I don't understand. Wouldn't a new feature "not showing presets that require yet unresearched stuff" do the trick? It'd be a relatively small code change (unlike GUI rehaul).
So, kinda like the presets in Galactic Civilizations. They're nice, compact, shiny and get you going when you're new, but real players tweak them to optimize for the latest techs.
I don't remember how the first GalCiv managed customization, I do happen to own galCivII on Impulse, and am downloading it right now to check it out. More of a Space Empires guy so don't really remember a lot from GalCiv. Isn't galCiv II the one where you can customize how the 3d model of your ships look? I'm also fairly certain that Gal Civ only gives you a very basic preset of every chassis, one you always need to customize with the research you gain etc. I might be wrong. Maybe you're aiming at the fact that you are required to make presets and that you pick tanks from the preset list?
Yeah, I was referring to GalCiv2. And yes, you could customize quite a bit, including how the chassis looked. But at the end of the day is was all about what you loaded into the slots for weapons, armor, and shields. Basically thought the idea was that we'd have preset tanks that cover a variety of basic tech combinations. Unlock them as all required techs are researched. Noobs can easily jump into one of these basic presets (instead of just plain armor std cannon fodder tanks), but the vets know they should re-spec to tailor their tanks to their playstyle, current up-to-date techs, and enemy composition.
GalCiv2: TotA is okay, though I am still learning the new tech trees for each race. I think the Yor tech tree maybe my favorite except their economy is almost non existent. And about the tank presets, I don't know what to say because to tell you the truth, I never save vehicle designs myself, I build a new one every match usually.
