Science and Technology[ | ]
Each science facility you build at your stars contributes one point of research towards your chosen technology each hour. Build more science facilities at your stars to develop new tech faster.
You should coordinate with your allies and trade your technical discoveries.
Technology Inspector
View your progress and change your research topic on the Technology Inspector. Keyboard Shortcut T
There are a number technologies you can research. Not all technologies will be available in every game, and in user created games players will be able to adjust how much influence a tech has on a game.
To choose a technology to research, simply select it in the drop down menu. You can also choose a technology to switch to once the current topic is complete.
You can only research one topic at once
Research points are only distributed to technologies at the end of the whole next hour on the production clock.
If you receive a technical advance from an ally, any research points you have already invested in that tech are lost.
Below is a list of all technologies with their default settings.
Weapons[ | ]
Ships deal X damage each round of combat where X is weapons tech level.
Weapons determine how much damage you deal and your effectiveness in combat. The damage dealt in each round of combat is not affected by the number of ships participating in that combat. In other words, a single ship will deal as much damage in one round of combat as twenty ships will.
Banking[ | ]
On production, earn an additional X*$75 where X is banking tech level.
Banking allows you to make money, regardless of the infrastructure on your stars.
Manufacturing[ | ]
A star produces Y*(X+5) ships every 24 hours where X is your manufacturing tech level and Y is the amount of industry at a star.
Ships are the strength of your army. The faster they are produced, the stronger you will be.
Terraforming[ | ]
All your stars natural resources are improved to (X*5)+Y where X terraforming level tech and Y is the stars natural state.
Increasing the natural resources of stars reduces the cost of building infrastructure. This means you can afford to build more, or use you cash elsewhere. Terraforming is especially important for empires which have run out of space to expand.
Hyperspace[ | ]
Carriers may make hyperspace jumps up to X+3 light years where X is hyperspace tech level.
Making fewer jumps means your carriers can reach their destination faster. High levels of hyperspace research will also allow you to reach stars that you may not otherwise be able to reach and can even be used to bypass enemy defenses. The distance a carrier can travel from a selected star is represented by a wavy, solid circle on the galaxy map.
Unlike some areas of research, hyperspace research tends to cap in effectiveness after a certain point; being able to jump halfway across the galaxy isn't usually worth the time it takes to reach the tech level necessary to accomplish such a feat.
Experimentation[ | ]
At the end of every production cycle, your scientists will conduct experiments that will unlock X*72 points of research in a random technology where X is your experimentation tech level.
Experimentation is a great way to boost your overall tech advancement without focusing on a single area of research. Rank 2 of research will give you 144 points of research per production cycle -- enough to reach rank 2 of any other technology in a standard game -- experimentation is a good tech for a brand new space empire to begin their research with.
Scanning[ | ]
Stars may scan the infrastructure and strength of enemy fleets and stars up to X+2 light years where X is scanning tech level.
Being able to see your enemy infrastructure and ship movements is vital. It a