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Science Colony


tigeriith

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I have grown to realize how important science colonys are and have been scanning the forum for information -- what I find is meager and scattered all over various other topics.

I would like to try and consolodate all the information people are willing to share in one location. Here are my questions/conceptions .

 

1) What is a science colony -- are there things other than the ten science installations and a linerar accelerator that should be in a science colony?

 

2) Need the colony be on the same orbital body as the Scientist or can it be on amore "attrition friendly" orbital in the same system?

 

3) Does the science colony influence the frequency of the hits and/or the value of the hits?

 

4) Does the level of the scientist influence the frwquency of the hits or their value.?

 

5) How much is a hit worth?

1?

2)The same as the empire"s RC value?

3) Some other value dependent on the orbital and/or the scientist level?

4) An unquantified value known only in Aurora Colorado?

 

6) Where should a scientist be located -- the example is always a cold planet next to a hot star but if that is not available are Gas giants or Asteroid belts good spots? Is the attrition values of an orbital (nearly prohibitive) a good indicator for locacating a scientist? Are Ion clouds etc. a positive influence on a scientist?

 

What am I missing?

 

Your comments on one or more of these area are appreciated. Even more would be information you are willing to share over and above thses topics.

 

Thanks in advance.

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1) Dont forget the Astronomical Observatory so 12 science installations. For security I always include the 4 intelligence complexes also and if you are really wanting to stay under the radar a planetary field distorter. A science colony is small so espionage isn't a big risk but why take any chances.

 

2) My understanding is that the colony has to be in the same system as the scientist however it can be on one planet while scientist are on several worlds through the system.

 

3) My understanding is that they would increase the frequency of hits, the bonus gained is linked to the scientist.

 

4) My understanding is that the scientist level will only affect the bonus gained but I may be wrong.

 

5) Hits can be quite beneficial, on average around 3-4 points, my results tend to suggest the hit is proportional to the science level so when a level 6 scientist gets a hit I see approximately 6 point increase for the project.

 

6) not sure on the types of planet, I always go for worlds different to my home world, my theory is the harder it would be for me to colonise the more valuable it will be for science hits.

 

Also Distance from your home world is important, the further from your home world the greater the bonus.

 

 

 

From my own experience my most advanced empire has found great success by just having lots of scientists (and only a few science colonies). If you are a Republican Technocracy with Science traditions chances are you will get a new scientist ever 1-2 turns; if you also exile other not as useful leaders in a years time you could have 20+ scientists, 2 years 30+.If you have 30 scientists ayou would expect around 5-6 hits a turn on average. thats potentially 15-20 extra research points a turn.

 

I have found that if I put about 9 research centres (generating 3 points a turn for the project) on a piece of level 4+ tech (so needs 48 points to complete) I can complete it in 2-3 turns thanks to scientist hits.

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1) Dont forget the Astronomical Observatory so 12 science installations. For security I always include the 4 intelligence complexes also and if you are really wanting to stay under the radar a planetary field distorter. A science colony is small so espionage isn't a big risk but why take any chances.

 

2) My understanding is that the colony has to be in the same system as the scientist however it can be on one planet while scientist are on several worlds through the system.

 

3) My understanding is that they would increase the frequency of hits, the bonus gained is linked to the scientist.

 

4) My understanding is that the scientist level will only affect the bonus gained but I may be wrong.

 

5) Hits can be quite beneficial, on average around 3-4 points, my results tend to suggest the hit is proportional to the science level so when a level 6 scientist gets a hit I see approximately 6 point increase for the project.

 

6) not sure on the types of planet, I always go for worlds different to my home world, my theory is the harder it would be for me to colonise the more valuable it will be for science hits.

 

Also Distance from your home world is important, the further from your home world the greater the bonus.

 

 

 

From my own experience my most advanced empire has found great success by just having lots of scientists (and only a few science colonies). If you are a Republican Technocracy with Science traditions chances are you will get a new scientist ever 1-2 turns; if you also exile other not as useful leaders in a years time you could have 20+ scientists, 2 years 30+.If you have 30 scientists ayou would expect around 5-6 hits a turn on average. thats potentially 15-20 extra research points a turn.

