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  • My complete technology tree

    Yin, how to get rid of all those blank lines that precede my HTML table?

    Any votes to select my Renaissance wonders? Needs cutting down to 7, I think

    Btw there are 140 techs in total in this first version, divided over 7 eras:

    - prehistoric (21)
    - classical (21)
    - dark ages (21)
    - renaissance (21)
    - industrial (21)
    - modern (21)
    - future (14)

    Edit - December 16, 2000
    I added Optics to the tree, which (together with Mechanics) made Physics superfluous. I put Alchemy in the middle of the giant leap from Iron Working to Metallurgy, filling the open slot. The Plough is now a prereq for The Mill.
    Invention had to go to give Engineering its proper place (with Leo's as a wonder ), after which Coal Mining wriggled its way in linking Alchemy to Steam Engine.
    Finally I put in some additional cross-links for the sake of game balance.

    Edit - November 16, 2000
    Several corrections made.
    Crop Rotation has been removed, which leaves a spot open and The Plough a dead end (-> Mechanics?)
    Gunpowder is no longer a prereq for Metallurgy, which allows Cannons to appear before Musketeers.

    >>>>>> scroll down, I promise the table is there somehere >>>>>>

    You can also found the tree here









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































    # Advance Prerequisites Leads to Allows
    P01 Foraging none Agriculture, Herbal Lore exploitation of forest and jungle
    P02 Hunting none Weaponry, Storytelling, The Canoe, Map Making exploitation of grassland, swamp and ocean
    P03 Fire none Pottery, Bronze Working exploitation of tundra and glacier
    P04 Stonecutting none Mining, Masonry exploitation of hills and mountains
    P05 Herding none Agriculture, Roads exploitation of plains and desert
    P06 Paganism none Ceremonial Burial, The Calendar shaman
    P07 Agriculture Foraging, Herding Irrigation, Pottery Warehouse, villages
    P08 Mining Stonecutting Bronze Working mining
    P09 Roads Herding Map Making roads
    P10 Herbal Lore Foraging Writing, Medicine -
    P11 Weaponry Hunting Archery, Horseback Riding warriors
    P12 Storytelling Hunting Writing -
    P13 Pottery Fire, Agriculture Mathematics, The Wheel Granary, Hanging Gardens
    P14 The Canoe Hunting Seafaring canoe, fast travel on rivers
    P15 Archery Weaponry Feudalism archers, Sun Tzu's War Academy
    P16 Ceremonial Burial Paganism Mysticism, Monarchy Temple, Angkor Wat
    P17 Bronze Working Fire, Mining Iron Working, Currency phalanx, Colossus
    P18 Irrigation Agriculture Canal Building, The Calendar irrigation
    P19 Masonry Stonecutting Construction, Mathematics City Walls, Pyramids
    P20 The Calendar Paganism, Irrigation The Council, Astronomy Stonehenge
    P21 Horseback Riding Weaponry Chivalry horsemen
    C01 The Council The Calendar Code of Laws, Currency Barracks, Town Hall: villages can grow
    C02 Map Making Hunting, Roads Seafaring, Trade explorer
    C03 Writing Herbal Lore, Storytelling Literacy diplomat, Library, Alphabet
    C04 The Wheel Pottery The Plough, Engineering chariot
    C05 Code of Laws The Council Monarchy, The Republic Courthouse
    C06 Mathematics Pottery, Masonry Astronomy, University catapult
    C07 Iron Working Bronze Working Alchemy, Bridge Building, The Plough legion
    C08 Mysticism Ceremonial Burial Philosophy, Mythology Oracle
    C09 Monarchy Code of Laws, Ceremonial Burial Feudalism, The Guild Palace, Great Wall, Monarchy
    C10 Seafaring The Canoe, Map Making Canal Building, Navigation trireme, Harbor, Lighthouse
    C11 Currency Bronze Working, The Council Construction, Trade Marketplace
    C12 Mythology Mysticism Literacy, Monotheism Odyssee
    C13 Philosophy Mysticism Arts, Medicine, Theology, University -
    C14 Canal Building Irrigation, Seafaring Sanitation Grand Canal, canals
    C15 Construction Currency, Masonry Bridge Building, Engineering, The Mill elephant, Colosseum, Aqueduct, fortress
    C16 Astronomy The Calendar, Mathematics Navigation, Optics Copernicus' Observatory
    C17 Medicine Herbal Lore, Philosophy Alchemy, Chemistry, Sanitation Hospital
