pre-release info Civilization VII - Gameplay Trailer/Showcase - Tech Tree

[Giskler]

 

[Leyrann]

Interesting.

I imagine "mastery" is a deepening of the technology above it which unlocks elements that require more familiarity with it?

E.g. building a castle is one thing, building one that can withstand cannonballs is another.

 

[The_J]

To be noted, as there are 3 different eras, which are kinda separate, this seems to represent the beginning of the tech tree for the middle era.

 

[Aquila SPQR]

A bit disappointed it's so small. If we only have 3 ages now - I hoped for a larger selection.

Also I worry there will be the same annoying thing as it is in Humankind (it seems they copied a lot from it, unfortunately copying the worst elements...) - what if you research all techs before advancing into new age? The whole progress just stops, because there's nothing left to discover?

 

[ls612]

It also looks like they recombined the tech tree and civics tree.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

A bit disappointed it's so small. If we only have 3 ages now - I hoped for a larger selection.

Also I worry there will be the same annoying thing as it is in Humankind (it seems they copied a lot from it, unfortunately copying the worst elements...) - what if you research all techs before advancing into new age? The whole progress just stops, because there's nothing left to discover?

We don't know, Gunpowder/Urban Planning leads to at least 1 more row.

 

[kryat]

I noticed in the showcase they implied that the tech trees change at the age change. Which could mean you might not have all techs researched by an age change. Imagine not having access to horses in the modern age if you missed it!

More likely, I’d guess you’d be caught up with the first stage of the techs, but you might miss out on the masteries you didn’t get to. That’s kinda cool. I like the idea of being able to specialize.

 

[Krajzen]

To be noted, as there are 3 different eras, which are kinda separate, this seems to represent the beginning of the tech tree for the middle era.

Yeah, no way the beginning three techs in 4000 BC are machinery, astronomy and cartography, and all crucial ancient techs are missing

My thoughts:
techs themselves seem fine, there are decently many of them, I like the concept of masteries, and very tight connections between them unlike civ6 mess of discovering lasers without iron working or whatever

My only mixed feeling is somehow... not very exciting graphic style of that tech tree? Maybe it will undergo changes and reworks, but I have yet to decide whether I like those icons "clean" look and simplicity or dislike the same simplicity. Maybe they went for the tech tree that is visually easy to read.

 

[Leyrann]

A bit disappointed it's so small. If we only have 3 ages now - I hoped for a larger selection.

It seems unlikely to me that this would be all of it. Gunpowder comes too early to make a sensible late Exploration tech, when presumably the Modern age would begin with the industrial revolution.

My only mixed feeling is somehow... not very exciting graphic style of that tech tree?

I'm not a fan of the graphical style in general to be honest - mostly the UI. It's very minimalistic with a lot of information in tooltips in a small font size.

 

[Reckoner]

To be noted, as there are 3 different eras, which are kinda separate, this seems to represent the beginning of the tech tree for the middle era.

I believe this is almost the full tech tree for the "Exploration Age", it's in the visible tool-tip ("exploration happiness / Culture building") if not obvious from the techs themselves. There is one, final, unrevealed tech on the right side. Presumably one you could re-research to gain points towards the end-odf-era threshold.

I'm certain the design in this screenshot will not be the final one.

 

[Giskler]

 

[Giskler]

Edit: The tech looks slightly different in quill18's video.

 

[Takfloyd]

I'm disappointed but not surprised to see that they're going with the overly simplistic and streamlined tech tree style from Civ V and VI, with little regard given to historical authenticity or cause and effect. Why is Heraldry required for a civilization to master Shipbuilding? Why is there no causal connection between Castles and Architecture?

I miss the Civ IV design philosophy where history and logic trumped having the tech tree looks tidy. Techs always had the prerequisites that lead to or were required for the development of the technology in real life, even if it made the tree look messy.

 

[Ornen]

I have to imagine we're looking at maybe half or so of the age of exploration here. The specific tech tree shown in OP is a little confusing, but here's my breakdown, from left to right:

Machinery, Astronomy, Cartography — three techs we can associate with the Islamic Golden Age, which would place them around ~800-1000 AD.

Castles, Heraldry, Feudalism, Guilds — very High Medieval, which would date all of these to around 900-1100

To get a little out of order, Metallurgy and Metal Casting (two successive techs) are pretty baffling to me. We can date iron casting to ancient China. If we're dating these techs to the time period shown here in Civ 7, are we talking about the spread to Europe of blast furnaces (1100-1300) or iron casting (~1400)? Hard to date these.

We could date Education to European universities (1100s) and shipbuilding to Chinese treasure ship expeditions and the development of caravels (1400-1500)

Architecture is pretty ambiguous, as is its follow-up, urban planning. I would date gunpowder to its usage by the Ottomans in the 15th century.

So I'm not sure all of this adds up to the age of exploration, which I would expect to extend through most/all of the 18th century if the next era is "modern".

It's also weird to me that the tech tree narrows, to the point that tech choices are limited to two (or even one, if we look at the far right side) by the end of the era. Does this tech tree culminate in ocean-faring ships?

 

[Giskler]

 

[Giskler]

 

[Lord Lakely]

From what I understand the UI is a work in progress. And for the best that it is because these icons are TINY.

 

[The_J]

At this stage I think everything is work in progress .

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I'd guess that (if not a placeholder) the little man icon in some of the "mastery" techs means a bonus to your leader traits.

 

[Giskler]