Basics of Game Design

Technology Trees

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Functionality and Resources for New Discoveries

During the process of thinking through the node structure of a tech-

nology tree, designers should dene the functionality for every ob-

ject on the tree. While some objects can be predecessors for later

discoveries, most objects should have some denite purpose for be-

ing designed. ey should somehow improve play by allowing the

player to do some game actions faster or make items more powerful

or easier to collect. Occasionally, a “red herring” can be included,

which is a discovery that has no real purpose (it oers a great oppor-

tunity for comic relief), but these useless ...