Technology tree
In strategy games, a technology, tech, or research tree is a hierarchical visual representation of the possible sequences of upgrades a player can unlock (most typically representing the research progress of a given faction). Because these trees are technically directed and acyclic, they can more accurately be described as a directed acyclic graph of technologies. The diagram is tree-shaped in the sense that it branches between each 'level', allowing the player to choose one sequence or another.[1] Each level is called a tier and is often used to describe the technological strength of a player. Typically, at the beginning of a session of a strategy game, a player will start at tier 1, which offers only a few options for research. Each technology that a player researches will normally open up one or more new options, but may also, depending on the computer game, close off the paths to other options. The tech tree is the representation of all possible paths of research a player can take, up to the culmination of said sequence.
A player who is engaged in research activities is said to be "teching up", "going up the tech tree", or "moving up the tech tree". Analysis of a tech tree can lead players to memorize and use specific build orders.
Types
Classic research
The Classic tech tree is the one where extensive research into new technologies must be conducted parallel to the progression of a game. Some
Allocation
In some games, the requirement of an actual research facility is absent. In this case players can allocate research points, or in-game resources to purchase new technologies. In some games the allocation yields direct results, meaning that procuring the new technology isn't paired with allotted time for the research of said technology to complete.
Building-based
In most RTS games the technology tree consists of buildings which must be built in a specific sequence, which in turn unlocks new technologies. These newly unlocked technologies can be more advanced units, upgrades for research or more advanced buildings. (StarCraft, Command & Conquer series.)
Prerequisites for technology advances
In most types of strategy games, the player needs particular buildings in order to research specific technologies or build specific advanced units (
Complexity
The structures of tech trees vary quite widely. In the simplest cases (e.g.
Major
Availability of technologies
Some RTSs make different techs available to different races or cultures (especially
Balance between civilian and military techs
In many RTS games tech advances are almost exclusively military (e.g. StarCraft). But in most TBS and some RTS games the research and production costs of top-end military techs are so high that you have to build up your economy and your research productivity first (RTS – Age of Empires and Empire Earth, where one of the most significant costs is going up an epoch; TBS – the Civilization series and Master of Orion series).
What happens after researching everything
In many games there's nothing useful to do and the player may scrap research centers to save maintenance costs and/or devote the resources to something else (Space Empires series).
In later installments of the Civilization series the last technology (called "future tech") represents an amalgamation of all possible future discoveries and can be researched repeatedly. In Civilization V, it increases a player's score, while in Civilization IV it raises the health and the happiness in the empire. Note that to reach the last technology in Civilization V, all spaceship technologies required to win must also have been discovered, so the game will likely be nearing its conclusion.
In the Galactic Civilizations series the final technology solves the nature of existence, and is victory.
In the Master of Orion series more advanced research reduces the size and cost of spaceship components, and "hyper-advanced" research in areas which have military applications therefore enables players to build more high-tech weapons into a given ship size and at lower production cost.
In Rise of Nations, the final four technologies result in such an advantage that the game will likely end quickly. Also, the "knowledge" resource needed to research is also used late in the game to produce cruise missiles and nuclear weapons.
History
Typically the board game Civilization by Francis Tresham (1980) is given the credit of introducing a technology tree. Sid Meier’s Civilization (1991) is considered as an iconic computer turn-based strategy game for using them. Since Civilization, technology trees have been used in various digital games.[7] Likewise, the first creation of a technology tree as a mechanism refers to Civilization.[8]
The arcade shoot 'em up Gradius used a power-up system functionally identical to a tech tree in 1985[citation needed].
Tech trees started showing up in
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall.
- ^ a b See the relevant games' manuals.
- Ascendancy(1995) research can only be done via buildings, but these can research any technology (see game manuals).
- ^ "RTS Basics: R & D". and the StarCraft manual. Although multi-epoch games like the Age of Empires and Empire Earth series have a larger number of research options and a significant proportion of civilian research options, the research options all depend on having the right buildings. See the relevant games' manuals.
- ^ "Joystiq interview: Ironclad talks 4X strategy with Sins of a Solar Empire". February 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ^ In Warcraft III one can reach the highest level of one branch of the technology tree in five steps; Master of Orion (original version) has 10 levels per subject, and 2 to 5 technologies per level; the Civilization IV technology tree requires nearly 60 steps to reach the end (see game manuals).
- ^ Heinimäki 2015, p. 21.
- ^ Ghys, Tuur. "Technology Trees: Freedom and Determinism in Historical Strategy Games". gamestudies.org. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
Sources
- Heinimäki, Teemu J. (2015). Technology Trees and Tools: Constructing Development Graphs for Digital Games - dissertation (PDF). Vol. 1349. ISBN 9789521536335.