Latest news with #PaxRomana
Geek Culture
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
Building Worlds & Breaking Boundaries With The Architects Of 'Anno 117: Pax Romana'
One way to move forward is to go back to before where it all started, and that's what Ubisoft Mainz is doing as it redefines historical strategy gaming with Anno 117: Pax Romana , an ambitious city-building game that promises to transport players into the heart of Rome's most fascinating era. The eighth game of the long-running real-time strategy, economic simulation video game franchise, which made its debut in 1998, is set to take place in an era long before the events of the other games in the series, and while each game is a standalone exploration of diplomacy, trade and resource management with other civilizations, as well as battles over land and sea, Pax Romana will continue the series' complex gameplay that has won over a legion of fans. But far from a traditional strategy title, this game offers players an exploration of empire-building during a time of relative peace and expansion. Creative Director, Manuel Reinher. When Manuel Reinher, Creative Director at Ubisoft Mainz, speaks about Ancient Rome and about developing the upcoming sequel during that era, his passion is palpable. 'The Roman Empire has an everlasting appeal,' he says to select media in Rome, Italy, during an exclusive preview of the game in April 'Symbols like the Colosseum aren't just landmarks, they're gateways to entire worlds of stories.' And it's through this philosophy that drives this next chapter, as it's a strategy game that's more than just city-building, offering historical storytelling through gameplay, says Game Director Jan Dungel, who chimes in with a knowing smile,. 'We're not creating a game. We're creating an experience.' But with the last game in the series, Anno 1800 , released in 2019, the team knew they faced a unique challenge, of developing a game that resonated with fans, but how do you make a deeply complex strategy game that's appealing to newcomers without alienating the fanbase? The simple answer is, you don't. Middle: Manuel Reinher (Creative Director), Right: Jan Dungel (Game Director). 'Our goal was never to make the game less deep,' Dungel explains. 'Hardcore Anno players would revolt if we stripped away the complexity they love.' Instead, the team implemented subtle innovations and players can now take their time, build at their own pace, and explore without feeling overwhelmed. 'We've created a world that's welcoming,' Reinher promises, 'but still rich with strategic depth.' With previous titles, the structure was more linear, and players had to accomplish all needs before they could venture further, to another island or province to build another city, and then proceed to do more from that point. This didn't allow for much freedom, and understandably, players started to drop out at this point because it had gotten a little too repetitive. The current team specifically wanted to address this issue with Anno 117, so that the more casual players can take their time to build their city, and won't be forced to go to another island and build another city. 'So this was the strategy that we chose to actually still allow those who wanted to go big with everything and enjoy a deep, complex game, but also allow the more easygoing players to actually do what they want and not force them to follow a fixed path like how some players who want to accomplish everything', explained Dungel. Reinher also explained how the team invested a lot into player onboarding, transforming what was once a complex and intimidating experience into a more welcoming journey. 'We have now a lot more onboarding tools than ever before,' Reinher explains, highlighting the game's new approach to guiding new players. Specifically, the team introduced permanent help features, with a small question mark symbol appearing next to UI elements that players can click to get more information at any time. Additionally, they've integrated an in-game advisor who serves as a narrative guide and system explainer. 'He will also tell you more about the systems in the background to understand it,' Reinher notes. Unlike previous iterations where new players might have felt overwhelmed, these tools are designed to provide context and clarity without disrupting the core complexity that veteran Anno fans love. The goal, as Reinher sees it, is to make the game more accessible while maintaining its strategic depth, ensuring that both casual players and hardcore strategy enthusiasts can find enjoyment in Anno 117: Pax Romana . And what players might see as simplifying the game actually has some level of historical accuracy, explains Dungel, who shares how the modular ship customisation feature is rooted in authenticity. 'In ancient times, they didn't have different ship designs like clippers or frigates,' he explains. 'They built one light hull and then added components to it.' This historical insight directly inspired the game's innovative ship-building mechanic. 