Research
Research Tree
You are given Laser weapons, Medi-Kits, and Motion Scanners as research topics at the start of the game. Every subsequent research topic stems from a breakthrough in a previous research topic, or new technology picked up on the battlefield and brought back to your stores. You need scientists and laboratories to do research, 100 scientists and 2 laboratories are recommended if you can afford it. Don't forget to build the Alien Containment area!
Alien artifacts from the battlefield cannot be manufactured or used by your soldiers until research has completed.
Tip: You can sell off the item from your stores once research has started, if you need the space. The research will continue (unless you cancel the project!). Also, you get the same amount of cash, whether you've researched it or not.
Laser Weapons
Laser Weapons (tech breakthrough) | Laser Pistol | Laser Rifle | Heavy Laser | Laser Cannon (Laser Tank) | Laser Defense
Plasma Weapons
Heavy Plasma Plasma Rifle | Heavy Plasma Clip | Plasma Rifle Clip |___________| |__________| | | | | |__________OR___________| | Plasma Cannon (Hovertank/Plasma) *See Note 1 | Plasma Defense
Fusion Weapons
Blaster Launcher Blaster Bomb |___________| | Fusion Ball (Hovertank/Launcher) *See Note 2 | Fusion Ball Defense
Armor
Alien Alloys | Elerium-115 Personal Armor UFO Power Source |_____________|_________________| | | Power Suit UFO Navigation |_________________| | Flying Suit
Craft
Alien Elerium UFO UFO
Alloys 115 Power Source Navigation
|___________|___________|______________|
|
UFO Construction
|
|
New Fighter Craft
(Firestorm) *See Note 1 (Required for Hovertank/Plasma)
|
New Fighter-Transporter
(Lightning)
__________|____________
| |
Grav Shield Ultimate Craft (Avenger)
Notes
- "New Fighter Craft" required before you can build the Plasma Hovertank.
- Fusion Ball Launcher required before you can build the Launcher Hovertank.
-- from Kasey Chang's USG
Live Alien Research
Researching live aliens gives different results depending on their rank. It is very important to take certain aliens alive to finish the game. Picking your aliens becomes easier with the Mind Probe and Small Launcher, although a well-applied Stun Rod early in the game can give your tech tree a big boost. Note you not only need to have an unconscious alien when you exit the Battlescape, you also need an Alien Containment module at the base your craft returns to, or they'll die before you get any useful info.
- Any Live Alien
- Alien Soldier
- Nothing, beyond information on own species
- Alien Medic
- Species information *1
- Alien Navigator
- Alien missions (harvest, base, etc.)
- Hyper-Wave Decoder
- Alien Engineer
- UFO Types (they will show you all UFO types, not just their own)
- Alien Leader (or Commander)
- The Martian Solution
- Alien Commander
- Cydonia or Bust *2
Notes
- Alien medics can give information on species other than their own. This is the only way to gain information about "live" Cyberdiscs. Information gained about Etherals (or Sectoids) in this way will not give you access to Psionics, however.
- Commanders can be found in their Battleships, or their bases (or your bases, should they choose to attack). The USG incorrectly states that only a Commander from an alien base can be used to give access to "Cydonia or Bust", however, in practise any Commander will do - so long as The Martian Solution has already been researched. Should you research a Commander prior to this, you'll have to capture another.
Psionics
Psionic Alien | Psi Lab |_______ | | Psi-Amp Mind Shield
Endgame
Any Live Alien | Alien Origins | | Any Live Alien Leader | / The Martian Solution | | Any Live Alien Commander | / Cydonia or Bust | | Avenger | / Cydonia (mission)
-- from Kasey Chang's USG
Research Time
Here are a couple of ways to look at the time (Scientist Hours) needed to complete Research Projects: alphabetically by Project, or by increasing Hours.
Also shown is the number of Hours divided by 50 (One Lab); in other words, how many hours one lab full of 50 scientists needs to complete the Project. Two labs full of scientists would need half this time, etc. Note that the One Lab numbers are probably inaccurate because Projects probably only complete on the hour (clock hand straight up), and thus numbers should be rounded up. But decimals are still shown so you can project to multiple labs and/or see where time is "lost".
