Research
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Research is the primary method through which players can enhance and expand the abilities of their colony. Certain constructions require research in order to be built.
Once a player constructs a research bench, and selects a project from the list of available research topics, a researcher (a colonist assigned to research) will work at the bench to generate research points. The rate at which points are generated depends on the researcher's skill level. Multiple research benches worked by researchers will further increase the speed at which points are generated.
As of version 0.14.1234 (15 July 2016) research difficulty is now related to your faction’s tech level. Researching techs above your level is harder. So if you’re a tribe, researching spaceflight will be difficult.
As of version 0.16.1393 (21 December 2016) research is now presented in a tech tree as opposed to a list.
Research Projects
As of Alpha 14, the following research projects are available. Prerequisite research listed in (parentheses) is not officially a prerequisite, but is required for the necessary research bench.
| Name | Description | Tech level | Cost (Research Points) | Required Research | Required Research Bench | Required Facilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonecutting | Build stonecutting tables, which allow you to refine rock chunks into stone blocks that can be used for construction. | Medieval | 300 | None | Simple | None |
| Batteries | Build batteries for storing electricity. (Needed for tribal starts only) | Industrial | 400 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Autodoors | Build autodoors which open to permit movement without slowing anyone down. | Industrial | 400 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Passive cooler | Make passive coolers, a way to cool indoor spaces without using electricity. | Neolithic | 400 | None | Simple | None |
| Psychite refining | Learn to refine psychoid leaves into flake and yayo, different forms of the euphoric drug psychite. | Industrial | 400 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Devilstrand | Allows colonists to plant devilstrand, a slow-growing mushroom which yields a valuable plant fiber (also called devilstrand) that can be used to make clothes. | Neolithic | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Pemmican | Make pemmican, a preserved mixture of meat and plant matter that doesn't go bad for a long time. Great for traveling. (Research needed only for non-tribal starts) | Neolithic | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Complex clothing | Sew complicated garments like pants, dusters, and cowboy hats. (Research needed only for tribal starts) | Medieval | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Electric cremation | Build crematoriums that can vaporize unwanted corpses. | Industrial | 500 | Electric Smelting | Simple | None |
| Colored lights | Allows colonists to construct colored lights for decorative purposes. | Industrial | 500 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Microelectronics basics | The basics of working with delicate, complex electronics. This unlocks the Hi-tech research bench, comms console, and other research projects like tube televisions, and cryptosleep caskets. | Industrial | 700 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Shipbuilding basics | Allows you to start researching more advanced shipbuilding technologies and eventually build a ship to escape the planet. | Spacer | 250 | (Microelectronics basics)
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Drug production | The basics of drug preparation and synthesis. Allows creation of the drug lab. Further research is required to make specific drugs. | Industrial | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Penoxycyline production | Learn to produce Penoxycyline which blocks against 3 diseases: malaria, sleeping sickness, and the plague. Taken every 5 days for full protection. | Industrial | 500 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Solar panels | Build solar panels for electrical generation. (Needed for tribal starts only) | Industrial | 600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Air conditioning | Build air conditions to cool rooms in the heat, or to keep freezers. | Industrial | 600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Wake-up production | Your chemists learn the formulas and techniques for synthesizing wake-up, a work performance-enhancing drug. | Industrial | 600 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Nutrient paste | Build nutrient paste dispensers which efficiently produce edible meals from raw nutritive feedstocks. | Industrial | 600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Hydroponics | Allows you to build hydroponics basins to rapidly grow crops indoors regardless of the terrain or weather outside. | Industrial | 700 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Brewing | Allows you to build a brewery to transform hops into tasty, tasty beer. | Neolithic | 700 | None | Simple | None |
| Smithing | Build smithies for crafting metal weapons and tools. | Medieval | 700 | None | Simple | None |
| Tube television | Allows the production of tube televisions | Industrial | 800 | Microelectronics basics | Simple | None |
| Gun turrets | Allows the production of automated gun turrets. | Industrial | 800 | Microelectronics basics | Simple | None |
| Firefoam | Allows the construction of firefoam poppers; fire-safety buildings which spread fire-resistant foam in response to encroaching flames. | Industrial | 800 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Multi-analyzer | Allows colonists to build multi-analyzers which increase research speed, and allow higher level research projects, if placed near a research bench. | Industrial | 800 | Microelectronics basics | Hi-tech | None |
| Go-juice production | Learn to produce the synthetic combat-performance-enhancing drug go-juice. | Industrial | 1000 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Carpet making | Allows colonists to build carpets to increase the quality of their environments. | Medieval | 1,200 | None | Simple | None |
| Electricity | Generate and use electricity for cooking and other simple tasks. (Research only needed for tribal starts) | Industrial | 1,200 | None | Simple | None |
| Moisture pump | Allows the construction of moisture pumps, which turn wet ground dry. | Industrial | 1200 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Machining | Build machining tables to craft guns and machinery or disassemble dead mechanoids. | Industrial | 1,500 | Smithing Electricity |
Simple | None |
| Medicine production | Produce medicine from herbal medicine, neutroamine, and cloth. | Industrial | 1500 | Drug production Microelectronics basics |
Hi-tech | None |
| Deep drilling | Allows you to build deep drills for extracting resources from deep underground. You'll need a ground-penetrating scanner to find the resources. | Industrial | 1500 | Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ship cryptosleep caskets | Allows you to construct ship cryptosleep caskets for transporting cryptosleeping colonists between the stars. | Spacer | 750 | Shipbuilding basics
Cryptosleep casket Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Explosive IEDs | Allows colonists to build improvised explosive device-based traps from artillery shells. | Industrial | 1,600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Incendiary IEDs | Allows colonists to build incendiary explosive traps from artillery shells. | Industrial | 1,600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Vitals monitor | Allows colonists to build vitals monitors which increase treatment quality if placed next to medical beds. | Industrial | 1,600 | Microelectronics basics
Hospital bed (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Electric smelting | Build electric smithy and smelters.
