New France

[Icaria909]

I know that I had previously started writing Spanish Empire, but my computer had a virus and then I lost the game and all my save files. Well, I just downloaded the game onto my desktop (which has better graphics, yay ), and so I decided to start a new story: four new stories to be exact. This is the first of four that I plan to write. Each of the stories is to be from the point of view of a different civilization. And as the name suggests, this first story is to be from the point of view of France.

I don't know about other people, but I am a visual person and I love to see pictures, so... I may have more pictures than words on some occassions. If people feel I am not saying enough then post that and I will fix it. Also, I have some rules that I am going to apply to each of the games to add a level of historical realism (I LOVE HISTORICAL ACCURACY ).

First rule: in regards to the tax system and answering the king, I am going to either give in to his demands or refuse based on the history of the different civilizations. For example, as the spanish I would always give the king whatever he wanted in deference to the "Great Catholic King," in contrast to when I am playing as the English, where I would give in to some demands but refuse most to simulate the british colonies relative isolation from the crown.

Second Rule: I will treat the natives differently depending on who I am playing as. Another example, as the french I will treat the natives well, trade and gift them money, and maintain good relations, while as the English I will exterminate all natives and enslave the rest and send them to the caribean.

Finally, the Third Rule: I am going to try and construct my colonies along somewhat historical lines. For example, I am not going to make a spanish empire that stretches from Canada to Mexico. That also includes armies and the like. I won't make privateers as the spanish, while as the dutch and english half of my navy will be made of privateers.

Another personal rule I have is that if I lose a city to natives or other civs, I am going to accept that and not change the game (either through reloading and fixing a mistake before it happens or by opening up worldbuilder). These games are to be cheat free.

To make the game even more fun, I may hold war councils where I will ask the people who watch these stories what they think I should do. If I am playing as a fairly democratic civ, I'll follow the advice of the majority of the people (even if I don't agree with it), and if I am playing as a fairly autocratic civ I'll just consider their advice. I hope this matches some of the democratic institutions in the new world (like Pilgrims townhouses or the spanish governor's advisors).

These rules are just to make the games more diversified and more fun for me to play. I hope it is equally enjoyable for you guys to watch. The first installment is coming soon, but first I have to go to a bike race for the weekend, so until then, I'll see ya.

 

[HistoryFan]

Can't wait to hear the story!

 

[Icaria909]

Just got back so Here is the first chapter. Here are the settings:
Huge Western Map
Marathon
Conquistador
Samuel de Champlain (French)
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The year is 1492 and the French King has sent Samuel de Champlain as Viceroy of the New World to establish French presence there.



During the months at see, French colonists spot a large merchant ship with and orange flag. Upon setting the boats close enough, the captains of the french caravel and the foreignors merchant boat yell at each other. Champlain discovers that this is the dutch, and hoping to prevent a naval clash, Champlain calls for open borders between the two colonies if they ever meet up again. The Dutch agree and sail away into the fog of war.



For two years the French colonists sit on the small miserable caravel, until they spot land.



Rounding the corner of the Northwest Passage, the French move down the narrow inlet into the Great Lakes region. The Viceroy, Champlain , scouts the terrain from the boat with his telescope, searching for a favorible spot for a french presence. He spots a perfect spot: it has a natural corn field nearby, a tobacco field, and even a herd of deer were spotted. Welcoming natives appeared as the French stepped off their miserable little boat and settled the first French colony in the americas: Quebec.





Champlain leaves the ship to explore the waters in the area further. He wished to gain more maps of the region before he sent word to europe that he had established a colony in the Americas. After several months the ship had discovered that there were Great Lakes to the west of Quebec, and that the continent they were on on ended in the east along a great coastline. Scanning the map, this is what Champlain discovered:



Back in Quebec, Champlain had set his expert pioneer to farming the cornfield nearby, so that the french colonists would not die in the winter. The last colonist was sent to the nearby deer grounds to hunt for fur, while the rest of the villegers collected the tobacco on the spot where the city was founded. The caravel was sent for, and it collected all the fur and tobacco that the colonists had gathered and was sent back to France. However, word came to quebec that the King needed funds for his royal navy and he wished to collect 50 gold in 1499. Regretfully, Champlain granted the king his wish, knowing that much of his funds for colonization had been carried away.

On the way back to France, the caravel, loaded with quebec's goods, spots an English settlement to the northeast of Quebec. THis angers Champlain as he has claimed this continent for France. He begins to eye the natives as a potential weapon to use against the English.



