There's been a lot of talk about technology, in a lot of threads but I feel that my proposal is different enough to warrant its own thread.
What I propose is that instead of having the tech groups be based on location (Western Europe, Middle East, etc.) like in EU3, have them be based on societal complexity. The tech groups would then look something like this:
Industrialised Society
Enlightened Society
Renaissance Society
Civilised Society
Primitive Society
These stages would be available to any country, but things like location, religion, climate, slider positions, would all have an impact on how easily countries can go through the stages. By having sequential tech groups that you can go through it'll be easier to simulate the societal stages that (especially European) countries went through in the time period, than having unrealistic nerfs that can only switch once, to Western tech. EU3's system made technology grow linear, even though in reality tech growth was more cubic/exponential (with each stage being a boost to growth).
The Great Divergence
This system would have three big advantages over the old system:
1. The societal stages make it easier for a country that gets in the lead, to stay in the lead (the Great Divergence) instead of unrealistic linear growth.
1. It'd make European technical dominance likely but not guaranteed. As I mentioned earlier the various countries' research speed would depend on a couple of variables, they are the things that make the world's regions different. Things like climate, location, religion, national ideas, slider settings and ruler stats would impact each country's speed. Protestants would be better at cultural and scientific research (as it is less restricted than Catholicism), coastal countries would get a trade boost, offensive countries would be faster at military research, etc.
If everything is balanced correctly and everything goes somewhat historical you'll see (Western) Europe surging ahead, first through the Renaissance, then the Enlightenment and finally through the early Industrial Revolution. But the Ottomans (and all the other non-European) could surge ahead as well if the conditions are right. If it manages to capture the Byzantine libraries intact and gets a brilliant ruler, it'd be able to follow or lead the Renaissance and further. If Japan manages to unite the daimyo's and form a more centralised country and keeps itself open to the outside world, it might be able to modernise much quicker than in real life.
3. It's less Euro-centric. I'm not one of the Euro-centricity haters per se, but there are a lot of people out there who are. I must admit though, it does sound weird when you manage to make China superpowerful, but you still Westernise even though Europe might be a pile of crap. The stages are much more neutral in terminology.
Thoughts?
What I propose is that instead of having the tech groups be based on location (Western Europe, Middle East, etc.) like in EU3, have them be based on societal complexity. The tech groups would then look something like this:
Industrialised Society
Enlightened Society
Renaissance Society
Civilised Society
Primitive Society
These stages would be available to any country, but things like location, religion, climate, slider positions, would all have an impact on how easily countries can go through the stages. By having sequential tech groups that you can go through it'll be easier to simulate the societal stages that (especially European) countries went through in the time period, than having unrealistic nerfs that can only switch once, to Western tech. EU3's system made technology grow linear, even though in reality tech growth was more cubic/exponential (with each stage being a boost to growth).
The Great Divergence
This system would have three big advantages over the old system:
1. The societal stages make it easier for a country that gets in the lead, to stay in the lead (the Great Divergence) instead of unrealistic linear growth.
1. It'd make European technical dominance likely but not guaranteed. As I mentioned earlier the various countries' research speed would depend on a couple of variables, they are the things that make the world's regions different. Things like climate, location, religion, national ideas, slider settings and ruler stats would impact each country's speed. Protestants would be better at cultural and scientific research (as it is less restricted than Catholicism), coastal countries would get a trade boost, offensive countries would be faster at military research, etc.
If everything is balanced correctly and everything goes somewhat historical you'll see (Western) Europe surging ahead, first through the Renaissance, then the Enlightenment and finally through the early Industrial Revolution. But the Ottomans (and all the other non-European) could surge ahead as well if the conditions are right. If it manages to capture the Byzantine libraries intact and gets a brilliant ruler, it'd be able to follow or lead the Renaissance and further. If Japan manages to unite the daimyo's and form a more centralised country and keeps itself open to the outside world, it might be able to modernise much quicker than in real life.
3. It's less Euro-centric. I'm not one of the Euro-centricity haters per se, but there are a lot of people out there who are. I must admit though, it does sound weird when you manage to make China superpowerful, but you still Westernise even though Europe might be a pile of crap. The stages are much more neutral in terminology.
Thoughts?