    C18 Literacy Writing, Mythology Arts, Printing, The Republic Great Library
    C19 Bridge Building Iron Working, Construction Railroad allows roads on river squares
    C20 Trade Currency, Map Making Banking, The Guild caravan, Marco Polo's Embassy
    C21 The Republic Code of Laws, Literacy Banking Republic
    D01 Feudalism Archery, Monarchy Chivalry, Trias Politica pikemen, Magna Carta
    D02 The Plough Iron Working, The Wheel The Mill increases maximum yield
    D03 Alchemy Iron Working, Medicine Coal Mining, Gunpowder, Metallurgy -[/b]
    D04 Chivalry Horseback Riding, Feudalism Monotheism, Leadership knights, Camelot
    D05 Navigation Seafaring, Astronomy Amphibious Warfare, Magnetism caravel, Magellan's Expedition
    D06 University Mathematics, Philosophy Chemistry, Economics, Engineering University
    D07 The Mill Construction, The Plough Coal Mining, Ecology, Mechanics, Printing Mill, Kinderdike Mills, waterworks
    D08 Monotheism Mythology, Chivalry Fundamentalism, Theology crusaders, Cathedral, Michelangelo's Chapel
    D09 The Guild Trade, Monarchy Humanism, Metallurgy School
    D10 Engineering Construction, University Empiricism, Gunpowder, Mechanics Leonardo's Workshop
    D11 Chemistry Medicine, University Explosives, Atomic Theory -
    D12 Printing Literacy, The Mill Nationalism, Telecommunication campaign
    D13 Banking Trade, The Republic Colonialism, Economics Bank
    D14 Theology Monotheism, Philosophy Humanism, Trias Politica Inquisition
    D15 Gunpowder Alchemy, Engineering Explosives, Leadership musketeers
    D16 Metallurgy Alchemy, The Guild Electricity cannon, Coastal Fortress
    D17 Mechanics Engineering, The Mill Magnetism, Steam Engine, Theory of Gravity -
    D18 Leadership Chivalry, Gunpowder Tactics, Enlightenment dragoons
    D19 Humanism Theology, The Guild Biology, Enlightenment, Communism, Empiricism Utopia
    D20 Magnetism Mechanics, Navigation Electricity, Colonialism galleon
    D21 Coal Mining Alchemy, The Mill Steam Engine -
    R01 Arts Literacy, Philosophy Biology, Romanticism Shakespeare's Theatre
    R02 Empiricism Engineering, Humanism Optics, Steam Engine, Theory of Gravity -
    R03 Colonialism Banking, Magnetism Industrialization, Fundamentalism ship of the line, frigate, Dutch East Indies Company
    R04 Biology Humanism, Arts Ecology, Genetic Engineering, Psychology -
    R05 Theory of Gravity Mechanics, Empiricism Flight balloon, Isaac Newton's College
    R06 Optics Astronomy, Empiricism Quantum Physics, Tactics -
    R07 Enlightenment Leadership, Humanism Nationalism Hermitage
    R08 Steam Engine Coal Mining, Empiricism Railroad ironclad
    R09 Sanitation Medicine, Canal Building Refrigeration Sewer System
    R10 Explosives Chemistry, Gunpowder Automobile, Logistics engineers, [i]transform land[/b]
    R11 Economics Banking, University The Corporation, Liberalism Stock Exchange
    R12 Tactics Leadership, Optics Mobile Warfare, Amphibious Warfare riflemen, cavalry
    R13 Nationalism Enlightenment, Printing Democracy, Espionage, Romanticism militia, Police Station, Red Cross
    R14 Trias Politica Feudalism, Theology Democracy -
    R15 Electricity Magnetism, Metallurgy Steel, Electronics, Radio, Atomic Theory Eiffel Tower
    R16 Democracy Nationalism, Trias Politica Human Rights Statue of Liberty, Democracy[/b]
    R17 Romanticism Arts, Nationalism Communism, Liberalism Sydney Opera House
    R18 Railroad Steam Engine, Bridge Building Industrialization Trans-Siberian Railroad, railroad
    R19 Human Rights Democracy Labor Union, Psychology Abolishment of Slavery[/b]
    R20 Ecology Biology, The Mill Recycling airship, Greenhouse, Yellowstone National Park
    R21 Atomic Theory Chemistry, Electricity Refining, Quantum Physics -
    I01 Industrialization Railroad, Colonialism The Corporation, Steel, Communism, Logistics ironclad, Factory
    I02 Liberalism Economics, Romanticism Socialism Women's Suffrage, Free Market Economy
    I03 Steel Electricity, Industrialization Hydraulics cruiser
    I04 The Corporation Industrialization, Economics Pharmacology, Mass Production, Refining, Electronics freight, capitalization
    I05 Psychology Biology, Human Rights Cybernetics, Pharmacology, Social Security Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
