Technology List

[Jmaster]

Added 10/26/2002

molecular construction (chemistry)
secret of the human brain (biology)
secret of genetics (biology)
secret of life (biology)
secret of matter (physics)
secret of space-time (physics)
secret of manifolds (mathematics)
secret of creation (non-physical)
secret of the soul (non-physical)

[Lemmy]

How about these things for under Mathemathics and Computers:
artificial neural networks (or would this be the same as neural networks under biology?)
true ai
advance data structures
graph theory

[Jmaster]

Added 11/8/2002

diamond plating (chemistry)
neural network algorithms (mathematics)
conscious machines (mathematics)
graph theory (mathematics)
advanced data structures (mathematics)

I change some names to make them sound advanced. (True AI -> conscious machines)

[DeathByTheSword]

hexagonical structuring.

[Capt Dizle]

I would hope that some thought would go into solving some tech related game play problems.

1. the rich get richer problem
2. the inability to differentiate between discovering concepts and developing implementations
3. pacing problems, such as discovering the tech for frigates and then before they have an impact on gameplay, ironclads make them obsolete, or getting psi gates and lots of other neat stuff late in SMAC right before the game ends

It would be better to have fewer techs properly paced so that each has a real impact on gameplay than a proliferation of low or no impact techs/implementations.

Also, it is crucial to have as many viable but different tech paths in the tree so that the game has some strategic flavor.

[Mark123jansen]

has anybody visited the 'Planets!!!' thread, DeathByTheSword came up with the idea of a seperate class of technoly there: colony
this could include the things like sea colony pods, pressure domes, offworld aplications, hydroponics, gas giant harvesting, lunar mining etc

[Jmaster]

The current version of the technology list is all organized by field: physics, biology, chemistry, etc. I think that it is more likely that technologies will be discovered within their respective field more than in a certain catagory like colony or SMAC's Discover, Explore, Build, & Conquer. This is my opinion, although I think that some other catagorization scheme needs to be incorporated as well. In particular, defense spending leads to weapon advances. In other words, this organization makes more sense now, but when we get to implementating them into the game I think we should start to organize them by practical use catagory.

[Michiel]

Hm.. I read the whole thing. It's an impressive list of technologies, but I wonder how they're ALL gonna effect gameplay. It could be too much...

And about the catagorization, if this much technologies and knowledge really are gonna be in the game, I think it would be really cool to make some kind of sphere grid (like in Final Fantasy 10). For those that don't know final fantasy 10, I'll explain. In FFX there's a whole different kind of lvl system. If you gain a lvl you can move your 'character' over a grid you can acces from the menu. It's huge and you can scroll through it to see the whole thing (and zoom in/out). You can place spheres you can find in the game in nodes that then teach you a new ability, or raise your HP with 200, for example. This idea could be used for StP. A grid with ALL technologies in it. No catagorization. (well, off course, they need to be placed correctly. Diamont Plating must come some time after The Wheel. ) But instead of lvls, you'd need money and the technology that comes before it. And you could make it so it'll take some time before the technology is ready. You could choose your own path over the grid. You wouldn't need to learn ALL of it, you can choose one of the paths. (The beginning could only be one path, but after about 20 basic techs, the path could split up and give the player a choice.)

What about that?

[Mark123jansen]

Sounds interesting, what if we made like 4 tech tree's, a build, explore, discover and a conquer tech tree, and at the start of the game you have to choose wich one youll follow (maybe preset by faction) each tech tree has the basics, such as childrens chreche, former needle jets etc, but each tree has its own specialized buildings and units: discover has more science building, explore higer movement units and better terraformers, conquer has nerve gas and better weapons, and build has the better armors and industrial facilities.

give your thougts on this please?

[Rasbelin]

And guess how much graphics, sound effects and writing that would require. But in general an interesting idea.

[Michiel]

I don't see how a sphere grid would require a lot of sound effects.

Anyway, Mark Jansen, your idea is nice, but I thought no catagorization at all would be the best idea. Every single tech on the same grid. At one point you could choose your own path across the grid, (like the catagories you described). Maybe you can think of some interesting tech-combinations on your own as a player. It would give the game greater replay-value.

[Mark123jansen]

it wouldnt cost that much more space, since the total would be about the same as one big tech tree, only the basic things have to be done 4 times, and even that isnt nessasary, the first 2 or 3 level techs could be common techs, and after that factions start specializing, and if santiago wants a fusion lab she will have to trade her chaos weapons with zakharov, and if morgan wants fungicide tanks he will have to give his silksteel armor to deidre, etc.

[Lemmy]

But with a balanced and big tech tree, you won't need to research all techs also.
I don't like how a faction has to specialuze in any category, i'd rather specialize when i want and when i need it. When i see someone using some neat laser gun, i want to be able to research that too, and not be limited by a choice i had to make earlier.

And i'm not sure i get Michiel's example with the FFX reference, it sounds like a normal tech model to me, to research something you'll need cash, time, and the prerequisites.

[Jmaster]

In any case I don't see how a tree without any specialization at all will work. To develop a tech you need to spend time and resources on it, which you could have spent on something else. However, I think that you should be able to control what you research to some extent so you will be able to control how much you want to specialize. If you devote all your resources into biology techs you will get to cloning a lot faster, but if you take a more balanced approach, and research all the basics, then you won't be as advanced but your technologies will be much more diversified.

I agree that the tree should have many possible paths.

[Jeremy Buloch]

Well Gateway here is the appropriate Technology thread. Or you could just put all of them in this list after we discuss them in the thread I'm about to make.
-J.B.-