Research System

[starlight]

I think that most research should be practical... these guys have just crash landed and are struggling to survive they ain't going to be to worried about the broad implications of string theory.

They will want to be able to blow things up, build better shelters and defenses, produce and store enough energy to keep them out of the stone age, deal with medical issues that are bound to arise and other basic priorities for survival. I think the research system needs to reflect that.

however i do think for those that want to build a very science orientated colony some more esoteric, less day to day research with unpredictable rewards/consequences would be great. I love the idea of needing items for certain research and it makes sense empirically too, after all if you want to learn how to make an alien doom laser what better way to learn than to pick one apart and reverse engineer it.

Another thing that would be cool would be a science based trader, like a research vessel that could sell you blueprints for certain special technology or to speed up other research and maybe sell some of the advanced/weird items needed or created at higher science tiers.

I like the Pure Research / Applied Research breakdown that some people have proposed.

Applied will focus on getting things up and running, and will be much faster.

Pure research will be longer - but more fruitful. You can't set up a coal plant till you have researched a few things. Till then you might need to get by on windmills.
And if you want nuclear towers.....

The point is that Applied Research will need certain Pure Research Tech as pre-requisities.
Check Alpha Centauri tech tree for an example.
They have also done it nicely by breaking it down into four areas.

Further, research should not be very fast.

[AdamBlackbird]

I've already advocated for starting low-tech and working your way up over in the manufacturing thread.

I like the idea of the DIY/theoretical distinction for research, especially given the idea of the drop-pod including an e-book with the future's equivalent of wikipedia on it to explain how most of the tech projects are done. I like the idea of theoretical projects not having set (or at least known) times, as well as mysterious outcomes.

I like the idea of DIY research unlocking new areas bit by bit. A tree, so to speak, of the different building/furniture/item types, so unlocking a collective system might take a fair bit of time, but individual smaller researchers might be a bit faster to keep things at a more interesting pace. For example, while the collective "hydroponics" might include the sun lights, the trays themselves, irrigation systems, a workbench for modifying plants, etc., they could all be put under different DIY projects, which allows you to gain the benefits of some aspects earlier, to apply bit by bit to existing systems, or start building the whole system in advance. One might research irrigation or the workbench first to to improve their existing farms, or start building the irrigation system of the hydroponics lab before it is fully ready, only to push for the actual trays themselves when the need to build inside is genuinely pressing.

Regarding theoretical research projects, I agree with the idea of alien ruins/artifacts and the like being under this category. I would also suggest that if this world is uncharted, studying native flora/fauna/indigenous populations would fit well under the theoretical category, and be something of immediate interest. Research in terms of more abstract and esoteric things that push the boundary of knowledge, however, I still think should be included, but at a lower design/implementation priority. I realize it's not something of immediate interest to most likely survivors, but the possibility of a research colony should still be there for those who want to play it.

On the topic of repeatable/ +x% to y item/building... While they make sense, are obviously useful, and present a good strategic option... They're boring.  I wouldn't recommend them, or perhaps include it in a different way... A version 2.0 of whatever tech, which adds some other feature to it, with a more qualitative vibe. Perhaps allows it to work in a slightly different way. At any rate, the end result of this is it would improve functioning by some small amount, but it wouldn't just be it works x% better. An example might be a larger sun light for hydroponics which is more space-efficient for large hydroponic labs, meaning you might fit in another couple trays if you design it right. I find whenever games include +x% tech I'm compelled to do it because it's then a straightforward matter of if you don't you're losing potential productivity. The sort I'm suggesting, however, feels like more of a genuine choice. It also fits a lot more neatly into the above mentioned setup.

[NephilimNexus]

The general thought with research is that they're not really doing anything original - just figuring out how something works, or how to use a piece of equipment, or how to build something they saw on TV once. The RimWorld universe includes very wide technological spreads between different factions, from tribal to transcendent machine/human godlike entities. So everything has been seen and hard of, mostly - you're just trying to figure out how to do it. This is how one person can, say, invent hydroponics alone in a few days.

