*"Malum est consilium, quod mutari non potest."*

"Bad is the plan, that cannot be altered" is a famous quote from ancient Roman dramaturgist Publilius Syrus, which probably fits the current events around patch 1.6.1

As some of you might remember, I am the guy who posted [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/anno/comments/1sz78de/the_vulcanic_forge_of_myth_and_marketing_cinis_vs/) one in April when the DLC got released. Once again our team took on the task to take a closer look and we again wanted to share our findings with the community.

To say the least, this time around, we were pleasently surprised!

# Disclaimer

Research posts like this are never the work of a single person. They are only possible thanks to the dedication of members of the community who develop tools and plugins, share their expertise, and invest their free time into compiling and analyzing data.

With that in mind, I'd like to give a shoutout to the people who helped me to compile this, make nice graphics to illustrate the changes and did parts of the writing.

# Background:

As a reminder: After the release of DLC 01, “Prophecies of Ash,” a veritable storm of outrage had erupted at the time.

The reason for the widespread harsh discontent: In the run-up to the DLC’s release, Ubisoft Mainz had made some promising (some would say: grandiose) announcements regarding the size of Cinis. The volcanic island was said to be 13% larger than Crown Falls from ANNO 1800.

That sounded ambitious and incredibly promising indeed; the community’s expectations were, accordingly, at least as immense as their anticipation of what was presumed to be really vast building space.

When “Prophecies of Ash” was finally released, it came crashing down to the reality of sober facts that fell far short of the grandiose announcements.

A thorough comparison of [Crownfalls and Cinis](https://www.reddit.com/r/anno/comments/1sz78de/the_vulcanic_forge_of_myth_and_marketing_cinis_vs/) clearly revealed: No, the promise regarding Cinis did not hold up to scrutiny in any way. Not only was the island actually smaller in terms of overall design than Crown Falls, but it also offered about 10% fewer tiles of buildable area than the popular continental island from ANNO 1800.

So it was hardly surprising that the reactions that followed ran the gamut: From accusations of incompetent marketing to angry allegations that the fan base had been deliberately lied to, everything was there.

This considerable outcry from large parts of the community across various platforms apparently did not go unheard by Ubisoft Mainz. A public statement followed in which Mainz [apologized](https://www.anno-union.com/upcoming-patches-a-message-from-the-anno-team/) and explained in more detail the reasons behind the misleading announcements

But, as it turns out, that wasn’t the end of it: Behind the scenes, the development team was apparently striving to make up for this embarrassing blunder and address the shortcomings in Cinis’s buildable area.

Ubisoft Mainz has now presented the result of these deliberations and efforts; the latest patch has given us an expansion of the buildable area on Cinis.

We took this as an opportunity to take a closer look at what has changed in detail. And in the process, of course, we scrutinized meticulously how the changes to the landscape affect the available building area.

# Cinis Expanded - Actual Numbers:

Over the years, the community has agreed on tile counting as the most accurate method for measuring usable building space. This is typically done by placing 1×1 ornaments on every available tile until no free space remains. The total number is automatically tracked in the game’s construction menu. We already applied this same method in April, but this time around,

we also did different approach on top of it, which we simple call the "farmfield method". By filling up the entire island with grain fields, we are able to accuratly tell the total tile count regardless of grid, with the nice side effect that we also are able to check for potential bugged tiles at the same time.

* Old Cinis: 81443 tiles
* New Cinis: 101254 tiles

The developer team added roughly **+25% extra building space** to Cinis with the extension! Needless to say, this is **huge!** Therefore, Cinis is now, objectively, the largest island in an Anno game to date, no questions asked.

For those interested, it now offers **about 12% more building space than Anno 1800s Crownfalls** after the update.

[Old Cinis covered in flowers in contrast to the new expanded areas](https://preview.redd.it/td9s6q38wfch1.jpg?width=1840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dce5e980c7894c08fac5ca471819e13484423ac)

# External Analysis - Comparing old and new island models in Blender:

Thanks to the efforts of the modding community, we were able to extract and directly compare the island models using Blender. This allows for precise measurement and visual comparison.

As we clearly can see, Cinis got expanded in multiple ways by either extending parts of the island into the water, extending plateaus or even removing rocks and mountain parts.

The foodprint alone **clearly got larger compared to before**.

[Old vs New Cinis - expansion marked in light green](https://preview.redd.it/kzahbydsvfch1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36a2edfb67c96ec9fc2ad71706fdd1773aa7cc34)

# Island Features - Did they get extended too?

We were pleasently surprised to experience that the island is much more accessable now in first person mode than it was before; various **new landmarks** have been added for the community to discover and old ones, that were already there got **improved in quality**.

The hiking trail and its side pathes are now **fully accessable**, as well of parts of Caecilias village that prior to this patch were not approachable prior to this patch.

[Improved old and newly added landmarks to discover](https://preview.redd.it/ozk1n7dyvfch1.jpg?width=1840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4a5114a8e35c3d05d24e7cfc4b19d7e4ce43889)

# Our overall impression of the update:

We have to say that we were surprised by the changes to Cinis - very pleasantly so.  We'll admit that when we first read that the island was expanding, we didn't have high hopes.  We expected some minor changes, spread out in slivers here and there to make it nearly unnoticeable to the average player.  We figured it would be just enough to correct the marketing error, while still keeping the overall feel of the existing Cinis.  Instead, we got some major and very obvious expansions, and we can't wait to fill them in!

There are a few places where the smaller expansions we expected arrived.  A slice here and a divot there, a smoothed cliff, space for another farm.  Those are barely worth looking at compared to the rest of it, however.  There are a couple plateaus with more area, including one that looks like the perfect spot for my villa - remote and defensible, and with plenty of extra space to set up a garden paradise around it.

Then there are the real surprises:  the expansions on the coasts.  The area near Caecilia's temple to Vulcanus, where you drop off materials in her quest line, is huge now.  It's not just "add another farm" size - it's "add a whole new city district" size.  Maybe she'll give us a discount on specialists if we build a Vulcanus-themed district there, with shrines and forges? And on the eastern side of the island even more room was added by expanding a small island into a full peninsula jutting into the ocean. We can already see a lookout tower developing, protecting the entire eastern and southern reaches.

While we mulled over exactly what to build, we also decided to go for a quick walk through the new areas in first person mode.  We were again surprised by a whole new crop of easter eggs that were apparently also "revealed by the earthquake" - how an earthquake sets up a trader's outpost or a painter's stand on an overlook we're not sure... and we don't think we're even going to ask about our newly-revealed definitive proof that the pyramids were in fact parking spaces for UFOs!  Questions aside, the many new stops along the walking paths were a delightful discovery, and we think our new building might be delayed a bit more while we do a thorough search.

Overall, the effects of the changes are truly impressive:  noticeable expansions and a host of easter eggs not only catch the eye, but also show thoughtfulness and careful placement to provide real benefit and inspiration.  This is the kind of content and detail that has drawn us back to Anno again and again over the years, and we're very happy to see it.

# Conclusion:

In summary, the subsequent adjustments made to Cinis represent a solid effort.

The island now actually has more buildable area than Crown Falls, thus fulfilling the original announcement. Ubisoft Mainz didn’t just stop at a public apology, but actually took concrete, tangible action by redesigning the volcanic island.

The fact that the development team apparently devoted resources to this for weeks that were presumably meant to be put on creating future game content deserves respect. This clearly shows that the team has listened to the community.

Taking Publilius Syrus’s quote to heart: Even if a plan initially does not work out, there is always room for changing and improving it, you just have to be flexible and open minded.

From Marketing Fallacy to Grandeur: The Cinis Expansion Analyzed