[Axe99]

Cheers for the DD Doomdark . The tech system is one of my favourite new design approaches in Stellaris (and one that could potentially be used elsewhere), keep up the great work .

 

[Praetorian44]

Very interesting and different take on technology. This game just keeps sounding more awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[Kaiser Timo]

I think you should be careful obtaining some of the rare technologies, for example that "Sentient AI" tech being shown, could upon completion, have an increasing risk factor overtime, of robots making rebellion against your faction.

 

[Zsar1]

So, this is essentially Master of Orion (the original) with reshuffling of the not-chosen choices.
... While this may probably generate similar kinds of quandary, I wonder whether the effect will be as pronounced (as techs will be re-rollable by depleting their concurrents; at the same time, initially missed techs will show up in re-rolls organically). Depending on how the RNG works, this may just be more frustrating than the original, while not actually being more varied.

@Doomdark : You do use C++11 distributions by now, right? Better not rand() this system - player frustration would be guaranteed.
(For any complex probability calculation, it would seem best to produce random numbers via std::uniform_[int|real]_distribution and apply the weighting on top of that.)

 

[cosmeIII]

Will there be hidden bonuses/maluses to techs?

 

[Kanaric]

So, this is essentially Master of Orion (the original) with reshuffling of the not-chosen choices.

No because the other two non-chosen get reshuffled in so you get a chance at them later makes it very different from Master of Orion In Moo your only chance would be to trade for it later.

 

[pguyton]

 

[henzington]

I am curious how do your scientist gain xp and does their level affect the techs you get to choice from?

 

[aitaituo]

People will want to know and will find out somehow (probably game files). I think this will just end up being frustrating. I'd strongly advocate for displaying information like this to the player. Hidden systems, especially of that magnitude, are bound to cause annoyance.

I am also this guy:

I will never put in the effort to find out how the techs are weighted. However, if the information was easily available, I would agonize over it constantly and be annoyed at non-efficient outcomes. You may think I'm silly, but that's how I'm wired, and I expect that this isn't unique to me.

In EU3, I would always headhunt for natural scientists just to reduce the chance of getting Comet Sighted, along with numerous other min-max techniques in hopes of getting good, but rare events. Once, I literally did a happy dance because Venice flipped to Greek culture. With EUIV, I taught myself to only worry about nudging important DHEs and what events having certain factions in power allow and it is much more fun for me as a result.

Paradox or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the RNG

 

[Tilarium]

The card analogy is a really good one, very simple to understand. I really like this new and very interesting take on the tech tree, it adds a level of randomness that I love. I'm going to imagine that the weighing factor will be moddable, which could open up lots of interesting game ideas.

Also, LOVE that picture of Earth, it's stunningly beautiful.

 

[CocoCincinnati]

This sounds absolutely brilliant. No more games where everybody has techs 1, 2 and 3 at about the same times to start off games. No more games where every single player bee lines a path for tech z because it's the best and the first player to get it wins. My interest in this game was already high but it just hit another level.

 

[Xinkc]

It's time for another episode of Fan Monday?

You, I like you

That actually sounds really fun to me. I enjoy trying to deal with the low points of a playthrough more than I enjoy riding the highs. The energy crisis you mentioned sound like it could be an interesting era of your empire's history. Also imagine if you found a clever way to solve it, you'd really feel worthy of your title as king, prime minister, dictator etc.

Same with the idea of not knowing how technologically developed you are compared to other races. That would make espionage extremely useful and offer up some interesting tension when you're on the brink of war. Their weapons might be terrifyingly amazing, but you might find out after a few fights that their hulls are awful. Then you could try and steer your empire towards long range weaponry, which might become your empires fighting style for the whole game. All interesting to me!

I can definitely imagine the wonderful crisis of having too much energy, especially if it could be as a response to an energy poor period. One thing I really liked in Vicky2 was that certain inventions could be developed based upon your circumstances. Want gas defense? Attack those using it as a weapon.

Also, I like the thought of finding out a race of enemies had a fleet of glass cannons by poking their ships with a sharp ship. I just hope kamikaze tactics will be a thing.


Anyways, I really like the idea of pseudorandom tech development. Seems like a great way to partially simulate how discoveries can be completely random. Now if only there was a random chance that researching a tech could come up with a different one. "So boss, know how you wanted me to invent practical nanofabrication? Well, I accidentally created minutes that will vastly increase our peoples' immunity when colonizing alien worlds."

