| Re: Does it cost to change research field? |
Tue, 31 July 2007 00:16   |
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Yes, ccmaster is correct.
The cost of each level costs an amount depending on the tech level in that field (related to fibonacci sequence IIRC) plus a modifier according to the total number of levels you have (summed across *all* fields.) The modifier is 10 times the total number of levels.
The total is then modified by the field cost (cheap 0.5, normal 1.0, expensive 1.75)
So...
Supposing I am researching con, 100 resources to go to get the next level. Let's also suppose my next level of prop also shows as 100 resources to go. Let's say con is cheap, and prop is expensive. I decide to research con and choose 'switch to prop'.
To get my level of prop, I will need to invest 218 resources - 100 for the con, then 100+17.5 for the prop, since the cost of the prop will go up after I complete the con.
I can save resources, by doing my research the other way around. If I research prop with 'switch to con', then I'll only need to spend 205 resources - 100 for the prop, then 100+5 for the con, since the modifier there is less because I have the field cheap.
If I wanted to get two levels in the follow on field, I'd need to add the modifier twice - once for each level. For example, if grabbing 2 levels of prop had shown in the research dialog as costing 500 resources, then to grab these after grabbing con, you'd need to invest a total of 100+500+17.5+17.5 = 635. I'd actually invest 636 here, to be safe, since I haven't bothered to research when Stars! charges 17 and when it charges 18 for this...
An interesting corollary to this, is that if I have several non-urgent research fields I need to get, but I don't care the order I get them... Then it's better to research the expensive ones first and the cheap ones last, since the extra incremental cost is less on the cheap fields. Of course, if you don't need to worry what order your techs come in, you probably don't care about about trying to save such a small amount of resources 
[Updated on: Tue, 31 July 2007 00:26] Report message to a moderator
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