The caravel lands in Europe in 1510, and sells its goods. A master weaver is waiting at the docks. But Champlain wants a better map of the new world, so he bribes a scout from France to accompany the master weaver back to Quebec. Using his new funds, Champelion pays 300 gold to the natives around Quebec and the English colonies (the Inca). They are pleased, but still refuse to give us a defensive pact. The viceroy notes that he must continue earn the favor of the Inca in the future.

Back in the City of Quebec, the pioneer has finished working on a lodge near the deer grounds and has started to create a farm on the land with the tobacco. A dock is constructed using some of the colonies funds, and work is begun on constructing a church to convince more people to come to the new World. With few funds left the King demands more funds for his navy, asking for 70 out of my 80 gold. Champlain respectfully declines the king, indicating that the funds are necesary to pay for the pioneers work on improving the land around Quebec.

In 1516, an english scout passes north of Quebec. This angers the French Viceroy, as he knows that the English want to gain the the native's treasures before him. In retaliation, Champlain lands his scout sout of the water inlet leading to the great lakes, near the eastern seaboard, to meet with the natives south of Quebec. Much is gained, as the natives shower money, treasures, and experience upon the scout. The scout is upgraded to Explorer 1 + 2, for better traveling time and visibility. He continues along the continent meeting the Tupi along the mississippi river valley, the Arawak along the southern coast of North America and Northern Mexico, and the Iroqoius along the Western Coast. Generously giving 500 gold to each of the native tribes, Champlain gains the respect of all the natives and even signs a defensive treaty with the Tupi.

From all the money that has been made, In 1522 Champlain purchases another caravel back in Europe and loads it with two free colonists waiting at the docks. The other caravel arrives a month later and picks up a veteran soldier waiting at the docks and bribes an expert fisherman to come to Quebec with him. The caravel that was purchased in 1522 sailed off coarse and ended up near south america where the French discovered the Dutch Colony.



Here is a map of what has been Discovered so far:



Spotting a fine island for a colony, Champlain directs the ship to drop off the two colonists and found the city of Port A' Prince.



A spanish caravel travels nearby, and the Spaniards meet with the french to discuss politics. The Spaniards request 100 gold for a map, and the French readily comply, so that they would know in the future where the spanish are. By knowing where the spanish are, the French wished to avoid meeting dutch and Spanish privateers and frigates. HEre is a map of the land the spanish domains in South America:



Feeling proud of his work, Champlain does not even hesistate to give the king his funds when he requests 1000 gold. Wishing to document the progress of the French he has commisioned a map of the New World. He writes that Blue represents French Colonies, Red represents English Colonies, Orange represents Dutch colonies, and Yellow represents Spanish colonies:

 

[Icaria909]

Sorry if that first post was difficult to understand; I was trying to experiment with different ways of writing this. For convenience, I think I am going to stick with writing it like a log where I talk about why I made certain decisions etc. It is just too difficult to write it like a story when so much of the game is concerned with economics and shipping. I believe that I will reserve the story telling for the revolution, when the fighting makes this style of writing more appropriate.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I don't have Colonization and am reading stories to see what the game is like. I'm enjoying this so far. Since this appears to be a map of the Americas, are you going to try to recreate historical France's expansion? I like how you're patterning your gameplay based on the civ you've chosen.

(Strangely, playing Age of Empires III: Age of Imperialism is what made me interested in this -- they both concern the exploration of the Americas.)

 

[Icaria909]

Ya, I am trying to recreate New France as closely as possible to the original. At this stage in the game, I don't think I am going to invest as much money, colonists, or time into colonizing the caribean, Northern South America, and Brazil (Yes, France colonized parts of Brazil but these forts and cities were captured by Iberian forces in the late sixteenth century ). Besides, Making North America french territory is already a big task.

I love Age of Empires III. I've spent so many hours playing it. In fact that was what got me into Civ III (playing atlantic world) and Civ IV Colonization. Too bad though I can't play as the aztecs in colonization or I would be throughing jaguar warriors at people like it's nobody's business.

Speaking of Colonization, its time for a report on France's colonies in the New World.

 

[Icaria909]

The next thirty years of development in New France are not particulary exciting. For a brief summary, I have spent much of this time exploring North America with a scout to gain treasures, building up Port A' Prince and Quebec, and spreading my missionaries around Quebec.

