====== TECHNOLOGY LEVELS ======

**Technology Levels** arbitrarily divide the history of a setting into ages or eras based on technological developments or the rise and fall of civilizations with similar technological bases.

Technology Levels place the following in perspective within a setting:

☐ **TECHNOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES** \\
What technological achievements have been made so far?

☐ **TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS** \\
What technological achievements are in development?

☐ **TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS** \\
What technological achievements remain to be discovered in the future?

^  TL ^ TECHNOLOGY LEVEL                                     ^ FANTASY/HISTORICAL SETTINGS ^
| -10 | Prehistoric                                          | Before fire |
|  -9 | Stone Age                                            | Paleolithic Age |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ice Ages |
|  -8 | Bronze Age                                           | Ancient Egyptian |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ancient Greek |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ancient Chinese |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ancient Indian |
|  -7 | Iron Age                                             | Ancient Greek |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ancient Roman |
|  -6 | Middle Ages ~500-1400AD                              | Medieval |
^  TL ^ TECHNOLOGY LEVEL                                     ^ MODERN SETTINGS ^
|  -5 | Renaissance ~1400-1500                               | Shakespearean |
|  -4 | Age of Sail / Exploration ~1500-1760                 | Swashbuckling Pirates |
|  -3 | Industrial Revolution ~1760-1914                     | Old West 1780-1920's |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Horror 1890's-1920's |
|  -2 | World War I and II ~1914-1945                        | Pulp 1920's-1930's |
|  -1 | Atomic / Nuclear / Space Age ~1946-1970's            | Atomic Age Horror 1945-1970's |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Superhero Era 1940's-1970's |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Espionage Era 1940's-1980's |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Space Age 1960s-1980s |
|   0 | Information Age ~1970s-2020s (Now)                   | Modern | 
| ::: | :::                                                  | Modem-punk 1980s- | 
| ::: | :::                                                  | Modern Conspiracy 1990s- |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Modern Horror 1990s- |
^  TL ^ TECHNOLOGY LEVEL                                     ^ FUTURISTIC SETTINGS ^
|  +1 | Synthetic Age (Biological / Intelligence) ~2020-2199 | Near Future |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Cyberpunk |
|  +2 | Stellar Age ~2100+                                   | Conquest of the Solar System |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Trans-humanist | 
| ::: | :::                                                  | After the Apocalypse (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Technological, Ecological) |
|  +3 | Slower-Than-Light Interstellar Age                   | Generation Ships |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Solar Sailing |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Ram-scoops |
|  +4 | Mass-less Faster-Than-Light (Communication)          | Moving energy/information only above c |
|  +5 | Mass Faster-Than-Light (Travel)                      | Moving energy/information and mass above c |
|  +6 | Faster-Than-Light Interstellar Age                   | Interstellar Expansion |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Post-Scarcity |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Galactic Federation |
|  +7 | Galactic Age                                         | Decadent Interstellar |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Galactic Empires |
|  +8 | Extra-galactic Age                                   | |
|  +9 | Near Ascendance                                      | Limited mass/energy conversion and control |
| ::: | :::                                                  | Interstellar superstructures |
| +10 | Post-Ascendance                                      | Total mass/energy conversion or control |

From the Stellar Age (TL+2) onward, multiple technology levels become possible within the setting as different distant locations diverge in their technological capabilities and social conventions.

===== Salvage Space: Technology Level =====
 ◢ [[:salvage_space:technology_level|Salvage Space: Technology Level]]

▲ [[:Chronology:]] :: ◢ [[:Chronology:references#setting_01|References: Setting]]
~~DISCUSSION~~