Voidfall · Board game rules
When do improved technologies become available?
Quick answer
Improved Technologies unlock gradually: your starting one is available immediately, the rest become available in Cycle 2 when the Improvement Block tile is removed, and any still on offer are placed face up for Cycle 3.
Details
During Preparation Phase setup, in Cycle 2 the Improvement Block tile is removed from the Improved Technology offer, making all four Improved Technologies on the Galactic board available [p.8 — Preparation Phase]. In Cycle 3, any Improved Technologies still on the offer are removed from the game, and the four cards remaining in the deck are placed face up on the offer [p.8 — Preparation Phase].
However, simply being "on offer" isn't enough — an Improved Technology is only available to you if you already have the matching Basic version, and it is either your starting Technology or it is on the Galactic board unblocked by the Improvement Block tile [p.31 — Technologies]. This means that during Cycle 1, the only Improved Technology available to you is the one tied to your starting Technology (if any), since the rest of the offer is still covered by the Improvement Block tile [p.31 — Technologies].
You are also limited in how many Improved Technologies you may hold at once: your limit starts at 0 and increases by 1 for each Civilization track marker in Tier 1, and by another 1 for each marker in Tier 2 or higher [p.31 — Technologies].
Watch out: Even if an Improved Technology is visibly on the Galactic board (unblocked) and you meet the Basic-version requirement, you still cannot gain it if doing so would exceed your current Improved Technology limit based on your Civilization track Tiers [p.31 — Technologies].