Treefingers wrote:
But anything new has to serve game play, and can't be added just because the tech is/was historically important (ever seen a civ game with "The Telephone" on the tree?) or because we players thing some device is super cool and should totally be in the game somehow.
then, let see it like this.
Every tech have to serve the gameplay but not all should offer new building or new unit but then they should offer bonuses in some aspect of the gameplay like production or management.
For example, the "telegraph", "telephone" and "radio" tech could help reduce the corruption in distant cities but not give any new building or unit. (and then could be useless in a small nation but quite important in large nation)
if the corruption percentage is based on the number of "turn" needed for an message (or order) from the capital to reach said city or a message from the city to reach the capital (the more turn needed would mean more possibility that the message got altered and therefore a higher corruption percentage.
for example (numbers are only for the show) : at start of the game, an envoy from the capital move at a speed of 1 tile per "turn", he woud take 3 "turn" to reach a city that is 3 tile away and therefore that city would have a 3% corruption but if there is a road connecting the city to the capital then the envoy would make the trip in one turn and the corruption rate would only be of 1%. now if the city is not 3 tile away but 30 tile away from the capital, we get from 30% corruption to 10% corruption only by connecting the city to the capital with roads.)
so increasing the road network (with all techs that could increase the envoy speed or reduce the corruption loss, like horseriding, wheel, automobile, writing, ...) and communication system (when communication by road are disrupted or too slow) would help reduce corruption.
therefore the "telegraph", the "telephone" and even the "radio" tech would serve the gameplay by increasing the speed of communication between the capital and the cities.
with this fact in mind, we can imagine a wide scope of tech giving each some bonuses , like increasing production, reducing corruption due to distance, increasing trade income (with tech introducing new materials or object of civilian use giving some trade percentage bonuses, like "electronic", "automobile", "plastic",...), increasing population density (helping reducing overcrowding and plague possibilities due to it ,with tech like "masonry" allowing multiple story building, "construction" allowing more complex building like the insula in the roman time , "steel" allowing skyscrapper,...), reducing directly plague possibilities (with techs like sanitation, medecine, genetical engineering,...) , ...
some of those techs are already in games with such bonuses, but some are not in game and could be considered as a good addition to the game as it would tweak the complexity of the game (making it harder at start (when you build up your empire and must deal with corruption and other factor that force you to stay a small nation) but easier in mid game or late game (when you would finaly have a large empire with a stable enough economy and could turn your attention outside of your borders with the intention of extending your living space.))