EDIT: This guide is very out of date on deconstruction levels.
What is Research and Development?
Research and Development is an important part of the Science division that is accessed by Scientists and the Research Director. The job is centered around the three machines and the computer console in the room and the Autolathe in the corner. You'll be needing friends in other divisions, so hope your colleagues don't make any of them mad, or worse, kill them.
The Tools of The Trade
The main machine you will be dealing with is the Destructive Analyzer , which is used to deconstruct an item and process the integrity of it's make, or upgrade a Research level for laymans terms. The second one is the Protolathe , which lets you create the new gadgets and gizmos that you research, but it requires alot of materials to make some of them. Lastly, but still very important, is the Circuit Imprinter , which is also found in the Robotics Lab. The Circut imprinter is used to make many of the circuit's used in the construction of Machines and Computers, but also in the construction of the ASPU Mechs that Robotics love to make so much. But all of these can't be used without the Core R&D Console, which links up to all three machines and lets you operate each and every one from it. It also tells you the current research levels that your at, so you can monitor what you should destroy and what to keep.
These being the tools of you trade, you need to set them up before they can be used. First, you need to go to the R&D Console and go to Settings and you'll see 5 new commands.
Sync Database with Network: Use this to sync your findings to the rest of the station. Use this often and do NOT forget to use it, you'll be Robotics very sad if you do
Disconnect from Research network: This will disconnect the computer from the Network and keep what you find to yourself. This doesn't have much use outside of greifing and Antags.
Device Linkage Menu: This is what your looking for. Clicking this brings up a menu that shows what machines are being controlled by this computer. You need to sync them to it before you can start using your toys.
Lock Console: Utterly useless. You cant access the console without proper clearance and anyone who DOES have clearance can just unlock it. Ignore this one.
Reset R&D Database: Use this to swipe clean what you have amassed in your Research Levels. Only good for experimentation or just Antags
After you link up the machines, its time to do what your being paid for:
DESTROY! DESTROY!
Alright now that you know what tools you will be using, time to get onto the juicy part. What tools you WON'T be using. To use the Destructive Analyzer, first you need to:
1. put the item you want to destroy in your selected hand
2. click on the Analyzer
Pretty simple, right?. After you placed an item into the machine, go to the computer and click Deconstructive Analyzer Menu. Clicking it will tell you what item is currently loaded into it. It will also give a list of what Origin Tech levels it gives. These are what you need to pay attention to. There's now two buttons, Deconstruct and Eject. Both do what they say. So lets give it a whirl and Deconstruct what ever is in there. You'll get a confirmation message and see the item in it go away. Congrats, you furthered research for the station!
But how would you know if the item in there would actually help your Research levels?
- If current Research level is Greater then the Origin Tech level, it wont jack squat and you just lose a very important item
- If current Research level is Lower or Equal to the Origin Tech level, it will increase the Research level by 1 and 1 only. Just because one is at Level 1 and you shove a level 4 in there doesn't mean you get to level 4 instantly. You would need 3 of those items to get there
At the end of the explanation i will put a list of what can be deconstructed and at what Level, but for now, we go to your next tool.
Playing with your prototypes
The next machine you will be working with is the Protolathe, which makes the prototypes you unlock through your levels. You'll access it through the Protolathe Menu. Inside you will find a list of what you can make. In order to make any of these, you need the materials. Most of the time you will need Glass or Metal, which are found on the desk above you. Hold them in your hand and click the Protolathe, which will then ask how many you want to deposit. Most of the time when you grab Metal or Glass around the station it has 50 sheets on it by default. Usually deposit 30 Metal into the protolathe and only 20 Glass for the beginning. You will need Gold, Plasma, Uranium and other good stuff for the higher items of research, though. Some items also come out locked and need proper clearance to open them, as well.
How to make Robotics love you
Now we get to the last one, the Circuit Imprinter. The Circuit imprinter doesn't use Metal, but it does use Glass, so use 20 of what you have left on the Circuit Imprinter and place the rest of the Metal and Glass into the Autolathe. Head back and grab the beaker you see, it contain SULFURIC ACID! DO NOT SPILL IT! Circuit require both the acid and the glass to be formed, so carefully pour the mixture into the Imprinter. If you need more, go bug the Medbay's Chemist for a refill or a bigger Beaker of it. You get into the Circuit Imprinter the same you do the Protolathe, by clicking the Circuit Imprinter menu button. You'll see a long list of circuits that may make your head spin, don't worry about them. Engineering and Robotics will use this more then you would and if you do, its usually to deconstruct it immediately.
