But they won't do it if they don't like this sort of approach! Which I think is wrong of them btw. But I don't think I've heard from historians much since this project went public.

Surely you'd understand how this sort of approach eliminates all contingency from the past. Especially given that tech trees are usually present in video games where they look forward rather than backward.

If you are doing a large project on the history of science (you have clearly put a ton of work into this) but you aren't communicating with historians of science that's concerning to me.