I'll start with the year 1528. I dropped off a veteran soldier and fishermen there. My goal with Quebec is to make the money earner for the colonies. Ultimately my finances are to depend greatly on a few well situated cities: principly Quebec, Port A' Prince, and Louisiana (when I build it), so I am trying to increase these cities populations a lot with recruits from europe before I move onto industrial development and military expansion.

Treasures collected from natives in the Southwest are beginning to trickle into Quebec. The king is collecting his 50% tax on the treasures because I don't want to buy a galleon. Galleons cost 9000 gold, and that is money that could make Quebec that much richer and for fostering trade with the natives. I recognize that in the next century, the indians are going to provide a better market for my goods than europe, so I want to prepare for that by keeping up good relations and doing everything possible to avoid a costly war. So I am using much of this money to give to the natives. In fact, in 1529 I give 1000 gold to the Tupi (along the mississippi river) and they even gave me a defensive pact. A few months later I gifted 400 gold to the Iroqious in the southwest and they have +4 relations with me now. and in 1556 I gave 2000 gold to the Incas hoping to woe them into a defensive pact. They are my ultimate goal, because they are spread out through most of northern Canada and their settlements border the British to the North. If I can get the Inca to agree to a defensive pact that would greatly deter a British French War. Still... the inca "don't like me enough" and refuse a pact. Disapointing, but more gifts later will hopefully change his mind.

Getting recruits in Europe is difficult and not as rewarding as I would have hoped. I am mostly recieving indentured servents and petty criminals. Ya well, two can play at that. I changed my scout (after he explored most of North America) into a missionary as well as two indentured servents into missionaries. I placed one just north of modern day Maine, one in the Ohio river valley, and the other one tile north of Quebec. As Champlain and the French I get the added bonuses of Extra misssionary converts, meaning more converted natives. Converted Natives are going to be the backbone of the empire, as they collect extra raw resources, so I want to mass produce them to fill my cities, and eventually I want the europeans to fill in for the industrial sector. Hopefully, from 1550-1600 I can found another 4-5 missions in North America with at least two bordering the Carribean.



Here is a map of North Canada: it shows that the english have expanded in the north. I really got to get rid of them.



Between 1527-1560 I recieved a few converted natives from the missions and I built two new cities: chicago and montreal. Soon, I am need to increase their populations to two and store guns there in case of Indian attack. One thing Indians respect is strength, and I need them to remember that they can't wipe me out.



Also, during this time, my pioneer was sent to Haiti (Port A' Prince) to farm the plots nearby in order to increase productivity of sugar (and eventually rum). Once these spots were farmed I sent the pioneer back to Quebec where I hope to build a road connecting Quebec to Montreal and Chicago, and to link my missions and the Natives towns to my cities.

I have intermittently gave the King taxes. Sometimes he requests 4/5 of all my funds, which I usually refuse, while other times he is more reasonable and only asks for 1/6 of my funds, which i grant him. But these tax games bother him, so he raised my taxes in 1538 and 1550. Now my taxes are at 6%. Also, I recieved a founding father recently: Peter Minuit ( who gives a 25% reduction cost to recruiting people in Europe). He will be perfect to help me get the miners and industrialists I need to make New France expand.

So that is the news from 1527-1560. Told you it wasn't that interesting. But here is a new map of the Americas. Btw, Turqois represents where i have missions, to help show that I feel that these missions are basically French property.

 

[Bobbtjoe]

keep up the good work

 

[dalgo]

Very well done.

 

[Icaria909]

Sorry for not posting in a while. I going to try and post again this weekend. Thanks for reading everyone.

 

[ilduce349]

(or have you abandonned this for your stories at C4 S&T)?

 

[Icaria909]

(or have you abandonned this for your stories at C4 S&T)?

haha, I would have continued it, but I lost the game and replaced the old computer with the save on it. Maybe after I finish my Ottoman story I'll return and finally finish a story here

 

[ilduce349]

hopefully. I came here to see the activity of this S&T cause I am considering starting a Realpolitik here (would you be interested in it)

 

[Icaria909]

I'd consider it, but I've never done a realpolitik before. But if there's people here who participate then maybe.

 

[ilduce349]

yeah unfortuantly colonization doesn't seem very active, its a petty because I prefer the game play to Civ 4...

its also seems like the perfect game for an RP

 

[bestrfcplayer]

Nice story so far.

 

[ilduce349]

its now dead, as I figured out a few days ago.