Is it only one tech at a time? Would love to have multiple techs in different fields being worked on at the same time (Master of Orion) style. Would be more realistic imho. Was never keen with the one tech approach from the Civilization design.
I also share this idea. In my opinion, all different tech families should be researched at the same time through different techs and successive steps with possibility for the player to apply a focus on several of them.
Tech tree would appear divided as we already knew between Colonization, Engineering... with an initial set of techs and various intermediate/final objectives (e.g.: be able to colonize or big ship teleportation) and inbetween unkown steps that would appear when available to be explored.
To give an explicit example in comparaison with real life, research against cancer is based on various treatment forms (immunotherapy, targeted therapy, prototherapy, chemotherapy...) and researchs dedicaded to provide specific technics/medicines/devices. Today, the trend (the focus) is in immunotherapy so it catches most of money and then allows to employ more scientists. Tomorrow, new tools or a better understanding of cells' behavior will allow researchers to explore a new form of treament that would become at its turn the new trend. Maybey a day we'll have a treatment so effective that most of the other ones will be abandoned. But in anyway, they all have for ultimate goal to cure the different cancer forms. For other cancer researchers, it's to find how cancerous cells reach immortality with another idea that simply cure cancers.
What I mean by this example, is that's possible to keep a logical sequence from initial situation to final objective without directly knowing all the steps to check to reach this final goal like we already have in GalCiv 3. It could be enhanced with unexpected links between techs triggered through semi/fully random events (e.g.: a genius rises and opens a new understanding of something; or researchers working on tech A (warfare) discored a new application/solution accelerating/completing search on tech B (governance)) or just triggered because a combinaition of techs are mastered (Tech A (colonization) + Tech B (engineering) open a new way to Tech C (colonization)).
Also in my opinion, some researches should be conditioned to possession of connected ressources (e.g.: research on antimatter weapon impossible without having access to antimatter). I know it's certainly too heavy as condition but at least it makes sense and favours interest on strategic ressources.
I know it'd be a tremendous work because it wouldn't only be about number of techs but mainly about possible links and triggers between them. Like somebody could write there's enough to basically go nuts with it.
I don't know if it would be fun as tech tree but if I was able to do it's how I'd do it. All the point for the player is to set the course on what he wants to reach at a specific moment without having to care about 10 next steps or 10 last.
Last example. If I see a smartphone, I know that humanity masters electricity, microelectronics, telecoms, robotics, several minerals extraction and many other knowledges. I don't need to know all the steps needed in these different fields of knowledge to arrives to mass production of smartphones but I know that's possible. All these past steps, knowledeges are lost or archived because obselete for now. On the other side, I know that in the near future, i'll need a 5G smartphone but I don't know what I'll be able to do with in two years and I certainly don't know if I'll need a 6G smartphone in a further future or if something will replace smartphones.
With UI of tech tree, it's the same and Stardockians know that and it's what they do with the GalCiv 4 Tech Tree but without giving opportunity to set a course. Just like trying to drive looking only a meter further than the bumper.
