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quote: Originally posted by Jer8m8 on 12-03-2000 03:41 PM"Herbal treatments,"

mmmmmh, sounds goooooood

quote: from what i understand, i agree, but i dont fully understand??? could try to explain it a little better?

I may not be the author, but I think I know how it goes(correct me if I'm wrong in anything):

When chooseing what to research you can research medicine, weaponry, armory, diplomacy, etc. and you gain random advances in those catagories. As well, when you take another unit you gain a bonus when researching techs that lead to the discovery of that unit (you take a phalanx unit, you gain a bonus in bronze working, or you capture a musketeer, you gain bonuses in those techs leading to gunpowder).

quote: Originally posted by airdrik on 12-05-2000 11:17 PM I may not be the author, but I think I know how it goes(correct me if I'm wrong in anything):

It sounds about right. And also, it might get to a point where there will only be one or two technologies in a catagory. When this is the case, it will be very similar MPGE.

quote: gives a lot more realism. After all, how can you choose to research the wheel when you don't even know what a wheel is, or research gunpowder when you don't even know what gunpowder is.

True, but lets say you discover the tech Atomic Physics. You then have loads of people saying, hey this is a great thing for a weapon or power plants. Research then would go into developing something that you have control over. Similar cases exist for combustion and steam engines - you pretty much decide if you want to develop engines for cars, boats etc. Stealth planes and supersonic flight are pre-determinable scientif avenues. A lot of the time you know generally what you want to study and its usually a narrow field. Accidental discoveries happen but are more a spark than a be all and end all.

Ancient world techs are less specific. What I would like to see is a tech like Invention which gives you more control over what you research. Remember it changes from Wise Men to Scientists in Civ2.

One slant that I believe would be particularly interesting would be the need to be at war or peace to progress certain technologies efficiently. Even more harsh, some attributes would be completely blocked from certain nationalities (at random). The science of war has always advanced far faster in times of strife. The wheel was invented by the incas but unly ever used for toys. The ancient chinese discovered gunpowder hundreds of years before the West but did not develop it further into advanced weapons.

quote: Originally posted by airdrik on 12-06-2000 12:51 PM Yay, I got it right . Anyway, I like the idea, I think it's a good idea. gives a lot more realism. After all, how can you choose to research the wheel when you don't even know what a wheel is, or research gunpowder when you don't even know what gunpowder is.

Of course the new advances were NAMED later, but they were the results of focus nonetheless. The prerequisites have to make that clear, however.

For The Wheel Civ2 says: "hey, we can ride horses now, let's see if we can have them pull something, too"
and after some experimenting (sledges) they came up with something round. Not too bad, although in reality The Wheel was probably invented by potters.

As to Gunpowder, Invention plus Iron Working is indeed not very explanatory. IMHO a better prerequisite would be Alchemy (with Engineering).

I don't think it would contribute much. By the time your scientists are finished you will probably have researched the tech yourself. Or you will have stolen it with the same diplomat or spy that bribed the unit.