Technology Level

Most items within Star Captains™, from handgun ammunition to battleships, have an assigned "Technology Level" (usually shortened to "Tech-Level". An item's tech-level represents when a particular piece of technology was first introduced/developed, and can affect the item's pricing and availability depending on the civilization's current tech-level (technologies pre-dating the current era will be more readily available and cheaper, while ones of later tech-levels will be extraordinarily expensive and hard to come by).

The default campaign setting for Star Captains™ takes place in a Mid-Mid tech-level, and all given item/equipment prices reflect this in the given prices. Rules for calculating base prices for campaigns in other tech-levels are given later in this chapter.

Following are summations of each tech-level. The tech-levels are divided into three major eras: Early, Middle(Mid), and Late. Each major era is then divided into a Early, Mid, and Late era (for example, the Middle(Mid) era is divided into Early-Mid, Mid-Mid, Late-Mid).


Early: The earliest eras of space-fairing civilizations. Early-era technologies span from the earliest inter-stellar transports/colonies to the first emergence of warp drives. The Early-era sees the development of most basic spaceship technologies, such as stable and reliable inter-stellar ships, energy shield emitters, and eventually warp drives. This era is also where the first inter-planetary and inter-stellar weaponry is introduced, such as ship-based energy weapons, magnetic rail weapons, and guided missiles.

Ship hulls originating from this era are quite light on hull points and sub-system slots, and only Late-Early hulls come with shield emitter equipment slots by default. Personal equipment from this era are often the first examples of their corresponding technologies.


Early-Early: Pre-Stellar Era - Early-Early era is when a civilization forms its first inter-planetary colonies. Ships of this era were often single-use transports, and few if any survive to see use in later eras. Other technologies of the era are typical of the preceding nuclear-era civilization. Nuclear torpedo technology exists in this era, but not in any standardized fashion for starship use.

Most technologies from this era found in proceeding eras are newer, standardized versions manufactured for civilian use (such as 'shelled' projectile weapons) and are either given a Mid-Early Tech Level or no Tech Level (represented as "- -" in the item's description).


Mid-Early: Seed-Ship Era - Mid-Early era represents both an increase in inter-planetary travel and colonization as well as the first inter-stellar colony ships. These first 'seed ships' use standard STL (slower-than-light) propulsion technology, and take decades (if not centuries) to reach their destination stars. The era also sees the first real instances of inter-planetary conflict, and in turn the first viable ship-based weaponry is developed.

Ship hulls from this era are the first reusable inter-planetary craft of a civilization, and while this makes them somewhat widely available in other eras, they are weak in hull points and don't possess shield emitters. Ships of this era are also more likely to be 'general-purpose' and have very little specialization (since they were expected to be versatile and fill multiple rolls at once). Mid-Early also introduces the first dedicated military spaceships, which while being primitive compared to ships from other eras still can provide a decent threat to superior vessels with the right equipment. It should be noted that even though these ships pre-date warp drive technology, most Terran ships from this era were given re-fits to accommodate drives when the technology was first introduced (which was far cheaper than replacing entire fleets), making the surviving ships in later eras warp-capable.


Late-Early: Early Warp Era - Late-Early era is dominated by the advent of warp drives and the impact this has upon space-fairing civilizations. Not only do warp drives drastically decrease travel times within planetary systems (from years to months, weeks, or even days) but made way for the development of jump drives capable of opening instantaneous gateways between large distances. While jump drives allow for much faster inter-stellar travel (by hopping from jump-point to jump-point between stars), the process still takes months or even years in some cases. Nevertheless, the advent of drive technologies facilitate a boon in colonization both inter-planetary and inter-stellar. Warp drives also open up the way for the first inter-stellar conflicts (which, in the case of the Terrans, was an internal conflict known as the "Reclamation Wars").

Ship hulls from the Late-Early era are sturdier than their predecessors, and are designed specifically for both drive and shield emitter technologies. While more refined than their predecessors, Late-Early vessels lack the degree of specialization seen in later-era hull designs, falling between the two extremes. The first civilian-built ships are seen, and ship-based weaponry becomes even more developed as space fleet military engagements become more commonplace.


Middle: Middle (or "Mid" as it's often abbreviated to) is the era in which vast, inter-connected systems of "Gates" (refined jump gate technology) network star-systems together and facilitate massive, unified space-fairing civilizations. The Terrans in the default Star Captains™ campaign setting regard the Middle-era as the "Modern-era", since most known Terran civilizations exist in varying degrees within it.

