Tech Tree Not sure what all the techs give you

from GalCiv2 Forums
Now I know what they (tech tree) say in the game but the game should have come with a better explantion what each tech advance gives you. It would be nice if the game came with a chart like Civ III did and explain what happens after you explore that tree tech. Another good example would be that to achieve frieghters you need to complete x and y. This is my first time playing this game so I have no clue what I get. Can somebody give me a good link to a web site or something that better defines what I get after I research something???
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
When ever you research a new technology the GNN (New network) pops up and tells you what you researched, what it gives you (to the right side) and some little backround on the technology aka fluff (to the bottem). Although I have to agree with you on one part. Having benifits from dual technologies would be cool, but overall I think it would make it unnessecarily more complicated then need be.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Didn't it have something like this in earlier versions? I seem to remember something like "Freighter, 3 techs required"... in some instances, the list of future technologies and the other technologies required looked confusing and intimidating but it's clearly useful to intermediate and advanced players. Is it still around? Maybe I didn't notice it until this post.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There is a Galactopedia you can download which, iirc, shows all of this info.

Galactopedia

This is not produced or supported by Stardock, but it is handy. I recommend turning off fullscreen mode when you want to refer to it while you are playing.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
@#2

Yeah I remember that feature as well. It was useful as it gave a rough indication of what was required for future ships. Seems to have disappeared in the betas I am playing. Or maybe it doesn't work for custom races which I now play a lot!

Would like to know what happened to it ?

Yeah the Galatopedia is very nice! Worth a look definitely.

EZ

AR
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It lists what each technology gives you, but it provides no further information beyond that, so you only know whether a technology is worth it by researching it and seeing what everything does. I think that's what the OP is getting at. It would be nice to have a built in help system to give you details on ship components and planetary improvements.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I would also really appreciate the technology tree having more in game help, in term of what a technology actually does for you. I realise that experienced users just know these things, but for new players the in game technology tree display is very inaccessable/unwieldy. It's also the first screen that pops up when you start a game.

One issue is the one the OP mentions, specifically that you don't know what a technology actually does for you. I.e., what does Plasma Weapons get me that Laser IV doesn't? Having played the game I know (from going to the ship build screen) that Plasma Weapons do more damage than Laser's, but there is no way to find out that information from the tech screen.

The second issue is that there is no way to see the technology tree as a whole, it's just too big the way it is laid out. What this means is I have no place I can go to see at a glace how my technology research is progressing. E.g., I've gone a long way down the weapons research tree, but my diplomacy is lacking. Yes I could scroll to those techs and look, but the window you look though is very small compared size of the tree which makes this very awkward. Compounding this is the fact that you can scroll the tech tree into nothingness, and there are apparently no borders to stop you from keeping going.

Perhaps it might help if the technology screen had it's own "mini-map" of the technology tree. The map would have lines representing all the technology tree branches which would change color as you researched the techs. Even better perhaps you could make the tech tree zoomable so you could scroll out with the mousewheel to see larger areas of the tree. This would be especially useful if the techtree had popup tooltips when you mouse over a tech. So every if you've zoomed out too far to read the lettering on each tech you could still mouseover to see what it is and what it gets you.

Hope this is helpful.

-Mark
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Completely agree on this one. Not only is research screen hard to use, but it does not give enough info. I have been gaming for awhile, but still cannot remember every new thing what a tech brings. So there is alot of back and forth viewing for me
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The second issue is that there is no way to see the technology tree as a whole, it's just too big the way it is laid out. What this means is I have no place I can go to see at a glace how my technology research is progressing. E.g., I've gone a long way down the weapons research tree, but my diplomacy is lacking. Yes I could scroll to those techs and look, but the window you look though is very small compared size of the tree which makes this very awkward. Compounding this is the fact that you can scroll the tech tree into nothingness, and there are apparently no borders to stop you from keeping going.


I completely forgot about that. I always found it a pain. Sure, you can enlarge that particular window, but that means that the details are obscured, so tech comparing is more difficult. I recently realised that I was running the game in 1280x768 instead of 1440x900. The improvement was huge, I can see much more of the tech tree now. I feel sorry for people running it at 1280x768, or lower even (ack!).
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You can view a full screen view of the tech screen by pressing the "more" button. Also when you click on a reseach item, it centers it, so if you've lost yourself in the boundless plane of the research screen you can find your way back.

As for the game lacks information for newcomers, that's true. It just misses some sort of galactopedia in game, with the possibility to look up each word and item by clicking on it.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It would be nice if when you right-click on a tech, it would show you where it is in the tech tree (what's before, behind, etc., with links, plus a link to diagram, etc., as in civ 4.

The one place I constantly want to know where a tech falls on the tree is when trying to trade tech with AIs. I want to give them a tech that is next in line for them, not one that is two or three steps ahead! Its a waste to give them the better techs, as then the old ones can't be traded later (AIs don't value letter tech even if they don't have it yet).

Similarly, trade screen should give me pop-up info on the monopoly items as well - its sometimes hard to remember what The Restaurant at the end of the galaxy realy does, or the Alien Spices, or whatever, and hence whether it is a acceptable trade item or if I should not let it into the hands of the AI i'm trading with...
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks Mistoffeles that link is what the doctor ordered.To bad you can use it when the games running. I also found out that some of the tech tree is not available to you during the campaign mode. You cannot develop trade especially in the first mission.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There is a Technology Tree Reference Sheet in the Library:

http://library.galciv2.com/index.aspx?m=198

There is the link to it. It is laid out pretty nicely.