'We wanted to create ships the way they actually built them,' Dungel says, highlighting how players can now customise vessels by adding different modules. Want a faster ship? Add more rowers, or have two masts. Preparing for combat? Attach additional armaments such as archer towers. This new system offers unprecedented flexibility, while remaining true to historical practices. 'It creates a lot of nice possibilities,' Dungel notes, emphasizing that the feature caters to different player types. For micromanagement enthusiasts, it offers deep customisation, while casual players can simply select pre-designed blueprints. 'As a casual player, you just need to click a button, and you'll have a perfectly fine ship,' he adds, underlining the team's commitment to making the feature both complex and accessible. Thus providing depth without overwhelming players. On land though, Reinher is equally excited about giving players the ability to build diagonal roads as 'it completely transforms how players can build,' he says. 'It's about giving players more creative freedom while respecting the game's core grid system.' Dungel's enthusiasm for the military feature in Anno 117 stems from a strategic understanding of modern strategy game design. 'We know that city builders and strategy games tend to have this part of potential warfare,' he explains, highlighting the feature's importance in creating a more immersive gameplay experience. For Dungel, the military component is more than just a combat mechanic, it's a way to deepen the game's world and expand its appeal. 'We wanted to have the military part from day one in the game,' he says, emphasising the feature's integral role in the game's design. The ability to build armies, potentially lose them, or even overtake other territories adds a layer of complexity and excitement. 'It creates possibilities and deepens how the world can be immersive,' Dungel notes, pointing out that this approach not only enriches the gameplay but also attracts new audiences who enjoy multi-dimensional strategy games. By incorporating military elements that feel organic to the historical setting, the team has created a feature that promises to engage players beyond traditional city-building mechanics. And what about the long-standing traditional of having the numbers in the franchise's game titles always adding up to nine? If there's a reason behind it, the team isn't sharing. 'Maybe it's superstition,' Dungel laughs. 'We like it, our fans like it, maybe there's a deeper meaning behind it. You'd have to join the team to find out', Reinher adds, with a grin on his face. Clearly, Anno 117: Pax Romana isn't just about building cities. It's about creating worlds, telling stories, and inviting players to become architects of their own historical narratives. 'We're not just making a game,' Reinher says, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. 'We're creating a universe.' Anno 117: Pax Romana releases this winter on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Yonk is a geek who is fortunate enough to have an equally geeky Star Wars fan for a wife, who owns a LEGO Millennium Falcon encased in a glass coffee table as their home's centre-piece. Anno 117 Anno 117: Pax Romana interview Ubisoft
CNET
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Anno 117 Pax Romana Preview: A Beautiful Simulation of a Prosperous Time
Over three decades, the Anno series has plunged gamers into deep real-time strategy experiences set within some of the most massive empires that humans have ever built. From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, Anno tasks players with balancing ravenous economic growth with conflicts of ideological revolution -- and coming out the other side with a strong, unified state. The next game in the series, Anno 117: Pax Romana, has the earliest historical setting for the Anno series to date, and it's an incredibly ambitious shift (nearly as much as the brief stint in futuristic settings with Anno 2070 and Anno 2205). As the dates suggest, Anno 117 takes place during a time of immense economic and cultural prosperity in antiquity -- and I got an early peek at how that looks during a three-hour hands-on virtual preview session moderated by an Ubisoft employee. While Anno 117: Pax Romana is a game where you'll still be focusing on your economy and fostering positive relations first and foremost, you'll also need to consider building fortifications and training units for land and sea combat. As the game is centered on growing your own Roman empire, you'll have to choose which end to colonize first, either beginning in Latium (in modern-day western Italy, around Rome) as a Roman governor or expanding Celtic influence by starting in Albion (in modern-day England). My hands-on preview was limited to Roman gameplay, but I was able to see how much depth the Celts add to the game. Starting in Albion doesn't just change the map geography and resource nodes you can build around, it changes the research trees, religions and construction projects you're able to access as well. Many contemporary 4X strategy games (it stands for explore, expand, exploit and exterminate) such as Sid Meier's Civilization 7 and Age of Mythology: Retold focus heavily on outmaneuvering and destroying your opponents. In Anno 117, there isn't really the same type of "win condition" -- and there's far less extermination to revel in overall. The interwoven construction systems of Anno 117 are easy to pick up but difficult to master, especially if you want your empire to span multiple islands across the map. Here's what I picked up about the game during my three-hour preview. Majestic mountains and flowing fields of wheat surround the first stone residences of my budding province. