WYRDYSM GAMES

Sorry but unless your scientists and engineers are certifiably retarded, I don't see what getting phat engines has to do with locking missile technology, or in fact any other area. In fact, getting phat engines would most likely be beneficial to your missile/rocket tech.

It seems pointless and arbitrary to go locking off areas just because you took one route instead of the other. It might not be very cost effective to go back and work on the other routes, but that's what tech trading and scientific powerhouse groups are for.

So yeah, I'm against locking off areas permanently. People have to make choices as it is, so don't arbitrarily penalize them. They can opt not to have anything to do with beams if they wish, but actually locking technology off is something I cannot support as a concept. It makes no real sense. Any justification for locking techs is already presented by the fact they're overspecializing to begin with.

Well, I could see locking off tech happening if there's say, two ancient relics, and you can only salvage one of them (someone else will take the other)...then yeah. Outside of that I don't see why...

Its more as if your scientists throw away the idea as being totally retarded.
Why have missiles if all your ships can out run them?
And to show how your science gets more and more specialized.

And we're throwing away the idea because it is totally retarded.



Because your enemy's ships can't outrun them, you retard.



So? It does that by itself. No penalization necessary.

How about just having number of items researched limited by the amount of research facilities you have? Not a one to one ratio, obviously, but something that would be largely insignificant early on, but to encompass more tech, you would need to construct more facilities, or you could throw out some tech you have...

Say, you don't have enough space to store all those records, etc. (If you really need to invent some reason). I feel this is a more interesting game mechanic, so research doesn't get exponential as you get more facilities.

Could a possible drive be a nuclear fusion one? Also, maneuvering thrusters could be a nice addition as they could boost a ships turn rate and a small increase to speed.

I think that would be a specific tech idea, i think that would definitely be a possibility,probably an early tech too, right after fission, but getting the basis of design down would be the first on the menu.

And i do agree that the loss of an entire side of the tech tree is a major loss, maybe it could be set as droid suggested.
Each research station you have is set to a particular tree and the more you have in each tree then you get more techs in that tree available to research, from different ideas put forward from the primary researcher in each station.

Just a few ideas for the starting end of the scale for preset n stuff. The first section is just the starting stuff. I could post fluff too to explain and stuff, but whatever floats your boat really. That, and there's probably other ones too, like a chemical drive or something like that. Fluff would proably explain better why I chose the per-requisites for the basic level tech, despite the fact that you should already have all of em.

On comments on the infinite system, eventually, without research into other areas, you're likely to come to a point where you can no longer improve any more with out some other contributing factor, or without somehow causing another piece of useful offshoot technology. An example might be the auto loading thing for autoguns. Eventually, you'd run out of ways to increase the fire rate with your current technology in other areas, or, say you produce something that can load ammo and reload it very quickly. This development might also be useful in increasing the efficiency of mining operations, thus causing an unforeseen additional benefit.

Anyway, thats all I can think of for the moment. And yeah, I do agree that routes shouldn't be locked off, I tend to forget about some things as I find more things to research in games anyway, and its quite possible the same thing could happen to someone in the metagame unless they were paying a fair amount of attention.
Starter Tech
Subclass: Weapons
Basic kinetic transfer weaponry:
Effect: Unlocks the Vulcan and Auto-cannons. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Should be starter stuff, unless outsider.

Missile guidance and payload systems:
Effect: Allows for simpler guided warhead systems. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Starter stuff.

Subclass: Non-combat Modules

Ion Drive systems:
Effect: Ion drives available. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Starter stuff, everyone should have it bar possibly outsiders.

Fusion Power generation system:
Effect: Allows for power cores. (Unlock tech, sort of, fighters may not use it but, w/e) ( pretty sure its fusion anyway, might use some other power source, but I remember reading somewhere in here that its H3 fusion)
Conditions: Starter stuff, usual dealeo.

Subclass: Planetary Development, Infrastructure

Off-world mining systems:
Effect: Allows harvesting of non-planetary locations. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Starter stuff.

Subclass: Defense

Basic Armoring Alloys:
Effect: Unlocks basic armor. (You can technically have ships without it, they’d just have weaker hulls, unless you’re outsider or start with a better armor)
Conditions: Starter stuff.

Basic Tech

Subclass: Weapons

High Explosive Warheads:
Effect: Unlocks Heavy Auto-cannons and Artillery.
Conditions: Both the Kinetic weapons and missile research, pretty simple.
Difficulty: Easy

Basic Beam Focusing:
Effect: Unlocks AF beam.
Conditions: Off-planet mining.
Difficulty: Medium.

Advanced target acquisition systems:
Effect: Unlocks point defense guns if the required condition is met.
Flak - High Explosive Warheads
Particle gun - Charged particle systems
Point Defense Beam - Beam refinements
Conditions: Finite Sensory Equipment
Difficulty: Easy.

Heavy Autoloader Systems:
Effect: Unlocks Heavy Vulcan and Repeating Artillery.
Conditions: High Explosive Warheads
Difficulty: Easy

Subclass: Non-combat modules

Improved Power Generators:
Effect: Increase in core power. (upgrade tech)
Conditions: Requires some sort of power gen already researched.
Difficulty: Easy.

Subclass: Planetary Development, Infrastructure

Subclass: Defense

Improved Armor Structuring:
Effect: Increases all new ship's armor rating with no increase in mass.
Conditions: Basic Alloy Armoring
Difficulty: Medium

Field Projection systems:
Effect: Unlocks ablative shields. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Ion Drive Systems.

Improved-Basic Tech

Energy Beam systems:
Effect: Allows usage of light and medium beam weapons. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Basic Beam Focusing.
Difficulty: Easy

Energy Projectile weapons:
Effect: Allows usage of blasters. (unlock tech)
Conditions: Energy Beam systems.
Difficulty: Easy

Charged particle systems:
Effect: Unlocks particle guns, maybe multi-blasters.
Conditions: Field Projection systems, Energy Projectile systems.
Difficulty: Easy