V2.7 - Future techs

This thread is for v2.7 future era tech changes. You can post your tech ideas here and I'll try to update the added techs -list from time to time.. and possibly screenies of them.

I got some 50 possible tech choices for future era techs. What will be included depends on how the tech tree is formed for them (difficult design phase) and what buildings/units I'll decide to add. Some techs that currently are in RoM might also vanish, like Cold Fusion. I'll try to add techs that sound plausible in near future, some of them already have prototypes. While I think that the military changes in reality will go towards the nanite cloud type of units (recently saw documentary where some US military developer described their nanite cloud plans) , I'll leave still some space for imagination so there will be Mech type units as well.


Techs that could be added:

I'm not sure if this is already there, but some sort of project that is like the apollo program but to mars? It could have some major scientific and commerce benefits (exporting martian resources)

It would be cool if after you finished the the "Space Race" you could gain a new trade route with Alpha Centauri. Likewise early on it might be nice to be able to send probes to other planets. Yo of course could not visit them but you could send colonist to them, get additional trade routes and possibly more resources from them. Here are some ideas...

Moon Base (Req Space Colonies)
- Reveals Lunar Minerals
- Can construct Lunar Tourism: Same As Vacation Resort
- Can construct Luna Industrial Complex: Same As Orbital Factory
- Can construct Lunar Laboratory: Same As Laboratory

Mars Base (Req Space Colonies)
- Reveals Mars Minerals
- Can construct Mars Tourism: Same As Vacation Resort
- Can construct Mars Industrial Complex: Same As Orbital Factory
- Can construct Mars Laboratory: Same As Laboratory

Terraform Mars (Req Mars Base, Req Weather Control)
- Mars Colony: Not Sure

Asteroid Belt Mining (Req Space Colonies)
- Reveals Asteroid Minerals
- Can construct Asteroid Belt Mines: Same As Orbital Factory
- Can construct Asteroid Belt Laboratory: Same As Laboratory

Alpha Centauri Base (Req Interstellar Travel)
- Reveals Alpha Centauri Minerals
- Reveals Alpha Centauri Flora
- Reveals Alpha Centauri Fauna
- Can construct Alpha Centauri Tourism: Same As Vacation Resort
- Can construct Alpha Centauri Industrial Complex: Same As Orbital Factory
- Can construct Alpha Centauri Laboratory: Same As Laboratory

Alpha Centauri Base Mars (Req Alpha Centauri Base, Req Weather Control)
- Alpha Centauri Base Colony: Not Sure.

New Space Resources

o Lunar Minerals: +Production, +Commerce
o Mars Minerals: +Production, +Commerce
o Asteroid Minerals: +Production, +Commerce
o Alpha Centauri Minerals: +Production, +Commerce
o Alpha Centauri Flora: +Food +Commerce
o Alpha Centauri Fauna: +Food, +Commerce

Has anyone ever figured out how to get multi-planet games like they use to do in Civ 2? Test of Time. So cool if you could land with your spacecraft and colonize another planet. It would make one game take a month but is that modding even possible?

I have an idea for an additional Future Civic.

-Virtual Democracy
Req. Terra Computer
+5 Happiness in all Cities
+1 Happiness from Town
+1 Commerce from Town, Village, Hamlet, and Cottage
+2 Culture per Specialist
-50% Anarchy length (if possible)
+75% War Weariness
Reduces (greatly) National and Local Rebellion

Represents the entire population of a civ. being connected through mental chips to their government, which instantly changes policies with the whims of the populace. This system eliminates all electoral corruption and makes sure that the people who run the country are subject to the will of the people. Such a system causes the people to feel represented, which leads to increased freedom, happiness, and stability, but can make it extremely difficult for government officials to carry out, unpopular, but necessary policies.

I'm all for an advanced democracy as a civic choice. Brainchips aren't necessarily required. It would be nice, in a feelgood way, to have a civic that's sort of a return to true democracy in a time where population numbers make it difficult.

There's technically nothing really stopping us from setting one up now, with the design of a good enough system for allowing direct voting over the 'net on issues, rather than electing the local uberrich jerk to set policy for us.

I like the idea of in-system colonies. It's interesting how Future Mod does it, I think. With the idea of it bringing in resources that you might not have access to on Earth (iron from Mars or the belt, He3 from Jupiter for fusion or what have you). Probably better to make those colonies a national wonder. Though perhaps orbital colonies could be something built in any city.

