quote:
Originally posted by Str8_Gain:
Looks like it'd be the only way implement such a thing like I described, given the constraints imposed by the game itself. Rather brute-force, and it would make a HUGE tech tree like you said.
Hmm, this could be a suggestion to float by MM..... 
I tried something similar to this, by pulling out all of the normal weapons components and techs, and by creating nine separate tech trees for nine separate weapons families. I made each family a racial trait. I expanded the weapons available in each tree, of course, and I did my best to balance the capabilities of each family. Yes, it's a lot of work, and yes, the tech tree becomes gigantic in a hurry. The problem is that when the Components.txt file passed 512Kb, the components at the bottom of the file never became available in the game. I could research whatever it was, but it didn't yield any components that I could use. I experimented with moving components around within the file by cutting and pasting, and whatever components were at the bottom at the time never became available, so I'm pretty sure the problem involves the size of the file. The game only reads it to a certain point and then quits.
Has anyone else encountered this? Am I right in my assumption? Is there a workaround?