Specialist290
Terracotta Statue Man
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,335
Every now and then, as many Civ players know, there comes this one magical game that seems to be inscribed in their memories for life; whether a win or a loss, the experience was simply so thrilling that the player wouldn't have it any other way. For me, this game was completed about 2 years ago, and was started roughly 1 1/2 years before that. The final save, which I attempted to submit to the Hall of Fame (but never quite made it) may still be found on page 3 of the appropriate thread; a brief account of some of its later years may be found in this thread; and numerous other mentions can be found throughout the forum as well, though often without reference to it explicitly. It was a Warlord game, completed in 1959 by spaceship landing. The accomplishment seems modest in comparison with many of the experiences of other Civ2 vets, and indeed some of my later games, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart, and though some details are sketchy, there are others that shall remain forever embedded in my brain.
The game I refer to, of course, is my "France game," and I have finally decided that now is the time to present the complete story in one place.
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CHAPTER ONE: THE FIRST STEPS
The French nation, from which would arise a mighty empire that would literally span the entire globe and hold more than 200 cities in its sway, began as a simple tribe of wanderers on the continent now known as, simply, France. Around 4000 BC the French nomads grew to such a size that it became nearly impossible to maintain a mobile lifestyle, thus prompting them to found the city of Paris.
Relatively little remains of the original terrain of the home continent of the French, but it is safe to say that there were originally many untamed forests, swamps, and even some locations that may be classified as jungle terrain, as well as some hills and mountains. Gradually, as the French grew to fill the continent, more and more of the landscape was gradually bent to fit the needs of civilized society, starting with simple irrigation, roads, and mines. Eventually in modern times, the landscape itself came to be moulded to fit man's image of it, with the construction of artificial hills to feed the industries of the cities and the planting of "forest reserves" in undeveloped regions, while most of the rest became either "concrete jungles" or tame farmland.
Naturally, the French people's expansionistic tendencies compelled them to seek out new lands once they had sufficiently populated their homeland with settlements, and it was these early voyages of discovery, between 2000 and 1000 BC, that the French discovered the large serpentine continent of Burgundy to their west, as well as the islands of Corsica, Bessierres, and Anjou to the south. As the map unfolded, it was revealed that not only was Burgundy large and resource-rich, but also relatively undeveloped, populated only by a few native tribes on the same level of nomadic development that the French themselves had been a few thousand years earlier. Over the next 3000 years, the Burgundian continent and the Southern Archipelago would be so extensively colonized and developed that they would eventually become as integral parts of the French nation as the French homelands themselves, and to this day much of Western Burgundy remains near-pristine wilderness, with new settlements gradually filling in the spaces.
It was also during this period that the French would make their first contacts with other peoples--though the nature of these contacts would inspire a distrust of foreigners for generations to come. First, around 1700 BC, the city of Tours would be seized by a band of foreign raiders from across the seas. Though these raiders only held sway for a few hundred years, their influence would have great impact on the future development and culture of France, not only in the peculiar dialect still spoken by natives of the city, but also a certain legacy of paranoia when it came to dealing with foreign cultures and a vow to never let another foreign people set foot upon their homeland.
This may help explain their reaction to their first contact with a truly civilized culture, the Russians, some years thereafter. At first, relations were fairly peaceful, though somewhat cold and formal, never quite reaching the alliance stage. However, around 1000 BC, the Russians attempted to plant a colony, Grozny, on the northernmost point of the French continent. Not willing to risk a full-scale war with the Russian Empire yet not willing to tolerate a potentially dangerous presence on their soil, the French government (by this point a Republic) agreed to a milder course of action--they instigated a pro-French revolt in the city, then had the population deported. For good measure, they incited another insurrection in the city of Riga, on the Russian mainland, for good measure. French ownership of this city would become a major contention point in the future, though by then the region's culture had become so thoroughly influenced by France's as to render the Russian claim rather insubstantial.