    I06 Communism Industrialization, Romanticism Socialism United Nations, Communism
    I07 Refining Atomic Theory, The Corporation Hydraulics, Plastics, Nuclear Fission Power Plant
    I08 Electronics Electricity, The Corporation Espionage, Rocketry, Computers Hydro Plant, Hoover Dam
    I09 Logistics Industrialization, Explosives Algorithms, Radio sappers, transport
    I10 Socialism Communism, Liberalism Labor Union guerillas, Compulsory Education, Planned Economy
    I11 Hydraulics Refining, Steel Automobile, Flight, Refrigeration, Cargo Pipeline artillery, submarine, offshore platform
    I12 Radio Electricity, Logistics Advanced Flight, Telecommunication destroyer
    I13 Automobile Explosives, Hydraulics Mass Production, Mobile Warfare battleship, Superhighways
    I14 Labor Union Human Rights, Socialism Robotics, Social Security, Tourism -
    I15 Flight Hydraulics, Theory of Gravity Advanced Flight fighter
    I16 Refrigeration Sanitation, Hydraulics Ceramics, Hydrogen Engine supermarket, improve farmland
    I17 Mass Production Automobile, The Corporation Global Marketing, The Laser, Plastics, Recycling Mass Transit
    I18 Espionage Electronics, Nationalism - spy
    I19 Fundamentalism Colonialism, Monotheism - fanatics, Fundamentalism
    I20 Algorithms Logistics Computers, Nuclear Fission Turing Machine
    I21 Amphibious Warfare Navigation, Tactics - marines, Port Facility
    M01 Telecommunication Printing, Radio Advanced Flight, Optical Fibre Television Network
    M02 Mobile Warfare Tactics, Automobile Combined Arms armor
    M03 Pharmacology Psychology, The Corporation Somnology Contraception
    M04 Social Security Psychology, Labor Union - Welfare scheme
    M05 Quantum Physics Atomic Theory, Optics The Laser, Unified Field Theory -
    M06 Advanced Flight Flight, Telecommunication Combined Arms, Rocketry, Stealth, Tourism bomber, carrier, Airport, airbase
    M07 Nuclear Fission Algorithms, Refining Fusion Power Nuclear Plant, Manhattan Project
    M08 Rocketry Advanced Flight, Electronics Space Flight AEGIS cruiser, cruise missile, nuclear missile, SAM Missile Battery
    M09 Tourism Advanced Flight, Labor Union Virtual Reality Holiday Resort, Disneyworld
    M10 Plastics Mass Production, Refining Stealth, Ceramics SS Structural
    M11 Recycling Ecology, Mass Production Environmentalism Recycling Center
    M12 Computers Algorithms, Electronics Robotics, Space Flight, Genetic Engineering Research Lab, Internet
    M13 Combined Arms Mobile Warfare, Advanced Flight - helicopter, paratroopers, hovercraft
    M14 The Laser Mass Production, Quantum Physics Optical Fibre, Superconductor, Nanotechnology Early Warning System
    M15 Robotics Computers, Labor Union Cybernetics, Cargo Pipeline howitzer, Manufacturing Plant
    M16 Space Flight Rocketry, Computers Environmentalism Orbital Satellite, Apollo Program
    M17 Stealth Plastics, Advanced Flight - stealth bomber, stealth fighter
    M18 Ceramics Plastics, Refrigeration Superconductor SS Component
    M19 Optical Fibre The Laser, Telecommunication Global Network Communication Network
    M20 Genetic Engineering Biology, Computers Regeneration Map of the Human Gnome
    M21 Cybernetics Psychology, Robotics Artificial Intelligence SS Module, Biosphere 2
    F01 Superconductor Ceramics, The Laser Fusion Power, Nanotechnology -
    F02 Environmentalism Recycling, Space Flight Arcologies, Hydrogen Engine Solar Plant, Green Economy
    F03 Cargo Pipeline Hydraulics, Robotics Arcologies pipeline
    F04 Fusion Power Nuclear Fission, Superconductor - Fusion Plant
    F05 Nanotechnology The Laser, Superconductor - Replicator
    F06 Artificial Intelligence Cybernetics Virtual Reality, Global Network Wheather Control Satellite
    F07 Regeneration Genetic Engineering - -
    F08 Arcologies Cargo Pipeline, Environmentalism - Arcology
    F09 Hydrogen Engine Environmentalism, Refrigeration - Gaia Charter
    F10 Global Network Optical Fibre, Artificial Intelligence Global Marketing World Government
    F11 Virtual Reality Tourism, Artificial Intelligence Somnology Holodeck
    F12 Unified Field Theory Quantum Physics - Forcefield
    F13 Global Marketing Global Network, Mass Production - Auction Platform
    F14 Somnology Pharmacology, Virtual Reality - Otherworld Dawn