 

[Korashy]

I am also this guy:



In EU3, I would always headhunt for natural scientists just to reduce the chance of getting Comet Sighted, along with numerous other min-max techniques in hopes of getting good, but rare events. Once, I literally did a happy dance because Venice flipped to Greek culture. With EUIV, I taught myself to only worry about nudging important DHEs and what events having certain factions in power allow and it is much more fun for me as a result.

Paradox or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the RNG

If we are going with the card analogy, I'd rather understand my chance and probabilities playing black jack than just sit there and hope rng is nice. It's not a turn off, but I always dislike information being hidden.

 

[Strager]

OK so some thoughts here (in no particular order):

I can see this being used in conjunction with racial traits. A creative race (ala Moo2) could get a fourth or even a fifth tech option while a less creative one might get 2 or even only 1 choice (for really uncreative folks).... in exchange for points that could be used to boost something else.

There should also be "Stub" technologies which have no real purpose other than to make other technologies possible. Think of the Pager - it really had very little purpose (outside of a few corner cases like doctors), but it's invention paved the way for cell phones, text messaging, etc.

There needs to be an option at game start to slow down the rate of technological advance - if I want to play a good long game, I don't want to research everything in the first 50 hours of gameplay only to have nothing to do for the rest of the game....

There should be an increased chance of researching technologies used by empires you are at war with - if your enemy is using fission bombs to wipe out your colonies, your scientists are going to likely going to be looking into fission if you didn't know about it before.....

Some (most?) Events should "add cards to the deck" rather than outright giving you a new technology.

Perhaps there should be mutually exclusive versions of similar technologies. For example there could be 3 versions of "ion drive" - 1 is a little faster, one has a slightly larger range, and one is cheaper to build. Once you learn one you can't research the others (you just have "ion drives") - if you get the technology from someone else you get the same version they have. I'm a bit torn on this one.

 

[kreissig]

Some (most?) Events should "add cards to the deck" rather than outright giving you a new technology.

I think that the "events log" does just provide opportunities to research/investigate them - with the added risk of failure.

 

[bertxav]

You, I like you

I like you too.

 

[Strager]

I like you too.

Get a room you two....

 

[Johan]

Sentient AI? Stefania... no. No, bad! Haven't you read any science fiction!?

It is PURPLE! Epics > all!

 

[Tilarium]

If we are going with the card analogy, I'd rather understand my chance and probabilities playing black jack than just sit there and hope rng is nice. It's not a turn off, but I always dislike information being hidden.

This is how I'm understanding of the weighting system, keeping with the card theme

The dealer put 10 decks into the pile, all shuffled up and random.
- Deck 1 has all 52 cards in it
- Deck 2 has had all the aces removed
- Deck 3 has had the rest of the face cards and up removed
- Deck 4 has had the 10s and up removed
- Deck 5 has had all the 8s and 9s and up removed
- Deck 6 has had all the 6s and 7s and up removed
- Deck 7 has had all the 5s and up removed
- Deck 8 has had all the 4s and up removed
- Deck 9 has had all the 3s and up removed
- Deck 10 has had all the 2s and up removed

 

[Tilarium]

OK so some thoughts here (in no particular order):

I can see this being used in conjunction with racial traits. A creative race (ala Moo2) could get a fourth or even a fifth tech option while a less creative one might get 2 or even only 1 choice (for really uncreative folks).... in exchange for points that could be used to boost something else.

There should also be "Stub" technologies which have no real purpose other than to make other technologies possible. Think of the Pager - it really had very little purpose (outside of a few corner cases like doctors), but it's invention paved the way for cell phones, text messaging, etc.

There needs to be an option at game start to slow down the rate of technological advance - if I want to play a good long game, I don't want to research everything in the first 50 hours of gameplay only to have nothing to do for the rest of the game....

There should be an increased chance of researching technologies used by empires you are at war with - if your enemy is using fission bombs to wipe out your colonies, your scientists are going to likely going to be looking into fission if you didn't know about it before.....

Some (most?) Events should "add cards to the deck" rather than outright giving you a new technology.

Perhaps there should be mutually exclusive versions of similar technologies. For example there could be 3 versions of "ion drive" - 1 is a little faster, one has a slightly larger range, and one is cheaper to build. Once you learn one you can't research the others (you just have "ion drives") - if you get the technology from someone else you get the same version they have. I'm a bit torn on this one.

All really really good ideas!