For stamps present in the Clash of Couriers scenario, see: A Clash of Couriers.
Stamps provide a way of saving the building layouts which then can be placed many times across different games and also shared with other players. Each layout is saved as a separate file on the computer drive in the following location:
- \Documents\Anno 1800\stamps\<region name>\<stamp folder name>
Stamps are organised by region or scenario they are available in. The next layer of organisation are stamp folders which are also visible in the game. Each folder and stamp has its own icon and name which can be changed at any time.
Creating stamps[]
Stamps are created by using the stamp tool, selected after clicking on the stamp icon on the left from the construction menu or by using the keyboard shortcut (by default: O). Then similarly to copy or move tools, left-click and drag the cursor over the area with the buildings which are supposed to be included in the stamp. Upon releasing the left mouse button the stamp is created and the appropriate file is saved on the computer drive. If at the time of creating the stamp a specific stamp folder is open in-game, the created stamp is put into that folder (unless there are already 32 stamps in it, which is the maximum limit for a single folder). Otherwise the new stamp gets included in the "New Stamps" folder, which is created if it did not exist.
Stamps can be created only from a limited area, the upper limit seems to be somewhere between 14000 and 14500 tiles.
Using stamps[]
To use a stamp and place the buildings included in it, open the stamp menu, open one of the folders and left-click on a stamp. Then the centre of the layout becomes attached to the cursor and the buildings will be placed upon left-clicking on a buildable area in the game world. If there is lack of construction materials in the island's storage, some of the buildings are placed as blueprints.
If a stamp includes buildings which cannot be constructed due to one of the following reasons:
- the building is limited to a different game mode (for example a stamp which includes buildings limited to the creative mode is placed in the sandbox mode)
- the required DLC is not owned or not activated in that game
- the unlock conditions for the building have not been met yet
- the required mod is not active in that game
then such buildings always get placed as blueprints and cannot be upgraded until the appropriate requirement is fulfilled.
Organising and managing stamps[]
Stamps are naturally organised into folders with up to 32 stamps in a single folder. Each stamp and each folder has its own icon and name, which can be easily changed. The icon and name of the stamp correspond to the building which is included in the stamp in the highest quantity. They can be changed in-game after right-clicking on a stamp within the stamp menu. The icon can be selected from one of the general icons available for all stamps or from icons of the buildings included in the stamp. The name can be changed much more freely, and it can be done also outside of the game by manually renaming the stamp file. It is important to realise that stamps are sorted within each folder alphabetically.
The stamp folder inherits the icon of the first stamp within the folder, it cannot be adjusted in any other way than changing the icon of the first stamp (or changing names of the stamps so that a specific stamp occupies the first place). The default name of newly created stamp folders is always "New Stamps", it can be changed in-game after opening the stamp folder or outside of the game by manually renaming the folder.
Moving stamps between folders cannot be done in-game. It has to be done outside of the game by manually moving the stamp files from one folder to another.
Any changes made within the stamps folder outside of the game cannot be applied while the game is running. It is necessary to restart the game to see all the changes.
Sharing and downloading stamps[]
Stamps can be shared and downloaded from various sources outside of the game. To share a stamp find its file in the stamps folder on the computer drive and then share the file with others. To use a downloaded stamp, it has to be placed in an appropriate region/scenario folder in the stamps folder. The names of the folders have to be very specific with the correct spelling, including the capital letters. Such folders are automatically created by the game when making stamps in a region/scenario for the first time. Therefore when wanting to use a downloaded stamp while not having made any stamps in the game before, it is best to create some stamps to ensure that properly named folders are created. Otherwise the folders have to be made manually and any spelling error or missing one of the subfolders might prevent the game from recognising the downloaded stamp. Remember to restart the game after placing downloaded stamps in their folders in order to see them in-game.
The appropriate names of region/scenario folders are as follows:
- A Clash of Couriers
- Eden Burning
- Enbesa
- Pride & Peddlers
- Seasons of Silver
- The Arctic
- The New World
- The Old World