    ------------------
    If you have no feet, don't walk on fire
    [This message has been edited by Ribannah (edited November 16, 2000).]
    [This message has been edited by Ribannah (edited December 16, 2000).]
    A horse! A horse! Mingapulco for a horse! Someone must give chase to Brave Sir Robin and get those missing flags ...
    Project Lead of Might and Magic Tribute

  • #2
    I like the eras, although I would name than different

    more like:

    Ancient
    Classical
    Mid-Ages (in general, yes)
    Renaissance
    Industrial
    Modern
    Future

    But I'm sure you thought about your age names well.

    Good work in general! I know I for myself couldn't ever find the time to do stuff like this

    Comment


    • #3
      GREAT POST!! Love it...

      However, and as usual, there is an however

      I can't honestly see the need for ancient/prehistoric tech's like fire, man discovered fire a -long- time ago, so I just don't think they fit.

      And also, I think ships of the line really need gunpowder or metallurgy as a prestique.

      But, otherwise, well done Ribannah.
      "Wise Men Talk because they have something to say, fools talk because they have to say something" - Plato

      Comment


      • #4
        I personally like the idea of having the prehistoric techs, although I think a number of them should be randomly given to you at the start of your civ. Need some time to look at the rest so I printed it out. Maybe I'll have some better input later.

        ------------------
        "In war, there is no substitute for victory."
        - Douglas MacArthur
        “The American people have now spoken, but it’s going to take a little while to determine exactly what
        they said.” — President Clinton

        Comment


        • #5
          Cannons need to come before musketeers, somehow since the chinese had gunpowder in the 10th century which they used as incendiary grenades for their catapults. Later they found that Gunpowder could be used as a propelland, thus inventing true cannons, long before it was ever used in a personal musket.
          I don't have much to say 'cause I won't be here long.

          Comment


          • #6
            quote:

            Originally posted by Andz83 on 11-08-2000 11:48 AM
            I like the eras, although I would name than different

            more like:

            Ancient
            Classical
            Mid-Ages (in general, yes)
            Renaissance
            Industrial
            Modern
            Future

            But I'm sure you thought about your age names well.

            Good work in general! I know I for myself couldn't ever find the time to do stuff like this


            Actually, I would name the different ages like this, with the advances in quotes leading up to them:

            Stone Age (None)
            Bronze Age (Bronze Working)
            Iron Age (Iron Working)
            Industrial Age (Railroad)
            Atomic Age (Atomic Theory)
            Information Age (The Internet)
            Nanotech Age (The Transporter)

            ------------------
            Zero

            Comment


            • #7
              Do we really need fire,foraging and hunting; all societies that were civilizations truly had these before becoming civs?

              Weaponry isn't needed because since man first killed an animal, he had weapons.

              Also, I can't read what each tech gives you; it gets cut off on the side of the screen. I could change screen size, but it takes too long to do!

              Some of these ideas are fairly good.
              -->Visit CGN!
              -->"Production! More Production! Production creates Wealth! Production creates more Jobs!"-Wendell Willkie -1944

              Comment


              • #8
                quote:

                Originally posted by Zero_Tolerance on 11-08-2000 06:19 PM
                Actually, I would name the different ages like this, with the advances in quotes leading up to them:

                Stone Age (None)
                Bronze Age (Bronze Working)
                Iron Age (Iron Working)
                Industrial Age (Railroad)
                Atomic Age (Atomic Theory)
                Information Age (The Internet)
                Nanotech Age (The Transporter)




                I personally prefer the other ages that were proposed because: The "Bronze Age" and "Iron Age" refer to working-materials which were surely useful but civilizations without them could get pretty far (precolumbian civs). And then for you there's a big nothing between the Iron Age and the Industrial Age. So to say your ages in earth history lasted (with beginning in 4000BC:
                Stone Age ~2000y.
                Bronze A. ~900y.
                Iron A. ~2600y.
                Ind. Age ~150y.
                Atomic A. ~40y.
                Information Age ?




