French Chateau?!

[HeraldtheGreat]

I can't say I'm altogether surprised... France IS the number one tourist destination in the world right now, so I guess the devs want to emphasise that aspect more.

 

[mposyncckh]

They probably wanted France to play more unique and they thought an improvement would do that. Also, with the change in culture victory, they felt France's UA needed an overhaul, which necessitated other changes for balances.

Of course it's unprecedented, but it's not crazy. They won't remove the game file, so you can always use it in a mod. They felt France would play more interestingly with a UI. It's a shame because both UUs are well-liked (well, Musketeers at least look cool, I can't say I found them all that interesting to play with), but I'm looking forward to the brand new France.

What is the change to France's UA? Could you please post a link? Thank You!

 

[Louis XXIV]

It was in the Q&A video. Here's at least one thread discussing it, though.

City of Light. Theming bonuses doubled in capital. No word if that's the extent of it, though.

 

[mposyncckh]

It was in the Q&A video. Here's at least one thread discussing it, though.

City of Light. Theming bonuses doubled in capital. No word if that's the extent of it, though.

Thank you! Do you think theming bonus means the part the developers were saying museums with like works grant bonuses will be doubled in Paris? That seems like a large late game culture pop, but in exchange for less early culture. Sounds interesting

 

[Leugi]

Thank you! Do you think theming bonus means the part the developers were saying museums with like works grant bonuses will be doubled in Paris? That seems like a large late game culture pop, but in exchange for less early culture. Sounds interesting

Well, if the Chateau does give culture or tourism or both that means that France will also have a new medieval culture boost.

 

[Deggial]

It is just a verbal "trick" - but what if the true frensh UA is something like:

City of Light: "France can build pretty "Chateâus" which yield tourism and it's theme-bonus is doubled in the capital."

After all, the doubled theme-bonus alone seams to be a bit weak.

 

[Heinage]

It is just a verbal "trick" - but what if the true frensh UA is something like:

City of Light: "France can build pretty "Chateâus" which yield tourism and it's theme-bonus is doubled in the capital."

After all, the doubled theme-bonus alone seams to be a bit weak.

No, having a UA let them build a UI doesn't make sense. That's not how UAs are ever formulated in civ v.

I think it's appropriate like this:
1 UU - Musketeer, because it's more iconic for France, let's them be a military power in the right historical context, and has been a recurring unit throughout the series.
1 UI - Chateau, unlocks during the medieval era (chivalry?), provides France with culture that they lost from their UA, which will help give them good defensive culture for the culture victory.
New UA - City of Light, giving double theming bonus in capital (usually Paris), boosting tourism but something you have to work for. When playing France you'll be focusing on building the louvres in Paris (and other museums and culture buildings) and you'll be trying to collect and trade for certain pieces of art for theming purposes. Sounds like fun!!

 

[Zet]

When playing France you'll be focusing on building the louvres in Paris (and other museums and culture buildings) and you'll be trying to collect and trade for certain pieces of art for theming purposes. Sounds like fun!!

I wonder if it's possible to steal pieces of art from conquered cities? As in, once conquered, the piece of art is transfered somewhere else, ideally into Paris for juicy theming bonus.

 

[Arkangelus]

Its weird that if they've replaced the UA AND one of the UIs... thats almost an entirely new civ. It seems unlikely, and unprecedented... but we're already in unprecedented territory with a change that big. Could we even be seeing a new leader for France that has three different characteristics?

 

[Liex]

It is just a verbal "trick" - but what if the true frensh UA is something like:

City of Light: "France can build pretty "Chateâus" which yield tourism and it's theme-bonus is doubled in the capital."

After all, the doubled theme-bonus alone seams to be a bit weak.

I suggested something like this in the other thread, but people said it's unprecedented. To me, this is as likely as removing one of the current UU and giving them an UI, as long the Château isn't individually strong.

 

[AriochIV]

Here's a clearer image from the Revision3 video.

