The Future

[New Yorker]

i been hearing about how that many people what to delete the whole idea of future techs & future units. while others suggested that the people should create their own future techs

personally, i think Sid & his crew should add what future techs they desire cuz they did a damn good job with SMAC, maybe they could move some techs from SMAC to civ 3

so what are your ideas on the future techs

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New York is a good place to visit, unless you are wearing something expensive

[AzNtoccata]

I think they should just get up to about half-way up alpha centauri tech tree. Some of the top techs are too weird (maybe I'm just too dumb to understand them =) ). Fusion (aka Plasma) tanks are okay, but something like an eco-ranger from CTP is just plain ****ed up.

[Grumbold]

I don't think the SMAC techs are suitable because the early ones are mainly providing sci-fi alternatives to Civ buildings. Just having various different paths that slowly upgrade the maximum attack, defence, movement etc factors of the modern unit types would be just fine (or give them tiny combat bonuses if the unit workshop approach is not implemented.)

[Lord_Davinator]

Personally I'd say that sid should work a lot on future tech for civ3 cause its kinda stupid researching future tech. and not knowing what the hell it is you discovered (civ2) SMAC does have some cool ideas but I'm not so sure about copy the whole thing into the civ3 tech tree

[bagdar]

just don't have "cyber NINJA"s and "eco RANGER"s. They even sound stupid. I don't want to see city improvements such as mind controllers either. In fact, "every future tech. adds 5 points to your civ score" is enough.

[Cannes]

I for one am in great favor of future techs, I agree that some of the techs and units from CTP where a bit off, but it worked quite well in general terms. I was always annoyed with the fact of being cut off from advancing my civilization upon discovery of fusion power of which ever tech is last in the tech tree. You don't even get a fusion power plant! It always left me with the feeling that they could have guessed a little...

[Bender]

I can't stand future techs. The Civ II tech tree went far enough, and I don't want Civ III to go any farther. One of my least favorite features of CTP and CTPII is future technology.

[Mister Pleasant]

I don't care so much if future techs come built in or not - I'll add them as I did with Civ2. I thought the future techs in CTP were good except the space colonies (although I did like the space layer as a place to sent space planes, spy satelites, and do that sort of thing not to mention shoot those things down). As for Eco-Rangers, those ruled! High level atrocious nanoweapons - more evil than nukes! Whatever happens, I just hope Civ3 can at least be modified to add sea colonies and city obliterating nanoweapons.

[EnochF]

It only goes to lend support to my theory that nobody can agree on which future tech is silly and which isn't. I think reasonable extrapolations include Nanotechnology (vague, but safe), Gene Therapy, Fuel Cells, and Orbital Construction. Asteroid Mining and Neural Interface are distant but real possibilities, probably too far in the future to include. But a lot of people disagree with me. That's why we should just limit the future tech in Civ 3 to a reasonable, near-future level, and let people design their own future tech tree. My future tech tree would include hardly any new military units, for example. It would include new city improvements and Wonders mostly, and if they let me, a lot of the techs will have minor worldwide effects. Fuel Cells would lower every city's pollution slightly, for example. My future tech tree would focus on peaceful development, since hopefully by then there will be little if any room for expansion. (I'd also like to think I could spend most of my time waging economical war using my corporations by this point in the game, but maybe that's just a pipe dream.)

[wittlich]

Point well taken EnochF

[Sean]

You posts are the most insightful in this area EnochF.

[EnochF]

I swear, these guys are not just me posting under different names!

Difficult though it may be to believe...

[Shadowstrike]

Yeah, sure.... we believe ya....

*Thought Police arrest Enoch*

OK now levity aside, IMHO Civ3 should include the near future (Genetic Manipulation, Cold Fusion) but only the probably, not the improbable (Warp Drive, etc.)

Even so, it should only extend so far. I believe that the limit should be set to what is possible in this century (i.e. nanotechnology, quantum computers) because beyond that we don't have a clue about what might be. Sure we can throw around phrases like "microfusion" and "quantum slipstream", but the reality of such things are low if possible at all. We will not knw such things for many years to come. Let us not make a game with an improbable future history. Let us make one that inspires people to create inventions and techniques slightly beyond the range of the possible at the current moment.

[New Yorker]

i think those really weird, far out techs should be included in civ 3. these techs would be different(this idea was posted before)meaning that they are almost impossible to research cuz they require so much research

the reason i want this is the fact that many people after researching the whole tech tree complete shut off all research & put the cash somewhere else. this would give a reason to continue the research

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New York is the city that never sleeps
Texas is the state that puts its people to sleep

[Roman]

No future techs, please!! That is the main point that spoiled CTP for me, which otherwise has some decent mechanics (wages, PW, etc.).
As to the problem of shutting of research after the player has everything, it cannot be solved, but can equally effectively be delayed by making the tech tree denser rather than go into the future.
I you really have to include future technologies, at least make them only very close in the future and only those that already exist, but are not yet in practical use, for example fuel cells, or fusion. Anyway it simply is not possible to make any sound projections for our technological development more than 50 years into the future and even these are very inaccurate.
I want to reiterate, please no future techs, especially no warp drives, cold fusion (which was in fact a scientific hoax) and so on.