                ------------------
                Wernazuma alias Cheshirecat alias Wörn

                Master Mind of the World of Arendra

                Comment


                • #9
                  quote:

                  Originally posted by DarkCloud on 11-08-2000 07:13 PM
                  Do we really need fire,foraging and hunting; all societies that were civilizations truly had these before becoming civs?


                  That's why I named this age "pre-historic"
                  The idea is that in the beginning you have nomads, who cannot settle but get food/arrows/shields from the spot they are at the beginning of the turn. Depending on the starting location you will have knowledge of, say, two or three of the basic survival techs. After Agriculture
                  nomads can settle down as size-1 villages (the reverse is not possible). "City Council" is needed to earn the right to be called a civilization (as opposed to barbarians).

                  quote:

                  Weaponry isn't needed because since man first killed an animal, he had weapons.


                  Well, traps, hands (fishing), branches and stones went a long way. Weaponry introduced crafted weapons such as clubs, slings and spears.

                  quote:

                  Also, I can't read what each tech gives you; it gets cut off on the side of the screen. I could change screen size, but it takes too long to do!
                  Some of these ideas are fairly good.


                  Thanks , maybe you can see better following this link.

                  ------------------
                  If you have no feet, don't walk on fire
                  A horse! A horse! Mingapulco for a horse! Someone must give chase to Brave Sir Robin and get those missing flags ...
                  Project Lead of Might and Magic Tribute

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    quote:

                    Originally posted by chrispie on 11-08-2000 02:20 PM
                    I think ships of the line really need gunpowder or metallurgy as a prestique.


                    I have limited the prerequisites to 2 as in Civ2. You will usually have Gunpowder by then, but I think the Indians would have been just as impressed by Ships of the Line with ballistas and catapults .



                    ------------------
                    If you have no feet, don't walk on fire
                    A horse! A horse! Mingapulco for a horse! Someone must give chase to Brave Sir Robin and get those missing flags ...
                    Project Lead of Might and Magic Tribute

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      quote:

                      Originally posted by wernazuma on 11-08-2000 07:18 PM
                      I personally prefer the other ages that were proposed because: The "Bronze Age" and "Iron Age" refer to working-materials which were surely useful but civilizations without them could get pretty far (precolumbian civs). And then for you there's a big nothing between the Iron Age and the Industrial Age. So to say your ages in earth history lasted (with beginning in 4000BC:
                      Stone Age ~2000y.
                      Bronze A. ~900y.
                      Iron A. ~2600y.
                      Ind. Age ~150y.
                      Atomic A. ~40y.
                      Information Age ?



                      Well, let me rethink this... Actually, I should have said that Steel leads to the Industrial Age. See below:

                      HISTORY OF IRON AND STEEL. The history of iron and steel began at least 6,000 years ago. Early mankind probably first learned to use iron that had fallen to Earth in the form of meteorites. In many meteorites iron is combined with nickel, forming a harder metal. By chipping and hammering this metal, the ancients could make crude tools and weapons. (See also Meteor and Meteorite.)
                      Because this useful metal came from the heavens, early human beings probably did not associate it with the iron found in the ground. It is probable that metallic iron was found in the ashes of fires that had been built on outcroppings of red iron ore, or iron oxide. The red ore was called paint rock, and fires were built against banks of ore exposed to the prevailing winds. Iron ore is found worldwide on each of the seven continents.


                      First Smelting and Cementation
                      Smelting iron from ore probably began in China and India and then spread westward to the area around the Black Sea. Iron was produced about 2500 BC by the Hittites, who lived in the region that is now Turkey and Syria.
                      About 1400 BC the Chalybes, a subject tribe of the Hittites, invented a cementation process to make iron stronger. The iron was hammered and heated in contact with charcoal. The carbon that was absorbed from the charcoal made the iron hard.
                      Knowledge of smelting and cementation gradually spread to Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia. With the fall of their empire, the Hittites scattered. They carried the knowledge of ironmaking to other peoples. Widespread use of iron for weapons and tools began about 1000 BC. This was the start of the Iron Age.
                      The ancient Egyptians learned to increase smelting temperature in the furnace by blowing a stream of air into the fire. They used blowpipes and bellows.
                      The Greek soldiers of about 500 BC used iron weapons which had been hardened by quenching the hot metal in cold water. Later, the Romans used tempered iron, which was less brittle. Tempering was done by reheating the iron after quenching.
                      Early literature has many references to iron. The early literature of India contains accounts that the ancient Hindus used iron. Both the Old and New Testaments mention iron. The Roman author Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) wrote that iron was used to cleave rocks and to fashion weapons for warfare.