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET When building a civilization, the devil is in the details If you're choosing to set a game in the golden age of Roman civilization, it definitely makes sense to focus on graphical fidelity -- I'm sitting down here to engage with the beauty and culture of Pax Romana. Anno 117 doesn't disappoint in this regard. Toward the tail end of my hands-on preview, I frequently found myself straying away from my self-imposed objectives to simply watch my citizens barter in the marketplace or work away on the wheat or hemp farms that stretched across the countryside. Each dwelling you build adds three new citizens to your island, and these nonplayable characters are fully simulated as they go about their day-to-day business. My citizens are enriching their interior lives in the grammaticus, a cultural center for reading and learning. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET I watched the plebeians master their crafts, making silks and baking bread before they retired to cultural centers to find an education. The lower class libertini mined ore, chopped wood and delivered goods on handcarts, creating a constant stream of foot traffic that was mesmerizing to keep an eye on. The complexity of these real-time interactions is a real treat. If too many workers gather at a warehouse with goods and raw materials, the roadways jam up and productivity drastically drops. It felt incredibly natural to manage these blockages and make necessary adjustments because I was already so involved with the little lives carrying on in the game. Once you build something you feel truly proud of, Anno 117 has features that let you toggle the heads-up display off -- I used this photo mode to capture some of my favorite pictures for this section of my preview. The images can't capture the simple joy of watching fields of golden wheat swaying in the wind, but I think they convey the splendor of a budding city-state in Latium. You can snap new structures diagonally onto roads and other buildings. But this feature is no substitute for poor city planning. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET You might need an urban planning degree to run a well-oiled machine If I could go back in time and restart my Anno 117 preview play session, I'd choose to take a beat before beginning construction on my starting island. That's no joke -- every resource node, production center and citizen dwelling will affect how future supply chains are built, and that's before factoring in the increasingly complex web of roads you'll have to build to connect everything to the docks. I shrugged and placed my first houses and farms randomly in the middle of the map, and it started causing problems for me hours later when I needed to build out unhygienic pigsties and hazardous kilns to broaden my civilization's economic prospects. There's almost an overwhelming number of variables to juggle. Resources can only be extracted from certain nodes (and some fisheries and farms can only be built where the soil or water is suitably fertile for them), warehouses need to be located close enough for storage and production facilities will need speedy access to requisite materials. I tried to separate my clay tile-producing kilns from the homes in my province's city, but as my civilization expanded it became a greater fire hazard. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET More complex goods require multiple resources to make, which means your supply chains will become even more complicated as ore, grain and animal products move further and further around your budding city. As settlements become cities, problems emerge. Certain structures can spread disease and others are fire hazards, and you'll need to invest in Pax Romana's version of hospitals and firemen to mitigate these risks. I didn't have to worry about invading forces in the demo -- my Pax Romana was a true time of peace -- but you'll have to secure your borders in the full release, ensuring that there is enough military manpower spread around that your citizens are safe. It's been some time since land combat was featured in an Anno game, but you can train warriors and scouts that patrol your land for different quest objectives. The speed of your city's growth and expansion is largely dependent on the caliber of citizens you're drawing to your island: In order to upgrade your citizens, you must cater to their basic needs and their luxury wants by building them into the city-state's supply chain. While certain buildings provide debuffs to nearby citizens, other buildings will raise their happiness or fulfill certain needs. