All factions will have access to Succession War and Star League era technology, but each faction will also specialize and supply higher tier weaponry as well. WORK IN PROGRESS
Here's the first draft on for the "tech tree". The Battle Value of the weapon dictates how much "Reputation" you need to unlock use of the weapon. Weapons with no Rep. # listed are always unlocked (all the Intro Tech weapons basically). The above example is for the AAA corporation. Naturally, each faction will have its own unique list of weapons (with some overlap for the more common weapons). AAA can be considered the "generalist" faction with a focus on (generally) low-tech and reliable weapons. The others will have a more specialized focus in one of the three main types of weaponry. As I hope you can tell, this took no small amount of work. If others would like to assist me in getting the other factions done, it would be greatly appreciated. The original (WIP) file can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9YEnZ4eRwpEU3RHRUZ2anROQjg
I'm anxious to get some assistance with completing the faction techtrees so I'm willing to offer bonus Reputaion points for anyone willing to help me. You will get a set amount of rep (undetermined at this time) for each faction you work on. For those concerned this may give them some huge advantage, fear not. Because every battle is based on Battle Value, having access to the higher BV gear does not mean you will have any significant advantage in combat. It just means that you can field more advanced units, but in fewer numbers. If a brand new player starts in a Locust worth 800 BV and faces off against an advanced player, the latter will still not be able to exceed 800 BV. The most important upgrade you can have is Double Heat Sinks and everyone will have access to these from the beginning.
Tweaked on my copy of WIP file here Change Log: Added secondary weapon classes to HT, IW, and LE (same as AAA, but added penalty to Rep. Unlock; subject to change) Added Variable Speed Pulse Lasers, Re-Engineered Lasers, and TSEMP Cannon to LE Added BattleMech Taser and Hypervelocity ACs to IW Sorted lists by Rep. Unlock Possible Changes (need to discuss): ER Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Laser AMS, X-Pulse Lasers, & Blazer Cannon become LE-exclusive Magshot, Silver Bullet Gauss, & Improved Heavy Gauss become IW-exclusive Enhanced LRMs, Extended LRMs, & Thunderbolts become HT-exclusive (maybe just the 15s & 20s?)
MAJOR UPDATE: TechTree is mostly complete. Just needs some fine tuning* and value checks. You should now have a firm idea of which factions offer which weaponry. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9YEnZ4eRwpEcGZHUGlBRnZxUk0 *melee weapon list is incomplete for all factions except AAA (they have the widest selection for melee) Keep in mind there will also be a seperate "Drone Catalog" that will use a similar system for unlocking prefabricated drones. Each faction will offer a unique set of drones for purchase: http://www.theskjaldborg.com/index.php?threads/discussion-factions.7460/#post-154825 ^needs update
RULE UPDATE In an effort to allow for some more flexibility with player's beginning loadouts the following will now be applied: The tech tree unlock system will only be applied in the event of a player creating a custom design. In other words, if you upgrading to a canon design (with absolutely no changes), you can ignore the tech tree requirements. However, keep in mind you still have to pass all skillchecks and pay for said upgrades regardless of it being a canon or custom design. In terms of game mechanics, this will be a very simple thing as instead of having to create and add necessary files to the game build (which requires an update for everyone), players can simply pick one of the hundreds of designs that already exists. Since this is a new rule, it is still subject to change and alteration. For example there might be a minimum RP threshold that you might still have to meet to qualify for Tech 3 advanced designs, experimentals/prototypes, etc.
