Fertilities and Lodes

The 'Fertilities and Lodes' setting in the 'Game World' options determines how many fertility slots are available on each island.

The 'Island Fertilities' Tooltip shows an overview of the available fertilites and lodes on the current island

On the Province Map you can hover over any island to get an overview of its available fertilites and lodes. On the left hand of the UI your currently settled islands are displayed with their name and fertility spread.

In Anno 117: Pax Romana, each region is distinguished by an unique set of fertilities and lodes. These are defined as the resources that are necessary for the effective functioning of specific production buildings. The distribution of these resources to the islands is an integral component of the gameplay, occurring on each new game creation. The individual type of each resource is determined by the Map Generator considering user settings chosen at the start of a new game. It is important to note that once a game has been created, changes to the 'Fertilities and Lodes' setting are no longer possible. However, using the Research feature, players can add certain fertilities and lodes to all of their islands or add additional allowed area types for Free Area buildings.

For a quick overview, players have the option of examining the available fertilities and lodes of a specific island by hovering over the icons positioned above the minimap.

Furthermore, a comprehensive overview of the available fertilities and lodes on a given island can be accessed by hovering over the respective island in the Trade Route or Province Map menu. This enables a direct comparison of the islands for future expansion.

There are several types of resources, each associated with different kinds of production:

• Farms utilize crop fertilities, allowing players to arrange field modules on empty tiles in flexible shapes as long as all field tiles remain connected to the main building.
• Livestock Farms generally do not require a separate fertility. Instead the player has to arrange livestock areas inside a limited radius around the building to produce goods.
• Harbor buildings take advantage of aquatic fertilities, requiring only their own building space along the coastline to produce goods.
• Free Area buildings depend on specific fertilities on the island and either unoccupied tiles of Meadow, Forest or Marsh within a limited radius around the building to produce goods.
• River Slot buildings depend on specific fertilities or lodes on the island and one of the limited unoccupied River Slots to produce goods. These are game objects that are spread along the course of the island's rivers in random patterns. Their number is determined by the Map Generator considering user settings chosen at the start of a new game and cannot be changed after initial game creation.
• Mines can only be built upon one of the limited unoccupied Mountain Slots. These are game objects that are spread along the base of the island's mountains in random patterns. Their number is determined by the Map Generator considering user settings chosen at the start of a new game and cannot be changed after initial game creation.

In Anno 117: Pax Romana, fertilities determine an island’s capability to support the cultivation of specific agricultural goods. Production buildings that rely on these fertilities can only operate if the required fertility is present on the island.

Region	Fertility
Latium	Mackerel, Lavender, Resin, Olives, Grapes, Flax, Murex Snails, Sandarac, Oysters, Sturgeon
Albion	Barley, Herbs, Dye Plants, Resin, Saltwort, Small Birds, Flax, Beaver, Ponies, Sea Shells

In Anno 117: Pax Romana, lodes determine an island’s capability to support the extraction of certain raw material goods by mines or river slot buildings.

Region	Lode
Latium	Iron Ore, Uncut Marble, Minerals, Gold Ore
Albion	Iron Ore, Copper Ore, Silver Ore, Tin Ore, Granite Block

Abundances are certain fertilities and lodes that are not specifically indicated by the game because every island has them, so showing them would be superfluous for the player. Players can build the associated production building anywhere in the Region as long as all other gameplay rules are respected. Livestock Farms in particular do not require a separate fertility.

Region	Abundance
Latium	Sardines, Oats, Hemp, Sheep, Clay, Wheat, Salt, Pigs, Limestone, Silica, Honeycombes
Albion	Cockles, Eels, Reeds, Hemp, Ochs, Sheep, Honeycombes, Silica, Wheat, Pigs, Mud, Limestone, Horses

Each island has a fixed number of fertility spots, which the map generator turns into a fertility. The number of spots is determined by the 'Fertilities and Lodes' player setting. This setting cannot be changed after initial game creation.

For each fertilities and lodes setting (abundant, regular, sparse), there are three so-called Fertility Sets for map generation: 'Starter', 'Secondary' and 'Tertiary' island set. Depending on the game world setting and which role an island was spawned in by the map generator (Starter or Regular), an appropriate Fertility Set is selected ('Starter' Set for Starter islands, 'Secondary' or 'Tertiary' Sets for Regular islands). For each island, the available slots are now processed in order from slot 1 to n, and for each slot, a fertility from the designated Fertility Pool is selected at random. Weight can be added to a fertility by adding multiple entries of it into the Fertility Pool. A fertility cannot be appointed more than once to an island. If a fertility is available in more than one Fertility Pool and is already present on the island from an earlier draw, it is no longer considered for selection in each following draw.

The following tables illustrate the possible fertility distributions for each fertilities and lodes 'Game World' setting by listing the used Fertility Pools for each Fertility Set.