Hi guys, sorry to throw in my un-informed opinion 
, but I would like to give it a try. I only have limited programming experience (2 years of Java in High school), so please bare with me 
.
Now, for the tech tree, wouldn't a mix between tabs and a techweb be the most ellegant solution for both modders and game?
I mean that this way: When you click "research" you get a pop-up that fills the screen. In that pop-up, for example at the top, you have the tab/categories. These categories represent some general themes (eg. Electronics, Medicin, Crafting) and further ones could potentially be added by modders if they feel like it. In each category you have one central research (eg. Basic Electronics). From that core research, which is normally already completed on start, there are strands leading out to different researches (parent child pre-requisit).
If you want to research, say "advanced computing", you need the researches before that, as well as some from the other tabs. You find out about the researchs in other tabs, by clicking on the desired research which will then give you more info as well as show which ones are still missing.
The idea with the techweb is, that it can become a little cluttered, but for one, people could add more tabs for their own research, and second, an algorithm could be written which checks the research parent-child connection and based on that assignes certain distances as space in between. I know it is a bad example, but I thought of something similar to a modular version of Civ Beyond Earth's research web.
Now all of this is based on the assumption that techs are handled as objects with changeable components (Object tech () binary researched = 0; tech.child = XXX; tech.parent = YYY;) and I haven't looked at the actual code for it (as I am scared due to lack of my skills). However, I think from the potential solutions, this could help moders and make future additions a little easier. Further, if a player has a completely cluttered research screen by then, it can be said that the player simply has to many mods installed, or it can create an opportunity for modders to create mods with their own categories, which are still linked to the original researchs.
Anyway, sorry if this wasn't much help and I completely wasted your time
, I just wanted to toss in a fresh idea that might be something to think about in the medium to long term.
, but I would like to give it a try. I only have limited programming experience (2 years of Java in High school), so please bare with me .Now, for the tech tree, wouldn't a mix between tabs and a techweb be the most ellegant solution for both modders and game?
I mean that this way: When you click "research" you get a pop-up that fills the screen. In that pop-up, for example at the top, you have the tab/categories. These categories represent some general themes (eg. Electronics, Medicin, Crafting) and further ones could potentially be added by modders if they feel like it. In each category you have one central research (eg. Basic Electronics). From that core research, which is normally already completed on start, there are strands leading out to different researches (parent child pre-requisit).
If you want to research, say "advanced computing", you need the researches before that, as well as some from the other tabs. You find out about the researchs in other tabs, by clicking on the desired research which will then give you more info as well as show which ones are still missing.
The idea with the techweb is, that it can become a little cluttered, but for one, people could add more tabs for their own research, and second, an algorithm could be written which checks the research parent-child connection and based on that assignes certain distances as space in between. I know it is a bad example, but I thought of something similar to a modular version of Civ Beyond Earth's research web.
Now all of this is based on the assumption that techs are handled as objects with changeable components (Object tech () binary researched = 0; tech.child = XXX; tech.parent = YYY;) and I haven't looked at the actual code for it (as I am scared due to lack of my skills). However, I think from the potential solutions, this could help moders and make future additions a little easier. Further, if a player has a completely cluttered research screen by then, it can be said that the player simply has to many mods installed, or it can create an opportunity for modders to create mods with their own categories, which are still linked to the original researchs.
Anyway, sorry if this wasn't much help and I completely wasted your time
, I just wanted to toss in a fresh idea that might be something to think about in the medium to long term.