Gigastadt in Crown Falls: Anno 1800 record building

Gigastadt in Crown Falls: Anno 1800 record building.

The task: We want to build a gigacity in Anno 1800. A city that accommodates as many inhabitants as possible and is as big as possible. If you watch one or the other Youtube video on this topic, you will see that there are hardly any limits „upwards“, if you only build efficiently enough. We have taken this as an opportunity and would like to show you in this article step by step what you need to consider on the way to a gigacity. Record building means: You have to attract as many investors as possible to your island. Farmers, workers, craftsmen and engineers alone won’t help you much, since you’ll need the corresponding influence later in the game, which you’ll earn by advancing from engineers to investors. But first, let’s start with the prerequisites for record building.

Requirements for record building

Basically, you start in the old world and are forced by necessity to build an economic circuit there. It is important that you progress to the level of the craftsmen. From this level, you will receive the expedition to Cape Trelawney, a secondary region of the Old World. Cape Trelawney is characterized by a gigantic island in the north, which you should definitely settle directly as soon as you have discovered the world. There and only there will you succeed in building a gigantic city, since there is enough space and resources. If you are interested in record building, you can neglect the Old World from now on and should concentrate exclusively on the development in Cape Trelawney.

The first steps

Once you arrive in Cape Trelawney, the queen will give you a ship filled with resources. You can then immediately set up an office on the largest island, Crown Falls, and get started. Ideally, you will immediately set 8-12 lumberjack cabins and sawmills, possibly even more – depending on how your resources are. Ideally, you’ll already have a few resource ships ready with wood and bricks during the expedition to Cape Trelawney, so that you don’t waste any time after discovering this world. The motto is to be quick so that you can colonize as many islands as possible at the cape.

Wood, wood and more wood! Immediately set a marketplace and build your houses in blocks of 12 or 20 around it. Place a tavern and a fire station right next to the marketplace.

At first, of course, fish and work clothes as well as liquor must be provided on the island, so that farmers develop into craftsmen. But the goal must already be clearly defined: After a few hours of play, only investors should remain on your main island in Crown Falls. Everything else will be relocated. That’s why it’s so important to plan your city very well and with foresight right at the beginning of the game.

Planning the island

We know: At the latest when the first engineers settle on your island, railroad tracks can be laid and electricity is introduced. At the same time, the palace will be unlocked (if you have bought the expansion). So you should already decide at the beginning where you want to place which buildings. In general, it is recommended to work squarely. The railroad tracks should be laid crosswise from the left and to the right and from the top to the bottom of the construction area by means of a cross or a plus sign. At this stage, of course, this is not yet possible. However, you can lay a „double road“ so that you have already occupied the space for the rails. You should also plan enough space for the palace. As a rule of thumb: 12 houses in length and 18 houses in width should be enough to place the palace later. Therefore, keep this space free, ideally quite centrally on the island, so that the positive effects of the palace affect as many houses as possible.

The industrial area should be located in the upper part of the island. Remember to lay rails there as well – ideally you should plan the way to the oil wells right at the beginning, also using a double road. One side of the road only has to be torn down later and replaced by rails. Remember to always leave room for a power plant as well.

Bank house, club house and university

Workers demand the construction of a school, craftsmen want to visit the university, and engineers and investors are interested in a bank or a clubhouse. These are buildings with a relatively wide radiance. So you don’t need very many of them. While you should build a marketplace or an inn after every 1-2 rows of houses in a pure peasant settlement, one bank and one clubhouse is enough for your entire island. So plan, ideally in front of or behind your palace, a „free strip“, in which you can later place the buildings, which provide with high radiant power for the satisfaction of your population. At the beginning, a church is one of these buildings, as it is mainly the working people who gain satisfaction from it.

World exhibition and research institute

Some buildings require a relatively large amount of space on your island – these include the World’s Fair and the Research Institute, including the Scholars‘ Houses. Tip: The World’s Fair can either be built directly at the Kontor next to the Shipyard (electricity is available here, of course) or you can place it in the middle of the Palace. Electricity is also available at this location. Nice side effect. Visually, it looks very fancy when the World’s Fair is placed between the walls of the palace. For the Research Institute, the front area of the island is more recommended, that is, at the main gate near the wharves and later steamship yards.

All preparations completed

Now you have completed all the important preparations and have most of the aspects on the way to building a record or a gigacity in view. You can see that you will gain a lot of wood, which you should invest accordingly. The first thing to do is to quickly upgrade to workers so that you can produce steel and colonize other islands. Alternatively, you can have these resources brought to the Cape from the Old World.

Be fast and colonize islands

Try to colonize all the large islands in the Cape if possible. If you are the first, take your clipper or schooner, load it with 50 tons of wood and 50 tons of steel and sail from island to island to colonize all islands accordingly. It is very important that you „own the whole cape“. You need the other islands to outsource your productions, because the main island Crown Falls does not have enough space to cover all production chains etc.. So the sooner you colonize other islands, the better. Concentrate on the largest islands first. Only then will you colonize the smaller islands. These will also become necessary later in the game, because even on a small island you will find 2-3 coal mines or ore mines – resources that you will urgently need later.

Clothing and fish

The production of working clothes and fish must be started on the main island at the beginning of the settlement of the cape. However, you should change this very quickly as soon as you have settled the other islands in the cape. Fishing huts as well as the production of work clothes should be located on a separate island and transferred to the main island via trade route. Of course, you can „bridge“ at the beginning by placing a few fishing huts or a production chain for work clothes on the main island. But this should be the exception. Especially with fishing huts it is important that you transfer the production relatively fast. The coastal area is needed for the steamship yard, the commuter quay, the visitor harbor, the oil harbor or the quartz mines and depots and oil storage. Here it is important to move basic resources to other islands as early as possible.

