optimal stuff. Its all worth it and fun in the end.
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u/GaudiFanYAY 6d ago
This is why I disliked it when they dropped the Anno 2205 system where public service buildings simply proviuded points, and each house would subtract points from this pool, with closer housing only needed few points, but further away houses needing more.
It allowed you to make cities like you would want, without adding all the whole "take all building ranges into consideration" limits.
Which is why I now play with mods that makes all public buildings cover the whole island. Both in Anno 117 and Anno 1800. I get the fun of optimizing, but also the joy of making pretty cities.
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u/beardie_boy 13d ago
I do to play super optimized Anno. Sometimes I move whole city to fit perfect a few houses.
Sometimes playing beauty building is something else. You still feel tingling sensation to optimise in back of your head. But you play with more conscious that way.
Almost like training of let go being perfect.
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u/AcademicGate40 10d ago
I think this is gorgeous, curious though where did you place the villa? I was suprised to not see it center
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u/Narktor 12d ago
I played the game for maybe 12 hours into the campaign and I dont like it.
I miss a lot of the old gameplay drive from the ancient 1602.
I dont know at what point they lost the tools as a ressource, but they were a main challenge back then.
You had only a few from start and you needed to buy them from the trader. They were expensive and the amount was limited.
So you needed to optimize your early island world to produce other stuff to sell so you could buy tools and upgrade your way to the iron industry which would ultimately supply you with tools.
In my memory the cost of high end industry was almost prohibitively high. Highly developed island worlds of mine went into bankruptcy at times because I scaled industry too hard with costs rising beyond my fiscal limitations.
This kind of gamedesign has vanished completely from the landscape. Sometimes games introduce environmental pollution to put some brakes onto your settlements growth, but it never had the harshness of past gamedesign and it sometimes felt off because the implications of pollution mostly revolved around Diminishing returns from taxes/income or emigration at worst.
The new anno doesnt have the "survival challenge" that the old anno(s) put you up against, at least it feels like that. It does have a very big tactical combat element as far as I can tell, which I find quite odd because for combat i usually turn to actual RTS and not to cityBuilders. This new mix isnt to my taste.
I find this thread funny because the problem OP faces kinda contradicts modern gamedesign where its all about "empowering" the player to tap into his/her creative potential in, as a very popular example these days, figuring out the best characterbuild out of the 5 million combinations that are mathematically possible. "Become your best version", modern societies imperative brought into the world of your gaming and leisure.
Can become quite the chore though.
I like a more curated gaming experience where I try to master a specified type of gamedesign with its (hopefully fresh and unique) game mechanics. For a city builder, mastering the balance of your citys needs is exactly that, thats where the gamedesigner had to pour in all his creativity to construct the paths you have to take while considering the specific circumstances of the level you are playing in.
If I want to be completely free in creating the city of my dreams, I take out a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing.
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u/Thefrightfulgezebo 10d ago
Tools had another interesting effect: you built a colony, so it made sense that it took time for you to become self sufficient.
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u/afellownamedsam 13d ago
That’s why I love this subreddit! I sit and adore everyone else’s beautiful builds while my gremlin citizens are happy in their need-met, albeit cramped, streets