 

I have found that if I put about 9 research centres (generating 3 points a turn for the project) on a piece of level 4+ tech (so needs 48 points to complete) I can complete it in 2-3 turns thanks to scientist hits.

 

 

The Emperor wishes to know more about these 'hits' and 'points'. What installations are needed for these science colonies?

 

~Grand Inquisitor

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probably easier if I give you a brief overview of science as Im not sure how much you will be aware of.

 

All empires have 25 research slots which they can assign to items, for an average empire if you put:

1 slot on a item to research you would generate 1 research point each week for that item

4 slots on a item would generate 2 research points each week for that item

9 slots on a item would generate 3 research points each week for that item

16 slots on a item would generate 4 research points points each week for that item

25 slots on a item would generate 5 research points each week for that item

 

Basically the square root of the slots. However if you took all the science negatives when designing your race each slot would produce 0.8 research points (so you would need 5 slots to generate 2 points a turn, 12 to generate 3, 20 to generate 4) Or if you have taken all the positives you would produce 1.5 research points a slot (so you would need 3 slots to generate 2, 6 slots to generate 3, 11 to generate 4, 17 to generate 5, 25 to generate 6)

 

Each item has a generation level and depending on its generation level requires a number of research points to complete, in general:

level 1 generation item requires 3 points to complete (so 1 turn with 9 slots researching it or 3 turns with 1 slot researching it).

level 2 generation item requires 12 points to complete

level 3 generation item requires 27 points to complete

level 4+ generation item requires 48 points to complete

 

However to add a little more confusion just because something is MK I does not meant its level 1 generation, so for instance:

MK I Nuclear Engine - Level 1 Generation

Mk II Nuclear engine - Level 2 Generation

Both MK III Nuclear Engine and MK I Fusion Engine are Level 3 Generation

 

Hopefully still with us?

 

Each turn each Scientist has a chance of randomly contributing points to a project current being undertaken (achieving a hit). If they achieve a hit then usually the number of points they will add to the project is equivalent to there scientist level:

 

Level 1 - Scholar

Level 2 - Professor

Level 3 - Technologist

Level 4 - Academician

Level 5 - Senior Scientist

Level 6 - Master Scientist

Level 7 - Chief Scientist

 

A scientist in a system with science installations has a greater chance of having a hit that turn.

 

I tend to find that for ever 4-5 scientists you have you are likely to get 1 of them adding points to a project that turn.

 

Also items which are being researched by multiple slots are more likely to be randomly picked by the scientist if he generates a hit.

 

So for instance you are researching a level 4 item with 9 slots, it will take you 16 turns to research this (16 x 3 = 48)

however if you get 2 science hits each turn on it generating say 3-4 points a hit, that means each turn you are getting on average 10-11 points for that project, it will be done in 5 turns.

 

The science installations are:

 

Astronomical Observatory

Imperial Science Center

Science Center

Imperial Science Institute

Science Institute

Imperial Science Lab

Science Lab

Imperial Science Outpost

Science Outpost

Imperial Science Station

Science Station

Linear Accelerator

 

 

 

Hope that helps :)

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probably easier if I give you a brief overview of science as Im not sure how much you will be aware of.

 

All empires have 25 research slots which they can assign to items, for an average empire if you put:

1 slot on a item to research you would generate 1 research point each week for that item

4 slots on a item would generate 2 research points each week for that item

9 slots on a item would generate 3 research points each week for that item

16 slots on a item would generate 4 research points points each week for that item

25 slots on a item would generate 5 research points each week for that item

 

Basically the square root of the slots. However if you took all the science negatives when designing your race each slot would produce 0.8 research points (so you would need 5 slots to generate 2 points a turn, 12 to generate 3, 20 to generate 4) Or if you have taken all the positives you would produce 1.5 research points a slot (so you would need 3 slots to generate 2, 6 slots to generate 3, 11 to generate 4, 17 to generate 5, 25 to generate 6)

