for the sake of argument, how do you show the difference? They've had hyperdrives for centuries if no millenia there, blasters, lightsabers, etc. How much can style change over a few hundred years if there's not a lot of change in tech?
I think the way to do it is to make visual and sonic distinctions. This can be done in a variety of ways. Ship designs, for example, can appear different. Maybe they're blockier or larger. Maybe they draw some of their lines from, say, wooden ships or WWII era fighters. To be clear, I'm not suggesting just adding greeblies to a P-51D. I'm saying you take design cues from the design of vehicles from that era, and incorporate them to some degree into your existing designs. Remember how General Grievous' personal ship looked kinda like a space 1950s hotrod? That's one example. I'm not saying it's a design I necessarily like, but it can be done. You could make things look bigger or more rickety. The sounds could be tweaked so that they don't sound exactly like the X-wings or TIEs of the OT, and instead have new sounds to them.
The same could be done with firearms. I mean, there's a ton of WWII era firearms that could be used as inspiration for new Star Wars guns. The FG-42, the Johnson LMG, the Bren LMG, the Boys AT rifle, "sportsterized" or "tacticool" K98s, etc., etc., etc. And that's just WWII. There's other weapons from the 1930s through 1950s you could use. These would have the "familiar" look , but would also be different designs.
Clothing design is another big area that could be mined. Different outfits, different sensibilities, etc.
The OT was using switches and levers, and people flipped out that the PT used detailed screens and ostensibly touch control. You're not going back any further than switches or levers. It just leaves you with style which is subjective. The good guys will have capital ships and the bad guys will have capital ships. And fighters, and bombers, and speeders, etc.
I get what your saying, but it's really only a style difference. I'm not sure what they can 'age'.
I'm not saying you go before switches and levers (what would that be, anyway? Pulleys? Block and tackle?), but rather that your interior design is visually distinct.
I think you need to do two things in working with such designs. First, you need to have a sort of understanding of the culture and what inspires their designs. Not simply in terms of functionality, but in terms of taste. Then you need to orient all your design around those attitudes. The goal shouldn't be "Make it look more modern" vs. "Make it look more old school." That's too self-referential, and it'll end up feeling fake. It's the reason why Star Wars
didn't look fake. Their goal wasn't "Make it look futuristic." It was "make it look lived in and authentic to this universe." That should be the same design goal here. It should be "Make it look like what this culture would actually produce."
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