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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8043527" data-attributes="member: 72555">GURPS had a more detailed tech levels.  In GURPS classic (from <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Technology_Levels_(Classic)#Converting_GURPS_3e_TL_to_4e_TL" target="_blank">Technology Levels (Classic)</a> ) it was:<table style='width: 100%'><tr><th>TL </th><th> Era </th><th> Start-end date </th><th> Signature technologies</th></tr><tr><td> 0 </td><td> Stone Age </td><td> up to 4000 BC </td><td> fire, lever, language</td></tr><tr><td> 1 </td><td> Bronze Age </td><td>(Athens) 4000 BC-1200 BC</td><td> wheel, writing, agriculture</td></tr><tr><td> 2 </td><td> Iron Age</td><td> 1200 BCE-500 CE) </td><td> Geometry; scrolls.</td></tr><tr><td> 3 </td><td> Medieval </td><td> 500-1450 </td><td> steel weapons, mathematics with zero</td></tr><tr><td> 4 </td><td> Renaissance/Colonial </td><td> 1450-1700 </td><td> gunpowder, printing</td></tr><tr><td> 5 </td><td> Industrial Revolution </td><td> 1701-1900 </td><td> mass production, steam power, telegraph</td></tr><tr><td> 6 </td><td> World War I/World War II  </td><td> 1901-1950 </td><td> cars, airplanes, radio</td></tr><tr><td> 7 </td><td> Modern </td><td> 1951-2000 </td><td> nuclear energy, computer, laser, rockets</td></tr><tr><td> 8 </td><td> Spacefaring </td><td> 2001-2050? </td><td> slower than-light space travel, fusion power, implants</td></tr><tr><td> 9 </td><td> Starfaring </td><td> 2050?+</td><td> faster-than-light star travel, sentient computers, longevity, deteronic frombotzer</td></tr><tr><td> 10 </td><td> Antimatter </td><td> -- </td><td> antimatter power, artificial gravity, slow FTL radio</td></tr><tr><td> 11 </td><td> Force </td><td> -- </td><td> force screens, tractor beams, fast FTL radio</td></tr><tr><td> 12 </td><td> Gravitic </td><td> -- </td><td> contragravity, grav compensators, personal force screens</td></tr><tr><td> 13 </td><td> Worldbuilding </td><td> -- </td><td> full terraforming of planets</td></tr><tr><td>14 </td><td> Dysonian </td><td> -- </td><td> construction of worlds, ringworlds and so on</td></tr><tr><td>15 </td><td> MT </td><td> -- </td><td> matter transmission, cosmic power</td></tr><tr><td>16+</td><td>As you wish . . .</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>In GURPS 4e from <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Tech_Level" target="_blank">Tech Level</a> we have:<table style='width: 100%'><tr><th>TL </th><th> Era </th><th> Rough start date </th><th> Signature technologies</th></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL0_(The_Stone_Age)" target="_blank">0</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL0_(The_Stone_Age)" target="_blank">Stone Age</a> </td><td> Prehistory and later </td><td> Counting; oral tradition.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL1_(The_Bronze_Age)" target="_blank">1</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL1_(The_Bronze_Age)" target="_blank">Bronze Age</a> </td><td> 3500 BCE+ </td><td> Arithmetic; writing.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL2_(The_Iron_Age)" target="_blank">2</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL2_(The_Iron_Age)" target="_blank">Iron Age</a> </td><td> 1200 BCE+ </td><td> Geometry; scrolls.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL3_(The_Middle_Ages)" target="_blank">3</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL3_(The_Middle_Ages)" target="_blank">Medieval</a> </td><td> 600 CE+ </td><td> Algebra; books.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL4_(The_Age_of_Sail)" target="_blank">4</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL4_(The_Age_of_Sail)" target="_blank">Age of Sail</a> </td><td> 1450+ </td><td> Calculus; movable type.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL5_(The_Industrial_Revolution)" target="_blank">5</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL5_(The_Industrial_Revolution)" target="_blank">Industrial Revolution</a> </td><td> 1730+ </td><td> Mechanical calculators; telegraph.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL6_(The_Mechanized_Age)" target="_blank">6</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL6_(The_Mechanized_Age)" target="_blank">Mechanized Age</a> </td><td> 1880+ </td><td> Electrical calculators; telephone and radio;</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL7_(The_Nuclear_Age)" target="_blank">7</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL7_(The_Nuclear_Age)" target="_blank">Nuclear Age</a> </td><td> 1940+ </td><td> Mainframe computers; television.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL8_(The_Digital_Age)" target="_blank">8</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL8_(The_Digital_Age)" target="_blank">Digital Age</a> </td><td> 1980+ </td><td> Personal computers; global networks.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL9_(The_Microtech_Age)" target="_blank">9</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL9_(The_Microtech_Age)" target="_blank">Microtech Age</a> </td><td> 2025+</td><td> Artificial intelligence; real-time virtuality.</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL10_(The_Robotic_Age)" target="_blank">10</a> </td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL10_(The_Robotic_Age)" target="_blank">Robotic Age</a> </td><td> 2070+ </td><td> Nanotechnology or other advances start to blur distinctions between technologies...</td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL11_(The_Age_of_Exotic_Matter)" target="_blank">11</a></td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL11_(The_Age_of_Exotic_Matter)" target="_blank">Age of Exotic Matter</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL12_(The_Age_of_Miracles)" target="_blank">12</a></td><td> <a href="https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/TL12_(The_Age_of_Miracles)" target="_blank">Whatever the GM likes!</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>the classic has more detail in the future.I like the names of 4e better, as they aren't tied to on-Earth events.  Also, splitting nuclear from information ages.The classic one presumed a lot of SF tropes.  For example, in "reality" building a dyson sphere (or swarm) is easier than FTL travel.  One is an engineering problem, the other one requires new physics.</blockquote>

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