I find most tech systems annoying because they firstly fail to capture a feeling that some factions are seen as being at the center of technological research, secondly are usually make it so the rich get richer and thirdly usually have techs instantly spread when they are discovered. I was pondering over this matter recently and think I have a system that might work well for your game.
Basically, there are two different ways that you can know a tech:
1) Being exposed to it "Spread"
2) Discovering it for yourself or duplicating someone else's discovery independently "Breakthroughs"
The vast majority of technology used everywhere is spread technology. For any given tech you can only have a vreakthrough in a single location, so everywhere else, you will be using spread. It's even possible to use a tech without ever discovering it by a breakthrough. Once a tech is common enough, your people will be copying everyone else. This spread happens without any player intervention even, but players can facilitate it.
The way that tech spread works is first all factions are given a technology score on a scale of 1 (backwards) to 5 (innovative). This depends on their tech spending, how many labs they have, faction characteristics, etc. This could be modified by any flavor characteristics, i.e. a faction might have a +1 to engineering tech but a -1 to planetology techs. Then the game keeps tabs on the overall technological state of the universe. The more labs and breakthroughs there are, the more advanced everybody gets. This is represented by the overall tech level. When your tech score and the tech level added together meet the requirements for a tech, it will spread to all your settlements after a few turns. Every point that you exceed the requirements will cut a turn off of this time.
So suppose that there are two factions, the Alphas and the Betas. The Alphas are a small factions with three labs while the Betas are a large faction with three labs. Because the Alphas have a lot of labs compared to their size and they've got a faction characteristic, they are considered innovative (5) when it comes to engineering techs while the Betas are considered behind (2). The overall tech level of the universe is currently 5. Someone, it doesn't matter who, goes and invents robotics, which has a tech requirement of 6. The Alphas have a score of 10, so robotics spreads to their territories in one turn and they can use it everywhere. The Betas have a score of 7, so they can use this tech, but need to wait three turns for it to spread to them. The next turn orbital engineering is invented with a requirement of 8. The Alphas will have this tech after three turns but the Betas need to wait until they are more advanced.
The other side of the model is breakthrough. This is the part that does take deliberate player intervention. This required tasking a lab to the project and waiting for them to complete it. When you have a breakthrough you can immediately use the technology, but only in the territory where it was invented. It immediately will start to spread around the universe according to tech levels.
So what's the point of pursuing breakthroughs if everyone is going to just copy you? Well, they get to copy you, but you get a slight advantage regarding that tech. When you have a breakthrough for a tech, you get an advantage in spreading it. First of all, a backwards faction that has a breakthrough gets a bonus to it's tech score regarding that tech. This bonus is equal to (5-tech score)/2 rounded up. So if the backwards Betas had been the ones to discover orbital engineering, it would have spread through their territory just one turn behind the Alphas. Secondly, money poured into research increases your tech score, helping you to adapt further. And thirdly, there is a further bonus of one level regarding a tech for territories on the same planet that the breakthrough occurred.
So if the Gammas with a tech score of advanced (4) discovered nano-engineering with a tech requirement of 11 on the planet Gamma Centauri, that tech would spread to all their territories on Gamma Centauri but wouldn't spread to any Alpha territory at all, giving the Gammas a monopoly on it. On the other hand if the Betas had made the discovery, they would only be able to use it in the territory where it was discovered because their tech is too low to spread it, even on the same planet. If the Alphas had made the discovery, then they would have monopoly on the one world they can use it and would be able to rest assured that it will take a long time for the tech to spread to the Gammas.
I think that with careful balancing, this system could do a good job of capturing the rare nature of the commodity knowledge in a feudal system. Instead of being a tech sprint, you have a slow unpredictable grind. The players can jockey for position but can't draw all that far ahead. But even that narrow, hard earned lead will be valuable. Meanwhile, there can be sanctuaries of knowledge that have special significance because they have the unique ability to use a technology, potentially for many turns.
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Topic: Echoes of Imperium (4X Strategy Game)[Not Dead] (Read 36873 times)