Making R&D interesting again.

[Keroman]

 

It was mentioned in another thread that R&D is more or less just following a list of items as quickly as possible. While it's nice to get to the max research levels and start cranking out the cool stuff it really can make Science a powerhouse compared to every other department.

 

My proposal is to take the items that are used to increase research levels and have the game randomize what research levels they have at the start of a round.

 

Here's an example of a current (fictional) item vs. how it might look with my proposed change.

Current

Object: Flux Capacitor

Research Levels: 4 Engineering, 2 Bluespace

 

Proposed

Object: Flux Capacitor

Research Levels: 2-4 Engineering, 1-2 Bluespace

 

At the start of the shift the game decides which level of tech that item gives so one shift you could end up with a Flux Capacitor that gives 2 Engineering and 1 Bluespace while on another shift you have a Flux Capacitor that gives 4 Engineering and 2 Bluespace.

 

Now because RNG is a thing you can absolutely expect to have rounds where a majority of the stuff you can shove into the Destructive Analyzer rolls on the low end of research levels. To make sure that R&D is capable of being completed every shift there should be at least one item for each research category that gives the maximum level for that category. These items should be available from the protolathe once a certain research level requirement is met, but they should be COSTLY in terms of materials to discourage players from getting to the minimum required level and then spamming the max-level objects in the DA.

 

Thoughts?

 

[Tauka Usanake]

I don't think this is the solution we are looking for. I can't think of anything else though so I'll just leave this here

[Keroman]

This really was just a quick-and-dirty idea that popped into my head earlier today. I do want to hear what people think about it, good or bad, and any alternative ideas are more than welcome.

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

While I do agree that Science needs to be turned into more than just a "Follow spreadsheet, get toys" Department, I'm not sure this is the way to go.

 

Randomizing Research Levels would just make people follow the checklist anyway, then filling the gaps with whatever they can find lying around or can make in the Protolathe. If anything, it'd just make the process take a bit longer, not actually make it more complex.

 

[ProperPants]

I think the general concept seems interesting, but I don't think it's enough. I just had an idea that would probably take a huge amount of time to code, but it could also bring back Xenoarcheology in some minor form. Perhaps Xenoarch could be on its own asteroid that is a decrepit alien temple/ship? Certain alien gadgets can be found laying around and the type of tech and level they give is randomized (within a limit so you can't just find a Materials 6 gizmo on the floor). Perhaps objects found closer to the center of the temple would give higher research. This could also be linked in with exotic materials in some way (finding exotic materials as well as alien gadets?). This is a ridiculously ambitious idea, I know, but perhaps it could inspire someone who's been playing the game longer than I have to come up with a more reasonable concept.

[BiberDark]

What about the idea that items have to be constructed, not just printed. For Example Advanced Medscanner. 1 Case ../ 3 Cables / Basic Chip A+ B + T (printable) / Whelder and a microscrewdriver. Attach in the right order. This would be a bigger amount of work but would improve the fun of it.

[Earthdivine]

We do not need more RNG mechanics, we been stopping them out pretty consistantly. I personally would prefer making it so you can only scan an item once so you cant cheese with things like Syringe Guns, but R&D needs to have a complete revamp of how science levels work more then anything else.

[Keroman]

 

We do not need more RNG mechanics, we been stopping them out pretty consistantly. I personally would prefer making it so you can only scan an item once so you cant cheese with things like Syringe Guns, but R&D needs to have a complete revamp of how science levels work more then anything else.

 

I didn't realize that RNG mechanics were a no-no. Fair enough. I think what I was going for was more of a way to fix the boring repetition of "Take item>put it in the DA>Click console>Deconstruct item>Are you sure? Yup>Take next item>Repeat." If you have to actually keep track of your research levels then go through a pile of items to find the one that bumps your research levels up the the most that adds a little more challenge to the process.

 

I do like the idea that any given item can only be scanned once but, as Tully said with regards to my original post, all that will do is force players to tweak the existing list a little bit. I'd prefer an option that doesn't really allow a list to be used - one that requires a little bit of guesswork and a little extra time, but can still allow for at least a little bit of luck.

 

The Exotic Materials thread needs more love, too, because I think that's going to be another route to go: http://nanotrasen.se/forum/viewtopic.ph ... +materials