Deleted Technologies?

[BFG]

So, I was bored and thumbing through alphax.txt tonight...I noticed that two technology entries, #24 and #70, were deleted. (The first entry on the Technologies list is #0.) The icon for #24 is the same as the one for Singularity Mechanics; the icon for #70 is the same as Sentient Econometrics.

Has any information ever been released on what these two "deleted" techs would have been? Has anyone tried reinstating them? What about User Technology (#87), or Technology #89, which has an icon but isn't listed in alphax.txt?

Just wondering about the potential for expanding the tech tree a little...

 

[BFG]

The unused Tech24.wav and Tech70.wav may shed some light:

Tech24.wav:
Until now, the battle had been proceeding smoothly. The enemy was outflanked and had been driven from the reactor housing. But against the reactor itself, the matter cannons were strangely ineffective. Rounds simply - stopped - in midair. --Colonel Corazon Santiago, "A Tactical History of Sparta"

Tech70.wav:
Energy is the currency of the future. --CEO Nwabudike Morgan, "The Centauri Monopoly"

There is no file for Tech87 or Tech89.


EDIT: I assume #24 would have been a Conquer tech, and #70 a Discover tech, by virtue of their WAV files, and since we have 22 Build and Explore techs but only 21 Conquer and Discover.

 

[Bandobras Took]

According to some google research, one of them was Inertial Damping. Neither of the claimants named a source, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[BFG]

According to some google research, one of them was Inertial Damping. Neither of the claimants named a source, so take it for what it's worth.

EDIT: Yep, you're right. The proof is in blurbs(x).txt. Tech #24 would have been "Inertial Damping", and #70 "Global Energy Theory". Sadly, they're both removed from the techlongs and techshorts files, so there's no way to know exactly what they would have done. Presumably "Inertial Damping" would have provided some defense versus artillery, and #70 would have provided a commerce bonus of some kind.

I would be interested in "restoring" these techs to the tech tree. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to place them? How about on what they should do? I'm new to SMAC/X modding, but from what I've read it seems no one knows how to restore the presumed bonuses for either of these "lost" techs. It may not even be possible, short of adding those functions to an unofficial patch of some kind.


On a side note - Blurbs.txt also reveals that the unused fac38.wav is a quotation for Stockpile Energy. How odd.

 

[Strategist83]

I would be interested in "restoring" these techs to the tech tree.

I'm sure there's a good reason why they're not there in the first place. In all likelihood whatever these technologies did they was unbalanced, redundant or simply boring. So, if you re-implement them you should do with them as you see fit.

By the way, if you want to listen to these quotes Kilkakon uses at least one of them (I presume he uses all) in his Lost Eden mod.

 

[BFG]

I'm sure there's a good reason why they're not there in the first place. In all likelihood whatever these technologies did they was unbalanced, redundant or simply boring. So, if you re-implement them you should do with them as you see fit.

Hmm, that's probably true. I imagine that Inertial Damping and Global Energy Theory were nixed at the last minute following bad reception in beta testing. Why else would Firaxis have bothered to record quotes etc. for them, but then leave them out and not replace them with other techs to make Conquer and Discover equal in size to Build and Explore?

Still, I'd like to add these two techs on in such a way that it doesn't really feel like I'm modding the game. That is, in an ideal world, I'd set them up exactly as Firaxis would have, even if they were considered boring or unbalanced. But, due to modding limitations, I think the only thing I can do is change Economic Victory to the Global Energy Theory, and...not sure what on Inertial Damping (maybe give it Heavy Transport? That doesn't make much sense...hmm...)

Which brings up another question...does anyone know if a beta version of Alpha Centauri is still bouncing around somewhere on the Internet?



And, in direct contradiction to what I'm saying above, I have no problem adding a custom tech of my own design in slots 87 and (if possible) 89