France's UA - why does it end at Steam Power?

[Smokeybear]

So, they get +2 culture from each city, until Steam Power, when it just ends. I think that ending is rather puzzling, and can find no sensible reason for it.

a) France's great cultural presence in the world didn't just 'end' when the steam engine was invented.

b) No other civ's UA that I can think of just ceases to exist, halfway through the game.

c) The UA's benefit is mainly aimed at cultural victories, where you don't have a huge amount of cities anyway- so why punish France by taking away that paltry 6-12 +culture that your UA usually gives you with a small cultural empire (depending on your preferred number of cities, of course), for no good reason? It's not like letting you continue to get that small cultural benefit for the rest of the game is unbalancing (lol), by any means.

So, what reasoning could they possibly have used, to decide to hose France's UA in this manner? If anything, it should have *increased* at Steam Power, to make up for the highly limited benefit that +2 culture gives, at higher levels. To at least +4 per city, in my opinion.

 

[Glassmage]

The UA is for you to be able to expand more and mitigate culture policies costs. It is secondary for cultural victory. I do not know why it ends at steampower though. Balance???

 

[joncnunn]

Actually France's UA wasn't really intended towards Cultural victory.
What it's mostly for is faster cultural acquisition of tiles. By steam power, there's plenty of cultural buildings out there that presence/absence of has more of an impact than the flat bonus.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Then again, that's not really an argument not to continue it. Afterall, if it's more or less negligible, it doesn't hurt to keep.

 

[Glassmage]

yea France 2 UU's scream WAR!

 

[Morningcalm]

Well, the UA title is "Ancien Regime." Presumably France is not ancient by the time Steam Power is there.

 

[Louis XXIV]

That's my traditional understanding as well, but it need not be this way just based on the name.

 

[turingmachine]

Well "Ancien Régime" specifically refers to France between the 15th to 18th centuries under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties and ending with the French Revolution. So the stopping at Steam Power might just be a thematic thing.

 

[Smokeybear]

Then again, that's not really an argument not to continue it. Afterall, if it's more or less negligible, it doesn't hurt to keep.

My point exactly. So what if it has become a tad low-end by that point in the game- it's still a small culture boost, which is better than NO culture boost. Like I said- no other civ gets its UA completely taken away midway through the game. France, for no good reason, does. 'Thematic'? Pretty lame reason to wipe out all trace of one civ's UA, when no others get the same thematic-up-the-rear treatment. It's just stupid and pointless, and decidedly unfair to a civ with no UB either.

 

[Glassmage]

Well, India has it worst by trading a good thing for a bad thing with the +50% unhappiness per pop and 200% unhappiness per city.

 

[Smokeybear]

Well, India has it worst by trading a good thing for a bad thing with the +50% unhappiness per pop and 200% unhappiness per city.

It's -50% unhappiness per population for India. So you get a huge happiness bonus for playing them as a small-tall empire. They make a great culture or science civ on account of that. As long as you don't overbuild, you pretty much never have to worry about happiness on your way to victory. So their UA, when used wisely, can help you out all the way from start to finish.

 

[RD-BH]

Could it simply be a reference to Napoleon's resistance to adopting steam power?

 

[anandus]

Well "Ancien Régime" specifically refers to France between the 15th to 18th centuries under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties and ending with the French Revolution. So the stopping at Steam Power might just be a thematic thing.

Yeah, I think that's it. France started to industrialize around the time of the Revolution and Napoleon, when the Ancien Regime temporarily (but in the end permanently) was ended.
In 1810 the industrial production of France was 50% more than in the 1780s despite the chaos and terror the revolution brought with it.

 

[Bamboocha]

By that same logic, didn't the Hellenic league end when the Romans rolled in at around 200 BC? By that logic, shouldn't that power only give you a bonus to CS relations until the medieval era?

To be completely honest it's quite silly to give France a power that suddenly ends, leaving them as a pretty 'generic' civ.

 

[CYZ]

I agree it's pretty silly.

Then again, Napoleon was a silly Frenchman for resisting steam power

 

[TheLohoped]

Maybe this UA means that France was one of the most advanced powers in Europe untill the fall of Napoleonic Empire and then became pretty average european nation.

 

[Pyr1t3]

I'd agree with RD-BH and CYZ: It seems to be a reference to Napoleon's rejection of steam power. Why they decided to use that reference as a key gameplay trait instead of a throwaway gag, I'll never know.

 

[Bamboocha]

Maybe this UA means that France was one of the most advanced powers in Europe untill the fall of Napoleonic Empire and then became pretty average european nation.

It remained the most powerful continental power and the second most powerful colonial power until at least WW2. Why do you think Europe was panicking so hard when France fell in 1940? Because the Germans had steamrolled over the strongest guy on the block. The decline of France did not start until 1871, when Germany became the first continental power to actually challenge France for the title of baddest dude of Europe. Even today France has one of the strongest European armies, is the center of European culture and France-Germany is the axis around which the entire EU revolves. Let's not forget that French is the language of diplomacy, any resolution made by the U.N. and all legislation from international court is codified in both English and French. France isn't average in any sense of the word.

 

[Steelyglint]

Well, the UA title is "Ancien Regime." Presumably France is not ancient by the time Steam Power is there.

Though, England's UA is 'Sun Never Sets', which is no longer true.

Could it simply be a reference to Napoleon's resistance to adopting steam power?

The game was made by a team of people who couldn't get their heads around renaming the leaders of the Civs in the Korean Scenario so that they were contemporaries, I doubt they have this much historical knowledge.

I always thought the UA was to allow you to found cities at a normal rate but still rip through liberty in record time. It's overpowered in the early game, so to balance that out it is nonexistant in the late game.

 

[Teagen]

it seems to be an entirely lore based thing and not gameplay based at all.