[Freeciv] Re: Some questions

["Bobby D. Bryant" <bdbryant@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nathan Lovell wrote:

> I always thought it was a little odd that you know exactly
> how much research it will take to get to a certain point.

One thing I never liked about the Civ model was that the notion of a 
civilization
deliberately mobilizing its resources to research a technology is very much an
artifact of the 20th Century (atom bomb, fusion power, supersonic flight, space
travel, etc).  Before that, progress seemed to come almost exclusively from 
individual
inventors (Archimedes, Edison), mostly anonymous.

It seems to me that a historical model would just trickle the advances in at 
random
points on the map, and you would learn them from their neighbors simply by being
around them.  Then, at some point, late industrial age science and technology 
will let
you base your research on theoretical foundations, with (reasonably) high 
probability
of eventual success.



>  One more *big*
> variation is to have the tech tree itself vary.

It would be fun to play a game where you didn't know what was actually possible.
Shall I research magic?  Shall I research gunpowder?  Only the game server 
knows what
is "real" in this game!  You could research magic for centuries, decide it was
mythical, and pull your resources off just before that big breakthrough.

Bobby Bryant
Austin, Texas