Anno 117: Pax Romana is off to the races

From Ubisoft:

It is every governor’s dream to have such an establishment in their province, and your citizens will enjoy it as well, from the lofty Equites and Patricians in their VIP suites to the lowly Plebians in the stands, cheering for their favorite chariot. A monument to your grandeur, an architectural marvel, a beacon of culture and civilization – The Hippodrome will elevate your province to new heights.

The Hippodrome
This new monument takes up quite a bit of space, requires a great deal of granite, timber, marble, and mosaic to construct, and will be built in stages – first the foundation, followed by the outer walls and the stands, before finishing with decorations and VIP lodges.

The Hippodrome is part of the Patricians’ Marvels need category, and will fill that need for the entire island. It also provides the following effects:

Increases certain attributes of all affected buildings (covers the entire island)
Those attributes will go up further when you increase the Hippodrome’s Splendor, which is displayed in the Hippodrome’s menu
Some Splendor levels provide additional bonuses, such as, for example, increased offense and defence for newly recruited cavalry, and horses as an additional need for Equites and Patricians

Once your Hippodrome is constructed, a series of quests will help familiarize you with the monument and its features. In this high-stakes story, a young man with big dreams of becoming a racing champion, and you’ll help him grow from amateur to legend. However, if you prefer to dive in without doing the quests, that’s an option as well.

Off to the Races

The first step in running a chariot race at the Hippodrome is deciding what type of race to host. There are three race types:

Amateur – 4 Racers compete
Classic Quadriga – 6 Racers compete
Imperial Races – 8 Racers compete

You can unlock Classic Quadriga and Imperial races by increasing the Hippodrome’s Splendor. The larger the races are, the more racers can compete and the more Splendour you will earn, but it will come at a hefty cost and bring tougher competition.

Next, it's time to choose from any specialist on your current island to be a racer. Each one comes with their own set of racing attributes, which are:

Speed
Stamina
Sprint
Reliability

Once you’ve selected your racer, it’s time to assemble the goods you’ll need to host the race. It’s similar to the Amphitheater, with one new mechanic: you can provide one extra good to increase your Splendor rewards after the race. Then, it’s time to start preparations for the race. In response to player feedback, you can now set events to auto-repeat, so you don’t need to remember to start a new event every time.

Once the race starts, you’re free to follow along on your screen and cheer your racer on! Occasionally, you can order them to do a sprint, giving them a temporary speed boost and an edge in the race – if you time it right.

The more Splendor you accumulate, the more the Hippodrome’s attributes increase. You can also get additional bonuses, such as:

Horses as an additional need for Equites and Patricians
Horse breeders produce chariots as an added by-product
Increasing productivity nearby

Completing races will also improve the participating Specialist’s racing attributes.

In addition to the “The Hippodrome” DLC, the large update also includes several new features and improvements for all players.

Honored Guests and New Specialists

Anno 117: Pax Romana is also adding a new Honored Guests feature with this update. These characters have come from far and wide to visit your splendid province, and will support you in your efforts, including bringing you new Specialists. Honored Guests will visit your island at random, but you can increase the chances of one gracing your shores by increasing the Prestige of your islands.

Update 2.0 also is adding a new Specialist rarity level, Heroic. These are extremely rare, cost quite a bit of prestige, and you can only have one of each per savegame, but they bring quite the positive impact to your province. Their visiting chance depends on the Splendour you amassed across your monuments, both the Amphitheatre as well as the Hippodrome.

One of them is Paldius, Ovine Authority Unquestioned. His effects include:

Population +2 from cheese
Health +1 from cheese
Sheep farms produce an additional 1t cheese every 12 cycles
Sheem farm required workforce is reduced

Photo Mode

You’ve spent countless hours building up and beautifying your city, and now you can show off your hard work in new and exciting ways. Photo Mode will feature:

A free-moving camera, allowing for more photographic angles and allowing you to zoom in and out further than with the regular game camera
You can select any time of day to create the perfect lighting and ambiance for your photo
Several lens effects, including depth of field, focal length, and tilt shift effect

Limited-Time Challenges
Ubisoft Connect challenges are rolling out for all platforms, giving you a chance to earn Ubisoft XP and level up your Connect account. As you level up, you’ll be rewarded with Ubisoft Units, which can be used for in-store discounts, rewards for the game, or Fame points to spend in your Hall of Fame.

These challenges will be on rotation, available for a short time before moving on to the next challenge. Challenges can be completed each time they become active, even if you already completed it, giving you the same rewards. However, progress doesn’t carry over.

Completing challenges also awards you Fame Points which you can use in the Hall of Fame in the game to unlock additional ornaments, music tracks, and more.

Other Updates

Here are some of the other changes coming with Update 2.0:

A note function has been added, allowing you to write notes to yourself
Amphitheatre Buff Rework – the monument now has a nine-stage buff system, with increased clarity and usefulness of the provided buffs
New resident quests are available, and can be repeated
Bread consumption has increased by approximately 50%
Bread now provides +3 population (increased from +2)
Major fires and major plagues now significantly affect more buildings, especially in large cities, increasing their impact