Hey folks,

Vlad here - senior game designer at Haemimont Games, currently surviving Mars one research rework at a time.

I hope this fourth update finds you all well. It is my turn to do one of these dev diary things, and I want to expand on something we touched on back in "Full Steam Ahead": the new Research System.

A New Way to Research

The old research system was several distinct tech fields, each with its own techs in a fixed, consecutive order. Aside from skipping the occasional tech thanks to an anomaly, and choosing which field to "rush," there were not many parameters that let you personalize your approach to fit your play style or strategy.

That is no longer the case. The new Research System is a spatial board with technologies branching in every direction. Tech fields still exist, but their implications are different now. What you get is an interconnected web of techs that connect in various ways, allowing you to highly customize your technological progress.

No research will ever happen without you personally picking the technology - more specifically, personally making the decision to research that one. A dedicated wishlist function lets you build hand-tailored lists of the techs you want.

Research and Tech Points

The way you generate research is largely unchanged: labs, sponsor, outsourcing, and so on. The difference is that this Research no longer goes toward a specific technology. Instead, it goes toward generating Tech Points. No progress is ever tied to one particular tech - only to the next Tech Point, which you can then spend to research one new tech.

If you keep a wishlist, this will feel reminiscent of the old system: queued techs get researched as each new Tech Point comes in. And if nothing is waiting in the wishlist, no problem - Tech Points can stack and wait for you to find a use for them. One Tech Point is generated, the next starts. Nothing is lost; the labs keep generating Research, and it keeps getting converted.

Here is the twist: every Tech Point costs more Research than the last. So techs become more expensive not by how far they sit from the center of the tree, but by when you get around to researching them.

Build Strategies and Trade-offs

This creates some interesting possibilities. Research runs perhaps a touch faster than it used to in the early game, so you have the freedom to come up with a build strategy, chart out your techs, and set it in motion relatively quickly - all while slowly narrowing the pool of techs you can practically afford.

Want to rush the Mohole Mine? No problem. Just be sure you have planned for the techs you ignored along the way, because the ones that play vital roles in your colony will cost more by the time you circle back to them. The system happily lets you try. Whether it works out is between you and the tech tree.

Initiatives

We are also introducing something called Initiatives. These are larger nodes on the Research Tree that represent alternative entry points rather than researchable techs. Each has conditions which, when met, unlock its adjacent techs.

This adds another layer of strategy: spend your Tech Points pushing in direction A, but gain access to direction D by dedicating resources toward meeting a specific Initiative's conditions - producing a certain amount of an advanced resource on Mars, reaching a target number of Martianborn, enacting a particular Law, and so on. Or just reach those techs the normal way and never bother with the Initiative at all. It is your strategy - I am not going to tell you what to do.

Layout and Extras

The layout is split into many clusters, connected from their various techs to techs in other clusters. Clusters belong to tech fields - now Industry, Hi-Tech, Society, MegaProjects, Logistics, Sustainability, Habitation, Space, and Terraforming.

Clusters are numbered mainly for positional reference ("okay, Fueled Extractors is in Industry IV, I can find that quickly now") rather than to chart any required research order - though higher numbers do tend to sit further out from the center of the tree. On top of that, various laws and events can boost entire fields: for example, an Industry boost makes every tech in that field refund some Research toward your next Tech Point when researched.

Breakthroughs, event-specific technologies, and techs from mysteries live in their own special trees. A button takes you there and back, or you can simply scroll your way over - your call.

Feeling overwhelmed? No problem. There is a Search feature that looks through tech names and descriptions to help you find what you need.

And last but not least, this tech tree is built with one big thing in mind: the future. There is plenty of space for new techs, new fields, new initiatives, new connections - new everything. And we are already working on plans to fill all that space.

Final Words

The new research system has genuinely opened up a lot of new ways to play. It really feels like a wealth of possibilities has suddenly become available, and we are quite happy with how it is all coming together. We cannot wait to see the builds you come up with - I am pretty sure there are hundreds of combinations we have not even thought of.

I know I do not need to remind you, but: colonists safe, colonies growing, and labs brewing!

P.S. Did I mention ~50 new techs?

Keep your colonists safe and your colonies growing until you hear from us again!

The Haemimont Team