Boats can now travel rivers?

[AriochIV]

There are numerous clear examples throughout the gameplay showcase of Navigable Rivers transitioning into Minor Rivers (I think they're called).

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

why fxis chose the term 'minor rivers' instead of 'creeks' or 'streams'?

 

[Uberfrog]

why fxis chose the term 'minor rivers' instead of 'creeks' or 'streams'?

Creeks (America), brooks (southern England), becks (northern England) and burns (Scotland) are all words for extremely small streams that are beneath the resolution of a 4X map.

“River” is the correct English word for any significant running body of water, even if it is not navigable.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

I'm curious if an inland city along a navigable river can build naval units.

I'm also curious, with the loss of specific districts, if we're going back to the city center having to be directly on the coast in order to build naval units...or can you build a generic urban district on a coast tile and that makes it a "harbor". I would hope for something like Old World where a city simply needs a water tile within its cultural borders and it can build naval units.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

Payback for the Songhai stinking so much in Civ 5.
Since they were so under-utilized in that game, despite their descriptor, I guess they'll finally get a river travel bonus this time.

 

[BackseatTyrant]

Creeks (America), brooks (southern England), becks (northern England) and burns (Scotland) are all words for extremely small streams that are beneath the resolution of a 4X map.

“River” is the correct English word for any significant running body of water, even if it is not navigable.

I know the Swedish language has a word for any watercourse that's wide enough to show up on a map, but not so wide it's considered a major artery. This Wikipedia article says they're generally defined by the width being "somewhere between a few meters and a few tens of meters": https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Å_(vattendrag) One the illustrated examples do honestly lean more towards creek than river, but I hope I got the point across

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Now that they've added both navigable and non-navigable rivers a whole bunch of questions raise their collective heads:

1. Water supply. Do rivers still provide potable water to cities as in Civ VI, and does this make a difference in the way the city grows? And if it does, is there a difference between the two types of rivers in the amount and quality of water they provide?

2. Since the rivers can change from navigable to non-navigable, does that point change in the game? And does that change depend on types and sizes of boats - as in, go from ancient 30-ton single-masted Bronze Age/Classical sailer to 10,000 ton Liberty Ship, does the distance you can sail up the river change, or can the Gamer/AI change it In-Game?
After all, some of the earliest canal projects were to get around river obstacles (canal around a Nile Cataract around 1900 BCE in Egypt) or vastly extend the length of the navigable parts of a river (China's "Grand Canal", started around 518 CE, eventually stretched almost 1800 kilometers).

In other words, are Canals in the game and if they are, what can we do with them?

3. Now that we have potential Trade along navigable rivers, and given that boats/ships were the ONLY way to bring in enough Food to make a difference to a city, will Coast or Navigable River connections be required to bring in Food by trade until railroads and modern transport? That, of course,, would make such connections mandatory for a really big Antiquity/Exploration city, which for once in the Civ franchise would exactly model the historical reality. ASnd if that's considered too restrictive, does a coast/navigable ricer connection t least make a big difference in he amount of Food/Bulk Resources that a trade route brings in to a city?

4. Speaking of extending Rivers and Ages, could a Canal connect two separate Navigable Rivers to produce longer Trade and Communications routes? Given that this sort of thing (see China's Grand Canal, but also the frenzy of canal-building in Europe in 16th - 18th centuries) would fall in the Pre-Industrial Exploration Age, would this be an early way to extend trade and movement before the final Age's railroads, airports and powered machinery travel?

 

[AriochIV]

Now that they've added both navigable and non-navigable rivers a whole bunch of questions raise their collective heads:

1. Water supply. Do rivers still provide potable water to cities as in Civ VI, and does this make a difference in the way the city grows? And if it does, is there a difference between the two types of rivers in the amount and quality of water they provide?

2. Since the rivers can change from navigable to non-navigable, does that point change in the game? And does that change depend on types and sizes of boats - as in, go from ancient 30-ton single-masted Bronze Age/Classical sailer to 10,000 ton Liberty Ship, does the distance you can sail up the river change, or can the Gamer/AI change it In-Game?
After all, some of the earliest canal projects were to get around river obstacles (canal around a Nile Cataract around 1900 BCE in Egypt) or vastly extend the length of the navigable parts of a river (China's "Grand Canal", started around 518 CE, eventually stretched almost 1800 kilometers).