                      Early Methods of Ironmaking
                      All iron ores contain waste rock from which the iron must be separated. The "furnace" used by the early ironmaker was a shallow pit dug in the ground. Ore was placed in the bottom and a charcoal fire started on top. As the burning progressed, blasts of air were blown through nozzles (called tuyeres) in the sides of the furnace. This was done with bellows made from the skin of goats or other animals. The ironmaker used two bellows, one with each hand, working them alternately. The charcoal reduced the ore by taking out the oxygen, and the forced air made the fire burn hotter. When the waste rock was burned away, a black, soft mass, called sponge iron, remained. The holes in the sponge iron were left after the waste, or slag, melted out.
                      The iron was then broken into smaller pieces and hammered, or wrought, to beat out the remaining waste. It was then shaped into blooms, or bars. The blooms were later forged into tools and weapons. The ironmaker could also harden the metal by cementation and tempering.
                      By about 400 BC iron smelting was also known in the Celtic lands, such as Spain, where the Catalan iron furnace was developed. This was a small open hearth of brick or stone, which used two pairs of bellows to fan the fire.
                      Cast-iron objects, which must be made from molten iron, were produced in China before 200 BC. The furnaces used by early European ironmakers, however, did not produce the heat needed to melt iron for casting. The hotter furnaces were developed later.[/i]

                      Ironmaking in the Middle Ages
                      During the Middle Ages, from about AD 500 to 1500, the old methods of smelting and cementation continued. Early blacksmiths made chain mail and weapons for knights. Others made nails and tools. The famous Damascus swords were made in Syria from iron produced in India. Iron plows and horseshoes were used by AD 1000. (See also Blacksmithing.)
                      The Stuckofen, a furnace basically Roman in origin, was made larger and higher for better air draft. It was the forerunner of the modern blast furnace.
                      Between AD 1200 and 1350 waterwheels turned by fast-flowing streams came into use for ironmaking. The wheels worked the bellows that forced blasts of air into the furnace. The high temperature that developed melted the iron, which was then formed into pigs of cast iron. These blast furnaces were built larger during AD 1400-1500. Later they reached 30 feet in height and were used continuously for weeks at a time. Waterwheels also worked tilt hammers, used in the forge, and stamping mills, used to crush iron ore.


                      Coal and Coke Take Over as Fuel
                      From about AD 1500 ironmakers gave more thought to coal as a fuel to replace charcoal. Increased warfare had created a demand for iron, and wood for charcoal was scarce. Coal, however, always left impurities, such as sulfur and phosphorus, which made iron brittle. Then in 1709 Abraham Darby, of England, first used coke successfully to smelt pig iron. Coke was made by partly burning coal to remove the impurities.
                      Another improvement came in 1784, when Henry Cort, an English ironmaker, invented the puddling of molten pig iron. Air was stirred into the liquid by a worker who stood near the furnace door. Cort used a reverberatory furnace, in which the coal was separated from the iron so that the iron was not contaminated. After the pig iron had been converted into wrought iron, it was run through a rolling mill. Grooved rollers in this machine pressed out the remaining waste. Cort's rolling mill, which was patented in 1783, could make iron bars about 15 times faster than the old hammer method. Later, wet puddling improved the Cort method. This process produced wrought iron faster by adding iron oxide to the melted iron.
                      Earlier, about 1740, crucible cast steel was invented by Benjamin Huntsman, of England. A clay crucible, or cup, of iron ore was placed in a furnace. When molten, the metal was cast. It was very pure, since it did not come into contact with the fuel. Crucible steel differed from cemented iron or steel, which always remained solid during the heating. The crucible process is now obsolete.


                      The Steel Age Begins
                      From 1850 to 1865 great advances in iron and steel processing took place. The Steel Age began about 1860. Up to this time only two types of iron were made, brittle cast iron and soft wrought iron. Steel, which is both hard and strong, was made in only small quantities and was expensive.

                      The Bessemer Converter
                      Working independently, William Kelly, of the United States, and Henry Bessemer, of England, both discovered the same method for converting iron to steel. They learned that a blast of air through molten pig iron burned out most of the impurities. The carbon contained in the molten iron acted as its own fuel.
                      Kelly built his first converter in 1851. He received an American patent in 1857. The inventor went bankrupt the same year, however, and the method was to become known as the Bessemer process. Bessemer announced his vertical converter in 1856. In 1860 he patented a tilting converter. It could be tilted to receive molten iron from the furnace and again to pour out its load of liquid steel.
                      The Bessemer process was able to make many tons of steel from iron in a relatively short time, but the metal was still brittle. This was caused by the sulfur and phosphorus impurities that remained and by the oxygen from the air blast. In 1856 Robert F. Mushet, an English metallurgist, discovered that adding spiegeleisen, an iron alloy containing manganese, would remove the oxygen. About 1875 two English chemists, Sidney G. Thomas and Percy Gilchrist, removed the phosphorus and most of the sulfur by adding limestone to the converter.


