Space Food Empires!

[Captain Kwok]

I posted this item regarding research in the Space Food Empires forum at SE.net:

Research paths in the Space Food Empires mod are a bit different than regular SE:IV. The biggest difference is that some components and almost all weapons have their own tech area rather than becoming available after a particular "broad field" is researched.

For example in stock SE:IV, you might research "Energy Stream Weapons" and be rewarded with Anti-Proton Beams. In SFEmod, you might research "Beam Weapons" and then depending on your racial trait, you'd recieved a number of further research opportunities. In the case you're using the Banana racial trait, one option would be Anti-Potassium Beams and another might be Heat Rays. Researching either tech area would provide you the actual component.

The end result is that the research tree is much more branched and provides many different options for the player. For the most part - only core theoretical technologies are necessary to advance to more sophisticated levels of development. This allows the player to dabble in more side branches to fit the current situation without sacrificing their future technological capability.

Another note on research that there is moderate tech gridding. I'd estimated approximately half of the tech areas have two prerequisites (not counting racial trait requirements). Most of the combinations are quite logical and in most cases balanced researching should be more than enough to overcome "blind" research paths where you're not sure what you're getting in return.

Anyways, just thought I throw this item out for discussion.