Tech tree might need a little work (pic inside)

DashieBaby87

Chieftain
Joined
Sep 23, 2010
Messages
64
How did this happen? :confused:




[Not only the lancer part of it when I already have Cavalry, but rifling when I already have infantry? lol :lol: Is it supposed to be like that, or did I mess up on the tech paths?]

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If you think that's bad, you can build Giant Death Robots without ever researching Robotics. In fact, the nearest common tech between the Robotics branch and the branch GDRs are on is Steam Power.
 
I'd like to see some techs that don't lead anywhere. just a unit or wonder, something like that.
 
The onyl thing bothering me is how narrow the tech tree feels....so often I've only got maybe 2-3 choices. :(

I was especially bummed when mech inf. seemed to come REALLY fast after regular inf. I was SO stoked having my Foreign Legion run around. ;)
 
Yep tech tree climbing is insane.

Soo many times you have gownpowder for example when your capitol city is just busy finishing the first Longswordman.
 
I've also noticed some oddities; one can for example have Printing Press without Writing and one can also enter the Industrial era without Writing (through Dynamite branch).
 
Infantry without rifling.
Chariot Archers without archery.
GDR without robotics.
War chariots without horses.
knights without iron.

In Civ IV they've put a horse archer, and not a horseman, because you needed archery for horseback riding, and it was a cool way to rationalize it.

Now they don't even care about this anymore, after all, if it is "good for gameplay", who cares if the techs and resources don't match the units?:(
 
Now they don't even care about this anymore, after all, if it is "good for gameplay", who cares if the techs and resources don't match the units?:(

I'm glad gameplay was prioritized but instead of 'being smart' and finding ways to, well, streamline this stuff in they just trample over logic repeatedly for the gameplay. You know, like the courthouses you can't purchase. It's a great gameplay mechanic....but utterly illogical as you can insta-buy EVERY other building, no?

Same thign with archery leading to mathematics and a million other things. Is it lack of imagination, laziness, tight schedules? I dunno....but it can be a bit of a buzz-kill
 
It seems the game is designed to force you to draw or if you are far superior to take anyway zilions of real time hours to win
 
Tech tree looks easy enough to mod though. I was browsing through some of the XML files earlier.

We could probably change it so that the tech tree is a bit larger and has dead end paths and is more realistic. I remember there was a mod for Civ3 that did that (I believe Rhyne made it).
 
Yeah, the first game I won, I was using muskets in the early eighteen hundreds, then researched the tech for mechanized infantry, jumping straight over rifles and infantry. It was a shame I never got to use them though, since I won domination before the first one was finished. Especially since my final enemy didn't even have gunpowder yet.

It's one thing to skip over one unit. It could conceivably happen in real life for a backwards but rapidly modernizing nation. But jumping two begins to strain credulity.

And the fact that you can't upgrade your units if intermediate units are not yet researched (you can't upgrade a musket to infantry without having rifling) makes it even weirder since mechanized infantry riding around in Strykers would have been fighting side by side with pike and shot formations. WTH
 
Tech tree is messed up, makes culture and science victories extremely long and more difficult than domination.

Culture victory doesn't have a lot to do with the tech tree. I won one in a 1 city challenge with Gandhi. However, I agree with science, I beat the science victory in 2010 or something.
 
You know, like the courthouses you can't purchase. It's a great gameplay mechanic....but utterly illogical as you can insta-buy EVERY other building, no?

Yeah, it'd be better if you couldn't buy any buildings in an annexed city until you've constructed a courthouse. (In fact, from a realism perspective, you shouldn't get any income/science/culture/etc. at all from the city or be able to choose any other production items until you have the courthouse.)
 
There are definitely a couple problems with the tech tree. However, I will say there are some nice things (I enjoy the design element that has clear paths). Also, making tech trees are really hard (props to Soren Johnson, he got that one mostly right). This one's biggest problems are out of order for some techs (Infantry before Rifles) and a few bottlenecks that reduce the number of techs to choose from 6 to 2. The first, in most cases, is a realism issue, not a balance issue (the rifles is the worst there and you'd have to forgo good units for awhile if you want to avoid rifling).
 
Some of these are just instant classic, I mean Printing Press without Writing? What is it supposed to print, textless comics?(Imagine Gutenberg's Comic Bible) I also laugh at the thought of a Giant Death Robot operated without robotics, computers or even electronics. Does it run on steam powered nuclear fusion? :confused:
 
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