so recently Ive been playing some gt6, and I thought to myself, what if you didnt start in the steam age in the beginning of gregtech, what if there was an age before the steam age called the mechanical age were all machines are powered by mechanical power from water wheels and wind sails, you could use gearboxes and shafts to transfer this mechanical power anywhere, and maybe make it more greggy than the create mod, you could make the mechanical machines slightly slower than the steam machines, and all of the machines could be made out of copper and or bronze. that was my first idea or suggestion, it is honestly an idea that could make gregtech feel more rich in a way.
another suggestion I have for gregtech in general is to add into the recipes of steam machines, steam engines because doesnt a steam machine need a steam engine to run? it could be like the recipe of an lv motor you know.
the last suggestion that i have is to add another energy system between low voltage and the steam age, so right after your finished with the steam age, maybe you could progress to a sub stage of electricity called the dc age, or directional current age, these machines could be ran off of dc current generators, the electricity made from the generators couldnt hurt you because its directional current.
yeah those are some universal ideas for gregtech that you could add on or take away, honestly you can say my ideas are stupid if you want or if they are cool, I will respect your opinion on these ideas but yeah, some of these features would make gregtech more realistic and rich in my opinion.