Executive Summary

Haven't looked into it too hard since the AI in Beta 1Z is a sack of rocks, so why trade?  I imagine it is currently very similar to the GalCiv2 system - you can trade any technology you have for any one of theirs, including ones they don't have prerequisites for.

Well if it's like GalCiv2, and as easy to "game the system", then I say prereqs should be kept in the game, but can be ignored.  I forget which game it is, heck it may actually be GalCiv2, but every once in a while you'd research something that would give you the next two levels of a technology.  I'd treat prereqs kinda like that, with each level having a significantly smaller chance of being discovered if the prereqs haven't been discovered yet.  In the above graphic, if I have Sieges I'd have maybe a 50% change of discovering Catapults but only a 1% chance of discovering Trebucets.  It's highly unlikely you'd discover Trebucets but it's still possible.

I like the idea of cross-tree prerequisites.

As far as how far you can see in the tech tree, lets be honest here.  Anyone who wants to know the entire tech tree is going to be able to do so.  Be it reading the xml or looking at a web page from someone who's already parsed the xml.  Unless the game is actually randomly removing technologies from each session, you might as well just display the complete tech tree in game.

Later,
LAR

I've seen briefly the SotS system, but haven't had a real opportunity to explore in-depth.  It sits on my impulse account looking lonely.  I gifted my housemate a copy so we'll probably get in a couple games this summer.  Hopefully it will provide some insight about pseudo-random tech trees.

I guess the main thing I want to focus on is to see if we can move away from tree based systems like CIV and be more category based, like MoO.  Trees are straightforward, and it sounds like SotS has put forward a "random" tree which works fairly well, so we should take this opportunity to explore the random-category style.

From your post, these are the things that you say work for SotS

1. Few Key Techs
2. Known Tech Tree, but chance for stuff to be missing
3. Many branches
4. Ability to Clearly Compare Advantages/Disadvantages of Techs

There's an XML tag called "occurrence" which is doing exactly that.  Each technology has a rarity and an occurrence.  Rarity informs what color it is once you've researched its prerequisites.  Occurrence determines whether or not it's in the game.

That's sweet.  Btw, did you mean "AppearanceChange"?  I don't see an occurrence tag.  

Man I really want to mess around with this xml file now.  Something that might be useful is to add the ability to have either or prereqs.  I only see 1 prereq tag in each tech so I'm assuming that you can either only have one or if there are multiple they're both prerequisites.

It's also nice to see that the Fallen may have a different tech tree.

Later,
LAR 

Yes.

Yeah, Brad has mentioned wanting to expand on the tech tree ideas he worked with in Twilight of the Arnor, where the races started getting unique techs in their trees.

Can't find the proof for the italicized statement, so maybe, maybe not, only Brad can say.

I think the prereq tag would be handled as an AND operation yes.

Took an opportunity to play some (couple of hours... maybe more ) Beta2 today.  The tech system seems to be more or less what it was in Beta1Z.  However there is at least one important change which should be applauded, namely:

1. You can breakthrough more than 6 technologies! Maybe this has always been the case and there just weren't enough techs to make it happen, but that has neatly removed the problem of stealing green techs away from the player

This definitely makes wandering through the tech trees more accessible.