How could we inplement prototypes and experiments? I had a idea that the reaserch would be that there would be experiments which would give you upgrades or units or equipment that would be specific for your nations enviroment like if your nations is in a swampy enviroment you would have
Amphibious equipment like : amphibious car , tanks…
Or there would be would be a Tech tree that would just passive upgrade like +15% damage for infantry ET ectrea (i domy know how to write it).
You would order a vehicles which would have specifided time to design then there would be test with prototypes which your as a head of a state if the prototype is good or not if the design should be remade or it should be made to production, of course ypu need to know in what state is your nation(war, peace …).
I dunno what else should i say . Be free to expand onto my theory .
1 Like
Katt47
(My specie is slavers, drug traffickers, smugglers and everything in between.)
43
I still think turtles need to use armor, otherwise the game would get boring real quick when guns are invented.
Katt47
(My specie is slavers, drug traffickers, smugglers and everything in between.)
44
I love the idea of enviroment specific tech. For example, I think that an amphibious specie should have the abillity to go onto land for the sole purpose of inventing metalworking (if it’s really that necessary in the first place) only to go back into the depths of the sea afterwards…
Just imagen what advantages it would bring to already be able to both naturally breath under liquids and on land when reaching the space stage. You wouldn’t have to invent dive equipment to further research the aquatic life on a planet.
Insects and reptiles could even have the big advantage to breath certain gases, for example being immune to toxin when they start destroying their homeworld during industrial.
One of the things I’m worried about for the later stages of Thrive is that species would lose their identity.
To use the turtles as an example: In the earlier stages of the game the Turtles’ natural armour would be a defining characteristic of them. They’re ‘the armoured ones’. But as technology improves, their natural armour would be less and less relevant compared to their tech. Turtles shields don’t do much against firearms, after all.
I like your suggestion about species from different environments being better at tech that works well in their environment. Not only does it make sense (of course the species would know more about their native enviroment), but it also solves the issue I mentioned in the previous paragraph very well.
Not all species for instance stegosaurus would still use their spikes at the back of their tails as a weapon even in the future .
Tuttles could dtill use their natural armor by upgrading it? Possibly?
A stegosaurus’ thagomizers would not be very useful compared to technologically advanced weapons, nor would they be able to penetrate technologically advanced armour,
I just don’t see any reason for some sapient stegosaurus to try to whack someone with its tail when it’s got a perfectly fine gun to shoot him with.
I defeated all the undead as an elephant man and claimed the book containing the secrets of life and death, so now I am a necromancer. As such, I resurrect this thread with some interesting videos from a Youtube channel called How to Make Everything. The videomaker has been recreating tools of the stone and copper ages while using them for various historically accurate tasks. I find the video series interesting, and it has given me a good idea of these tools’ effectiveness. The videos reminded me of the discussion in this thread.
What if the tech editor will be only used on spesific ocasions for instance the tech tree will be used for basic technology . And the more diverse will be a pop up and you will be throwen into to “tech editor” . So there might be no chance that there will a tank or something like that. Or there will be multiple designers that will be in the industrial stage. So the industrial stage will be a bit diffrent than the sociaty stage. And it would add sone realism to the game.
The way Stellaris handles tech progression is through a set of “tech cards” - there are direct paths through the tree, but many techs are basically one-offs. There are tiers, so you’d need to research lower-tier technologies to get higher-tier cards circulating. You can progress upon three cards at once: one for each of the branches of theoretical physics, biology/sociology, and engineering.
Most of the boosts to research come from reverse-engineering debris, research agreements (not true tech-sharing, you still need to research what your ally already has), or just various specialization traits.
This non-linear approach to tech makes for the possibility of not even inventing some things, and that works well for both Stellaris and Thrive - there are no pre-defined histories, the universe is random.
And what you make out of more complex pieces of technology is up to you - a tank could be explained for what it is: an armored vehicle with treads and artillery.
Technology cards in Thrive should be linked to development philosophies: Militaries want to increase combat stats such as defense, stealth, and power with maybe some other guiding constraint like efficiency or agility. This would inspire vehicles with sturdier construction, or the strength to carry a big gun, but it’s really a timeless idea. Civilians care less for defense (unless there’s a national security risk), and more for reliability and aesthetics.