Not really on board with the idea of adding Alpha Centauri as one of the colonies though. That's the space race victory. And it seems like a waste of time that could be spent elsewhere to make something for AFTER you've won the game.

To royal: Nobody has managed to make multilayer maps. It's been tried, by the FfH team. Since they're practically THE guys to do weird things with the default civ engine, it's probably not possible. You can split the map into different sections. But then they won't wrap. Future Mod does that, but it seems a little bit clunkier than it should be.

Apologies for the second post.

On Zappara's talk of using current prototypes: An microwave gun (The US' Active Denial System) upgrade to the police unit would be sort of cool. Just make a model with a dish mounted on the current Humvee.

Or even that absurd jumbojet mounted laser wouldn't be so bad. Is it possible to add the ability to intercept nukes to a unit? Probably not without modification deeper in. Though normal interception wouldn't be so bad. I suppose a more general laser point defense system for cities would work just as well in the future era, without the need for the plane.

For the near future, there's always the old standby of exoskeleton-wearing infantry to replace Mechanized Infantry. The technology isn't that far away now. The biggest issue is really getting the man portable power supply to keep it running. So having some new power source as a prereq for the tech isn't a bad idea. It would probably have industrial applications too, once the technology was brought down in price (At the very least you'd have some cargo loaders laying around to help protect your cities from rampaging xenomorph queens).

Further into the tech tree, antigravity or some other kind of levitation technology would at the very least have all sorts of applications for travel. Both for various city improvements (Better airports, three dimensional traffic grids) and to have an excuse to add some late game paradropping units. Or to work in the ability to paradrop as a promotion, which I always thought would be cool.

I, for one, hope that weapons don't go toward nanite clouds. Both in Civ and real life. For one, the unit might be cool to look at. But it sort of obscures everything. I'd hate to have them crawling all over the map unless the look is toned down. For a the more real life reason, making destructive microscopic weapons and tossing them around is just asking for a grey goo scenario. Besides, if it ever became terribly common, everyone would just seed their territory with counter nanites. So it would all just end up as some invisible war going on. It would make an interesting flash minigame or something, but it's not exactly civ material.

Better to have it remain as the rare superunit it is now, is my opinion. Still, could probably add a few things to it, to make it seem like an all consuming cloud of doom, by borrowing a few FfH's things. Autorazing enemy improvements as it passes over them. Or getting some healing when it kills an enemy unit in combat.

On the mech topic, there's a few new models for them floating around somewhere, ready to be used. So it's an easy add.

Revolutionist said:

I'm all for an advanced democracy as a civic choice.
Not really on board with the idea of adding Alpha Centauri as one of the colonies though. That's the space race victory. And it seems like a waste of time that could be spent elsewhere to make something for AFTER you've won the game.
.

Click to expand...

Not everyone has space race as a victory. Personally i like conquest only because the other victory conditions are too easy to get.

Hydromancerx said:

Not everyone has space race as a victory. Personally i like conquest only because the other victory conditions are too easy to get.

Click to expand...

Truth be told, I'm pretty much on the same page as you are. But if you turn on the space race victory, then you can't build the ship to send to centauri anyway, to open up that trade route.

Personally, I'd love to build it anyway, even without the victory. Just for those times when I'm far enough ahead to waste the production, just to say I did it.

Tech list added to the first post - it's now more of finding suitable units/buildings/wonders/projects/other stuff to fill them and then decide what techs to use - and then the problem of merging it all to realistic progress in tech screen. The tech tree currently in RoM took about 8-9 months to make from scratch so I'd expect this process to take several months as well.

What are you limitations zapp?

If we come up with a unit idea, do you want it already created or do you have the software to make it from scratch.

Likewise for buildings. do you know how to do the city plot graphics when a city builds a certain building.

I just find it kinda unlikely for us to find something on this site that you could use and don't already know about. Let us know.

royal62184 said:

What are you limitations zapp?

If we come up with a unit idea, do you want it already created or do you have the software to make it from scratch.

Likewise for buildings. do you know how to do the city plot graphics when a city builds a certain building.

I just find it kinda unlikely for us to find something on this site that you could use and don't already know about. Let us know.

Click to expand...

For units I'll use the graphics found from CFC's unit database or from other mods (I got most if not all scifi units already on my hd). I'm not familiar with making 3d models, I'll leave that for graphics modders.