Ships of the Mid-eras are characterized by an increase in diversity and specialization, as expanding technologies open up the need for vessels with specific rolls. Weaponry and equipment (both ship and personal) becomes increasingly specialized as well, spurred by competing militaries in the increasingly-mobile Mid-level civilizations. Most Terrans (and the default campaign setting for the game) operates at a Mid-Mid Tech Level.


Early-Mid: Early Gate Era - Early-Mid era is defined by the introduction of "Gate" technology. Gates are an expansion of jump drive technology, consisting of two circular gateways in space inter-linked so they can produce between them a stable, predictable gate-point spanning many light-years. Early-Mid civilizations are quick to install whole networks of paired Gates between nearby star-systems, resulting in stable inter-stellar culture and trade, as well as considerably altering how warfare is conducted.

Ships from the Early-Mid era are quite diverse, as an increase in space-dwelling societies open up new niches for star-ships to fill. Most ship hulls from this era are usually heavily specialized to fill specific rolls (especially for armed vessels). Space warfare, where there's a potential for conflict, is frequent and wide-spread. Early-Mid civilizations are the first stage of a truly space-oriented civilization, and technology of the era reflects this heavily.


Mid-Mid: Middle Gate Era - The Mid-Mid era (or as most Terrans in the standard campaign setting regard it, the "Modern" era) continues many of the technological trends from of the Early-Mid era (such as specialized ship design) and refines them significantly. It is not uncommon for Mid-Mid civilizations to cover vast regions of space as the Gate networks established in the previous era continue to expand outward. This era sees the peak of many social and technological sciences, often leaving a large gap in time between it and the Late-Mid era to come.

Ships from the Mid-Mid era show the same trend toward specialized rolls as they do in Early-Mid era vessels, but far more developed with superior designs and equipment capabilities. Technology and equipment emerging from this era see a jump in complexity, and often come with side-bonuses on top of their normal effects (especially weapons). Societies are often both simultaneously immense and heavily factionalized in this era, leading to frequent conflict both internally and externally. Inter-stellar trade, however, begins to supersede the need for military actions against neighbors as the now well-established Gate networks facilitate trade and cultural exchange at a much higher rate than before. Jump drives also become increasingly miniaturized, leading to more civilian access to faster trade routes and non-Gate dependent inter-stellar travel.


Late-Mid: Advanced Gate Era - Late-Mid eras are best described as a transition period between the younger-era civilizations and the Late-stage eras to come (although this transition period often lasts many thousands of years, if not more), and are the culmination of many lines of technologies leading up to that point. Gate networks in this era are often immense (although, the couple of cultures/civilizations that are Late-Mid among the Terrans cover surprisingly small regions of space), and their cultures are quite stable with minimal internal conflict. It's not uncommon for Late-Mid societies to take a parental stance in dealing with neighboring species/civilizations of lower tech-levels, often forging lasting peace and stability in a region either though treaty or conquest to keep their neighbors in line. As the Late-Mid era also sees the birth of some technologies later refined into Late-era techs, and represents a civilization's 'transition' period, these civilizations receive more open attention and interaction from Late-era civilizations than others, and may have to worry about possible interference from the "Elder" civilizations (either though politics, manipulation, or even force).

Ship technology and design for the Late-Mid era begins to see a return to 'generalized' hull designs. With some of the technologies introduced in this era, it becomes easier to design vessels prepared for 'any situation', and with these civilization's tendency to become overly-involved in the affairs of others versatility and autonomy become the name of the game in ship construction. The miniaturization and refinement of jump-drives means more types and sizes of ship hulls are able to operate independently of 'mother ships' and bases, further encouraging these design traits. Many forms of equipment (both personal and ship-based) can produce exotic effects (such as "Blink Drives" which instead of opening jump-points can instantly teleport a ship small distances in combat, or graviton energy cannons that can rip apart a ship's hull even through shielding), making them leaps and bounds superior to previous technologies. Also, Late-Mid eras see the first instances of 'synthetic-organic' technology. Synthetic-organics are substances constructed out of technology that mimics living systems on a molecular level, often functioning like simple multi-cellular organisms.


