Research
The faction acquires improvements and new modules through laboratory research. The research process has a determined duration based on the complexity of the technology and the capacity of the laboratory. More advanced laboratories will investigate more and more rapidly.
There is a technology tree whose first node is the basic technology, which is a good part of all knowledge of the Earth in the XXII century. From this basic technology new technologies are enabled once their requirements have been investigated.
The research process begins on the laboratory screen. From the list of available technologies (searchable because all your requirements are known) you can choose any by clicking its investigate button. If the laboratory is inactive, the investigation begins immediately. If not, you can replace the technology in process by this new one, or queue it to start once the current research has been completed.
Research time
The time it takes for a laboratory level 1 (research 1.0) is 2 ^ (level of technology) hours. That is, for a level 3 technology the research time would be 2 ^ 3 = 8 hours.
Technologies
At the end of a research process, you get the knowledge of a new technology. Each technology has certain requirements that the faction must know before starting the investigation. All technology belongs to one of the following branches:
- Armament
- Energy
- Physical
- Habitability
- Industry
- Engineering
- Propulsion
- Systems
- Troops
Each laboratory has a research capacity per branch. There are more specialized laboratories in some branches than in others.
Cancel a research project
A research project can be stopped at any time in a manual way to be replaced by another that we want to give higher priority, or can be canceled because there are insufficient funds. In either case, the technology does not lose all the progress achieved, but has a penalty of 5%.
Complete an investigation
Once an investigation has been completed by a laboratory, it will continue with the technology it has in place (if any). At the end, the laboratory sends a report notifying the completed work.
Once a technology is known, the faction benefits from the bonus, research capabilities of more advanced technologies and manufacturing of new modules.
Laboratory limit
The faction has a limit of laboratories that can be seen in the investigation screen. If this limit is exceeded, you won't be able to start new research projects. It is possible to increase this limit by investigating the technologies of Laboratories Networks.
Technology tree
The technological tree is a graphical representation of all the technologies and their distribution in zeroG Commander. It can be found in the research screen.