[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#2464) patch: restrict techs by nation

["Per I. Mathisen via RT" <rt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 12 Dec 2002, aas02101@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx via RT wrote:
> > > This root_req would be the tech (like Fire of Morgoth) which sits in the
> > > origin of one of the separate trees.Knowledge of this root_tech would be
> > > required not only for the research but also for the transfer by theft or
> > > gift or conquest.Effectively Per's function is_tech_available (which I
> > > would rename into is_tech_accessible) will check not for the name or ID of
> > > the player, but whether player has the root_req of this tech.
...
> > > The advantage is that if you want to add another nation which has access
> > > to a tech tree, you don't have to add the nation name to each tech.Just
> > > give the nation Fire of Morgoth, that's all.
> > >
> > > Obviously the root tech has to have itself as a root_req, so it is not
> > > transferable in the first place.So Fire of Morgoth will be
> > > req1 = Fire of Morgoth/* Non-researchable */
> > > req2 =
> > > root_req = Fire of Morgoth/* Non-transferable */
...
> It can either be explicitly put into each tech or can be marked once as a root
> tech and then the tech file parsing function would have to do the work.

The lack of references to the nation ruleset(s) is good, but...

This means a nation must begin the game with all root techs. Eg you can't
have Sauron and Sarumar sharing the same tech tree up until the last few
techs where they diverge.

Sure you can fix this practically by giving each a meaningless tech with
their name on it and use this as root later in the tech tree, but it still
means the above solution is less flexible than the one I originally
proposed.

Another thing it cannot do: You cannot unlock "bonus" tech subtrees by
stealing/conquering crucial gate techs that you cannot research yourself.

Nor can "tech parasite" nations be created that can steal some (but only
some) techs from other players and cannot research any.

Although I probably suffer from a NIH here, I still prefer my own patch...

  - Per