In the ancient "Outpost" game they made a point of having two types of research: Pure Science and Applied Science.

Pure Science was raw knowledge, Applied Science came afterward and let you do things with that knowledge.  For example, Physics, Metallurgy and Thermodynamics are Pure Science.  Using that knowledge to make a better oven for baking your bread would be the Applied Science that you would unlock from learning these things.

And of course, everything begins with Mathematics...

[Clint]

I'm greatly in favour of a multi-level research system with an asymptotic limit.

I.e. the major areas of research be listed as seperate catagories:
Mining
Farming
Construction
Social
etc..

And these catagories can be researched indefinitely but each research taking exponentially longer with exponentally falling returns for said research.
This means that even in the late-game you can still progress with researching even if it only gives you 0.01% faster mining every 10 days or something silly...

Interspaced in the main catagories would be sub-catagories which are unlocked when one (or more) of 3 things happen:

1) The correct "level" of research is attained:
e.g. lvl 2 farming unlocks the ability to research Hydroponics for example

2) An artifact is found/bought/captured or something is learned by "interrogating" a prisoner, and this can create a "breakthrough" allowing you to progress with research without the required background level.
e.g. An advanced alien race attacks and you capture a pulse rifle, allowing you to begin researching how to make it, at a much slower rate.

3) Random events:
Random breakthroughs and random technologies that can only be accessed through this method could happen when the AI director sees fit to add them.
These could be "story" elements which allow you access to the next stage of gameplay (whatever that may be)
Or they could just be interesting and useful items that will not break the game eitherway.

Also, I'd like research to have a significant chance at failing as this is often the case IRL, Right now Research is far too fast and it needs to be a much slower and more fluid process.
I.e. your researcher could be trying to research better mining picks, but fails and instead he has a minor breakthrough in materials science which adds a little bit of progress to your "construction" catagory.

Finally, I'd like to have research and manufacture seperated if possible...
The idea being that research is sort of just the raw theory behind something, allowing new ideas to be brought forward and unlocking old ideas that your citizens have seen elsewhere (from other species for example)
But the ability to actually put that into practice would be somewhat limited by your manufacturing technolgy.

I.e.
You capture some alien with the pulse rifle and unlock the research, after a long 10 day research project you finally finish and are able "In theory" to reproduce the weapon, however your manufacturing technology is not capable of producing such an advanced item.
We may understand something in theory but it doesn't mean that we're actually physically capable of producing the object.


That's just my view of a semi-perfect research tree... and I fully understand that it's a very complicated web of interlocked nests in order to get such a system working, but I thought i'd just explain it here anyway.

[monkhouse]

Keeping with the 'work with what you've got' theme, I'd really like to see technologies as things that you acquire as you play the game; you recover the basics from your crash site then get more from passing traders or through random events (and exploring ruins, as has been mentioned). Once you have the tech you can research it then reproduce it and improve it over time.

So tech isn't so much on a linear curve from primitive to advanced - colonies are a mix of whatever technologies were to hand. Colony A has people cranking hand generators to keep their laser turrets online while colony B keeps its joywire autofac running full time to trade for guns and food while they negotiate with snarky merchants for the secret of hydroponics.. you get the idea. You could get a powerful tech early, or go without a basic necessity for ages, completely changing the arc of the story.

[Vastin]

In terms of adding tech levels to the game (like farming 1, farming 2, 3, 4 etc...), while it would be very easy to represent these as 10% improvements, it would add more color and complexity if many of these improvements were actually unlocking new/different crop types, or genetically engineering a crop to be more efficient in a particular way (improved grow time, improved yield per harvest, higher sell price, etc). More work obviously, but there's a lot more depth in the latter approach. You could end up pursuing crops that have are in high demand off-world as a luxury item (spices), but are a lousy food crop, and actually import your food even though you've built an agri-colony.

Which isn't to say that there can't be some completely generic (+10% to all harvest time) type techs as well, just that if that's all there is the system will never get very deep.