Research
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Research is the primary method through which players can enhance and expand the abilities of their colony. Certain buildings 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 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.
Only one research project can be actively researched at a given time, regardless of the number of research facilities available. However, you can freely switch between research projects, even if another is already underway. The progress towards finishing the research project is retained.
Research difficulty is related to your faction’s tech level. Researching techs above your level is harder. So if you’re a tribe, researching electricity will be difficult, while industrial colonies will find mastering spaceflight harder.
Research is presented in a tech tree form, with earlier research placed to the left and later research more dependent on the earlier ones placed on the right. Mods can add their own research projects; they can be manually placed, or automatically placed if not specified. Projects will be moved apart if they overlap.
Besides the main research tab, modders can add separate research tabs for their research projects, so any new research projects appear there instead.
Research Projects
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As of Beta 18, 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 | Base cost | Industrial start cost | Tribal start cost | Required Research | Required Research Bench | Required Facilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autodoors | Build autodoors which open to permit movement without slowing anyone down. | Industrial | 400 | 400 | 1200 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Batteries | Build batteries for storing electricity. (Needed for tribal starts only) | Industrial | 400 | 400 | 1200 | Electricity | 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 | 500 | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Fabrication | Build fabrication benches, capable of high-tech projects ranging from component assembly to power armor construction. | Industrial | 4000 | 4000 | 8000 | Multi-analyzer | Hi-tech research bench | Multi-analyzer |
| 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 | 500 | 500 | None | Simple | None |
| Passive cooler | Make passive coolers, a way to cool indoor spaces without using electricity. | Neolithic | 400 | 400 | 400 | None | Simple | None |
| Psychoid brewing | With preparation, psychoid leaves can be boiled in water, producing a mildly euphoric and addictive tea. | Neolithic | 400 | 400 | 400 | None | Simple | None |
| Psychite refining | Learn to refine psychoid leaves into flake and yayo, different forms of the euphoric drug psychite. | Industrial | 400 | 400 | 1200 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Bedrolls | Allows you to make bedrolls. | Neolithic | 400 | 400 | 400 | None | Simple | None |
| Beds | Allows you to build beds. (Research needed only for tribal starts) | Medieval | 500 | 500 | 1000 | None | Simple | None |
| Recurve bows | Advanced construction techniques allow for production of the recurve bow, an effective and inexpensive ranged weapon. | Neolithic | 200 | 200 | 200 | None | Simple | None
|
| Complex clothing | Sew complicated garments like pants, dusters, and cowboy hats. (Research needed only for tribal starts) | Medieval | 500 | 500 | 1000 | None | Simple | None |
| Electric cremation | Build crematoriums that can vaporize unwanted corpses. | Industrial | 500 | 500 | 1500 | Electric Smelting | Simple | None |
| Colored lights | Allows colonists to construct colored lights for decorative purposes. | Industrial | 500 | 500 | 1500 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Microelectronics basics | The basics of working with delicate, complex electronics. This unlocks the Hi-tech research bench, comms console, orbital trade beacon and other research projects like tube televisions, and cryptosleep caskets. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Shipbuilding basics | Allows you to start researching more advanced shipbuilding technologies and eventually build a ship to escape the planet. | Spacer | 1000 | 2000 | 4000 | (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 | 500 | 1500 | 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 | 500 | 1500 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Solar panels | Build solar panels for electrical generation. (Needed for tribal starts only) | Industrial | 600 | 600 | 1800 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Air conditioning | Build air conditions [sic] to cool rooms in the heat, or to keep freezers. | Industrial | 600 | 600 | 1800 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Wake-up production | Your chemists learn the formulas and techniques for synthesizing wake-up, a work performance-enhancing drug. | Industrial | 600 | 600 | 1800 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Nutrient paste | Build nutrient paste dispensers which efficiently produce edible meals from raw nutritive feedstocks. | Industrial | 600 | 600 | 1800 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Packaged survival meal | Learn to produce packaged survival meals, a preserved and sealed food that never goes bad. Great for travelling. | Industrial | 2000 | 2000 | 6000 | Nutrient paste | Simple | None |
| Hydroponics | Allows you to build hydroponics basins to rapidly grow crops indoors regardless of the terrain or weather outside. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Brewing | Allows you to build a brewery to transform hops into tasty, tasty beer. | Neolithic | 700 | 700 | 2100 | None | Simple | None |
| Smithing | Build smithies for crafting metal weapons and tools. Allows you to craft simple weapons like knives, gladii, and maces. | Medieval | 700 | 700 | 1400 | None | Simple | None |
| Long blades | Craft longswords and spears. | Medieval | 500 | 500 | 1000 | Smithing | Simple | None |
| Greatbows | Learn to produce powerful greatbows. | Medieval | 500 | 500 | 1000 | Recurve bow Smithing |
Simple | None |
| Tube television | Allows the production of tube televisions | Industrial | 800 | 800 | 2400 | 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 | 800 | 2400 | (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 | 800 | 2400 | Microelectronics basics | Hi-tech | None |