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET This can be confusing to a new player -- I was left momentarily scratching my head about being limited to construction of logging camps, wheat farms and basic food and clothing production -- but the real construction possibilities open up once you begin diversifying your population with more worker types. I unlocked the plebeians in the latter half of my first hour with Anno 117, and that's when the game truly picked up and more construction options became available. Even so, I'd caution against rushing the citizen class upgrades. Expanding too quickly is a huge strain on your purse, and I found that I needed to spend a lot of denarii in order to establish a decent income. This is one of the cases where slow and steady improvements to your supply lines are extremely important. I quickly learned the lesson that private equity seemingly hasn't: Don't sacrifice long-term growth on the altar of short-term profits. That's a good way to get hosed down with a net negative denarii drain, which will slow your expansion indefinitely. If you're willing to take the time to do some very basic planning before clearing out trees and establishing your first builds, I expect players will find Anno 117 to be a very rewarding (if occasionally confusing) city builder spanning a rich territorial tapestry of different island factions. I didn't personally get a chance to sail the seas, but I built my first boatyard -- this will be an extremely important part of Anno 117's core gameplay loop. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET Hidden at the periphery: Trade routes, disputes and random events During my three-hour play session, I was largely relegated to a single island, building out the basic necessities and cultural landmarks that serve to kickstart a burgeoning Roman province. Even still, I was able to get a glimpse at some of the game's deeper systems -- and there's a lot going on in the wider world while the player is getting themselves situated. There are many other nonplayable characters governing their own states on neighboring islands, and I would occasionally get notifications informing me of their achievements in research, development and trade. These pop-ups created a sense of urgency -- my civilization was not being built within a vacuum, and I couldn't be sure if these other peoples had a tendency to build mutually beneficial relationships or if they stood only to conquer their nearby foes. I mostly enjoy building trade routes and forging alliances with others, but I would be lying if I said that these infrequent updates didn't have me contemplating an investment in a bigger military presence. I imagine that starting with the Romans in Latium or the Celts in Albion won't just affect the nodes you can unlock in your research tree, but will change the way different neighbors interact with you as you make contact with them throughout the wider world. Not every interaction with outsiders is a promise to paint the streets or oceans red -- and outside of trade, there are other ways that NPC factions help you build a better future. I chose Ceres as my patron goddess, since I was primarily building into agriculture. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET Provinces that adopt the same faith as you cement the belief in your gods, and both societies will reap greater buffs as the religion spreads among a larger population. These boons can increase research speed, military might or economic production. A rising tide raises all ships, and spreading religious fervor benefits all governors who worship the same gods. Players will exert influence on the wider world, but it will also exert an influence on their own city-state: The society they'll build is only one piece of a much grander, ever-shifting puzzle. On a more granular level, a player's civilization will undergo random events and disputes that keep it in a state of perpetual motion. Their people are never at a standstill (unless one uses their omnipotent powers to literally pause time) and as such, they'll have trade disagreements, spread rumors and even riot. Some of these events are simple decisions: In a moment of economic turmoil, I took a bribe from a wealthy businessman, but ended up enraging workers throughout the city; another time, I chose a personal advisor who increased my passive income instead of one who would optimize the storage of my warehouses. The buffs (or debuffs) that are attached to these choices are not insubstantial, and so it feels like your decisions really matter. They drive the future direction of your province. Ubisoft/Screenshot by CNET Other events start up more involved questlines -- when citizens live in fear of a nearby shipwreck that is said to be haunted, I'd have to train up a scouting party and send them into the depths to report on what was truly happening. These secondary objectives make your territories feel alive and engage the player outside of the usual city-building activities. There's a complex world hidden behind the curtain of Anno 117, but the game is approachable for new real-time strategy players, continuing the series' usual throughline of placing an emphasis on solving conflict through economic and diplomatic means. Combat is certainly present, but I was able to completely avoid it during my preview session, leading me to wonder how much fighting there will truly be for the more military-minded players. Either way, Anno 117: Pax Romana sold me on its premise -- and I wanted to continue building my empire during this historically unprecedented time of peace. Anno 117: Pax Romana is set to be released in 2025, but we don't have an exact date as of yet. The game will be available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Digital Trends