For buildings it doesn't matter if there's unique graphics for it or not. I can re-use other building graphics for new buildings, just getting new button graphic for new building is enough (which I can make myself if needed). Building models can be swapped in future patches if suitable graphics become available. This is ongoing process and just about every patch notes have had info about building graphic changes. There's still some buildings in RoM that use "wrong" building graphics.

That's quite the thorough list Zappara. A few things that occured while reading it:

Quantum Teleportation would be a good place for another 'Helps Thwart Rival Spies' building. Since if we got that whole entanglement data transmission thing to work, one of the first practical uses would likely be for encyption and ultrasecure data transfers.

DNA Manipulation or Agrobiotechnology would be a good place for a health-based version of the Hollywood wonder. The creation of an engineered superfood that you could trade to your starving third-world civ allies. (Then again, the common view of genetically modified food these days would have them broadcasting magical cancer-rays, and thus giving ) Of course, that same idea could be used for a medical breakthrough too, A Longevity Vaccine, or something.

That environmentally friendly manufacturing tech could be something that harvests carbon (Or just harvests pure elements) and otherwise polluting chemicals from the air and water. A sort of proactive solution to global warming. Probably with nanotech pre-reqs.

A geothermal powerstation might be a clean, non-explodey power alternative to hydro plants for cities not on rivers. Coming later on the tech tree. Is it possible to get 'better' power to replace dirty or dangerous alternatives from early on, using the upgrade system? Hydro or geothermal getting rid of oil, coal or nuclear.

Wireless electricity would be a good place for some kind of exoskeleton wearing (Along with Exoskeletons, obviously), or energy weapon/railgun using city defenders. Currently the transfer is based on magnetic fields, right? So chances are the units wouldn't be able to stray too far from the transmission site. So a low strength unit with a very high city defense bonus, to discourage sending it wandering.

Plastic Surgeon, a cheap building that requires a hospital, +1 -1 . Maybe a small and bonus? Not really sure how to make a full tech out of Plastic Surgery, that would actually be worth researching. Could be a pre-req for Designer Bodies though. To show that growing culture of self-modification.

Organic Cities, Self-Constructing Buildings and Self-Repairing Systems are all good places for a -maintenance building. The late game could use one. It's been a long time since courthouses by then.

The late game could really use some more or producing buildings. It seems like both health and happiness becomes pretty easy to get once you're a bit into the modern age. Some small counterbalance the other way might help a bit. Introducing a few trade-offs that give one but take away the other, rather than just flat bonuses, could help the upward creep a bit too. That android workforce you just built for your near post-scarcity society might indeed produce a lot of and give . But the increased idleness in the population makes them unhealthier. That infrastructure for Underground Cities that you constructed might give a bonus for reducing urban sprawl encroaching on the wilderness. But the warren-like quarters cause .

Telepathy is just begging for a Big Brother-like wonder that gives a war weariness decrease or an espionage bonus, or both.

I agree about railguns requiring insane amounts of energy, but could we assume a fusion battleship could generate enough power for them? Then again, a battleship hardly requires wireless electricity to get the power to the gun.

On the other hand, powered battle armor/exoskeleton (though they are not necessarily the same thing) is too fun a concept to limit to cities. Maybe make biological and chemical weapons insanely powerful but sealed units get a huge bonus against them. Perhaps advanced genetics could reduce susceptibility to viral weapons and the like. Furthermore, fallout features should be slowly lethal to unprotected units. Workers automatically become immune at some tech but if you want to march your military through a nuclear wasteland, you better upgrade them to high tech. On the other hand, being near the ground zero of a nuclear blast should be almost certain death.

I like the idea of high tech maintenance reduction.

If you do telepathy right it might work but I'd rather not tread on that ground.

Quantum teleportation does not sound very 'near' future to me, maybe add in 'reverse entropy' as well. But I am by no means a quantum physicist.

Replace SDI or whatever grants 75% chance to intercept nukes with a system more similar to SMAC. Seriously that thing will for a small hammer investment intercept circa 75000 hammers out of 100000, way too op, makes icbms worthless.

Too tired to form a coherent and readable suggestion...

zappara said:

Techs that could be added:

Controlled Gravity

Artificial Gravity

Biomechanics = Bionics?

Rail guns (Mass Drivers)

Cryonics

Brain Backup (Immortality)

super-dense matter -> Artificial Wormholes

Cryogenic Gravity Shielding

Organic cities

Robotic Prosthetics

Teleportation

Ion propulsion

Quantum Teleportation (already exists) -> Teleportation

Click to expand...