The electric smithy allows smithing items without fuel. The electric smelters uses heat and powerful electromagnets to extract useful metal from slag chunks and other items. |
Industrial | 1,700 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Geothermal power | Allows you to build geothermal power plants on top of steam geysers, for uninterrupted power. | Industrial | 1,800 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Refining | Build refineries to make chemfuel from wood. | Industrial | 1200 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Mortars | Learn to build mortars which can lob shells long distances over walls. | Industrial | 2,000 | Machining Electricity |
Simple | None |
| Hospital bed | Allows colonists to construct hospital beds which increase the chance of successful medical work. | Industrial | 2,000 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Cryptosleep caskets | Allows colonists to construct cryptosleep caskets, which can put living beings in a state of suspended animation. | Spacer | 1100 | Microelecronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ship antimatter reactor | Allows you to use an antimatter containment core to build a working antimatter reactor to power a ship. | Spacer | 1400 | Shipbuilding basics
Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Component assembly | Allows you to build the Component assembly bench, where colonists can make components from simple materials. | Industrial | 3,000 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Powered armor | Neuro-memetic robotics and advanced plasteel weaving technologies allow you to build the power armor and power armor helmets. | Spacer | 1500 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Charged shot | Understand the secrets of pulse-charged energy/projectile munitions. Allows you to build the charge rifle. | Spacer | 1500 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Multibarrel weapons | Allows you to build miniguns. | Industrial | 3,000 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ship computer core | Allows coercing an existing AI persona into a usable AI computer core for ship guidance. | Spacer | 1500 | Shipbuilding basics
Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ship antimatter propulsion | Allows you to use an antimatter containment core to construct an antimatter drive for a ship. | Spacer | 2500 | Shipbuilding basics
(Microelectronics basics) (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ground-penetrating scanner | Allows you to build ground-penetrating scanners that can detect drillable resources deep under the surface. | Industrial | 7000 | Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
Prior to Alpha 13, the following research projects were available. As of Alpha 13, some of these enteries are no longer in the game, or have different requirements.
| Name | Description | Cost (Research Points) | Research Required | Research Enabled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptosleep casket | Allows colonist to construct cryptosleep caskets, which can put living beings in a state of suspended animation. | 2000 | - | - |
| Geothermal power | Allows you to build geothermal power plants on top of steam geysers, for uninterrupted power. | 900 | - | - |
| Hydroponics | Allows you to build hydroponics tables to rapidly grow crops indoors. | 700 | - | - |
| Brewing | Allows you to build a brewery to transform hops into tasty, tasty beer. | 700 | - | - |
| Pneumatic Picks | Miner's picks are 20% more effective. | 1000 | - | - |
| Stonecutting | Build stonecutting tables, which allow you to refine rock chunks into stone blocks that can be used for construction. | 500 | - | - |
| Electric Smelting | Build electic smelters which use heat and strong electromagnets to extract useful metal from slag chunks and other items. | 1000 | - | - |
| Machining | Build machining tables to disassemble dead mechanoids into usable metal. | 1000 | - | - |
| Nutrient Resynthesis | Nutrient paste dispensers consume 10% less food per meal produced. | 350 | - | - |
| Gun Turret Cooling | Gun turrets fire four shots in a burst instead of three. | 1000 | - | - |
| Mortars | Learn to build mortars which can lob shells long distances over walls. | 1000 | - | - |
| Crematorium | Build crematoriums which can vaporize unwanted corpses. | 700 | - | - |
| Carpet Making | Allows colonists to build carpets to increase the quality of their environments. | 1000 | - | - |
| Colored Lights | Allows colonists to construct colored lights for decorative purposes. | 500 | - | - |
| Hospital Bed | Allows colonists to construct hospital beds which increase chance of successful medical work. | 1000 | - | - |
| Fertilizer Pump | Allows you to build fertilizer pumps, which can create farmable soil anywhere. (Removed as of Alpha 9) | 350 | - | - |
| Explosive IEDs | Allows colonists to build improvised explosive device-based traps from artillery shells. | 900 | - | - |
| Incendiary IEDs | Allows colonists to build incendiary explosive traps from artillery shells. | 900 | - | - |
| Shipbuilding basics | Allows you to start researching more advanced shipbuilding technologies and eventually build a ship to escape the planet. | 500 | - | Ship Cryptosleep Pods
Ship Antimatter Reactor Ship Antimatter Propulsion Ship Computer Core |
| Ship Cryptosleep Pods | Allows you to construct ship cryptosleep pods for transporting cryptosleeping colonists between the stars. | 1200 | Shipbuilding basics | - |
| Ship Antimatter Reactor | Allows you to use an antimatter containment core to build a working antimatter reactor to power a ship. | 2000 | Shipbuilding basics | - |
| Ship Antimatter Propulsion | Allows you to use an antimatter containment core to construct an antimatter drive for a ship. | 2000 | Shipbuilding basics | - |
| Ship Computer Core | Allows coercing an existing AI persona into a usable AI computer core for ship guidance. | 1200 | Shipbuilding basics | - |