The galaxy is a big place. Even human space, as comparatively miniscule as it is, is still around 700 lightyears in diameter. This combined with the lack of true faster-than-light communications has lead to a distinct pattern of technological development within humanity's volume of space.
Technological development in a given nation or area is generally classified by comparing to the technology
Earth had at some point. For example,
Ochtotne Prime generally has technology in the mid-2400s, while the
The Second Core is overall in the early 2800s. This is, of course, not perfect, but it is a decent estimate based on a rough average. There are some major exceptions, notably
FTL travel. Due to how FTL travel became present nearly everywhere from a focused effort to do so, even places in the 2300s, like most of Old Cellean space, have FTL travel, a mid-2600s technology.
The farther you get from Earth, the less advanced the technology, generally. This isn't an absolute, as shown by the likes of the
Dragon's Hoard Cluster or
Ak'Thakra, but it is a decent rule of thumb. There's a few reasons for this;
Travel time
Travelling between stars takes a while, even with
FTL travel being commonplace. It also needs effort, since only larger ships can do it effectively. Couple that with faster-than-light communications being even slower, relying on spaceships travelling manually, and technology doesn't spread very fast. It's primarily done by interstellar tradeships, also called
interstellar cyclers, that go back and forth on several-hundred lightyear long routes, trading for and with technology, material, passengers, and everything else between various societies they visit. This leads to new settlements often only advancing technology via these cyclers, which is slow.
The powerhouse that is Earth
Earth, being the home and oldest settled place of humanity, is extremely advanced. Not only does it have the highest population, it also has a massive technological base. This leads to the technology from the Sol system, as well as from other clusters, to slowly spread to other systems nearby, which spread it to others, often via shorter-range trade within those clusters. Those interstellar cyclers also spread technology, often to major clusters from Sol.
A new colony's resources
Advanced technology takes effort to maintain. Stuff like
Antimatter-related equipment, artificial muscle-based
Prosthetics, or complex computers often require both expensive, to buy or make, materials, and educated specialists, neither of which are found easily on fresh settlements. There are, as always, exceptions. Cellea, when it was settled, had received a direct feed of technology from Earth, and had the infrastructure to develop and maintain their tech.
Ak'Thakra is a similar case. New colonies often lose a couple decades to half a century worth of tech, though this is very approximate.
Clusters
Large concentrations of developed nations and civilization are called star clusters. These star clusters often have populations in the tens of billions to nearly a trillion, but most are in the 10-100 billion range. There's around fifty or so major clusters, the largest of which is the
Core Worlds, composed of 512 stars at 2.1 trillion population, and the smallest are the seven Harbour Stars, at 16 billion. These clusters are nearly always nexuses of technology, where tech spreads from to other regions. This is mainly because they both have the largest industries and research capabilities, but also because the are targets of cycler trade, since long-range interstellar cyclers travel between star clusters. In the Omega-Aurutka-Rakt'Akla star cluster, for example, Ak'Thakra serves as the main source of technology both within the cluster and without. The general structure and compactness of clusters also helps them retain technology, as they can get it from nations and factions in the same cluster.
Cellea
The Cellean autocratic space had an interesting role in technological development within the region it controlled. It spread its technological level across Cellean space with the regions it conquered, and was planning on holding that level within them. But it would eventually collapse, due to overextension and strings of events detailed in
Cellean Culture. This would leave a large section of the conquered territories without any real support, and many violent rebellions and revolts would damage infrastructure, leading to the level of tech declining. That was further exacerbated by the rising power struggles in the region, which lead to more than a few wars and chaotic periods, many of which still happen today. This would lead to the level of tech decreasing even more.
The only regions near or in Cellean space that would be spared this were areas that had resisted Cellean invasion, often by defeating the fleets before they reached major systems. These would most often be clusters, though not always. The
Dragon's Hoard Cluster, for example, still retains a comparatively staggering level of technology compared to the rest of ex-Cellean space. While partly due to the peace they've retained, despite internal struggles, the cluster is also very isolationist, which has helped in keeping their level of tech much higher than the surrounding region.
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