Can anyone confirm that projects only complete "on the hour" for me? Then take out my "probably"'s, this comment, etc. ---MikeTheRed 12:51, 10 Nov 2005 (PST)
Also - Where are the times for UFO types? And the End Game projects? ---MikeTheRed 12:51, 10 Nov 2005 (PST)
Yes, all research projects complete on the hour. Time to research UFO types, missions and the end game projects are not listed by the OSG. --Zombie 15:41, 10 Nov 2005 (PST)
Research Time, Alphabetically by Project
Hours One Lab Research Project 150 3.0 Alien Abduction 400 8.0 Alien Alloys 150 3.0 Alien Entertainment 150 3.0 Alien Food 200 4.0 Alien Grenade 150 3.0 Alien Reproduction 150 3.0 Alien Surgery 300 6.0 Blaster Bomb 900 18.0 Blaster Launcher 880 17.6 Craft Fusion Ball Launcher 420 8.4 Craft Laser Cannon 660 13.2 Craft Plasma Beam 450 9.0 Elerium-115 330 6.6 Flying Suit 800 16.0 Fusion Defenses 930 18.6 Grav Shield 460 9.2 Heavy Laser 800 16.0 Heavy Plasma 400 8.0 Heavy Plasma Clip 670 13.4 Hyper-Wave Decoder 510 10.2 Laser Defenses 100 2.0 Laser Pistol 300 6.0 Laser Rifle 50 1.0 Laser Weapons 210 4.2 Medi-Kit 600 12.0 Mind Probe 360 7.2 Mind Shield 180 3.6 Motion Scanner 600 12.0 New Fighter Craft (Firestorm) 700 14.0 New Fighter-Transporter (Lightning) 180 3.6 Personal Armor 620 12.4 Plasma Defenses 600 12.0 Plasma Pistol 400 8.0 Plasma Pistol Clip 700 14.0 Plasma Rifle 400 8.0 Plasma Rifle Clip 205 4.1 Power Suit 500 10.0 Psi-Amp 420 8.4 Psi-Lab 550 11.0 Small Launcher 180 3.6 Stun Bomb 250 5.0 Tank/Laser Cannon 450 9.0 UFO Construction 450 9.0 UFO Navigation 450 9.0 UFO Power Source 900 18.0 Ultimate Craft (Avenger)
Research Time, by Hours Needed
Hours One Lab Research Project 50 1.0 Laser Weapons 100 2.0 Laser Pistol 150 3.0 Alien Food 150 3.0 Alien Reproduction 150 3.0 Alien Entertainment 150 3.0 Alien Surgery 150 3.0 Alien Abduction 180 3.6 Motion Scanner 180 3.6 Personal Armor 180 3.6 Stun Bomb 200 4.0 Alien Grenade 205 4.1 Power Suit 210 4.2 Medi-Kit 250 5.0 Tank/Laser Cannon 300 6.0 Laser Rifle 300 6.0 Blaster Bomb 330 6.6 Flying Suit 360 7.2 Mind Shield 400 8.0 Heavy Plasma Clip 400 8.0 Plasma Rifle Clip 400 8.0 Plasma Pistol Clip 400 8.0 Alien Alloys 420 8.4 Craft Laser Cannon 420 8.4 Psi-Lab 450 9.0 Elerium-115 450 9.0 UFO Power Source 450 9.0 UFO Navigation 450 9.0 UFO Construction 460 9.2 Heavy Laser 500 10.0 Psi-Amp 510 10.2 Laser Defenses 550 11.0 Small Launcher 600 12.0 Plasma Pistol 600 12.0 Mind Probe 600 12.0 New Fighter Craft (Firestorm) 620 12.4 Plasma Defenses 660 13.2 Craft Plasma Beam 670 13.4 Hyper-Wave Decoder 700 14.0 Plasma Rifle 700 14.0 New Fighter-Transporter (Lightning) 800 16.0 Heavy Plasma 800 16.0 Fusion Defenses 880 17.6 Craft Fusion Ball Launcher 900 18.0 Blaster Launcher 900 18.0 Ultimate Craft (Avenger) 930 18.6 Grav Shield
Total Research Time
The total time needed for all Projects is 20,215 Hours. This can be broken out by hours, days, and weeks, for 1 person, 1 lab, 2 labs, etc. Numbers for each project were rounded up (due to Projects only ending "on the hour") relative to the number of scientists within each column, where applicable:
Scientists
1 50 100 150 200
Hours 20,215 414 217 151 120
Days 842 17.3 9.04 6.29 5.00
Weeks 120 2.46 1.29 0.90 0.71
As can be seen, one lab can do plenty of work, and having more than two is not particularly productive - three labs only saves three days, versus two labs.
Also note that rounding up hours to the next on-the-hour is not an entirely trivial thing, particularly as more and more labs are used... the "120" for four labs would have needed only 101.1 hours (84% of the time), if Projects were not rounded up. Another strike against a huge research facility.