Go home Tech Tree... You're drunk.

[voidofopinion]

Fired up the demo thinking I would finally pick up Civ 6. Was going through my first turn and of course I was sent into the tech tree to pick my first tech to research...

WTF is wrong with this tech tree? Did the developer in charge fail out of both science and history?

I know it's a video game. It doesn't have to make perfect sense. Civ's tech tree has always been a bit funny but come on... This is taking the micky!

First of all, what is up with the anemic number of technologies and why are they trying to spread them really far apart as if we wont notice there are only 2 1/2 technologies in the medieval era.

But the big one... NONE OF THE PROGRESSION MAKES ANY RATIONAL SENSE!

Animal Husbandry -> Archery -> Horseback Riding -> Stirrups -> Gunpowder!?

I don't even know how to begin dissecting this logical deficit. I'll bypass the basic history of horse riding but how do stirrups lead to gunpowder? Not once has anyone ever shot me with a stirrup nor has it been the lead source of propulsion in ballistic weaponry.

Currency -> Mathematics

We had to have a currency to count first I guess. We all know Pythagoras was known for his wild parties and crystal.

Sanitation -> Chemistry

The Ancient Chinese were not allowed to build a rocket for battle if they had not first properly washed their hands.

Combustion -> Plastics

I can understand the fossil fuel connection here but why is this on the opposite side of the tech tree from Chemistry?

Computers -> Robotics

This is good. This makes sense.

Composites -> Nanotechnology

And we were doing so well... Apparently IBM Watson was a Greek who lived in 400BC. Im also glad all those robots have no advanced parts in them.

It may be nitpicking but this wrongheaded design decision doesnt give a good first impression amidst all the negative criticism.

[Pantteri Mix]

They represent the passing of time, not directly what comes after what. Stirrups dont *lead* to gunpowder, gunpowder just comes after it.There could be a million technologies in the gaps, but that would just be stupid.

The technologies just have names that might be misleading. For example sanitation -> chemistry, it doesnt mean the basics of chemistry, more like advanced chemistry. It is just shorter to write that way :P

[voidofopinion]

That's great and all, but I think I prefer the 89 direct technologies from Civ 4, or the 79 Technologies from Civ 5 that not only directly link to other technologies but social and political development over the 65 vague suggestions of the passage of time presented in Civ 6.

I think Civ 6 (like modern art) is making a fancy excuse for it's lack of content.

[w.f.schepel]

Originally posted by King Gona:

They represent the passing of time, not directly what comes after what. Stirrups dont *lead* to gunpowder, gunpowder just comes after it.There could be a million technologies in the gaps, but that would just be stupid.

The technologies just have names that might be misleading. For example sanitation -> chemistry, it doesnt mean the basics of chemistry, more like advanced chemistry. It is just shorter to write that way :P

The OP is right though: the tech tree is silly. However, all civ games have wonky tech trees. Not to mention the fun fact I can park people on the moon in early medieval times. Play it for what it is: a game with some vague nods towards historical events, but mostly just a game. And a fun game at that. Despite all the negative reviews, quite a few people are happily playing civ 6 for hundreds of hours. I am one of them. :-)

[voidofopinion]

Civ games have always had some points of weird tech progression but they had significantly more techs, making more data points, making the progression a little more granular and less overtly... well... bizarre.

The thing is, in Civilization the Tech Tree is the back bone for progression. You gain access to all of your troops, buildings, wonders, (social policies), even your ability to manipulate tiles.

Wonky tech tree, wonky game progression.

It's not even like Civ 5 where they reduced the number of techs but increased the impact they had on the game.

Stunted tech tree, stunted game progression.

I'm glad some of you are getting your monies worth. I truly am. But the state of the tech tree and the design decisions surrounding it are representational of the wrongheaded thinking about the overall game direction.

[Spyro]

Ok lets see your perfect idea for a complete tech tree that makes 100% total sense

[bbolto]

The tech tree in Civ 6 is pretty silly, though for me it breaks down in the modern era, where you can easily have fighter planes, antitank troops, and infantry running around alongside ironclads and knights. And sometimes the tech boosts are... a bit of a stretch.

[Lemurian1972]

In a game where the AI Civs can't focus on a Victory condition or Diplomatic goals for more than 30 turns at a time, and doesn't know how to build cities in order to produce and use complex units, the semantics of the names on the tech tree are the least of our problems.

[ppaladin123]

stirrupts led to knights....knights led to plate armor....plate armor led to guns. It's not as crazy as you think even if they skip a few steps.

[voidofopinion]

Originally posted by Spyro:

Ok lets see your perfect idea for a complete tech tree that makes 100% total sense

I would be more than happy to do so.

I charge $60 an hour for creative consultancy and it should only take an hour or two to get a solid outline that you can use for your own game development.

Feel free to PM me for further details.

[Spyro]

Originally posted by Void(null):

Originally posted by Spyro:

Ok lets see your perfect idea for a complete tech tree that makes 100% total sense

I would be more than happy to do so.

I charge $60 an hour for creative consultancy and it should only take an hour or two to get a solid outline that you can use for your own game development.

Feel free to PM me for further details.

Yeah just as I thought you have no idea

[BatMart]

you fail to consider the civics tree wich is supposed to kind "fill the holes"

[voidofopinion]

Originally posted by Spyro:

Originally posted by Void(null):

I would be more than happy to do so.

I charge $60 an hour for creative consultancy and it should only take an hour or two to get a solid outline that you can use for your own game development.

Feel free to PM me for further details.

Yeah just as I thought you have no idea

Its ok to admit you can't afford it. I can't imagine paper routes pay that much these days what with everything being digital.

Tell you what. If you ask your parents about it and they say you have been a good little boy from now until December I will cut you a discount.

...You can buy yourself a fidget spinner or whatever it is you kids are into these days.

[Spyro]

Originally posted by Void(null):

Originally posted by Spyro:

Yeah just as I thought you have no idea

Its ok to admit you can't afford it. I can't imagine paper routes pay that much these days what with everything being digital.

Tell you what. If you ask your parents about it and they say you have been a good little boy from now until December I will cut you a discount.

...You can buy yourself a fidget spinner or whatever it is you kids are into these days.

It appears you are the one who is poor. Asking random people on the internet to fund your "creative consults", all the whilst complaining about a game and offering no real solution to the problem. Just promising that you "know" how to deal with the tech tree.

But it's fine, I'm sure you will enjoy playing Civ 5 and it's epic tech tree. Run along now...

[Rax Savvage]

Animal Husbandry -> Archery -> Horseback Riding -> Stirrups -> Gunpowder!?

animal domesticaiton, usually small things, chickens, dogs > hunting wild / dangerous animals then scaling that up to fight people > practical application of farm animals, study of form > advanced riding and control techiques developed over several hundred years > first guns were heavy their ammo, firing equipment, maintance, spares, they were cumbersome and thus were usually deployed on mounted troops, this was to move the equipment without exhausting troops.
makes sense enough to be honest.

Currency -> Mathematics ... umm yes actually, earliest forms of exchange were barter or just somewhat mutallyy agreed that certain things had a value, mathematics advanced counting and numerics relating to a large amount of things, not just cash but revolving around and understanding that 5 gold coins are infact 5 gold coins.

Sanitation -> Chemistry a basic understanding of chemicals were developed for cleaning purposes directly, wall cleaners, blood removal, coating a wound with honey, changing bandages > more complex chemical advancements that honestly are a wide string of what was under the wide umbrella of alchemy

Composites -> Nanotechnology advanced materials > minaturisation of advanced materials and energy sources , yeah thats a thing