Late: Late-era civilizations (often called "Elder" civilizations) are characterized by extremely advanced technology and a step away from both Gate networks and planetary colonies, as technological advances slowly render both obsolete. Based on all known examples, periods between tech-level transition in the Late-eras can span hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. Late-era civilizations have mastered sciences not even known to 'younger' technology levels, and produce technological wonders on the level of mythical gods (and by many accounts, conduct themselves in about the same regard). Members of these tech-levels for the most part keep to themselves, only interacting with other civilizations in the Late-eras, and can be quite jealous of their technological secrets. Items from Late technology levels are impossible to replicate or reverse-engineer by less-advanced civilizations, as the sciences used to produce them are so far beyond anything from any other tech-level it would be impossible to know where to start.


Early-Late: Hyper-Drive Era - The Early-Late era represents the "youngest" stage of an Elder civilization. This era of technology is dominated by the "Hyper-Drive", which is a jump drive capable of linking up with other hyper drives in order to create stable jump-points over large distances (akin to a small-scale Gate), which begin to slowly render Gate networks obsolete. Early-Late also sees a civilization begin to construct massive space-based structures and habitats in lieu of planetary colonization.

Ships in the Early-Late technology level begin to incorporate synth-organic technologies into their hull designs, often providing damage-regeneration and other inherent bonuses. Dimensional and space-time manipulating technologies are also incorporated into ship hulls, allowing them to contain more space within than would be normally allowed (including ship equipment mounts). Equipment and items from this era often serve multiple functions (armors that also provide shield-points, weapons that double as engines, etc.) and the ones that instead focus on one function are leagues beyond any technologies that proceeded them. Either synth-organic or "matter-replication" technology is adapted into Early-Late civilizations on every level of life, from the simplest personal items to the cannons on battleships.


Mid-Late: Pan-Galacitc Era - The Mid-Late era represents a civilization with several million years worth of scientific and technological development. This era sees a continuation of the technological trends of the previous tech-level; dimensional and temporal-manipulation, synth-organics and matter-replication, and a refinement of hyper-drives. What Gates still used in this era connect systems thousands of light-years separate, spreading the civilization across most of the Galaxy in small, local pockets. Mid-Late civilizations can even 'lock' entire star-systems from being accessible to jump-points and Gates to protect them from curious younger species or invaders. Massive, planet or even star-sized artificial constructions and machines are common in these civilizations, and often both contain and sustain significant percentages of their population.

Ships of this era are similar to the previous Early-Late tech-level, but with much more developed technologies. Equipment slots and storage areas can hold even more disproportionate amounts in micro-dimensions than before, although there are still limits to what can be done with it. Equipment slots on Mid-Late era ship hulls also see an increase in generalization; instead of weapon mounts and engine mounts there will be mounts that can hold either or, and so on. Technology that can manipulate reality and bend it to the user's whim become commonplace (the infamous "Orb" technology passed down through the ages came from a Mid-Late civilization, the "Magi"), and often serves multiple purposes at once, such as shields that can turn shield-points into a energy cannon attack, or inter-changeable weapons/scanner arrays.


Late-Late: Ascendant Era - The Late-Late era represents the absolute peak of a civilization. Any civilization that manages to reach this level of development is likely older than some stars. This tech-level perfects dimensional and temporal technologies, allowing members of these civilizations to wield power beyond comprehension by younger species and cultures. These civilizations seem to abandon inhabiting star-systems altogether, opting to live entirely on board star-ships or within artificial pocket-dimensions, as no known colonies have ever been found. There are no known limits to the power of Late-Late era drives, which can move across a galaxy in an instant. Late-Late technologies can make and un-make matter, energy, and reality itself on a whim. If the other Late tech-level civilizations are parental guardians of the stars, then Late-Late era ones are, in the truest sense, gods.

Ships from Late-Late eras are the pinnacle of space travel. Each equipment slot is universally inter-changeable, and most pieces of ship equipment can be whatever they're needed to be at any given moment. Dedicated weapons of this era can bypass all damage-reduction, as they simply 'un-make' a physical object on the sub-atomic level. Personal equipment becomes all-but nonexistent, as whatever tools an individual could need are replaced by a single, universal device often integrated into the individual's 'body'. Assuming, of course, any physical manifestation another species would encounter was actually there, and not a synth-organic construct puppeted remotely from trans-dimensional space....