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Terminology: Difference between revisions
→Tier: explicate further, add tech tier and informational table
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{{Main|Tier}} | {{Main|Tier}} | ||
In general, a tier represents the minimum level or a strength indicator of something. The tiers range from 1 to 8. Each tier is about 5 levels. Tier 1 is levels 1-4, tier 1 is 5-9, etc. This is for creatures, items, and terrain. | In general, a tier represents the minimum level or a strength indicator of something. The tiers range from 1 to 8. Each tier is about 5 levels. Tier 1 is levels 1-4, tier 1 is 5-9, etc. This is for creatures, items, and terrain. | ||
Tier as such is fundamentally game-mechanical, primarily representing a design evaluation of roughly where something should be encountered in terms of player progression and/or exposure to danger. | |||
A related concept that is sometimes tied together with tier and sometimes not is tech tier, which represents the degree of technological sophistication required to create an item from scratch. (The "from scratch" distinction comes to the fore with items like chairbears, which required advanced genetic engineering to create the first instances of, but can now be produced by low-tech livestock breeding.) The general idea of the tech tiers looks like: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ | |||
!Tier range | |||
!Description | |||
!Examples | |||
|- | |||
|1 | |||
|Early-to-mid ancient world technology. Wood, ceramics, natural fiber fabrics, bronze, iron, etc. | |||
|Wood table, clay pitcher, water wheel | |||
|- | |||
|2-3 | |||
|Late ancient world, medieval, early modern, and basic contemporary tech. Steel, steam power, gunpowder, gears, pendula. | |||
|Metal lockbox, Barathrum clock, windmill | |||
|- | |||
|4-5 | |||
|More sophisticated contemporary tech and near-future tech clearly inside our horizon of imagination. Folded carbide, efficient turbines, aerolizers, rocket power, circuits, vacuum tubes. | |||
|Wind turbine, simple moisture farm, radio, laser cutter, hydroponic plant, cryogenic pump | |||
|- | |||
|6-7 | |||
|Far-future tech, well in the domain of sci-fi. Still inside the horizon of our imagination but pushing toward it. Cloning, ubiquitous phase technology, crysteel, minor spacefolding/light-skipping. | |||
|Hypertractor, nanoweave quilt, powered exoskeleton, Spray-a-Brain | |||
|- | |||
|8 | |||
|FAR future, science-fantasy, metaphysical tech. Spacetime folding, quantum manipulation, advanced metamaterials, highly efficient energy weapons, antimatter manipulation. | |||
|Schrodinger pages,, unentropic lattice, orbit syphon | |||
|} | |||
= Units of Measurement = | = Units of Measurement = | ||