The trade routes however, are often plagued by attacks from pirates (Corsairs), who can be quite aggressive depending on the level of difficulty. Once the industries are in place, trading ships are used to distribute the goods among all the colonies. High-yield from trade can be ensured by quickly claiming islands with the potential to produce wide variety of goods and raw materials. Trading takes place between your colonies and the neutral and friendly players on the world map. So the key to a successful economy is to offset the cost of building and maintaining industries through taxation and trade.

More affluent classes of the society will generate greater income through taxation however, the goods and services they demand can be fairly expensive. The two major means of income in the game are taxation and commerce. To ensure that you have a thriving and sustainable colony, it is important to keep a keen eye on your coffers. Moving up the ranks of diplomatic relationship gives the player access to more advanced Oriental technology that eventually helps in advancing the English colonies up-north. Honour is earned by completing quests that vary from simple fetching missions to engaging in battle with enemy ships or exploration of unknown regions. To measure the level of diplomatic relationship, the game employs an honour system. Some of these resources are exclusively available on the southern islands of the Orient, so establishing diplomatic ties with the Sultanate becomes essential early on in a campaign.

As your settlements grow, the inhabitants rise in social stature and along with that grows the demand for more goods and services. Along with developing a thriving English colony, you are also tasked with establishing settlements in the Orient through diplomatic relation with the Sultan’s Grand Vizier.Įstablishing a colony starts with locating a suitable island and providing the colonists with access to basic things like food, culture and religion. The player takes on the role of one such settler under the command of His Majesty, the King of England. The game takes place during the period when European settlers first encountered post-Islamic Arabia.

Anno 1404 maps