Anno 1701: The Sunken Dragon – Trailer for Latest Expansion

Sunflowers, Int. (a division of Ubisoft) have sent us a new trailer for their latest expansion for the Anno 1701 universe – The Sunken Dragon. Also known as 1701 A.D., the game contains both RTS and city building elements, where the player must build and maintain an 18th century colony in the newly found Americas. Anno 1701 is the sequel to Anno 1503 and Anno 1602 and like the other two games, is a game based on maintaining a balanced economy for the settlements, where the more successful you are at economics, the more successful your settlements will be.

The new expansion called Anno 1701: The Sunken Dragon will include new features, new missions and a map editor with 11 missions centered around new player profiles which, along with new ornamentals, are listed below.
Profiles:

• Diego del Torro
• Finn Hallqvist
• Grace Bonnet
• Horatio

Ornamentals:

• Birdhouse
• Birdbath
• Fence covered with roses

You can get more information after the break about Anno 1701, along with the demo. Meanwhile, watch the trailer – while it is not the most engrossing trailer I have ever seen, I did find it slightly amusing that the narrator sounds a bit like Monty Python’s Eric Idle.

In Anno 1701, the player starts as an unarmed country which has to colonize and expand in the island world of Anno. Whilst the player expands other computer controlled rivals are expanding and strengthening. As the player progresses through the game, players have access to lodge activities and troops which allow them to invade and ultimately defeat other players.

Lodge Activities

Lodge activities are accessed at the start of the game, although only the spy is able to be used. All the other lodge activities are researched through the game at either a school or university.

1. Bomber – The Bomber burns Buildings of fellow players down to the ground.
2. Counter/Espionage – Counter/Espionage causes an enemy spy to disclose information on his employer.
3. Demagogue – The Demagogue gives inflammatory speeches in an opponent’s cities.
4. Ingratiate – Some of the players in the world of Anno can be buttered up by flattery.
5. Pickpocket – The pickpocket stealthily steals money from enemy’s inhabitants and puts the money directly into your coffers.
6. Poisoner – The Poisoner contaminates the wells of enemy settlements.
7. Revolter – The Revolter is an effective tool to make an enemy’s inhabitants turn against them.
8. Saboteur – The Saboteurs trade is tampering with the enemy’s market carts, rendering goods transportation useless.
9. Spy – The Spy collects information about another player.
10. Traitor – The Traitor can make the enemy’s troops turn sides.

Development – In Anno 1701, your settlement progresses through different levels.

• Aristocrats are the highest inhabitants that a city can have and are by far the most luxurious. Aristocrats want colonial goods, power which is provided in the form of the senate, perfume and fine jewelery.
• Citizens like to embellish their settlement with ornaments, their needs are also more exotic than those of the settlers or pioneers, citizens are the first to want alcohol. They also require education and tobacco products.
• Merchants are pleasure loving and indulge themselves. They request far fetched items such as chocolates and lamp oil, and they also require entertainment from a local theatre.
• Pioneers are the first people to arrive to the island world and have pretty basic needs such as companionship (communities) and Food.
• Settlers are the first inhabitants to make the island feel like home. On top of the basic needs the settlers require religion and cloth.

Foreign Cultures

There are five different foreign cultures with which the player can trade. Once the player has fraternized with one of the cultures the player can buy colonial goods, which are one of the Aristocrats needs.

• Asians are found on small islands in the north of the island world. They trade the colonial good Jade.
• Aztecs are few in number and still believe in the infinite power of the gods. They trade the colonial goods Talismans.
• Indians have a small settlement on one of the small islands in the southern end of the island world. Indian Ivory is a desirable colonial good.
• Iroquois, situated in a dense forest on one of the smaller islands in the northern zone of the island world, the Iroquois trade furs.
• Pirates take refuge in expertly concealed hideouts, and due to their aggressive nature they take rich rewards from raids, therefore they can offer you all colonial goods.

[Thanks Wikipedia for the majority of the information on Anno 1701 - as the majority of the links to the official site either A: Take you to the main Unbisoft page where there is zero information, or B: The link takes you to a site based out of Denmark with no English translation.]