@bobingabout: I think you also missed my point about gateway technologies. There are four different types of science pack (red, green, blue, and purple), and multiple levels of each of those (mk1, mk2, and mk3). Gateway technologies unlock the more advanced versions of the science packs, which are r...

@bobingabout: The system I'm proposing does still allow that kind of web of technology, it just makes it much easier to manage that complexity without trivializing it. By allowing players to separate parts of the tech tree in their mind, and by requiring different primary science packs for each part...

I'm a game developer myself, and I've been doing some thinking about the current tech tree in Factorio. I'm not sure how it was originally designed, but as it stands now it's a chaotic web of very odd decisions. I'm sure there are many things that could be done to improve it, and I want to throw out...