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Other times the development speed is static, and all that's required is that the player have enough gold, tiberium, wood, mana or whatever is needed to pay the upgrade costs for that tech.
The use of tech trees in [[
Some [[Role
Tech trees are one of the big points where historians pick at games. It's a hierarchical view of science, research, and history. When compared with actual history, [[You Fail History Forever|tech trees are wrong]]. On the other hand, the few attempts at doing something [[Master of Orion
Either way, researched technologies in many games, most often [[Real Time Strategy]], have an annoying habit of [[Reinventing the Wheel|disappearing]] once the current level/mission is completed, forcing you to spend time researching them all ''again'' in the very next round.
See also [[You Have Researched Breathing]], [[Reinventing the Wheel]]. A Tech Tree may be prone to [[Interface Spoiler
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Four X]] ==▼
== Video game examples ==
* The 1995 classic ''[http://www.abandonia.com/games/221/Ascendancy Ascendancy]'' from The Logic Factory has a three-dimensional [[Tech Tree]] that is simply stunning in its scope and variety. Unlike many games, it is not necessary (or even ''possible'') for a player to acquire ''all'' technologies to win -- the tree branches in many wildly different and interesting directions, allowing races to specialize in something strange and unusual yet still have a strategically versatile "power set".▼
** Slightly ahead of Aaron Hall's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Empires Space Empires] series then, although this is probably more a case of parallel development than actual copying since the slightly less advanced Space Empires II was released in the same year, but was a big advancement on the first game.▼
▲* The 1995 classic ''[http://www.abandonia.com/games/221/Ascendancy Ascendancy]'' from The Logic Factory has a three-dimensional
* ''[[Galactic Civilizations]] II'' has a large but fairly simple tech tree; all technologies have a single prerequisite <ref> Although some require you to be of a specific moral alignment to unlock them</ref>. A long, time-intensive branch dealing with philosophy and the nature of existence has no mechanical in-game benefits, but researching the final step of this branch triggers the research victory condition: the entire population of the player's race [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence|transcends]] into [[Energy Beings]].▼
▲** Slightly ahead of Aaron Hall's [
▲* ''[[Galactic Civilizations]] II'' has a large but fairly simple tech tree; all technologies have a single prerequisite
** The branch in question consists of five increasingly expensive (in terms of research points) parts, to wit: "Deeper Knowledge," "Galactic Understanding," "Near Omniscience," "Beyond Mortality," and, finally, "Technology Victory." The Torians have a similar branch that does reward +5% research for each step along the way, to make up for their limited tech buildings.
** As of the ''Twilight of the Arnor'' expansion, there's a whole orchard of tech trees, for each of the different major races, emphasizing their different strengths and weaknesses and going deeper into the history and character of each race.
* ''[[Civilization]]'', as the name implies, has an absurd Tech Tree that spans all of human history from the stone age to the space age and beyond. One of the final Wonders of Civilization grants instant victory upon completion of mankind's first interstellar spaceship, which leads to:
** ''[[Sid
** Definitely in ''Civilization 2'' (and probably in the original ''Civilization'') the cost of getting new technologies depends on the number of technologies you already have - so getting even one technology that you don't need is extremely expensive. As a result good players had absurd technology trees. Freeciv fixes this problem by making the cost of technology depend only on its position in the tree.
** ''Civilization Revolutions'' has a much shorter tech tree (48 techs). It is occasionally possible to research a higher technology without all of the prerequisites.
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*** In the short-term one can "beeline" one branch of technology without touching other parts, though a balanced civ will find most techs tempting in one way or another. This results in some odd combinations, like being able to make a chariot archer without archery, or the giant death robot without robotics.
* The base ''[[Space Empires]]'' games already have sizable tech trees that grow larger with every iteration of the game. They are also quite [[Game Mod|moddable]], and modders have created veritable jungles of tech trees s a result.
* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' has a large interconnected
* The ''[[Master of Orion]]'' series uses slightly different tech trees in each game:
** In the original game, players invest research points to gain generic tech levels, which unlock various weapons, colony improvements, etc.
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** The third game is probably different somehow, but no one is willing to admit to playing it.
=== [[Hack and Slash]] ===
* This can also be seen in ''[[Diablo]] 2''. Sometimes this makes sense, like how a Sorceress has to learn the basic Ice Bolt spell before learning the more advanced Blizzard. Other times, like how the Barbarian has to learn Leap (what it sounds like) before Whirlwind (a spinning blade attack), it's obvious they're just prerequisites for prerequisites' sake.
=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s ===
* Each ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' class has its own, specialized tech tree, with abilities that can only be gained by putting points into it. One point per level gained from level 10 onwards.
** Now one for every other level, to cut down and the number of compulsory but boring and "increases your X damage by Y%" talents.
* This trope is a huge point of the [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] ''A Tale In The Desert'', where practically the entire playerbase rushes to unlock technologies as soon as they're available, no matter how useful they turn out to be in the end.
* ''[[
* ''[[World of Tanks]]'' uses the Tech Tree as a form of Experience level AND tech tree. As you fight battles you earn XP and credits, which you use to upgrade your existing vehicle, and then purchase the next higher tier vehicle or vehicles in line.
=== [[Real Time Strategy]] ===
* ''[[
* ''Hegemonia: Legions of Iron'' had a research system that needed to be managed along with the players units. Since the multiplayer mode made it so that players on the same team were commanders of the same fleet, players could split the duties by having one team member manage colonies and research while others managed combat.
