This article covers the question of how the tech tree determines the possibilities for representing the history of technology in historical strategy games. Although scholars from the field of science and technology studies are aware of this presence, they have not yet laid bridges to fields like games studies to see how the determinism operates in concrete cultural artifacts like videogames.ĭeterminism is more than a pitfall in historical thinking, when embodied in a mechanism like a tech tree it can form a script that influences the design and content of popular culture. Despite losing credit in the academic world, the idea that technological innovation drives social progress and follows an inevitable course can still be found in popular culture (Wyatt, 2008), including digital games. Little has been published on the topic of technology trees, although their technological determinist aspects have attracted some scholarly attention (Macdougall, 2009). It is a rule set of certain premises that have to be fulfilled to unlock a technology, which then has certain consequences, often including unlocking the path to newer technologies. A technology tree, or ‘tech tree’, can loosely be defined as “a structure that controls progress from one technology to a better technology, enabling the player to create better facilities or more powerful units” (Morris & Hartas, 2004, p. In historical strategy games, in which the player controls a nation that progresses throughout history, the developers implemented a technology tree to help simulate the progress of technology from stone tools to nanotechnology. Keywords: technology, tech tree, determinism, strategy, history of technology, comparative research The conclusion explains how tech trees determine the design of technological history in a general way, but that there are many ways for both designers and players to interpret history in their own way. Both the selection of technologies and the effects attributed to them are different in all four games, which makes four interesting case studies possible. On the level of individual technologies it becomes clear that besides the broad concept of technology, there is a lot of freedom in how the tech trees are filled in. Technological determinism is present in tech trees under three forms: by forcing a set sequence, by influencing social changes in history and by characterising (thus determining) eras and civilizations.
#Age of empires 4 tech tree upgrade#
Tech trees come in the shape of linear upgrade paths or interlocking vines structures, and fulfill various strategic and narrative functions in the games. I discuss and compare four important games in the genre ( Age of Empires, Empire Earth, Rise of Nations and Civilization IV) and present insights from interviews with the lead designer of each game. In doing so it tries to bridge the fields of STS and game studies. This article covers the question of how the tech tree determines the possibilities for representing the history of technology in historical strategy games, using the concept of technology determinism. Having the double function of representing the history of technology while being a core mechanism in the game itself, the tech tree plays an important role in the overall game design. Technology trees are evolutionary tree diagrams that simulate the progress of technology in historical strategy games in a deterministic manner. Technology Trees: Freedom and Determinism in Historical Strategy Games by Tuur Ghys
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