First I just want to say this is by far one of the best RTS games out there, with so much potential! I always loved the university system that Empire Earth 2 had. Where you could train "scholars" who would in return be garrisoned in the university and generate tech points. Once you gained enough tech points over time you could research a technology that helped out in a certain aspect. Being maybe cheaper houses, or stronger swords etc. I loved that building because of these improvements, Maybe 0 AD can implant something similar? Maybe they could create a tech tree where you would move along and decide what to research, Like in this picture here