RESEARCH.DAT

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General Information

RESEARCH.DAT contains information about all the different research projects available, including total time the research requires and the number of points awarded upon completion. It consists of 96 records, each 22 bytes long, in the following sequence:

# Title # Title # Title # Title
1 Laser Weapons 25 Examination Room 49 Muton Corpse 73 Live Snakeman Navigator
2 Motion Scanner 26 Alien Alloys 50 Floater Corpse 74 Live Snakeman Soldier
3 Medi-Kit 27 New Fighter 51 Celatid Corpse 75 Live Ethereal Commander
4 Psi-Amp 28 New Fighter-Transporter 52 Silacoid Corpse 76 Live Ethereal Leader
5 Heavy Plasma 29 Ultimate Craft 53 Chryssalid Corpse 77 Live Ethereal Engineer
6 Heavy Plasma Clip 30 Laser Pistol 54 Reaper Corpse 78 Live Ethereal Medic
7 Plasma Rifle 31 Laser Rifle 55 Sectopod Corpse 79 Live Ethereal Navigator
8 Plasma Rifle Clip 32 Heavy Laser 56 Cyberdisc Corpse 80 Live Ethereal Soldier
9 Plasma Pistol 33 Laser Cannon 57 Alien Origins 81 Live Muton Commander
10 Plasma Pistol Clip 34 Plasma Cannon 58 The Martian Solution 82 Live Muton Leader
11 Blaster Launcher 35 Fusion Missile 59 Cydonia or Bust 83 Live Muton Engineer
12 Blaster Bomb 36 Laser Defense 60 Personal Armor 84 Live Muton Medic
13 Small Launcher 37 Plasma Defense 61 Power Suit 85 Live Muton Navigator
14 Stun Bomb 38 Fusion Defense 62 Flying Suit 86 Live Muton Soldier
15 Alien Grenade 39 Grav Shield 63 Live Sectoid Commander 87 Live Floater Commander
16 Elerium-115 40 Mind Shield 64 Live Sectoid Leader 88 Live Floater Leader
17 Mind Probe 41 Psionic Laboratory 65 Live Sectoid Engineer 89 Live Floater Engineer
18 UFO Power Source 42 Hyper-Wave Decoder 66 Live Sectoid Medic 90 Live Floater Medic
19 UFO Navigation 43 (N/A) Tank/Laser Cannon* 67 Live Sectoid Navigator 91 Live Floater Navigator
20 UFO Construction 44 (N/A) Plasma Hovertank* 68 Live Sectoid Soldier 92 Live Floater Soldier
21 Alien Food 45 (N/A) Launcher Hovertank* 69 Live Snakeman Commander 93 Live Celatid Terrorist
22 Alien Reproduction 46 Sectoid Corpse 70 Live Snakeman Leader 94 Live Silacoid Terrorist
23 Alien Entertainment 47 Snakeman Corpse 71 Live Snakeman Engineer 95 Live Chryssalid Terrorist
24 Alien Surgery 48 Ethereal Corpse 72 Live Snakeman Medic 96 Live Reaper Terrorist


*NOTE: there are no entries for the Sectopod or Cyberdisc terrorists. Also, the three tank entries are not used by the game. If you hack RESEARCH.DAT to open these as research possibilities, the title of the research project will be "NOT USED."

Structure

Each record in RESEARCH.DAT consists of 22 bytes. In what follows, the hex offset is written in bold, followed by a description of the purpose of the byte(s).

00-01: The first two bytes determine the amount of time it takes to perform the research, written low-high (for example 12 34 refers to the hex number 3412).

02-04: These three bytes determine the name of the research topic as it appears on the Current Research screen in the game. The table below shows how different types of research are coded:

02 03 04 Description
00 00 00 Laser Weapons
31-3D 00 00 Alien Artifacts
41-4B 00 00 Alien Autopsy
50-58 00 00 UFO Components
00 01-0B 01-07 Live Alien
00 00 01-1d X-Com Craft and Armaments, Heavy Weapons Platforms, Base Facilities, Alien Research

Note that, for live aliens, bytes 03 and 04 determine the alien's species and rank, respectively, with the same convention as in ASTORE.DAT. Also, for Alien Autopsy researches, the second bit of byte 02 determines the species.

Also note that, in addition to determining the name of the research project for the purposes of the Current Research control screen, these bytes also determine what object, if any, needs to be on hand in order for the research to begin. Namely, if either or bytes 02 or 03 are non-zero, the research requires that the named object be in the base's stores in order for the research to be listed.


05: non-zero only for some live aliens. It's meaning is uncertain.

06: with the exception of 0B which is unique to Laser Weapons research, indicates the category in the UFOpaedia into which the topic falls: 

00 = X-Com Craft and Armament
01 = Heavy Weapons Platforms
02 = Weapons and Equipment
03 = Alien Artifacts
04 = Base Facilities
05 = Alien Life Forms (corpses)
06 = Alien Life Forms (live aliens) and Alien Research
07 = UFO Components
0B = Laser Weapons

07: determines the specific UFOpaedia entry, within each category, that the research unlocks. In the case of live aliens, this byte contains their race.

08: determines the number of points awarded when the research is completed.

09: seems to always be 00.

0A: is a boolean flag indicating, when true, that the research has been completed and cannot be repeated. For research topics that can be repeated (e.g., research on living aliens), this byte is always 00. Manually setting this byte to 01, however, does not in any way give the player credit for completing the research - it will not be unlocked in the UFOpaedia, nor will production options be made available. It is simply to prevent a topic from appearing in the list of available research topics once it has been completed.

Bytes 0B-0D are 00.

0E: a boolean value indicating whether or not the research topic requires one or more prerequisites. It is true when there is not a prerequisite.

Bytes 0F-11 are 00.

12: a boolean flag indicating that the prerequisites have been fulfilled. It is true when either the prerequisites have been satisfied or there are no prerequisites and false when there is a prerequisite which has not been met. Changing this value is a way to get around prerequisite research topics.

Bytes 13-15 are 00.

Cheats and Hacks

First, what you cannot do with RESARCH.DAT: there is no way to modify this file to instantly get credit for completing research, open UFOpaedia entries, or unlock production capabilities.

Things you can do, if you so choose:

  • Modify the time required to complete research (bytes 00-01). Note that this is the initial time, not the time remaining on research you've already started. For that, see PROJECT.DAT.
  • Modify the points you obtain by completing the research projects (byte 08).
  • Make research projects available without completing their prerequisites (byte 12).
  • Eliminate the need to possess an object (either artifact or live alien) before researching it. Warning: this one's a bit odd: change bytes 02-04 to 00 00 11. This will make "NOT USED" appear in the list of research topics (it is the name of the Laser Cannon Tank - a project not used by the game). Research "NOT USED", and once it is completed, you will have access to the UFOpaedia entry access to any research that is lower in the research tree, and access to the relevant production capabilities.

See Also

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