Terminology

Anno1404 uses many different terms for many different features and mechanics of the game. This page serves as a guide to disambiguate these terms, both in the game and on this Wiki.

Name of the game

Anno 1404 vs Dawn of Discovery

In Europe this game is called "Anno 1404" for the PC, Wii, and DS while, in North America it is called "Dawn of Discovery" for the PC, Wii, and DS. There is also a "Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery" for the Nintendo DS which is based on the "Anno 1701" game

AD 1404 vs Anno 1404

The games before "Anno 1404"/"Dawn of Discovery" used the AD year naming method for North American releases and the Anno naming method for European releases.

Islands vs Settlements

Islands refer to any Island that can be settled by the player. Note that this does not include the Harbours of the Mentors. Island is often used to refer to the properties of an Island, like the Fertilities and Natural resources. Settlements refer to any Island that has been settled by a (Computer) player.

In addition to the previous two terms, which are used by the Game, we also sometimes use the term Cities when talking about Settlements with many Inhabitants, as well as different terms for the combination of all Settlements of a player (i.e. Empire, Kingdom, etc.).

Residents vs Civilization level vs Inhabitants vs Population

Building Houses and expanding your Settlements is one of the core mechanics of Anno1404. People that move into the houses of your Settlements are referred to as Residents. The Civilisation level of Residents is determined by the level of the House they occupy. There are 7 Civilisation levels, which are displayed in the Inhabitant overview page of each Marketplace in the following order (from bottom to top): Beggars; Peasants; Citizens; Patricians; Noblemen; Nomads; Envoys.

The total number of Residents is referred to as Inhabitants or Population. These terms are used very inconsistently by the game, and can be found in many different descriptions and information tabs. However, the Marketplace has an Inhabitants tab that only shows the Residents on the current Island, and the game always shows the worldwide number of Inhabitants under the Population tab (displayed above the map). Therefore, Inhabitants will be used to refer to number of Residents per Island, and Population will be used to refer to the worldwide number of Residents.

Warehouse vs Marketplace vs Market Building

	The Warehouse is the item that first establishes a player's control over an island. Each player can have only one warehouse per island. Warehouses can be renamed to a maximum length of 15 characters.
	A Marketplace (or Bazaar in the Orient) has an influence range that gives you a place to build your Houses in and fulfills an essential need of every inhabitant. Multiple of these may be built on an island.
	A Market building is a building with an area of influence which send carts out to gather goods. The Oriental version sends 3 carts at all times, but can't be upgraded. The Occidental version sends 1 cart per level, with two upgrades possible.

Influence area vs Construction area vs Harbour area

Almost every building in the game has an Influence area. The Influence area of a building is indicated by the highlighted squares when selecting a building. This indicates the work area for Tree-based production buildings, the area where fields can be placed for Farm buildings, and the pickup range for Production buildings. (Production buildings can pickup resources from Market buildings or directly from other Production buildings within range.)

For some buildings (Warehouses, Market buildings, and Marketplaces) the Influence area also indicates a Construction area for other buildings. Some buildings specifically require a Harbour area, which is a type Construction area that can only be created along the coast by Warehouses and Harbour master's offices. Construction area and Harbour area can be somewhat ambiguous at times, and the in-game description in the Build menu mentions the wrong type of area on a number of occasions.

Honour vs Prestige vs Reputation

Lord Richard Northburgh

Grand Vizier Al Zahir

For more information: Honor

	Honour is gained by performing quests, funding Computer players, or by the direct purchase in the Diplomacy menu. Honour is used to buy special items from the warehouses of the Grand Vizier al Zahir and Lord Northburgh. It can also be used to buy an auxiliary fleet or to buy money. If the player has a trade alliance with Hassan ben Sahid of the Corsairs, it can be used to purchase special items from him as well. It can also be used to gain ranks in the Attainments menu and to purchase items that can be built in your cities and towns.
	Prestige is only used with Grand Vizier al Zahir. Prestige determines the diplomatic rank of the player. It is increased by purchasing gift with honor from Lord Northburgh and bringing the gift to the warehouse of the Grand Vizier. Prestige cannot be lost. Once the player is at the maximum rank with the Grand Vizier, the prestige gifts no longer appear in Lord Northburgh's warehouse.
	Reputation is a measure of how the computer players like the player. Reputation levels need to be at certain values to conduct trade treaties and alliances. Reputation is gained by doing quests, or by flattery and purchase in the Diplomacy menu.

Achievements vs Attainments

	Achievements are the different objectives you can complete to receive gems and can be viewed in the player profile. When you fulfill the requirements, a message will pop-up in-game showing the name of the achievement you completed and how many gems you received for it. Achievements are associated with your player profile and can only be completed once.
	Attainments are the various upgrades you can purchase from the unique AI personalities (Lord Northburgh, Al Zahir, Hassan ben Sahid) using Honour Points. Attainments are locked and unavailable in the single-player campaign.

North/South vs Occidental/Oriental

Although the words Occidental and Oriental are derived from the Latin words meaning West and East, they geographically represent North and South in Anno 1404. In some cases, such as seed descriptions, the distinction is made between northern and southern islands instead of Occidental and Oriental islands.

Needs

When referring to Needs, it can have two meanings. Inhabitants develop many different Needs that need to be satisfied. These Needs are referring to the individual Goods and Buildings that are required to satisfy a particular Needs type (Need for Food, Need for Clothing, etc.). However, the Needs types are often referred to simply as Needs. For example, when we say "All Needs must be Very well satisfied for Inhabitants to advance." this is referring to Needs types. We do not have a way to resolve this ambiguity at the moment.

Difficulty levels

The game has three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, and Hard. However, other terms are sometimes used in place of these terms. In the descriptions for achievements "Hard" is frequently noted as "Difficult" and settings for Corsairs are "weak, medium or strong".