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Anno 117: Pax Romana awakened the city building fanatic in me
For the 110 people working on Anno 117: Pax Romana, the upcoming city-builder from Ubisoft Mainz, every game in the franchise has led to its Winter 2025 release. The Anno series has had some hits and misses — its most recent game, 2019's 1800, is widely considered one of its best, while future-focused titles 2205 and 2070 had mixed results. But Pax Romana has something for die-hard tactics players, beauty builders, and even newcomers like me: the franchise's first-ever simultaneous release on PC and console, the reintroduction of land combat, the promise of finally bringing Anno to Rome, and major updates to existing game systems. Recommended Videos Some team members have worked on the series for 10, 15, or 20 years, know exactly what diehard Anno fans want (prettier palettes that take advantage of improved graphics, a greater variety of choice, more robust gameplay systems, and diegetic moments of hilarious catastrophe), and are determined to deliver. I travelled to Rome to be one of the first people in the world to go hands-on with Anno 117: Pax Romana and chat with creative director Manuel Reinher and game director Jan Dungel, emerging from the experience thoroughly jet-lagged and with a newfound appreciation for the series and the genre. Andiamo! A new Anno Anno 117: Pax Romana is the first game in the series since the beloved 1800, which was set during the Industrial Revolution. It's also the series' biggest historical leap backwards. The team didn't want to set the next Anno game during the bloody, war-fueled throes of the Roman Empire, but during the height of a 200-year-long period of peace and prosperity. 'Our fans have asked for this for a very long time,' Reinher tells Digital Trends. 'The power of Rome, it's a very appealing setting, but we struggled because with Rome there's a certain fantasy that is well-delivered, and delivered so often people have a certain expectation … We found Pax Romana is the playground for us, it ticked all the boxes. It's almost 200 years of stability in the empire, peak growth … and it's a good fit because conflict is not the core of the Anno experience.' In Anno 117, you'll play as a freshly appointed Roman governor in Latium, a province close to the center of the Empire, tasked with upholding that aforementioned peace and prosperity. Will you govern with an iron fist and hope that fear keeps the peace, or show empathy and kindness and pray to one of your chosen Gods that rival governors don't step on your exposed toes? And then there's Albion, the fog-covered Celtic lands where no 'civilized' Roman dares tread lest they face the ire of the strange, savage locales. You can go there, as well (though I didn't get to that during my hands-on), and decide what to do with the land and its people. Anno 117: Pax Romana hopes to offer players deeper, more meaningful choices than any other game in the franchise. A massive discovery tree, with over 150 'discoveries' divided into three main categories (economy, civic, and military), will help 'soften the linearity' players may have felt in previous titles. Researching improved storage capacities can help you store more product to trade with neighboring provinces, while civic research allows you to explore different religions, or build new public buildings. And you won't be locked to a certain branch on this discovery tree, you're free to research paved roads, or learn Latin, or beef up your military presence. Like any Anno game, 117: Pax Romana is centered around economic simulation with some traditional city builder mechanics and 4X strategy features sprinkled in. But 117 is bringing back a controversial feature players haven't seen in the franchise in a very long time: land combat. The team is pretty close-lipped about it during our preview, but confirmed Anno 117: Pax Romana will have both land and naval combat, with more depth when it comes to integrating the two, and the promise that only big, powerful cities can have a thriving military. But don't fret — Anno is not a war sim franchise, and the team considers land combat to be 'another choice, another tool.' Diplomacy could be your vibe, rather than wielding steel. Aside from gameplay features, the team wants 117 to be the 'most beautiful builder gamer, period.' There's a new day and night cycle that elicits some big 'ooohh' moments, like when the flickering fires of the lucernae come alive as the sun sets, or when burgeoning cities are cut through with gorgeous lavender fields. The added ability to create curved roads allows for more freedom in city layouts, and the team's attention to detail can be found in every pixel, from the waves breaking around a sailing ship to grain crops shifting softly in the wind. Ubisoft is excited to show people how multicultural ancient Rome was, how it pulled inspiration and even religions from Celtic and Egyptian lands, and how the expansion of the empire led to cultural exchange. 