I like those ideas, and I see you took the wormhole idea . Though I do have a few things to mention than just how much i like this list
1. Ion Propulsion already exists.
2. I noticed Laser Propulsion isn't on the list, it's been theoretically proven and it gives a reason how civs would reach artificial gravity if combined with wearable computers.
3. Biomechanics sounds more like viral engineering like in I Am Legend or something rather than Bionics.
4. The tech name for Brain Backup doesn't seem quite right for the reason of immortality, something like in MGS4 seems more realistic since nanobots repair the body at an extremely rapid pace instead of just the brain.
5. What is Cryogenic Gravity Shield? Is it a gravity-freeze bubble or something? Cuz gravity isn't affected by temperature.
6. Do you think you could bring in field defenses like in Final Frontier w/ the attacking stations? You could use railgun defense towers.
7. Telepathy just hits me in an odd way...
8. What I was getting at in the other thread with my fading addon(I cant find the time to mod, maybe i'll just stick with adding nukes like before) with Hydrothermal instead of Geothermal was that frankly not only is there way too many land resources, but Hydrothermal is a floating city's power supply.

zup said:

Replace SDI or whatever grants 75% chance to intercept nukes with a system more similar to SMAC. Seriously that thing will for a small hammer investment intercept circa 75000 hammers out of 100000, way too op, makes icbms worthless.

Click to expand...

I would think that SDI should just be taken out completely as it was, after all, a complete failure. In it's place, i could propose that you put in the Airborne Laser, a Boeing YAL-1 that uses lasers to shoot down space-bound missiles, probably a 25% chance interception for that specific city or put in an option in the UN to put an anti-nuke national wonder in that gives 50% chance to intercept nukes, like the whole problem happening with the NATO pact between the US, Georgia and Russia's invasion.

Civ Fuehrer said:

1. Ion Propulsion already exists.

Click to expand...

Several of the things on that list already exist. Presumably the techs dip into the present a bit. Or represent some time where many of the things become more refined.

Civ Fuehrer said:

4. The tech name for Brain Backup doesn't seem quite right for the reason of immortality, something like in MGS4 seems more realistic since nanobots repair the body at an extremely rapid pace instead of just the brain.
5. What is Cryogenic Gravity Shield? Is it a gravity-freeze bubble or something? Cuz gravity isn't affected by temperature.

Click to expand...

I'm presuming Zap means uploading the state of your mind as data, into a computer. To continue to exist in some virtual capacity if you die. Or to have a body regrown and have your memories 'downloaded' into it.

The gravity one is not so clear to me too. Google leads me to believe some researchers think they blocked gravity with a cryogenic device?

Civ Fuehrer said:

I would think that SDI should just be taken out completely as it was, after all, a complete failure..

Click to expand...

SDI is still around. It just got renamed a few times over the years. I think it's the Missile Defense Agency now. In any case, I always thought the SDI in game represented a much more complete and reliable version of what the US is toying around with now.

SDI is a cooler acronym anyway.

That being said, it might still be cool to build a layered defense as you tech up. I wonder if the intercept bonuses stack?

What about instead of stackable intercept defenses, zap puts a new kind of icbm in the game like a cloaked ICBM which will render interception by the SDI obsolete and you'll need a new kind of interception method.

Also, can we come up with a different era name instead of "future" era. Seems so plain.

royal62184 said:

What about instead of stackable intercept defenses, zap puts a new kind of icbm in the game like a cloaked ICBM which will render interception by the SDI obsolete and you'll need a new kind of interception method.

Click to expand...

As hinted in my last post, with 2.7 my "future addon" will not be needed, so i'm going back to making nuke addons

royal62184 said:

Also, can we come up with a different era name instead of "future" era. Seems so plain.

Click to expand...

i would suggest Transhuman

zappara said:

I suggest using word Transhuman for that era as this will be the era where humans transfer their minds into computers or expand our physical capabilities with new instincts (already tests done with this) or modify human body with implants or completely transform body to new shapes (f.ex. to better survive in space) etc.

Click to expand...

zup said:

I agree about railguns requiring insane amounts of energy, but could we assume a fusion battleship could generate enough power for them? Then again, a battleship hardly requires wireless electricity to get the power to the gun.

Click to expand...

USA army is already developing prototype railguns for ships. The final design should be able to shoot up to 220 miles away - that's around 10 times further than standard ship-mounted cannons. Ships already have nuclear reactors so getting the required power isn't problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54aLcC3G74
more info