 

[anandus]

I'm on my phone so can't see the picture, but a tourism generating wine plantation would make some sense.
And personally I think it'd replace the musketeer rather than the foreign legion.

 

[Seabastian Civ]

SO EXCITED FOR A NEW UI!!!! Would be surprised if the chateau isn't simply a grassland improvement that gives +1 culture and/or +1 tourism. Anything over that would be pretty damn powerful.

Polders MAKE the Dutch. Terrace Farms MAKE the Inca. I would love to see more UI's... they add so much diversity to the map.

 

[janboruta]

Well, this castle is definitely modelled after Chambord, with its turrets and octogonal staircase. Too French to be a generic tile improvement.

I just wonder, where the FL's are going to be placed in the tech tree.

 

[kaspergm]

Well, this castle is definitely modelled after Chambord, with its turrets and octogonal staircase. Too French to be a generic tile improvement.

I just wonder, where the FL's are going to be placed in the tech tree.

Foreign Legion will be a unit awarded specifically through one of the Freedom ideologies. So that pretty much confirms that France will need a new UU/UB/UI which makes perfect sense with the Chateau, so it all pretty much adds up.

Chateau might get a special bonus if Wine is present.

 

[janboruta]

Foreign Legion will be a unit awarded specifically through one of the Freedom ideologies. So that pretty much confirms that France will need a new UU/UB/UI which makes perfect sense with the Chateau, so it all pretty much adds up.

Chateau might get a special bonus if Wine is present.

So far we don't know if the FL's are only acquired through ideology, or if they can be hard-built in cities. All we know is that the ideology grants you 6 units of those and make them maintenance free (which is huge, so it should be ideology-restricted... but no certainty)

I just hope that if the Chateau is the new French UI, it isn't restricted to Wine. It would be too dependent on a lucky start. Anyway, I do love this change

 

[Evie94]

So far we don't know if the FL's are only acquired through ideology, or if they can be hard-built in cities. All we know is that the ideology grants you 6 units of those and make them maintenance free (which is huge, so it should be ideology-restricted... but no certainty)

I just hope that if the Chateau is the new French UI, it isn't restricted to Wine. It would be too dependent on a lucky start. Anyway, I do love this change

they presumably could just make them replace the Plantation in general?

 

[JSMCAG]

they presumably could just make them replace the Plantation in general?

UIs don't replace anything - they only add to the existing ones. You can still build farms as The Inca and The Netherlands, and what would the Moai Statue replace?

Usually, to restrict them, they have some geographical limitations: Terrace Farms can only be built in hills, Polders only in marshes, and Moai Statues only in the coast.
Likewise, the Brazilwood Camp will need jungles, and the Feitoria will need to be inside City-State territory.

If the Chateau is the new french UI, then it's possible you can only build them in, say, grasslands flat terrain, but that seems still rather common... But it'd be weird for the french to be the only ones whose UI replace anything...

 

[AriochIV]

There don't appear to be any resources around the Chateaus, and the French player is spamming them all over his territory. I'd guess it's just a simple +1 culture improvement, perhaps with upgrades later in the game.

 

[kaspergm]

So far we don't know if the FL's are only acquired through ideology, or if they can be hard-built in cities. All we know is that the ideology grants you 6 units of those and make them maintenance free (which is huge, so it should be ideology-restricted... but no certainty)

Again, my point is, that when everything points in the same direction and adds perfectly up, then why question it? No, we don't know it for sure, but until something actually points against it, it seems like a both obvious and valid guess. After all, the suggestion mechanism if in perfect harmony with current game mechanics, whereas having a UU doubling as a unit everybody could get would be very much in conflict with current game mechanics. So if anything, suggesting that FL stays as France UU and at the same time as an Ideology unit would seem like a wild guess.

And no, I didn't expect the Chateau to be wine-only. But it could get a +1 Culture bonus if built next to wine or something, similar to how Monasteries link to Wine and Incense. I don't really expect it, but it could be a fun small twist.