Technology and Progression
Technology and Progression
Section titled “Technology and Progression”Aurora uses a technology tree to let players develop their train, discover new capabilities, and support a growing network of people and settlements. The current framework has four separate but interconnected branches, each with five tiers numbered Tier 0 through Tier 4. This page records the agreed high-level structure; specific technologies, costs, prerequisites, and balancing are intentionally left for later design.
The four branches
Section titled “The four branches”Engineering
Section titled “Engineering”Progress source: Engineers working on and maintaining the train.
Engineering progress accumulates over time through engineering work. More or better-trained Engineers and suitable equipment can improve progress, with diminishing returns as staffing increases. This branch focuses on maintenance, construction, locomotive upgrades, wagon systems, and fabrication capabilities.
Research
Section titled “Research”Progress source: Researchers, supported by research facilities and discoveries.
Researchers generate research progress over time. A Research Wagon increases research capacity or efficiency, while recovered Research Data can contribute to discoveries and difficult research requirements. This branch focuses on scientific understanding, Ember systems, old-world technology, and the Great Forge.
Exploration
Section titled “Exploration”Progress source: Discovering new places and investigating the world.
Exploration progress comes from meaningful discoveries made while travelling on the railway and exploring off-track locations. Finding new routes, abandoned facilities, points of interest, and recoverable sites should matter more than repeatedly travelling familiar stretches. This branch focuses on route knowledge, field expeditions, hidden locations, and discoveries that may reveal new technology.
Logistics & Society
Section titled “Logistics & Society”Progress source: Trade, settlement support, and successful social or economic activity.
This branch rewards keeping people supplied, building trade relationships, and helping settlements survive and develop. It focuses on cargo and supply efficiency, settlement support, trade, diplomacy, population needs, and resilient regional networks.
Five tiers
Section titled “Five tiers”| Tier | Working theme | General scope |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 0 | Survival | Starting capabilities and basic systems. Tier 0 is available from the beginning rather than being a tier that must be unlocked. |
| Tier 1 | Improvement | Modest efficiencies and basic new capabilities. |
| Tier 2 | Expansion | New wagon types, broader operations, and stronger infrastructure. |
| Tier 3 | Advanced | Specialized systems and upgrades that can meaningfully change how the train or network operates. |
| Tier 4 | Breakthrough | Rare, high-impact technologies that require substantial investment or exceptional discoveries. |
These tier names are working themes rather than finalized in-game labels. Tier 4 should be difficult but achievable in a normal playthrough, while the most powerful breakthroughs may require discoveries or prerequisites from more than one branch.
How progression is intended to work
Section titled “How progression is intended to work”The current design separates three things:
- Progress: accumulated from the activity associated with a branch.
- Development: the player chooses which available technology to pursue and invests the appropriate progress and, where relevant, resources or Research Data.
- Unlock: the technology becomes available, but building a wagon or installing an upgrade may still require Embers, Food, Soft Materials, Hard Materials, Parts, skilled people, or suitable facilities as appropriate.
This means technology unlocks possibilities without replacing the resource economy. For example, unlocking a wagon design does not automatically construct that wagon.
Branch connections
Section titled “Branch connections”The branches are independent enough to support different playstyles, but selected advanced technologies may require more than one branch. Engineering might provide the ability to build a device, while Research explains its design and Exploration reveals a lost blueprint or facility. Logistics & Society can make it easier to sustain the people and supply network needed to use it.
The intent is to create meaningful trade-offs: a train can become highly engineered without knowing much about the wider world, while an exploration-focused player might discover valuable technology before having the capacity to restore it.
Still undecided
Section titled “Still undecided”The exact technology nodes, tier prerequisites, progress rates, staffing formulas, costs, branching paths, reset rules, and wagon-specific unlock tiers have not been defined. These details should be designed later without treating the examples above as fixed unlocks.