 

Each item has a generation level and depending on its generation level requires a number of research points to complete, in general:

level 1 generation item requires 3 points to complete (so 1 turn with 9 slots researching it or 3 turns with 1 slot researching it).

level 2 generation item requires 12 points to complete

level 3 generation item requires 27 points to complete

level 4+ generation item requires 48 points to complete

 

However to add a little more confusion just because something is MK I does not meant its level 1 generation, so for instance:

MK I Nuclear Engine - Level 1 Generation

Mk II Nuclear engine - Level 2 Generation

Both MK III Nuclear Engine and MK I Fusion Engine are Level 3 Generation

 

Hopefully still with us?

 

Each turn each Scientist has a chance of randomly contributing points to a project current being undertaken (achieving a hit). If they achieve a hit then usually the number of points they will add to the project is equivalent to there scientist level:

 

Level 1 - Scholar

Level 2 - Professor

Level 3 - Technologist

Level 4 - Academician

Level 5 - Senior Scientist

Level 6 - Master Scientist

Level 7 - Chief Scientist

 

A scientist in a system with science installations has a greater chance of having a hit that turn.

 

I tend to find that for ever 4-5 scientists you have you are likely to get 1 of them adding points to a project that turn.

 

Also items which are being researched by multiple slots are more likely to be randomly picked by the scientist if he generates a hit.

 

So for instance you are researching a level 4 item with 9 slots, it will take you 16 turns to research this (16 x 3 = 48)

however if you get 2 science hits each turn on it generating say 3-4 points a hit, that means each turn you are getting on average 10-11 points for that project, it will be done in 5 turns.

 

The science installations are:

 

Astronomical Observatory

Imperial Science Center

Science Center

Imperial Science Institute

Science Institute

Imperial Science Lab

Science Lab

Imperial Science Outpost

Science Outpost

Imperial Science Station

Science Station

Linear Accelerator

 

 

 

Hope that helps :)

 

The Emperor's science council knew of how to reach their next levels of progress but architects are not aware of these designs. Our kind, whom have phenominal intelligence, work our stations at what we believe to be 1.3 points per cycle. However we are not sure how to determine generation levels from the data we are given.

 

~Grand Inquisitor

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woops, yep El Capitan is right, I meant to put turns :)

 

Determining the generation level for items will be something you will pick-up over time, either by talking with players (alot have put together lists which list the generation of an item) and through experience.

 

Generally speaking if something has a rating of:

Poor = Level 1

Fair = Level 2

Adequate = Level 3

Good and over is at least level 4

 

For Horizon tech, if you research one horizon tech and it took 3 turns then thats level 1, the tech that leads of from that will be level 2 etc.

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Yeah, it's just something you have to get used to and it will make more sense as you open up new items. The generational level of an item is typically the level of the prereq plus 1.

 

As another example, the Mk I Lightning Arc Generator is a second generation item/weapon. Its research cost is 12 points. It's prereq is Light Beam Laser. The Light Beam Laser costs 3 pts to reseach and it has no prereqs, making it a first generation item. Anything that opens off of it will be level 2 (like the Mk I Lightning Arc Generator). Anything that opens off of the Mk I Lightning Arc Gen. would then be a 3rd gen item, etc.

 

Like Flagritz stated, you can't just go by the "Mark" number or the "Type" (as in Type A, B, C, etc.) or by the named generational stuff (like 1st Generation Cybernetics). 1st Generation Cybernetics is an advanced tech and you have to research a bunch of other techs before it will open. You have to take into consideration the number of previous levels of technology it took to get an item to open in order to determine its generational level.

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And adding a minor point, having multiple installations on a single popgroup does not generate more points or chances.

 

The Linear Accelerator is given after 3rd Generation Space Science and increases your random hits by Scientists to quite an extent

from experience with it, so it is well worth it.

 

On a Science Colony you would build all these Science Installations one time each.

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