Research Levels and you
Now that you know what your doing, here's a list of what you can deconstruct and what levels it would give. The list was taken from the /tg/Station wiki but ill get to cleaning it up later if needed.
Materials Research
Summary: Development of new and improved materials."
Level 1: legcuffs, console screen, manipulator, matter bin, glass, sandstone, metal, wood, cardboard, match, handcuffs, kitchen knife, wrench, wirecutters, log, pickaxe, shovel, L6 SAW, double barrel shotgun, surgical drill, cautery, hemostat, retractor, scapel, circular saw.
Level 2: hatchet, scythe, subspace ansible, subspace amplifier, subspace treatment, subspace analyzer, subspace crystal, Ripley parts, Gygax parts, Odysseus parts, light replacer, reinforced glass, leather, plasma, plasteel, cloth, RCD, compressed matter cartridge, riot shield, flashbang grenade, mining drill, paralysis pen, revolver, floral somatoray, submachine gun, uzi, C20r, silenced pistol, Stechtkin pistol, Mateba, pump/combat shotgun, EMP grenade.
Level 3: nano manipulator, advanced matter bin, subspace transmitter, subspace treatment disk, Durand parts, Mech Syringe Gun, Mech Armor Booster Module (Close Combat Weaponry), Mech eZ-13 mk2 Heavy pulse rifle, silver, silver pickaxe, sonic jackhammer, laser cannon, stun revolver, xray laser gun, chem sprayer.
Level 4: super capacitor, soul stone shard, diamond drill, mech mounted RCD, Mech Armor Booster Module (Ranged Weaponry), inteliCard, gold, bananium, 'Safeguard' AI module, 'ProtectStation' AI Module, 'PrototypeEngineOffline' AI Module, 'TeleporterOffline' AI Module, 'Quarantine' AI Module, 'OxygenIsToxicToHumans' AI Module, 'Freeform' AI Module, 'Reset' AI Module, 'Asimov' Core AI Module, 'Corporate' Core AI Module, energy combat shield, golden pickaxe, plasma cutter, biological demolecularisor, temperature gun.
Level 5: pico manipulator, super matter bin, Durand armour plates, Phazon parts, uranium, advanced energy gun.
Level 6: Gygax armour plates, diamond, 'OneHuman' AI Module, 'Purge' AI Module, 'P.A.L.A.D.I.N.' Core AI Module, 'T.Y.R.A.N.T.' Core AI Module, 'Freeform' Core AI Module, hacked AI Module, diamond drill, diamond pickaxe.
Level 7: Phazon torso, Phazon chassis.
Engineering Research
Summary: Development of new and improved engineering techniques.
Level 1: Mech plasma converter, multitool, T-ray scanner, analyzer, wrench, wirecutters, welding tool, crowbar, pickaxe, shovel, airlock painter.
Level 2: Circuit board (Destructive Analyzer, Autolathe, Circuit Imprinter, Protolathe, Subspace Receiver, Hub Mainframe, Relay Mainframe, Bus Mainframe, Processor Unit, Telecommunication Server, Subspace Broadcaster), Ripley parts, Odysseus parts, industrial welding tool, Optical Meson Scanner, mining drill, sonic jackhammer.
Level 3: Circuit Board (PACMAN-type Generator, Exosuit Fabricator), diamond drill, Mech ExoNuclear Reactor, upgraded welding tool, Optical Material Scanner, plasma cutter, Gygax parts, Durand parts, chem sprayer.
Level 4: Circuit Board (SUPERPACMAN-type Generator), RCD, experimental welding tool, diamond pickaxe.
Level 5: Circuit Board (MRSPACMAN-type Generator), Gygax armour plates, Durand armour plates, diamond drill.
Plasma Research
Summary: Research into the mysterious substance colloqually known as plasma
Level 1: flamethrower.
Level 2: plasma, Mech plasma converter.
Level 3: Circuit Board (PACMAN-type Generator), plasma cutter.
'Blue-space' Research
Summary: Research into the sub-reality known as 'blue-space'
Level 1: subspace ansible, tracking beacon, subspace amplifier, subspace treatment disk, subspace wavelength analyzer, ansible crystal, circuit board (Subspace Receiver, Subspace Broadcaster), suspicious beacon.
Level 2: Circuit Board (Relay Mainframe, Teleporter), subspace transmitter, Phazon arms, mech gravitational catapult.
Level 3: hand tele, blue-space tomato, Phazon legs, mech mounted RCD, mech wormhole generator.