It’s difficult to separate technological ideas and application - if one civilization knows armored plating and mounted flak cannons, why wouldn’t they just put it on their military hardware? As long as they know it, it’s likely that they’ll use it if it’s more effective. Stellaris auto-designs ships with your latest components, and that’s a huge time-saver for a non-minmaxer.
To be somewhat fair, once your species stops having to fight wild animals, you lose some identity - it’s only turtles vs turtles from then. Your weapons might be heavier bludgeon-type things to compensate for natural armor, but literally everyone will use that design philosophy. Adapting to all environments as your species spreads worldwide loses some species identity, too. Like all things Thrive, certain elements gradually phase out as you progress.
In the space age, you will encounter multiple species and then identity comes into play - primarily cultural/economic, as each species has evolved from scratch with different needs. A hairless, warm-blooded species may trade textiles, and a pheromone-heavy species might export scented candles. Direct effects from biological diversity may arise, too - dexterous and intelligent species make better specialists and leaders, whereas naturally-dangerous species arouse suspicion from their enhanced guerilla abilities. Depending on how pronounced these differences are, brutish species should be encouraged to assimilate more erudite ones to reap their benefits. Be wary of pushing your hardy main species into physical labor while aliens write the checks - that’s sure to cause unrest.
Some empires also employ an additional strategy - using so many species with so many battle philosophies that the enemy cannot fully adapt. Acting in unity may be hard, but overwhelming the enemy with new tactics is a strategy.
Here is my idea:
Basically each part of a tool will be tested for its efficiency. For example, when an object is created, it is simulated to see what it does. And then it will do that when it is put in another thing. For example, in a rocket engine, the tanks will be tested, to show that they supply fuel, and the combustion chamber will be tested, to show that it produces thrust. And when you put a rocket engine in a vehice, it produces thrust.
Why not just implement basic physics there? Electromagnetism, depending on the field strength and frequencies can be shot out and caught as a receiver and transmitter. Gravitation can prevent rockets from going up, but using newton’s third law you can counter it, maybe even using it to your advantage. The nuclear forces can be used to your knowledge for things like nuclear bombs by adding force on an unstable compound. What I’m trying to say is that the tech builder would be where the player actually “learns by accident”, being made up of physics and chemistry. The 4 main forces are a must (The nuclear forces will be hard but maybe you could do smoke and mirrors?). The Newtonian laws should be included. A mesh collider won’t cut it. It would have to have a strength and other properties. Orbital mechanics should be a major thing for the space stage (duh). Chemistry would be a huge thing near the gaining of manipulative digits. Not all planets are made of the same elements and so maybe a randomized element system can be added? I honestly don’t know how this can be done easily without an exploding computer, but the team can at least try.
Zahyyy
(the one who spent 4 hours writing a single post)
53
After some consideration, I figured that the tech web might be the best option. However, some tech there would unlock different modes and editors. As an example, the “Tools” tech would unlock “The tool editor”, basically what I’ve been talking about in this thread, where you can create/customize your tools/weapons (don’t imagine every single tool being made by you, mostly just melee weapons). Another example would be “Language” unlocking some kind of a strategy mode. At first, these modes and editors would be really simple, but the more techs you unlock and the more skill you gain in each related tech respectively, the more would they expand with different functions/assets. Also, as suggested by hhyyrylainen and tjwhale, for example, the tech web would not be linear and one thing could be achieved by different paths (This might even lead to some interesting achievements such as “Discover X without ever discovering Y”, that would take you on a ride around this web just to avoid one technology). I’m currently working on designing a simple version of the web right now, along with the skill system, editors and such. So far only theoretical design, but we’ll get there. I’m looking forward to your feedback! I’ll keep you posted, thanks!
ehhh I don’t know I was thinking that the game revolved around you and you can make all of your tools and have like different parts and tools to make them with and I was also thinking you could have a tech web like your idea and have another tech Web with secret items or achievable items that aren’t unlocked the normal way
I would like to rebirth the discussion here.
While yes early on the tools are likely to be simmilar to human/earthly tools, but how much indepth do we need or want the system to be? Should it be grid system? And ofcourse another problem come from advanced weapons like rifles either automatic, semi or just bolt or whatever. How much indepth does it need to be? Would we to able to create guns by yourself, to outsource it to another country or something. Because guns and their technologies are a beast on it’s own. Everything from simple muskets to machine guns.