                      The Siemens Open-Hearth Furnace
                      In 1861 a new type of furnace was introduced in England by two brothers, William and Frederick Siemens. It became known as the regenerative open hearth and was based on an invention made in 1856 by Frederick Siemens. The hot outgoing gases were used to preheat incoming air. The Siemens process was improved in 1864 by Pierre Emile Martin, of France. He added scrap steel to the molten iron to speed purification. This was called the Siemens-Martin process.
                      Hardened alloy steels came into commercial use during this period. In 1868 Mushet made a high carbon steel that gave tools longer life. In France a chromium steel alloy was produced commercially in 1877 and a nickel steel alloy in 1888. In 1882 an Englishman, Sir Robert Hadfield, hardened manganese tool steel by heating it to a high temperature and then quenching it with water.


                      The Electric Furnace
                      Electric furnaces were developed about 1879 by William Siemens, though the first electric furnace had been patented in France in 1853. High electrical costs and the poor quality of electrodes, however, resulted in little use prior to 1910. Before 1960 most electric furnaces were small and produced primarily high-cost alloy steels. Since then larger furnaces have led to economical production of carbon steels. The use of 100 percent scrap charging in electric furnaces has cut the dependence on blast furnaces and ores and has resulted in the development of small steel mills, or mini-mills, with wide geographical distribution.

                      Basic Oxygen Process
                      The high cost and unavailability of pure oxygen in large quantities made blowing air more economical until the early 1950s. In 1954 the first basic oxygen process facility was put into production in the United States, and the percentage of steel produced by this method has steadily increased as new facilities are constructed and open hearths phased out.

                      History in America
                      In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh found iron ore on an island off what is now North Carolina. In 1622 a furnace was built at Falling Creek in the colony of Virginia. It never produced iron because Indians massacred the settlers and destroyed the furnace. The first successful ironworks in America was built in 1643 on the bank of the Saugus River near Boston. Iron was first cast there about 1644 by Joseph Jenks.
                      Iron plantations were areas containing iron mines, a furnace, and forests that supplied wood for charcoal fuel. During the American Revolution colonial ironmakers made cannon and other weapons.
                      American ironmakers made use of earlier inventions and improved them. Joseph Dixon perfected a graphite crucible in 1826-27 for melting crucible steel. Beginning in 1848, he produced high-quality cast steel at his Jersey City, N.J., plant.
                      In 1889 the United States took the lead in the production of iron and steel. It led until the early 1970s, when the Soviet Union took first place. Japan is just slightly behind the United States.
                      Until 1909 the United States made most steel in Bessemer converters. After 1909 the open-hearth process was preferred until the 1960s, when the basic oxygen process and electric furnaces rapidly increased. In the early 1980s the basic oxygen process produced about 60 percent of American steel, the electric furnace 30 percent, and the open hearth process 10 percent.


                      New Developments
                      [i]New developments involve computer controls that improve economy and quality and lower energy consumption and pollution. Computers can control several rolling mills operating as a continuous unit. As the material passes through the various mills, the decreasing thickness is maintained automatically at the desired value, producing a more uniform final sheet. Heating equipment is computer controlled to lower the energy required.
                      Continuous casting, an economical and widely used process for removing solid steel from the bottom of a mold as molten steel is poured into the top, gives a high-quality product with a 40 to 50 percent reduction in energy consumption and reduced cost. The process is coupled with immediate rolling without cooling and reheating for further savings. Direct reduction produces steel powders directly from iron ore, bypassing the blast furnace.

                      This article was reviewed and updated by George S. Baker, Professor and Chairman, Department of Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, assisted by Fred Landis.

                      FURTHER RESOURCES FOR IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY

                      Fitch, J.A. The Steel Workers (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1989).
                      German Iron and Steel Institute Staff. Iron and Steel Dictionary (French and European, 1986).
                      Hudson, Ray and Sadler, David. The International Steel Industry (Routledge, 1989).
                      Ingham, J.N. The Iron Barons (Greenwood, 1978). Lewis, W.D. Iron and Steel in America (Hagley Museum, 1986).
                      Paskoff, Paul, ed. The Iron and Steel Industry in the Nineteenth Century (Facts on File, 1988).
                      ZumBrunnen, Craig and Osleeb, Jeffrey. The Soviet Iron and Steel Industry (Rowman, 1986).


