Research goes too fast

[Michael Janus]

My dupes finish researching whole tech tree in less than 30 cycles. (Actually this is my whole base on screenshot, I haven't even finished solving early game problems, but I have just a few unlearned technologies left, which I supposedly won't need next 50-100 cycles.)  So I have all techs just near game start, which makes whole research feature meaningless(you may give them all from the start and it will make no difference).

Maybe extending research time by adding some rare or difficult-to-access resources to research cost instead of just dirt and water, and/or hiding high-level blueprints in secret rooms will fix that?

[Michael Janus]

 

Also, as I already have those nice last tier technologies, I'm gonna rush to those reed fibers and forget about things like slimelung or popped eardrums even before going to my first slime biome. That cuts off whole layer of difficulty.

[renton555]

It seems pretty obvious that the research aspect of the game is unfinished, and made intentionally fast in order to facilitate feature testing.

That said, there are a lot of valid directions that they could go with it.  I'd like to see more complexity added to the research process.  A few ideas off the top of my head:

 

- Require samples from certain biomes in order to unlock biome-related techs.

- Greatly increase the amount of time it takes to get through the tree while keeping the active dupe time constant.   In other words, implement a passive way to generate points that requires the researcher dupe to intermittently tend to it (similar to how the compost works, but perhaps taking a little longer).  This would emulate the real world where an experiment is prepared, but then needs passive time to be observed before useful conclusions can be drawn.  In game, this could be achieved by having each tech require a certain number of "active" and "passive" tech points.

- Clearly,  higher tiers of research station will be necessary for end game.  The early research station could be like it is, and only able to research the first tier of techs.  Then the super computer might require an intake pipe for water, which is essentially a prerequisite that your colony have basic plumbing.  Then the next tier of research might require liquid and gas intakes, etc.

- You could get more mileage out of the above by having the elite research tiers require two or more dupes operating different research stations in tandem in order to accrue the active points necessary.   This would require you to have a research "team", and makes sense for end game since active dupe time should be the scarcest resource.

 

[Botaxalim]

At least they change the research tree for the first time this game born

For now its prettymuch same, over and over each playthrough

The time we researched everything, we actually dont build anything from it ,  ironic and funny in sametime

[Michi01]

12 hours ago, renton555 said:

Clearly,  higher tiers of research station will be necessary for end game.  The early research station could be like it is, and only able to research the first tier of techs.  Then the super computer might require an intake pipe for water, which is essentially a prerequisite that your colony have basic plumbing.  Then the next tier of research might require liquid and gas intakes, etc.

Building a high tier research station could also require materials that are harder to get, such as plastic or refined metals.

[Coolthulhu]

Factorio did this well:

There, research isn't just a dude working/machine running, but a whole production chain of "science packs" to experiment on. It's the primary resource sink for most of the game.

[n37runn3r]

I actually like that I can choose to either do all of it upfront or assign research occasionally as I prepare to tackle each when it's soon to be relevant. Option number two works well if you like to keep your population lower. I try to keep mine to about 15 dupes for most of the game. I expand slowly but it's easier to control the base and keep illness/deaths low. Besides, the tech tree is only half completed, lots more will come out as they add more materials and new biomes.