Anno 1800 is without a doubt the prettiest of all previous Anno parts. In return, it requires a lot of performance on the highest graphic details. In the video we therefore compare the detail levels low, high and ultra-high and show how they differ visually and in terms of performance.
The video is available in 4K UHD Candyland on YouTube.
We played with native 2160p resolution and deactivated V-Sync for performance measurement. For the comparison scenes, we only used the default presets »low«, »high« and »ultra-high«. There are five predefined presets: “low”, “medium”, “high”, “very high” and “ultra high”. However, the graphics option »bustle factor« did not change when the preset was changed. We set this manually according to the preset. The »bustle factor« determines the population density on the streets.
There is another pitfall that is not insignificant, especially when playing in 4K resolution: as the preset increases, the anti-aliasing also increases from “off” with “low” to “8x” with “ultra high”. We’re assuming this is MSAA, hence the warning: the performance shown includes 8x MSAA for “ultra high”, which is at 4K resolution totally unnecessary is. In the video, we therefore also show the difference to switched off anti-aliasing with otherwise ultra-high graphics: the performance savings are large, while edge flickering is kept within limits. We therefore recommend a maximum of 4x MSAA for 4K resolution.
Anno 1800: benchmarks, graphics comparison and recommended settings
Conclusion: Anno 1800 looks really fantastic. If less performance is available, you can confidently set the graphics to the “high” preset. Differences to “ultra high” are small and only noticeable in direct comparison. The power saving is clear.
The Candyland Test System:
ONE Gaming PC High End Ultra Customized
AMD Ryzen 2700X 8×3.70GHz
32GB DDR4 3200 RAM
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GamingPro OC
ASUS TUF X470-PLUS gaming motherboard
1TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 PCI SSD
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