                      ---------------------------------------------------------
                      From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.

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                      Zero
                      [This message has been edited by Zero_Tolerance (edited November 08, 2000).]

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                      • #12
                        Hmmm, not sure about the blanks. I'll try to fix it though. Anyway, good post.

                        I tried to adjust a few things, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Perhaps our fearless Markos or Dan might know, but I have a feeling they are busy playing CtP2 right now...
                        [This message has been edited by yin26 (edited November 08, 2000).]
                        I've been on these boards for a long time and I still don't know what to think when it comes to you -- FrantzX, December 21, 2001

                        "Yin": Your friendly, neighborhood negative cosmic force.

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                        • #13
                          Thank you Ribannah, the link was useful.

                          Eh, perhaps the 'barbarian' idea is good, but I still maintain my stand about hunting, and foraging because people did this before gathering in groups, it merely worked better when they were in groups as a society.

                          Fire, I guess would be discovered, as you say, after they settle down into a society (but not a civ.)
                          -->Visit CGN!
                          -->"Production! More Production! Production creates Wealth! Production creates more Jobs!"-Wendell Willkie -1944

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                          • #14
                            Just some thoughts:

                            Canoes - fast river travel > actually, canoes should triple normal movement and foot/mounted travel along rivers should be normal at best. I never could figure out why walking along a riverbank with a lot of debris, erosion, tributaries, etc would speed travel compared to walking a straight line over grassland.

                            Some of the Primitive wonders just aren't primitive: Sun Tzu, Angkor Wat, Colossus - these are late classical or even later. I would suggest the Ziggurat for some kind of ancient wonder instead of Angkor...

                            Primitive ploughs were not iron... Perhaps ploughs should be a benefit of Horseback riding (domestication of horses) and the calendar, which leads me to:

                            The calendar is far more ancient than you are allowing for. Alexander Marshack has found convincing evidence that calendars were being used 30 to 40 thousand years ago. And the hebrew calendar ostensibly began around 3760 BC... The calendar was not used just by agricultural societies, but by everyone with eyes - especially seafarers and nomadic peoples who
                            needed to be in certain places at certain times of the year to meet transitory herds/food supplies and avoid seasonal storms. And that leads me to:

                            Time keeping - this is a must, how the designers of civ left this out is puzzling. Certainly a pre-req for advanced warfare, time keeping allowed for determining longitude (advanced navigation - and this should also be a tech in its own right) and so many other advances.

                            Weaving/textiles should be a tech - and advanced weaving led to the principle of computers via templates
                            (devices for archaic automation).

                            There should be 2 categories of mathematics - the first would be an archaic math for building wonders, structures, etc., with an advanced math for catapults, construction, etc.

                            There should be a distinction between fishing and deep sea fishing - the latter characterized the maritime archaic cultures of the N Atlantic, the megalith cultures and the Red Paint people NE America. Its one thing to toss a spear in a pond or drop a hook in a stream and another to get in a canoe-like boat capable of actual ocean travel and the whaling it allowed. In fact, when a whale is on the map, players should need
                            deep sea fishing to take advantage of it. And when iron appears on the map, mining should be necessary, etc.

                            Herbal lore should be a pre-req for the shaman - drugs were very important to shamanism. And I imagine some of them biblical "prophets" may have been hallucinating when they had some of their visions - talking bushes on fire, etc.

                            One last thing, disease needs to be in the game somehow. And disease should become even more of a factor upon meeting new peoples. In addition to barbs, disease should be able to wipe out cities/towns in rare cases.

                            quote:

                            Do we really need fire,foraging and hunting; all societies that were civilizations truly had these before becoming civs?


                            Fire was arguably the greatest tech ever invented, it needs to be in there... But like the current game allows for an automatic minimum of 3 techs, maybe fire could be a gimme...

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                            • #15
                              quote:

                              Originally posted by Berzerker on 11-10-2000 10:17 AM
                              Fire was arguably the greatest tech ever invented, it needs to be in there... But like the current game allows for an automatic minimum of 3 techs, maybe fire could be a gimme...


                              Actually, fire should should not be included because it was discovered about 50,000 B.C., a far cry from a decent year to begin a game of Civ3 (which I strongly believe should be 8,000 B.C.--the beginning of the New Stone Age and after the last Ice Age).

                              ------------------
                              Zero


                              [This message has been edited by Zero_Tolerance (edited November 10, 2000).]

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