Level 4: teleporter scroll, bag of holding, soul stone shard.
Level 5:
Level 6: Phazon torso.
Level 7:
Level 8:
Level 9:
Level 10: mech teleporter.
Biological Technology
Summary: Research into the deeper mysteries of life and organic substances
.
Level 1: health analyzer, bruise pack, ointment, wood, grass, plant analyzer, scapel, circular saw, surgical drill, retractor, hemostat, cautery, surgical drapes.
Level 2: Circuit board (Cloning Scanner, AI core, PanD.E.M.I.C. 2200, DNA Machine, Crew monitoring computer, Operating Computer, AI Integrity Restorer), syntiflesh, Ripley torso, Odysseus torso, mass spectrometer, advanced mass spectrometer, 'Quarantine' AI Module, 'OxygenIsToxicToHumans' AI Module, health scanner HUD.
Level 3: Circuit board (Clone Pod, Cloning), Gygax torso, Durand torso, mech mounted sleeper, brain, MMI, floral somatoray.
Level 4: mech Syringe Gun, slime extract, charged slime core, radio-enabled MMI.
Level 5:
Level 6:
Level 7: Alien Brain
Power Manipulation Technology
Summary: The various technologies behind the storage and generation of electicity.
Level 1: capacitor, power cell, potato battery.
Level 2: Circuit board (Solar Control), mech plasma converter, high-capacity power cell, charged slime core, sonic jackhammer, stun revolver.
Level 3: Circuit Board (PACMAN-type Generator, Mech Bay Power Control Console), advanced capacitor, mech ExoNuclear Reactor, powersink, mining drill, laser cannon, advanced energy gun, floral somatoray, temperature gun, biological demolecularisor.
Level 4: Circuit Board (SUPERPACMAN-type Generator), mech mounted RCD, mech eZ-13 mk2 Heavy pulse rifle, diamond drill.
Level 5: Circuit Board (MRSPACMAN-type Generator), super-capacity power cell, super capacitor.
Level 6: Phazon torso, hyper-capacity power cell.
Electromagnetic Spectrum Research
Summary: Research into the electromagnetic spectrum. No clue how they actually work, though.
Level 1: station-bounced radio, scanning module, micro-laser, hyperwave filter, subspace treatment disk, crew monitor circuit, multitool, health analyzer, T-ray scanner, analyzer, locator, hand tele, igniter, proximity sensor, signaler, timer, plant analyzer, assembly, remote signaling device.
Level 2: subspace amplifier, subspace wavelength analyzer, ansible crystal, Circuit board (destructive analyzer, communications, crew monitoring computer), exosuit tracking beacon, gygax head, Phazon arms, synthetic flash, flash, mass-spectrometer, emag, infrared emitter, Optical Meson Scanner, night vision goggles, laser gun, laser tag guns, energy gun, mini energy crossbow, temperature gun, xray laser gun.
Level 3: advanced scanning module, high-power micro-laser, subspace ansible, subspace transmitter, Gygax head, Durand head, Phazon legs, mech gravitational catapult, mech repair droid, light replacer, energy combat shield, EMP grenade, energy sword, double-bladed energy sword, Optical Material Scanner, Optical Thermal Scanner, Optical Meson Scanner, simple HUDs, mind batterer, cloaking device.
Level 4: Mech Syringe Gun, mech mounted RCD, mech energy relay, chameleon projector, advanced mass-spectrometer, ion rifle, delivery grenades.
Level 5: phasic scanning module, ultra-high-power micro-laser.
Level 6: Phazon head.
Data Theory Research
Summary: The development of new computer and artificial intelligence and data storage systems.
Level 1: micro manipulator, Circuit board (Arcade).
Level 2: Circuit board (destructive analyzer, autolathe, protolathe, circuit imprinter, cloning scanner, subspace receiver, hub mainframe, relay mainframe, bus mainframe, processor unit, telecommunication server, PanD.E.M.I.C. 2200, DNA machine, communications, teleporter, solar control, mech bay power console, supply ordering console, operating computer, outpost status display, mining shuttle, area air control, prison shuttle), stock circuit board, nano manipulator, pico manipulator, subspace ansible, hyperwave filter, subspace amplifier, subspace treatment disk, subspace wavelength analyzer, mech exosuit tracking beacon, Ripley parts, Gygax parts, Durand parts, Odysseus parts, mech mounted sleeper, paI device, stock mecha part.
