Two? I often blow through entire chains of defensive techs in 2-3 turns. Sometime 6-8 techs in the same turn.

Funny you mention this OP. Even though it's been a very long time since I played galciv, this thread reminded me of the boring research techs. So, I agree with you.

I know I seem to be at odds with most of the posters, here but I really thought the GCII tech tree was a good one. Could it have some improvement, sure but I liked most of what they had. There was lots of it, so you never ran out of stuff to research. I don't want them to throw away all they had before.

Thirded.

I personally would love an 'option' in 'options' to get a blind tech tree like the one in SotS II. You pick a field you want to research and have NO idea what you are going to get in 10 turns, say under 'quantum energy'. I would love some base techs to start but what you get in them may be weapons or defenses or something else. 

Going back to Quantum energy, you research for 10 or 20 turns, and after the system rolls a die and you may end up with Phasers, a Quantum Engine or a Mira lux Force Field. 

You can also weigh your research if you build certain things on  your planets or have access to some materials so you give the randomizer a greater weight to 'weapons'..

This would make Multi player more interesting but would be a devil to program the AI to learn and use effectively.

Also Just FYI, I am in the camp where I could care less if we had Multi Player or not...I just thought it would be different..

Overall I LOVE the Gal Civ II tech trees and think they should just be expanded upon and have each tech meaningful when you get it.  

I'd also like to see a more detailed tech tree, where improving your engines or research or whatever involves interesting choice, rather than going through Engines I --> Engines II --> Whatever you think is good enough.

Imagine if you instead were choosing between a cheap engine tech, which only provided speed + a culture boost you don't care about, a more expensive tech with prerequisites that could improve your economy, or a significantly distant tech which could offer major improvements, but would leave you without better engines as you traveled through the prereqs.  Instead of there being only one obvious progression, you have many possible routes, each of which could offer significant replay value even if you're the type to always go for engines.

Seems to me like the latter design beats the former, which is why I favor importing that kind of Civ/Alpha Centauri style tree into GalCiv.

while the poison proved 65% fatal to the Drengin our invading forces were ahem overcome by the affects as well it seems that the poison/super viagra also had the ability to make races genetically compatible.....

in 5-7 years we expect much of the planet to be overrun with drengin/terran sex-crazed hybrids if we don't stop them now they could overrun the galaxy in less then 40 years

Galactic already have paths where 1 tech can lead to different other techs

[quote who="Gaunathor" reply="13" id="3405584"]
Still, if that isn't enough, there is always the option for random tech trees. I don't mean totally random. More like in SotS 1. Certain basic techs are always available, while some of the more advanced techs have a higher or lower chance of appearing each game.

That depends on the research game mechanics. If you get bonus research points for splitting up your research, you'd have a choice like "get X at turn 5, Y at 10, and Z at 15" vs "get X, Y and Z in 12 turns". Then the challenge is weighing your short-term need to have tech X ASAP against your long-term research efficiency.

Adding some more complexity, I suggest the optimum research strategy - the things that give you the most research bonuses - should be derived from your civilization's cultural approach to science; then you could decide on it in the Species Editor before start. 

[quote who="Gaunathor" reply="13" id="3405

[quote who="Magnumaniac" reply="17" id="34056