Bread and beer

With bread and beer, however, things are a bit different. You can practically do without beer production. Of course, it secures you a slightly higher income and a higher satisfaction – but it is not absolutely necessary to develop craftsmen from citizens. You can basically save this production chain and skip it. Sooner or later you will have an income of 500k-1Mio per minute with our approach – plus a healthy account balance. Bread, on the other hand, is a basic resource necessary for advancement. For bread, the upper left corner of the main island in the cape is a good place to start. Here you have the possibility to fill the corners with wheat fields, while in the inner area bakeries and mills find their place. In this way you will manage to place about 12-16 bread production chains, which is enough for the main island even at a later stage. After all, we want to „build record“ and establish a gigacity – and investors like bread rather less. They prefer champagne and cigars….

Peppers and cattle

Be sure to plan a separate island for peppers and cattle. Peppers and beef make „goulash,“ which is processed into canned food. This „canned food“ can be sold at a high price and will be consumed en masse by your population, at least at the artisan/engineer level. So you should settle your own island for these two resources. Actually, the ratio between peppers and beef should be the same. However, from time to time in the game you will notice that the bell pepper stock always fills up a bit faster than the beef. Even if the information in the game tells you something different: if you have established 20 bell pepper plantations, you should establish about 22-24 beef farms. Of course, you should transfer these two resources, as well as the work clothes and the fish, to the main island via the trade route.

In the meantime, always remember to „add“ houses and to let inhabitants ascend, if it is possible. Also, always think „big“. So be careful not to produce appropriately, but consciously use the overproduction. Of course, this is not the goal, but we want to build a gigacity and build record – there should rather be 200 tons of fish more in the warehouse, than nothing at all. Sooner or later you will need it anyway.

Iron ore and coal

Let’s move on to industry: The prerequisites for this are natural, mineable resources such as iron ore and coal. Fortunately, you will find these resources in abundance in Cape Trelawney. Use all the mines you can find and mine everything. „Better to have than to need“. Better to have a full camp than no resources on site. Iron ore and coal are the basics, through which you can create many other products. There should never be a shortage here. Ideally, you should also use all the mines you find on other islands in the Cape.

Copper, Zinc and Cement

With copper, zinc and cement you should proceed similarly, even if these resources are certainly somewhat rarer than iron ore and coal. Whether it’s for eyeglasses, steam engines, or rings, you’ll need a lot of these resources. There is no harm in accumulating these products as early as possible. At the same time, remember to „upgrade“ your camps. On the right coast of your island, there is room for numerous quartz pits (quartz is needed for windows). In front of the quartz pits, there is an empty space that you can fill with additional depots to increase the storage capacity of your island. The goal should be to have about 3000-4000 tons of each consumer good „in stock“. Certainly this is a long way to go, but we need to set the course for success or record building early on.

Industrial center: manufacturing

A gigacity without industry – that would be a dream. But it is very difficult to achieve. On the main island you have already planned your industrial area at the beginning (above). Since the railroad already passes through here (of necessity) to get to the oil wells, you have directly provided electricity. So you should place all processing plants, i.e. all plants that produce the final product, also on your main island. Raw materials and resources should be delivered from all other islands to the main island. There, the products will eventually be processed into eyeglasses, canned goods, jewelry, steam engines or phonographs, etc. Try to place similar buildings as close to each other as possible and place a chamber of commerce directly, so that you can optimize the productions at a later time with the help of items. Certainly you can „rebuild“ later. Of course, it is more practical to plan in a structured way from the beginning which buildings will be placed where.

Commuter Quays

You should build commuter quays as early as possible. Basically, you can only do this when you have the first engineers on your island. Only then can you produce reinforced concrete from cement, which is needed for the construction of a commuter quay. Commuter wharves pool the manpower of all islands, so you can remove residential areas on your additional islands if necessary. However, be sure to leave a „Farmer’s Island“ or a „Worker’s Island“ if necessary – after all, this labor is also needed en masse. Commuter quays are a very effective, but quite expensive way to unite the labor forces of all islands. Our tip: Set them as early as you can!

Railroad and Palace

As soon as the railroad tracks can be laid, you should do so. Extract oil, store it in oil depots and supply your power plants in the city as well as in the industrial area. Your engineers will be so pleased that the first investors will move in. And your processing plants in the industrial area increase their production to 200%.

Also place the palace as soon as possible. It has a very high radiance. Through ministries and policies you can control different areas of your island. You can influence the satisfaction of your population, the productivity, the storage capacity and the item places in town halls or chambers of commerce. You can also increase the attractiveness of your city or gain additional influence.

Zoo and Museum

The zoo and museum should have been set long ago at this point. They are the secret key to success, as they determine how attractive your city appears. A packed museum and zoo will ensure that your gigacity is perceived as very attractive. This, in turn, increases the radiance of your palace and ensures that more visitors and specialists visit your island. You should definitely try to get hold of as many animals or artifacts to equip your zoo and museum. Diving tasks with the salvage ship in Anno 1800 are excellent for this.

Surplus vs. optimization

As a general rule, if you want to build a gigacity, you should first go into massive overproduction in order to optimize afterwards. In this case there is no „either/or“ but only a „one after the other“. First, you should make sure that all basic resources are sufficient and abundant, so that a production chain does not collapse. Once this is ensured, you can optimize the individual production chains, for example, through items in chambers of commerce.

Advancement, advancement and advancement

Conclusion: If your inhabitants can ascend, let them ascend! The goal must be that after a few hours of play you have built a gigacity that is as exclusively home to investors as possible. If you heed our tips and our step-by-step guide for Anno 1800, you will manage to build such a city with ease.