* ''[[Warzone 2100]]'' is [https://web.archive.org/web/20090708175039/http://guide.wz2100.net/r/tech-tree absolutely crazy about this], since it has several hundred techs, probably range up to thousands, to be researched. Good thing it averts [[Reinventing the Wheel]].
* [[Paradox Interactive]] has tech trees that tends to be rather complex.
** ''[[Europa Universalis]]'' has tech "levels" based on four different categories (Land, Naval, production and trade techs) and a fifth category, "stability" that isn't tech per se but gets money from the same budget. EU3 adds a fifth tech category ("government") tech is researched simply by spending money from your budget, but the tech cost is modified by... Well, a shitload of different factors. Different levels unlock different types of upgrades and buildings.
** ''[[Hearts of Iron]] 2'', set during [[World War Two]], has a more conventional tech tree, with advances leading to further advances in various categories. All of them have a "historical year" which make them much more expensive to research before their time. Research is carried out by country-specific "Tech Teams" such as Boeing or Wernher von Braun. Of particular note is the "Secret" category, which consists of tiny groups of unrelated advances - electronic computers, nuclear fission, rocket interceptors - that become available a short while after their prerequisites from other categories are reached.
*** By contrast, ''Hearts of Iron'' (the previous game in that type) has a vastly more complicated tech tree with at least several hundred techs. Moreover, you research the technology using the same industrial capacity you use to build units, which creates conflicts of interest.
** ''[[Victoria:
** ''[[Crusader Kings]]'' is set in medieval times and uses a "directed fluke" system: you pick techs and discover them in your capital a random number of years later. However, all technologies are features of particular territories, not their owners. Paris will not stop having an university because it's inherited by a monarch whose home doesn't, nor will Finland revolutionized its agriculture just by falling into the hands of a country that has. Techs spread over borders and trade routes, affected by politics and infrastructure.
* ''[[
* One of the daddies of them all was ''[
* ''[[Command
* The ''[[Total War]]'' series used a tech-tree without actual research. Better versions of existing buildings become available when a city grows to a certain size, and in turn allow recruiting better units. Therefore, reaching the top tier of production usually involved protecting your kingdom long enough to let its cities grow big.
** In ''Empire: Total War'', a more conventional
*** The expansion/sequel ''Napoleon: Total War'' used a tech-tree as well, and in a case of subtle [[Retcon]] featured a Tech Tree very similar to that of its predecessor (that is, containing many of the same techs), except now it was the 19th century and thus more suitable... except many of the technologies on the tree were ''still'' from way beyond of Napoleon's time and the game's scope.
* ''[[Achron]]'' has an interesting spin on this. Each faction has a very small, very flat tech tree (usually amounting to around six upgrades or so) and they are explained away as "improving infrastructure" (as opposed to "research"). The interesting bit is the way this interacts with the time travel mechanics: It's possible to arm your units with weaponry from the future, or reinforce your army with units you can't technically build yet.
* ''[[
* ''[[Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds
=== [[Role
* ''[[
* All of ''[[Arcanum]]'''s technology trees were single-pathed, non-cumulative skills that allowed you to craft something. All crafting trees had a single theme, some useful only at the intended level of reachability, some upgradeable at higher tiers, some upgradeable with cross-tree synergy, and some worthless for anything except to unlock higher tiers. But there were some trees that the top skill is the only reason to invest character points, and others where the top skill is found to be practically worthless; that is worthless under any circumstance that you could've imagined it being valuable for.
* ''[[Legend of Mana]]'' starts you off with about eight basic moves (and no super moves); learning new moves involves you putting moves together, getting experience, and hoping the [[Random Number God]] is merciful.
=== [[Simulation Game]] ===
* ''[[
* ''A Kingdom For Keflings'' has a blueprint tree - completing a building unlocks those below it. The tree occasionally branches, and it's often impossible to unlock multiple branches in one kingdom.
* Pretty-much the entire point of the open-source game ''[http://www.emhsoft.com/singularity/ Endgame: Singularity]'' is to research the entire
* The ''[[Naval Ops]]'' series uses a set of Tech Trees to organize research. One tree for torpedoes, one for lasers, and so one. Figuring out just how to unlock certain pieces of equipment can be an exercise in [[Guide Dang It]].
=== [[Tower Defense]] ===
* Most [[Hold the Line|Tower Defense]] games require that the player first build lesser towers before gaining access to the higher-level ones. A few of the more clever ones instead have the player escalate through the
=== [[Turn
* The old turn-based strategy game ''Deadlock'' and its sequel have an elaborate tech tree that works just like that. It's also possible to buy technologies on the black market (how the dealers got hold of super-advanced technology is never really explained).
** It's because you and the black market aliens all had the tech beforehand: the races that contested the planet all agreed that each colony had to start off at with limited resources and technology. You're not inventing the technology; you're developing the tools to ''make'' the technology.
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* Each race in ''Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy'' has a different blueprint tree for each type of unit (ranged, melee, magic, and support). Adding another layer of strategy, once you choose which path to take for certain unit types for certain races you can't build the other path. For example, the Empire's initial support unit, the Acolyte, can be upgraded into either a more powerful single healer unit or a weaker mass-healer, but once you pick one upgrade structure to build you can't build the other one.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===▼
▲== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[GURPS]]'' has a sort of "magic" tree. In order to learn advanced spells you have to learn simpler spells that presumably give the character the knowledge needed to understand the more complicated ones.
* ''[[Magic:
* ''[[Starfire]]'' introduced Tech Trees starting in 4th Edition, replacing their old system of [[Technology Levels]].
* ''[[Dungeons
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]
[[Category:Strategy Game Tropes]]
[[Category:
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