New way of research

[playshogi]

Well, since the promise is to make Civ4 as little as possible hard-coded, it may be ultimately possible to mod the tech tree to suit everyone's suggestion so far presented.

 

[Dr. Broom]

Covenant that is an awesome compromise. Why didn't I think of that? I think the best part is the gigantic tech tree where some paths won't open up in a game. This would lead to gameplay where there is no best way to win making replay value about as gigantic as the tech tree.

 

[V. Soma]

Hey, I like this idea! ) Hope Firaxis reads this - yes, it woul be great for excitement and replayability

 

[thestonesfan]

There are benefits to both methods. There are plenty of cases in history where the government said "let's figure out how to do that!" and they did, but more often than not, discoveries are not pre-determined to be made.

Personally, I would be much more happy if the tech tree was just a lot bigger and more interesting. Something to break up the linearity a bit.