Meanwhile, through the intermediary of a great embassy founded by a traveler named Marco Polo, the French also established contact with two other distant nations, the English and the Babylonians. While some limited exchanges took place, the French never in their entire history bartered their map information to other nations, fearful that knowledge of their location would prompt others to attempt an invasion to destroy their empire. For much of the French Empire's history it would hold the knowledge of nearly half of the world's extent in secret, hidden from the rest of the world, and by the Mordern Era, before the first manned space flight, their exploratory expeditions, merchants, and covert agents would map nearly the entire world alone.
The game I refer to, of course, is my "France game," and I have finally decided that now is the time to present the complete story in one place.
----------
CHAPTER ONE: THE FIRST STEPS
The French nation, from which would arise a mighty empire that would literally span the entire globe and hold more than 200 cities in its sway, began as a simple tribe of wanderers on the continent now known as, simply, France. Around 4000 BC the French nomads grew to such a size that it became nearly impossible to maintain a mobile lifestyle, thus prompting them to found the city of Paris.
Relatively little remains of the original terrain of the home continent of the French, but it is safe to say that there were originally many untamed forests, swamps, and even some locations that may be classified as jungle terrain, as well as some hills and mountains. Gradually, as the French grew to fill the continent, more and more of the landscape was gradually bent to fit the needs of civilized society, starting with simple irrigation, roads, and mines. Eventually in modern times, the landscape itself came to be moulded to fit man's image of it, with the construction of artificial hills to feed the industries of the cities and the planting of "forest reserves" in undeveloped regions, while most of the rest became either "concrete jungles" or tame farmland.
Naturally, the French people's expansionistic tendencies compelled them to seek out new lands once they had sufficiently populated their homeland with settlements, and it was these early voyages of discovery, between 2000 and 1000 BC, that the French discovered the large serpentine continent of Burgundy to their west, as well as the islands of Corsica, Bessierres, and Anjou to the south. As the map unfolded, it was revealed that not only was Burgundy large and resource-rich, but also relatively undeveloped, populated only by a few native tribes on the same level of nomadic development that the French themselves had been a few thousand years earlier. Over the next 3000 years, the Burgundian continent and the Southern Archipelago would be so extensively colonized and developed that they would eventually become as integral parts of the French nation as the French homelands themselves, and to this day much of Western Burgundy remains near-pristine wilderness, with new settlements gradually filling in the spaces.
It was also during this period that the French would make their first contacts with other peoples--though the nature of these contacts would inspire a distrust of foreigners for generations to come. First, around 1700 BC, the city of Tours would be seized by a band of foreign raiders from across the seas. Though these raiders only held sway for a few hundred years, their influence would have great impact on the future development and culture of France, not only in the peculiar dialect still spoken by natives of the city, but also a certain legacy of paranoia when it came to dealing with foreign cultures and a vow to never let another foreign people set foot upon their homeland.
This may help explain their reaction to their first contact with a truly civilized culture, the Russians, some years thereafter. At first, relations were fairly peaceful, though somewhat cold and formal, never quite reaching the alliance stage. However, around 1000 BC, the Russians attempted to plant a colony, Grozny, on the northernmost point of the French continent. Not willing to risk a full-scale war with the Russian Empire yet not willing to tolerate a potentially dangerous presence on their soil, the French government (by this point a Republic) agreed to a milder course of action--they instigated a pro-French revolt in the city, then had the population deported. For good measure, they incited another insurrection in the city of Riga, on the Russian mainland, for good measure. French ownership of this city would become a major contention point in the future, though by then the region's culture had become so thoroughly influenced by France's as to render the Russian claim rather insubstantial.
Meanwhile, through the intermediary of a great embassy founded by a traveler named Marco Polo, the French also established contact with two other distant nations, the English and the Babylonians. While some limited exchanges took place, the French never in their entire history bartered their map information to other nations, fearful that knowledge of their location would prompt others to attempt an invasion to destroy their empire. For much of the French Empire's history it would hold the knowledge of nearly half of the world's extent in secret, hidden from the rest of the world, and by the Mordern Era, before the first manned space flight, their exploratory expeditions, merchants, and covert agents would map nearly the entire world alone.