[Disclaimer: Stardock does not endorse or support this mod. This thread has merely been stickied so users can more easily direct comments or questions to the authors of this popular modification.]

Some time ago the modding community started poking around in the TA tech trees to see why the AI was reluctant to develop certain techs.  We found that some weapons techs were categorised as PD, instead of Military, meaning that unless missile weapons were deployed, those techs would never be researched by the AI.  Obviously, an AI that can't fight back isn't much of a challenge.

The idea behind this mod was originally just to get the TA AI on the right track as far as weapons are concerned.  However as suggestions have been put forward by the community, more improvements have been made to the tech trees.  Some features have been driven by my own need to fix annoyances.

For example there is the AI's passion for spamming factories or labs onto every tile, crashing their early economy.  These basic improvements would get upgraded and then cost the AI even more in terms of miantenance and production cost, forcing the AI to run inefficiently with the production slider at far less than 100%.

So my approach has been to deprive human and AI alike of early structures that can cause economic meltdown, and in their place have Super Projects which allow for some single-planet focus.

N.B. Use the external link above or choose one of the versions below.  The successive versions are not patches, they contain  all the features of that version of the mod.  Extract the ZIP folder to your mods folder - if one doesn't already exist, create it.  If your mod select screen in-game is broken, see here to fix it.

For a video overview of mod installation, see here.

For gameplay examples, check the new YouTube channel here.

Recent versions

v5G:

• Krynn tech tree bug fixed (thanks to Guanathor for spotting it) - they should now research weapons and not get stuck.
• Arceans have a Fusion Beam weapon which replaces Lasers.
• Fixed bad tags in GC2Types.xml which led to wonky weapon animations.
• Added PlanetImprovements.xml that should have been added in 5F.

v6:

• Beam weapons balance tweaked - beams are fairly expensive per unit of firepower but scale damage to size well.
• Missile weapons balance tweaked - missiles are much cheaper per unit of firepower but do not scale damage to size well.
• Mass driver weapons tweaked - mass drivers are the cheapest per unit of firepower, and are average at scaling size to damage.
• Krynn buildings - Consulate changed to Super Project, gives +20 bonus to influence ability.  Cost increased to 125, no maintenance.
• Krynn tech tree - Various changes.  They lose Industrial Revolution, so no Entertainment Centre, but gain A History of Co-operation which nets them a free +10 to Culture.
• Thalan buildings - removed limtations on matrices.  Reduced output of matrices but set maintenance to 1.  Fusion Transformer is now available with Technology Adaptation II, adds 8mp and 8 tp, magnifies mp and tp by 75%, cost 500, maintenance 10bc.
• Altarian buildings - Regional Matric no longer upgrades from Manufacturing Matrix.
• Altarian tech tree changes.
• Core Technologies I: Economic Improvements, Xeno Economics
• Also unlocks Xeno Communications.
• Core Technologies II: Research Improvements, Xeno Research, Xeno Biology
• Core Technologies III: Productivity Improvements, Industrial Construction, Temples.
• Also unlocks Xeno Farm Construction.
• Core Technologies IV: Soil Enhancement, Xeno Trade Centres.
• Also unlocks Diplomatic Relations.
• Core Technologies V: Military Improvements, Interstellar Warfare, Space Militarization, Space Weaponisation
• Core Technologies VI: Starport Upgrades, Interstellar Construction, Advanced Hulls
• Core Technologies VII (after Technology Progression I): Space Weapons (new), Research Academies.
• Core Technologies VIII (after Technology Progression II): Invention Matrix, Medium Scale Building, Starship Defences, Advanced Space Weapons.
• Yor buildings - removed limitations on collectives.  Reduced output of collectives but added a % bonus to manufacturing.  Brought collective cost to build more in line with other factories.  Research Matrix is now Cybernetic Matrix, increases mp and tp by 12, with a 25% bonus on top, increased cost to 90 and maintenance to 7.
• General buildings - Industrial Sector cost reduced to 180, maintenance reduced to 7bc.  Omega Research Centre now adds 20tp and boosts research by 65%.
• Torian buildings - Reduced cost of University to 80.  Reduced cost of City of Learning to 100 and maintenance to 6.  Technology commune now adds 10tp and only costs 350, maintenance reduced to 7.
• Default ships: Altered GC2Ships.xml to remove the obligatory Hyperdrive and extra crap from some of the starting designs, increased Support modules in a few cases.
• Iconian buildings: Precursor Archive maintenance reduced to 4.  Precursor Library maintenance reduced to 4.  Precursor Matrix is now a Super Project which adds 12tp and improves civ's Economics ability by 40.  Precursor Repository is now a Super Project which adds 16tp and improves civ's Research ability by 20.
• Power Plant buildings scrapped.  There are now three new Trade Goods, Fusion Power generators, Anti-matter Power generators, and Quantum Power generators which increase social or military production abilities.
• Known issue: Arcean 'Space Weapons' (new) tech is not properly costed, should be 180 not 600.

v6A:

• Arcean tech tree streamlining - some techs are now optional rather than core.
• Fixed Space Weapons costing in Arcean tech tree.  It is no longer core, because Arceans have access to Fusion Beams earlier on, but it does give access to Missile Weapon Theory and Mass Driver Theory in case the player wants Stinger or Railguns.
• Added 'Support' hull class - category Small, available with Interstellar Construction.
• Known issue: AI builds Support class but names it 'Heavy Fighter.'
• Known issue: The Drengin Experimentation Centre can be upgraded - this is fixed in version 6B.
• Increased colony module cost from 50 to 100.  Together with the cost of a cargo hull, this is about a 50% increase in cost.
• Basic Life Support module is no longer available.  Life support modules are smaller but offer less range, starting at General Life Support tech.
• Altered GC2Ships.cfg again, removing old Life Support modules from ship designs.  Starting ships are affected.
• Yor and Zylon tech trees - Biological Studies is now categorised as Terraforming, not Colonisation.  Neutrality Learning Centre removed.
• Yor and Zylon buildings - cybernetic versions of the Research Centre, Research Academy, Invention Matrix and Discovery Sphere.  These are all half the usual maintenance cost.  However there is no cybernetic version of the Research Co-ordination Centre or Neutrality Learning Centre.  Manufacturing Vortex now a Super Project granting +30 to Social Production as opposed to +15% manufacturing per planet.
• Krynn tech tree - changed Xeno Industrial Theory to Manufacturing category, increased priority for Research techs.
• Arcean buildings - Advanced Navigation Centre is now a Super Project, does not upgrade the basic Navigation Centre and provides a civ-wide increase in speed of +1.
• Arcean Fusion Beam - the required sound file for this weapon is now included.
• Yor and Zylon tech trees - debugged and rearranged for visual consistency.

v6B:

• Krynn tech tree fixes: corrected category for Missile Defence Theory, Mass Driver Theory.
• Drengin Experimentation Centre is no longer an upgrade target for the Improved Slaveling Lab.
• Hull capacities, hitpoints and logistics have been rebalanced.
• Armour and point defence modules have been rebalanced.
• Logistics ability gains from technology have been doubled to compensate.

For obvious reasons, updates to the mod are on hiatus until the community update is completed.

For a full version history of the mod, see here.

For download links of older versions, see here.