In other words, are Canals in the game and if they are, what can we do with them?

3. Now that we have potential Trade along navigable rivers, and given that boats/ships were the ONLY way to bring in enough Food to make a difference to a city, will Coast or Navigable River connections be required to bring in Food by trade until railroads and modern transport? That, of course,, would make such connections mandatory for a really big Antiquity/Exploration city, which for once in the Civ franchise would exactly model the historical reality. ASnd if that's considered too restrictive, does a coast/navigable ricer connection t least make a big difference in he amount of Food/Bulk Resources that a trade route brings in to a city?

4. Speaking of extending Rivers and Ages, could a Canal connect two separate Navigable Rivers to produce longer Trade and Communications routes? Given that this sort of thing (see China's Grand Canal, but also the frenzy of canal-building in Europe in 16th - 18th centuries) would fall in the Pre-Industrial Exploration Age, would this be an early way to extend trade and movement before the final Age's railroads, airports and powered machinery travel?

1. I haven't seen any mechanics that refer to a concept of Fresh Water, but there are a variety of bonuses and requirements that specifically refer to adjacency to coast, lakes, river and/or navigable river. Sometimes you get a bonus for being adjacent to any river, but sometimes it must be a navigable river tile (as in the case of Egyptian and Songhai bonuses).

2. We don't know for sure what happens in later eras, but it seems from what I've learned that a Navigable River can support any unit. Unit size is not game property as far as we know. There's no reason to think that river tiles will change based on Age, but i suppose it's possible that there might be weather disasters that change tiles. There's no information on that.

3. Cities and Towns are automatically connected by roads, and Towns can obviously transmit their food and other resources regardless of whether there are any rivers around. Various mechanics and civs may get bonuses if there is a river present.

4. I haven't seen any canals, so this would be speculation. A canal in this system would just be an artificial navigable river, so it would operate the same way.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

1. I haven't seen any mechanics that refer to a concept of Fresh Water, but there are a variety of bonuses and requirements that specifically refer to adjacency to coast, lakes, river and/or navigable river. Sometimes you get a bonus for being adjacent to any river, but sometimes it must be a navigable river tile (as in the case of Egyptian and Songhai bonuses).

2. We don't know for sure what happens in later eras, but it seems from what I've learned that a Navigable River can support any unit. Unit size is not game property as far as we know. There's no reason to think that river tiles will change based on Age, but i suppose it's possible that there might be weather disasters that change tiles. There's no information on that.

3. Cities and Towns are automatically connected by roads, and Towns can obviously transmit their food and other resources regardless of whether there are any rivers around. Various mechanics and civs may get bonuses if there is a river present.

4. I haven't seen any canals, so this would be speculation. A canal in this system would just be an artificial navigable river, so it would operate the same way.

Thanks for the reply.

1. To me indicates that 'Water' is built into the system though not specifically acknowledged, probably including sewage removal as well as water supply.
2. Is what I would suspect: given that they are streamlining many mechanics, cluttering river routes with Vessel Sizes seemed like far too much complexity compared to the rest of the game.
3. Remains to be seen if any 'trade bonus' attaches generally to rivers/coastal routes. I would suspect there is, but how significant and how much it is attached to specific government/civ bonuses remains to be seen.
4. With a few notable exceptions canals would/should be an Age Two addition, so that's where I would suspect to see them, and so far most of what we've seen has been Age One material.

 

[AriochIV]

I seem to recall hearing about a bonus to a trade route if it followed a navigable river, but I don't remember if that was standard or a special ability.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I seem to recall hearing about a bonus to a trade route if it followed a navigable river, but I don't remember if that was standard or a special ability.

Yes, that's the Songhai unique merchant, Tajiro.

 

[Krikkit1]

I think a distinction is made in different kinds of ships as to whether they can go on navigable rivers or not. (same as some ships not able to go on the ocean)

 

[AriochIV]

I think a distinction is made in different kinds of ships as to whether they can go on navigable rivers or not. (same as some ships not able to go on the ocean)

That's certainly possible, but there is no mention of it in the UI thus far.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

"Locks" improvement that turns non-navigable into navigable. Just spitballing here.

Spoiler image :

 

[Trengilly]

Excited Viking noises!