[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Artillery and sea units (PR#1476)

[Thanasis Kinias <tkinias@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

scripsit Richard Stallman:
>     BTW, this is not the only weird flip in the freeciv tech tree.  Map making
>     and Seafaring seem sort of backwards, as do alphabet and writing.  But,
>     then, much of the tree is misnamed -- leadership, conscription and tactics
>     are all ancient.
> 
> I think it would be a very good thing to straighten this out.
> 
> Note that it may be possible to correct some problems simply by
> writing precise definitions for what these tech levels mean, avoiding
> the need for any actual change in the tech tree.  Some kinds of
> tactics existed in the ancien world, but maybe it refers to a specific
> advance in tactics, such as the ability to give units new orders
> during battle.

I suspect that Marius would have been extremely offended at the
suggestion that he was ignorant of tactics ;)

Does the will exist within the Freeciv community to do a
from-the-ground-up review of the tech tree?  The more I think about it,
the more excited I am about the possibilities.  However, I think most
everyone who has really studied it will agree that the tech tree's
relationship to any historical reality is at times rather tenuous.

If the community would embrace such a project, I would surely be game.
As a future teacher of history, I am intrigued by the idea of a Freeciv
which could be useful pedagogically as well as for entertainment.

-- 
Thanasis Kinias
Web Developer, Information Technology
Graduate Student, Department of History
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul