Technological Advancement

[Stormy Fairweather]

One thing I would absolutely love to see in some future iteration of distant worlds is a bigger tech tree. And by 'bigger', I mean monstrous. There are quite a few techs, and it does take a long time to research everything, but what if the balance was changed so that there were far more techs and improvements, but the differences between them were a bit smaller so that getting that one breakthrough doesn't change the entire balance by itself? Instead of 3 techs that give plus 5, for instance, how about 5 that give +3? I don't think anyone would mind seeing a greater variety of weapons (and other components), even if the AI would need be better programed to focus on one tech 'family'.

And beyond that, I would also like to see the 'upper' limit of technology replaced with something kinda like the hyper advanced techs from moo2... just something that would make research of value even after you have access to all components. As it is, technological development just seems somehow lacking. Perhaps even hide undiscovered techs, and add a variable to what techs will become available. Whatever else can be said about moo3, I thought it had an excellent system for technology. And I have been pining for a similiar system ever since.

Anyway, just my two cents.

[Jeeves]

Each possible component had 50 research levels for it in Space Empires IV or V, forget which. In MOO the components reduced in size or efficiency improved as more levels were gained. If the tech system is reworked, it would make this game quite different. By having automatic upgrades to components from gaining a level just a few times versus many, the time spent thinking about tech strategy is reduced. However, I AM open to automatic upgrades at less cost than the current factor of two research cost per level...

Lonnie Courtney Clay