Erik Rutins
Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000 From: Vermont, USA Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Brasidas2000 The reason this seems so important to me, is that in DW1 I would design specific research centers for each type (since the procedural script lumped all three research lab types in one research station design), and locate them with the appropriate scientists at an appropriate location to get the maximum research benefit. This would result in my empire uniformly outperforming it's peers in research and in building wonders and ship capabilities. The pain was after research station sizes increased, I had to manually design and upgrade each station (it was only 3). I was using the specificity of the game to optimize my research in maximizing output in all three areas because each area was completely different from each other. Understood and that was good play in DW1. Next time please just ask. I'm happy to answer questions and help explain DW2 in areas where players have concerns. quote:
Would the approach detailed previously still be valid for DW2 or is research now structured so as to make it redundant? Are research locations all equally capable across all fields in DW2 or do they retain bonuses for specific fields only? Do scientists still specialize in DW2 or are they now equally capable in all fields? Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. It's different, but also similar in that the unique bonuses matter (even more I'd say) but the tree is no longer split so the way you optimize is diffeerent. In DW2, it was a design goal to avoid "runaway" research, so you can only build research stations at research locations. Research Stations and Labs are of one type, as is your base research output (no longer split into three arbitrary sections) because everything that was in the old separated categories is now all on one combined tree with all that and more. However, each research location in DW2 has a unique research bonus. For example, you may find a location with +10% Hyperdrive Research and a different one with +20% Construction Research. You may start with +10% Construction Research from your race if you're playing as the Ackdarians. You may have a scientist who has a skill which gives +10% Hyperdrive Research. That means without those stations, you have +10% Construction Research from your race and a potential +10% Hyperdrive from a scientist. Once you build those stations, you now have +30% Construction Research and +20% Hyperdrive Research. Those bonuses increase your effective research output for the specific area and projects those bonuses apply to. Hyperdrive bonuses apply to researching new Hyperdrives, that's one sub-tree on the overall Research three. Construction bonuses apply to researching new ship and station hulls, giving you more ship roles and options as well as increasing the max size of your hulls. It also gives you better construction yards, access to some construction facilities. It also applies to StarFighter and Fighter Bay research, as well as Docking Bays. All those projects on the research tree will now get those output bonuses applied if you research them. In addition, some projects require you to reach a certain overall bonus (whether from research stations/locations, characters, artifact or facilities - all combined to a total bonus) in order to start the project. Usually around 20% is the first threshhold, then 30 or 40%, etc. There are many specialized research facilities you can build on your worlds to increase your bonus in each of the areas, for example the 1 per Empire Construction Academy, which gives +10% Construction Research and +5% Engine Research, or the 1 per Galaxy Vortigern Energy Complex, which gives +20% Reactor Research, +10% Hyperdrive Research and +10% Shields Research, or even the end-game 1 per Galaxy Galactic Science Center, which gives +20% to All Research. In addition, by default the research tree now has some variability and also you only see what the paths from your current research projects to the next ones, not beyond that. The various bonuses are clearly shown on each project as well as in a summarized bonus tab under the Research menu so that you can easily see what you have. The net result of this is that I find exploring for new research locations to be quite important, then claiming them and defending those claims to be critical. Getting your scientists onto the best research stations (as while they also have global effects, some skills will affect a specific station's output) and getting rid of bad ones while trying to protect your best ones is also important. Then choose which research facilities are the most advantageous to either reinforce your research advantage in a particular area or to fill in gaps where you can't advance your discoveries as far as you want and try to build those. Finally, Espionage and trade can be useful for unlocking or getting techs you can't otherwise get, as can salvage and reverse engineering/dismantling more advanced ships you may find. I hope that helps explain how things work in DW2. Regards, - Erik
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