'Religious ideas, technologies, resources, they travel from one province to the other,' Reinher explains. This ancient melting pot helped stabilize the empire. 'People are surprised by that fact … This happened 2,000 years ago. Ideas travelled like this, and it's a fascinating story that breaks the boundaries of what we all have in our minds when we think about such an economic empire.' Roman onboarding Ubisoft Mainz promises Anno: 117 Pax Romana's gameplay experience is for both newcomers and old heads alike, thanks to an improved onboarding system. 'Anno can be quite complex, but it's rewarding step-by-step,' Dungel says. 'You don't need to completely understand the universe to enjoy [the games].' To describe sitting down to play an Anno game for the first time while surrounded by the cold stone walls of an ancient Romane estate as 'surreal' wouldn't do it justice. Overwhelmed by the game's systems and in awe of the Horti Sallustiani (the gardens of Sallust), I worry I won't be able to create an Empire my ancestors would be proud of. I consider lingering around the craft services table and eat as much olive bread (a staple of the Romane diet) to avoid embarrassing myself. But I have a job to do, and gawking at the marble structure soaring overhead won't do me any good. So I sit down, load in, and am immediately tasked with placing my governor's villa somewhere on this newfound island that's far enough inland to avoid getting attacked by coastal invaders, but central enough that it can easily connect to warehouses and other important commerce buildings. An in-game pop-up urges me to ensure that my villa is connected to another important building, but fails to tell me I have to build that second structure. I glance around, helpless, until someone comes over and walks me through it, just for me to immediately get stuck again because I can't see a missing pixel of road that means the buildings were technically still not connected. I let out a grunt of frustration. I am jetlagged and my brain is functioning at its lowest possible capacity. I need more olive bread. Soon enough, my Italian ancestors smile upon me. I start to get the hang of things after my little roadblock (teehee). I build a sawmill in the center of a forest to ensure we have a steady supply of wood, and place a collection of houses for my lowest class working folks probably a bit too close to the governor's house for a man of his stature's liking (I believe in solidarity across classes in my ancient Rome). I ring the workers' homes with purple wildflowers, place a tavern and a market close enough to their quarters so that they buff everyone who lives there (which helps you earn more money faster), and send my sole ship out to treaty with a neighboring isle. '[Building Anno 117] was a little bit challenging, because we have very different audiences,' Dungel admits. 'Some people want to collaborate, they are super hardcore, they want to value share and network, but some people are more casual. For the first time, we decided we would try to find a way to please both of these groups, not make it less deep and less complex, but give an option for people who want to go more casual. That's why you don't have to deliver all the needs [requirements for every population tier that must be filled in order to progress] … you don't have to immediately go to another province.' Though I stumble at first, after about 1.5 hours of playtime, I have a tier 3 city sprawling out before my eyes, complete with soap production, ship-building, tunic and sandal makers, tilers, and a temple to worship our chosen goddess, Ceres, who helps boost our farms' output. There's a plethora of emergency services, including doctors, Vigiles Urbani (basically Rome's NYPD), and firefighters, the last of whom successfully snuff out a fire that starts near my sheep pasture. I even have a massive new ship that can carry far more cargo than the one I started with. But my city is net negative, and losing money fast. I get a loan, then another, then another, and then I start to panic. Despite my efforts, there just aren't enough people to produce my much-needed products (the pretty lady on a neighboring island really wants tunics), or enough raw material for the people to form into something usable for the empire. I need to build more homes to get more able-bodied workers, but I don't have enough lumber, and my island is looking more and more like a desert every minute. Even the Anno experts next to me are struggling with their financials. 'I can't take another loan,' one player bemoans. Before I can right my ship, the hands-on is over. I had just gotten my negative income out of the triple digits and was in the process of conquering another island that had some crucial resources (olives, mackerel), when we were given a times-up signal. 'I was getting the hang of it!' I protest. 'I just need more plebeians!' The Ubisoft dev who pulled me from the depths of dirt road despair two hours earlier laughs. He has just seen a new city builder player be born before his eyes. Anno 117: Pax Romana releases later this year for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
