[Trachmyr]

AFAIK the homeworlds shouldn't start with research facs if the race has no research facilities that it can build.

Yeah, primitives would be cool... especially if each primitive had a special tech that could lead to tech you could use. Do the following, first create the actual "useful" tech tree, make it's racial tech area that of the normal advanced societies so that the primitives can't reseach it, and a level 1 tech that they start with. Now this starting tech must have the "racial trait" tag set to 0, but it should require a tech that has the primitives racial tech number (and the race should start with this tech). It would look something like this in techarea.txt (assume area 8 is primitives, and 7 is "normal"):

Name := Farming
Group := Applied Science
Description := Primitive Farms.
Maximum Level := 1
Level Cost := 5000
Start Level := 1
Raise Level := 0
Racial Area := 8
Unique Area := 0
Can Be Removed := False
Number of Tech Req := 0

Name := Symbiotic Plants
Group := Applied Science
Description := The use of native symbiotic wildlife.
Maximum Level := 1
Level Cost := 50000
Start Level := 1
Raise Level := 0
Racial Area := 0
Unique Area := 0
Can Be Removed := True
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Farming
Tech Level Req 1 := 1

Name := Symbiotic Gesalt Web
Group := Applied Science
Description := These symbiotic planets form a neural-net between all infected hosts, by merging the entire population, a gesalt is created, greatly improving science and happiness.
Maximum Level := 3
Level Cost := 100000
Start Level := 0
Raise Level := 0
Racial Area := 7
Unique Area := 0
Can Be Removed := True
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Symbiotic Plants
Tech Level Req 1 := 1

Thus if you trade/conqueor you'll get the "Symbiotic Plants" tech, thus allowing you to research the "Symbiotic Gesalt Web". However, I'm not sure if you'll get this tech in a "full tech" game.

As far as diffrent levels of primitives, I think you only need 2... pre-industrial (B.C. to 1800's), and post-industrial (1900's to 2000's). Adding more just really adds work without any real benifits IMHO.



[This message has been edited by Trachmyr (edited 04 May 2001).]