Research

Almost everything that moves the settlement forward depends on a research. Each one costs research points and usually requires one or more earlier researches — so the tree grows in chains, not in single steps.

Three kinds of research points

There is not one pool of points, but three separate ones:

• Biology
• Society
• Production

Every research belongs to exactly one of these kinds — that is its area. Even so, it is rarely paid for with just one kind.

Why late research costs several kinds

A research does not only cost its own base price, it inherits the costs of its prerequisites — including their kinds, with a small surcharge that grows with the tech level. The deeper in the tree, the more kinds and the bigger the numbers.

Taking “Basic hunting I” (area Biology) as an example:

Own base price	100 Biology
Inherits from Slingshot	100 Biology + 10 % surcharge = 110 → 210 Biology
Inherits from Basic processing I	50 Production + 10 % = 55, rounded up → 60 Production

After each of these steps the game rounds up to full tens — that is why the pages never show odd numbers. Whoever researches at the far end of the tree pays for the whole chain. Every research page lists the final total price under Research points, broken down by kind — exactly what the game asks for.

Research points are not an abstract currency, either: they are produced like goods — at the Thinking place, which is set up separately for each kind. If nothing is set up for a kind, the game reports “No research points configured” and nothing is produced.

Missions also give research points as a reward. They flow into a matching running research; leftover points are stored per kind and redeemed automatically. The research book shows the store above the research tree.

What a research unlocks

A research can unlock buildings, recipes and items at the same time. The research “Simple mineral resources”, for example, makes peat and clay usable and unlocks the Working pit, which digs up both.

Every building, recipe and item page of this wiki lists under Unlocked by which research it needs.

Tech levels

Every research belongs to a tech level. The level of a building or recipe tells you which stage of the game it belongs to — anything on Tech 1 is within reach from the very start.