Yeah, I've liked the Anno series, this one is good too.

I think I'm going to skip this game. It has TAGES with machine limit activation.

You go and enjoy. Let me know if TAGES gives you any problems (as I would like to know of any and all risks/problems it might give my machine if I do get it).

Lack of Multiplayer and its DRM are preventing me from buying it .

Yes, it is fun, Island Dog and thanks for the screenies. Even the Nintendo DS and Wii versions are getting good reviews.

I only have the demo at the moment. Even though I like it, I will probably wait a long while before buying the game itself. Two reasons, first is the DRM and second is there seems to be some omissions at the moment.

1. The Tages DRM: is either a game breaker or an annoyance depending. At the moment, purchasers cannot activate the game they bought because the Ubisoft authentication servers are down. This is how the Tages DRM can be a game breaker.

2. Posts on the official forum wonder where the help files and additional documentation you get when you register is hiding. Either it has not been released yet, or there is another Ubisoft server problem involved. Or worse.

3. There seems to be no map creator. Maps do get randomly generated, but the map creator mentioned during development has not shown up yet. Feedback seems to suggest it will not.

Yes, I like the game. I recommend the demo if your machine can run it. For me, though waiting is the best strategy.

A. The DRM situation may improve given the problems with the Ubisoft servers. Perhaps they will seek to reduce their problems by letting Impulse sell it without the Tages DRM?

B. I also want to see the promised help files and additonal documentation show up.

C. I also want to see a "Pause" command implemented. At the moment there seems to be none that I can find, even by thrashing forums.

Damn you Island Dog !

The game looks fantastic, but I won't give in. Activation limits are not my thing, nor do I wish to be charged for phoning support once the limit of three is reached. So tempting, but I have to draw a line on principle.

Hopefully tomorrow after I get my new pc and buy it tomorrow things will work out nicely... if not more time to Arma 2 and Empire Total War!

I don't like the fact that you "plop" down buildings just like that. Its supposed to be a city sim. What kind of a city sim has insta-construction? I can just materialize entire neighbourhoods out of thin air!

Bah. Everything is geared towards those hyperactive kids with the attention span of a duck these days. Speed, speed, speed. Yuck.

Attention span of a duck?

BTW, official sticky post on the english anno 1404 forum for today says the Tages DRM servers are down again! They are sorry about this, etc.

Sounds like a good time for Stardock to preach unto them the true Impulse religion!

Err, how about you try the game before saying that? Getting a large city running will literally take you days of playing, and hurrying things will most likely just leave you with an empty wallet and angry population.

They're back up as of early this morning.

I can confirm that this game is a really engrossing time-eater!  hehe 

Be careful, or it'll be the next day and you won't have slept a wink yet. 

Unless the servers go down, inwhich case you can sleep all you want!

It does look purdy though...when you reckon they'll remove the DRM?

I have the Wii version and it's just right - they nailed both the controls and the gfx.  It's not just a cheap spinoff.

Anno games are definitely worth getting!

I had it pre-ordered.

Lack of MP caused me to cancel my pre-order.  Why would I "upgrade" to 1404 when I'm happily playing 1701 with my friends right now?

On top of that, the machine limit activation kills it for me.

No Dawn of Discovery / 1404 for me!

I *have* tried the game - its just not my style. I like to see some dynamic content within my city, not just ambling citizens, an occasional cart going by and preset building animations. That, plus there is no sense of actually building a city - all the structures just appear out of thin air and the cost is deducted from your storehouse via magical teleportation nodes I assume. Settlers are a much better "city" sim than this.

Music is good though, as are the visuals. Basically, by my definition of a city sim, this is a very pretty, very nice sounding Settlers regurgitation. No wonder since its done by Bluebyte. They probably wanted to "streamline" stuff with the Anno series. Gah. Gone are the days when you had to actually send out prospectors to find ore and resource deposits...

Would it be so difficult to actually make a city sim where you plan out your city and then watch the newcomers build their own huts on allocated grounds, see them upgrading their buildings, and actually construct the special buildings you have ordered? Where tearing down buildings also costs money and time? So that you can't instantly correct your planning mistakes, perhaps? Traffic congestion maybe? A bustling city like that, with all those carts and that narrow main street...

I found this game very easy, even on the hardest possible difficulty setting. It only gets more complicated later on, but if you plan stuff ahead a little you can't really go wrong. Its also really daft that production buildings don't require any food. I guess they have robots working there. So you can have an island full of hemp plantations all happily producing without a single bite of food in the storehouses. I guess they are so high on the stuff they don't notice they're starving.