Level 3: Circuit board (PACMAN-type Generator, SUPERPACMAN-type Generator, MRSPACMAN-type Generator, R&D Server, exosuit fabricator, clone pod, message monitor, robotics control, cloning, crew monitoring computer, suply shuttle console, telecommunications monitor, telecommunications Server Monitor, telecommunications Traffic Control, AI Integrity Restorer, exosuit, H.O.N.K Central Control module), mech power circuit, supply computer circuit, Odysseus head, Odysseus circuits, Ripley circuits, mech Syringe Gun, mech repair droid, AI Module, 'Safeguard' AI Module, 'OneHuman' AI Module, 'ProtectStation' AI Module, 'PrototypeEngineOffline' AI Module, 'TeleporterOffline' AI Module, 'Quarantine' AI Module,'OxygenIsToxicToHumans' AI Module, 'Reset' AI Module, 'Purge' AI Module, 'Asimov' Core AI Module, 'Corporate' Core AI Module, 'P.A.L.A.D.I.N.' Core AI Module, 'T.Y.R.A.N.T.' Core AI Module, 'Freeform' Core AI Module, hacked AI Module.
Level 4: Circuit board (Holodeck Control, AI core, AI Upload, Cyborg Upload, Holodeck Control), Phazon head, Gygax circuits, Durand circuits, inteliCard, 'Freeform' AI Module, 'Robocop' Core AI Module, 'Antimov' Core AI Module.
Level 5: Phazon torso.
Illegal Technologies Research
Summary: The study of technologies that violate Nanotrassen regulations.
Level 1: suspicious looking toolbox.
Level 2: L6 SAW, Stechtkin pistol, mech energy relay, 'T.Y.R.A.N.T.' Core AI Module, emag, c4, xray laser gun.
Level 3: chameleon jumpsuit ('black jumpsuit'), syndicate shoes ('brown shoes'), syndicate/binary encryption key, agent card, mind batterer.
Level 4: Optical Meson Scanner, voice mask ('gas mask'), chameleon projector, energy combat shield, energy sword, double-bladed energy sword, cloaking device, carp/manhack delivery grenade.
Level 5: paralysis pen, mini energy-crossbow, power sink, sleepy pen.
Level 6:
Level 7: singularity beacon ('suspicious beacon'), hacked AI Module.
Level 8: uzi, C20r, silenced pistol.
Combat Systems Research
Summary: The development of offensive and defensive systems.
Level 1: hatchet, synthetic flash, flash, flamethrower, flashbang, toolbox, nettle, mouse trap, lasertag guns, gun.
Level 2: scythe, stun baton, 9mm ammo, .762 ammo, .50 ammo, 12mm, .45, revolver, ion rifle, mini energy crossbow, silenced pistol, stechtkin pistol, mateba, revolver, russian revolver.
Level 3: mech energy weapon, large chem grenade, energy axe, death nettle, laser gun, energy gun, advanced energy gun, stun revolver, temperature gun, double barrel shotgun, gyrojet pistol, chem sprayer, mind batterer.
Level 4: Gygax armour plates, Durand armour, circuit board (Gygax Weapon Control and Targeting module, Durand Weapon Control and Targeting module), chain of command, laser cannon, submachine gun, pump action shotgun.
Level 5: uzi, C20r, L6 SAW, combat shotgun, xray laser gun, biological demolecularisor, singularity hammer, Mjollnir.
Level 6: mech eZ-13 mk2 Heavy pulse rifle.
As for the list of what you make out of your findings, the station we run doesn't have a complete list so i will have to compile that manually when i get a chance
Research and Development and Antags
So your a nasty Antag and have access to R&D. Congrats, you have access to some of the most lethal weaponry and equipment in the game. Unfortunately, using any of it instantly gives you away and you need a lot of tech levels to access them, losing precious time and your targets might be out of your reach by then.
Tips and tricks to aid ones life
-at the start of the round, bug the Robotics Bay for 3 syringe Guns. If they're nice or know what your doing, they will hand them over gladly. Doing this will put many of your research at Stage 4 and unlock most of the Circuits Robotics will be needing, allowing them to work without worry of asking Cargo for things.
- Blue Space is the Telecomms station, accessed by the Teleporter room beneath the captains office. Normally you can only get up to Tech 4 with this stuff though, and anything they make usually uses Diamonds.
- Throw those two High Capacity cells on the table into the Analyzer as soon as possible, they unlock Super-Capacity Cells early and the Borgs of the station will love you for it.
-For some reason, some items you can make from the Protolathe can't be put into the Analyzer, but getting them from another source allows you to shove them in there. Watch what you spend your metal on because of this.