| Go-juice production | Learn to produce the synthetic combat-performance-enhancing drug go-juice. | Industrial | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | Drug production | Simple | None |
| Carpet making | Allows colonists to build carpets to increase the quality of their environments. | Medieval | 1200 | 1200 | 2400 | None | Simple | None |
| Electricity | Generate and use electricity for cooking, lighting, and other simple tasks. Only tribal starts need to research this. It unlocks power conduits, generators, wind turbines, heaters, lamps, and the electric stove. It is a prerequisite for most modern and advanced technologies. | Industrial | 1200 | 1200 | 3600 | None | Simple | None |
| Moisture pump | Allows the construction of moisture pumps, which turn wet ground dry. | Industrial | 1200 | 1200 | 3600 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Machining | Build machining tables to craft guns and machinery or disassemble dead mechanoids. | Industrial | 800 | 800 | 2400 | Smithing Electricity |
Simple | None |
| Medicine production | Produce medicine from herbal medicine, neutroamine, and cloth. | Industrial | 1500 | 1500 | 4500 | 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 | 1500 | 4500 | 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 | 1200 | 2400 | 4800 | Shipbuilding basics
Cryptosleep casket Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Explosive IEDs | Allows colonists to build improvised traps from explosive, EMP, firefoam and antigrain mortar shells. | Industrial | 1600 | 1600 | 4800 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Incendiary IEDs | Allows colonists to build incendiary explosive traps from incendiary shells. | Industrial | 1600 | 1600 | 4800 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Mortars | Learn to build mortars which can lob mortar shells long distances over walls. | Industrial | 2000 | 2000 | 6000 | Machining Electricity |
Simple | None |
| Gunsmithing | Craft simple manually operated guns like revolvers, pump shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and incendiary launchers. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Machining | Simple | None |
| Blowback operation | Craft simple semi-automatic and automatic guns like autopistols, machine pistols, and heavy SMGs. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Gunsmithing | Simple | None |
| Gas operation | Craft more advanced semi-automatic and automatic guns like chain shotguns and LMGs. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Blowback operation | Simple | None |
| Precision rifling | Craft assault rifles and sniper rifles. | Industrial | 1400 | 1400 | 4200 | Gas operation | Simple | None |
| Gun turrets | Allows the production of automated gun turrets. | Industrial | 800 | 800 | 2400 | Microelectronics basics Blowback operation |
Simple | None |
| Vitals monitor | Allows colonists to build vitals monitors which increase treatment quality if placed next to medical beds. | Industrial | 1600 | 1600 | 4800 | 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 smelter uses heat and powerful electromagnets to extract useful metal from slag chunks and other items. |
Industrial | 1700 | 1700 | 5100 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Geothermal power | Allows you to build geothermal power plants on top of steam geysers, for uninterrupted power. | Industrial | 1800 | 1800 | 5400 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Refining | Build refineries to make chemfuel from wood. | Industrial | 1200 | 1200 | 3600 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Smokepop belts | Learn to build smokepop belts which can provide an automatic defensive smokescreen. | Industrial | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | Refining Machining |
Simple | None |
| Hospital bed | Allows colonists to construct hospital beds which increase the chance of successful medical work. | Industrial | 2000 | 2000 | 6000 | (Microelectronics basics) | Hi-tech | None |
| Hydroponics | Allows you to build hydroponics basins to rapidly grow crops indoors regardless of the terrain or weather outside. | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Electricity | Simple | None |
| Cryptosleep caskets | Allows colonists to construct cryptosleep caskets, which can put living beings in a state of suspended animation. | Spacer | 1100 | 2200 | 4400 | 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 | 8000 | 16000 | 32000 | Shipbuilding basics
Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Transport pods | Construct launchable transport pods that you can use to launch people and supplies long distances across the planet's surface. | Industrial | 1100 | 1100 | 3300 | Microelectronics Basics | Hi-tech | None |
| Powered armor | Neuro-mimetic robotics and advanced plasteel weaving technologies allow you to build the power armor and power armor helmets. | Spacer | 1600 | 3200 | 6400 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Shield belt | Momentum-repulsion field technology allows you to build shield belts, which block ranged attacks coming in or going out. | Spacer | 1500 | 3000 | 6000 | 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 | 1000 | 2000 | 4000 | Microelectronics basics
(Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Multibarrel weapons | Allows you to build miniguns. | Industrial | 2100 | 2100 | 6300 | 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 | 3000 | 6000 | 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 | 4000 | 8000 | 16000 | Shipbuilding basics
(Microelectronics basics) (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Long-range mineral scanner | Allows the construction of long-range mineral scanners which automatically detect precious minerals like gold or jade in the nearby areas (but not in which the scanners were built). | Industrial | 700 | 700 | 2100 | Microelectronics basics | 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 | 7000 | 21000 | Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |
| Ship sensor cluster | Allows you to construct long-range sensors for a ship. | Spacer | 3000 | 6000 | 12000 | Shipbuilding basics Ground penetrating scanner Long-range mineral scanner Microelectronics basics (Multi-analyzer) |
Hi-tech | Multi-analyzer |