ThisNameIsTooLo
Emotion Lord
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2012
- Messages
- 213
Alright, alright, put the spears down, just... just hear me out.
After learning about a couple of gameplay features in the recent press release -- the Civics Tree, and the fact that certain events advance your research in technologies suited for exploiting those opportunities -- I actually believe that it's time to let go of the old tradition of researching technologies in a planned-out manner.
My reasoning is two-fold:
First, it seems really rather redundant to me to have two separate trees for researching new things, and to discover Techs and Civics in the same way. It was fine in Civ IV, when Technologies and unlocking Civics shared one tree, and it was also tolerable in Civ V, as the Social Policy trees functioned in a manner not entirely similar to the Tech Tree. But if Civ VI has two trees which work the same way, I'd be afraid that pursuing the Science and Cultural Victories would feel too similar.
Secondly, it occurs to me that the Tech Tree, as a representation of scientific progress, is very unscientific. In real, frontier science, you don't know what you're going to be developing ahead of time. You cannot simply command your best and brightest to research Engineering; as far as you and your people know, there is no better way to defend your cities than to simply apply the tenets of Construction on a grander scale. The idea wouldn't occur to you to tell your builders to find a way to make Construction more Mathematical, because how could the whim of some mad king lead anyone to mask together two disparate concepts?
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. What better way to simulate necessity than to have all technologies research concurrently, and to accelerate research in certain technologies in response to certain encounters and events? This is how real science works; the scientists / philosophers / wise men stumble about in the dark of the unknown, applying their hypotheses and proving or disproving them to push back the darkness on all fronts, bit by bit. They don't know what they'll find when they shed new light on the world around them, or how their discoveries will shape the world in the generations to come, beyond mere speculation.
As an example: When the first curious human gazed upon the endless ocean, he wasn't commanded to research a way to fish up the sea's bounty in an efficient manner. Instead, he simply spent his days at the ocean, playing with rocks and twigs, noting idly how some objects floated better than others. He didn't think anyone would build a boat someday, or engineer nets and traps to catch the animals of the deep. But his odd obsession would go on to inspire others to play with objects in the ocean. Eventually, someone makes a raft, and it's fun to ride, but no-one thinks a simple toy will change the world. On and on this cycle of discovery continues, and then, without anyone ever having realized, they've built an entire economy around deep-sea fishing.
With the Tech Tree in place, it often happens that the player's whim coincides with what is necessary for the civilization's survival, but it's not always going to work out that way. It is, after all, technically possible to research naval technologies without being near any large bodies of water. Not only that, but you can research Sailing just as quickly as you could research Writing. When you think about it, the fact that it's even possible is nothing short of insane.
The same is not true of Culture and Civics. Whereas technology is an interaction of the human mind with the natural, physical world, culture is entirely invented in the human mind. With Civics, or cultural movements, it is entirely conceivable that a king could have a Civic as an end goal in mind, and dictate that this Civic become law. The Burial Ritual, for instance, can just come to a Pharaoh in a dream, and he'll order the formation of a cult of priests to begin practicing the ritual for enshrining the dead. Over time, the ritual becomes more sophisticated, and it gains popularity across the kingdom, until finally there is no opposition to the concept. The progress of "researching" a Civic can be measured through popularity polls.
Scientific research does not have any metrics of progress of the sort.
My conclusion is this: The Civics Tree should take up the mantle of the Tech Tree, and it should fully co-opt all the research mechanics of its predecessor. And technologies should be researched concurrently, with focus automatically shifting in response to developing necessities of the empire. Building farms inspires research into mathematically-precise crop rotation and harvest schedules. Uncovering water tiles near your territory inspires research toward exploring down and across. Establishing diplomatic relations with nearby empires inspires developing new methods of communication.
Cultures are planned. Technologies are discovered.
Okay, NOW you may skewer me with spears.
After learning about a couple of gameplay features in the recent press release -- the Civics Tree, and the fact that certain events advance your research in technologies suited for exploiting those opportunities -- I actually believe that it's time to let go of the old tradition of researching technologies in a planned-out manner.
My reasoning is two-fold:
First, it seems really rather redundant to me to have two separate trees for researching new things, and to discover Techs and Civics in the same way. It was fine in Civ IV, when Technologies and unlocking Civics shared one tree, and it was also tolerable in Civ V, as the Social Policy trees functioned in a manner not entirely similar to the Tech Tree. But if Civ VI has two trees which work the same way, I'd be afraid that pursuing the Science and Cultural Victories would feel too similar.
Secondly, it occurs to me that the Tech Tree, as a representation of scientific progress, is very unscientific. In real, frontier science, you don't know what you're going to be developing ahead of time. You cannot simply command your best and brightest to research Engineering; as far as you and your people know, there is no better way to defend your cities than to simply apply the tenets of Construction on a grander scale. The idea wouldn't occur to you to tell your builders to find a way to make Construction more Mathematical, because how could the whim of some mad king lead anyone to mask together two disparate concepts?
It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. What better way to simulate necessity than to have all technologies research concurrently, and to accelerate research in certain technologies in response to certain encounters and events? This is how real science works; the scientists / philosophers / wise men stumble about in the dark of the unknown, applying their hypotheses and proving or disproving them to push back the darkness on all fronts, bit by bit. They don't know what they'll find when they shed new light on the world around them, or how their discoveries will shape the world in the generations to come, beyond mere speculation.
As an example: When the first curious human gazed upon the endless ocean, he wasn't commanded to research a way to fish up the sea's bounty in an efficient manner. Instead, he simply spent his days at the ocean, playing with rocks and twigs, noting idly how some objects floated better than others. He didn't think anyone would build a boat someday, or engineer nets and traps to catch the animals of the deep. But his odd obsession would go on to inspire others to play with objects in the ocean. Eventually, someone makes a raft, and it's fun to ride, but no-one thinks a simple toy will change the world. On and on this cycle of discovery continues, and then, without anyone ever having realized, they've built an entire economy around deep-sea fishing.
With the Tech Tree in place, it often happens that the player's whim coincides with what is necessary for the civilization's survival, but it's not always going to work out that way. It is, after all, technically possible to research naval technologies without being near any large bodies of water. Not only that, but you can research Sailing just as quickly as you could research Writing. When you think about it, the fact that it's even possible is nothing short of insane.
The same is not true of Culture and Civics. Whereas technology is an interaction of the human mind with the natural, physical world, culture is entirely invented in the human mind. With Civics, or cultural movements, it is entirely conceivable that a king could have a Civic as an end goal in mind, and dictate that this Civic become law. The Burial Ritual, for instance, can just come to a Pharaoh in a dream, and he'll order the formation of a cult of priests to begin practicing the ritual for enshrining the dead. Over time, the ritual becomes more sophisticated, and it gains popularity across the kingdom, until finally there is no opposition to the concept. The progress of "researching" a Civic can be measured through popularity polls.
Scientific research does not have any metrics of progress of the sort.
My conclusion is this: The Civics Tree should take up the mantle of the Tech Tree, and it should fully co-opt all the research mechanics of its predecessor. And technologies should be researched concurrently, with focus automatically shifting in response to developing necessities of the empire. Building farms inspires research into mathematically-precise crop rotation and harvest schedules. Uncovering water tiles near your territory inspires research toward exploring down and across. Establishing diplomatic relations with nearby empires inspires developing new methods of communication.
Cultures are planned. Technologies are discovered.
Okay, NOW you may skewer me with spears.
per turn times the multiplier.
