So, let me start out by saying that I understand researching Electronic Mechanical Engineering (the tech that decreases research cost) and the various other techs which do the same thing are needed to unlock important equipment and follow on techs. The problem is, the techs are supposed to decrease the time it takes you to research stuff in the future, and while they do, if you factor in the time it takes you to research the cost decrease techs you're actually falling behind significantly in terms of net days of research.
It works like this: a typical major starts with 4 open research slots. Thus every day, that nation generates 4 net days of research because you can research 4 techs at the same time. If you research Electronic Mechanical Engineering (EME,) it takes you 90 net days worth of research. EME decreases research costs by 2%, thus it's a simple math problem to determine how long until you break even with the 90 net days you invested in getting the tech. (x*4*0.02=90) (x is the number of days. the 4 is the number of active research slots, because you're getting the 2% bonus on four techs at a time. The 0.02 is the 2% multiplier) Work it out and you get x=1125. 1125 days!
Yeah.......... You don't break even with net research days until 3.08 years after the tech finishes. Until that day you're technically behind on research. You would have gotten other techs faster if you would never have researched EME. While this isn't terrible it isn't a benefit either. It's April of 1939 before you start seeing any sort of benefit, which means the research speed tech doesn't get you any technological edge before war breaks out, which one would think it should.
Additionally, if you calculate out the long term benefit, it's not all that great. Assuming that a player will get a fifth research slot at the start of 1938. After all costs, the player gets only 326 bonus net research days by the end of 1948. Given the cost of techs, that means you're getting 2 or 3 more techs than someone who didn't get EME. This is not much of an advantage at all. You get FAR more benefit by choosing good foci which give you research speed increases.
The next tech in the tree is Mechanical Computing which take 135 days, but it decreases time by 3% (an increase of 50% on both sides of the equation) so the time until break-even stays the same.
Another problem is that you can't tech rush because of the ahead of time penalty. You'd spend so many extra net research days getting the tech that it'd be 1945 or later before you break even.
Maybe there are some national foci for certain nations that decrease the cost of the electronic techs and make this viable? Maybe it will be changed before release. Maybe there are some related features we haven't seen which fit into this? Hard to know before we see the full game.
I think that if you research a tech that decreases your research time, you should see a benefit within 2 years, maybe even sooner. To me, the solution is to decrease the time needed to research EME and related techs. If you buff the research time decrease too much you'll end up with all techs researching too fast. The 2-3% decrease feels about correct.
It works like this: a typical major starts with 4 open research slots. Thus every day, that nation generates 4 net days of research because you can research 4 techs at the same time. If you research Electronic Mechanical Engineering (EME,) it takes you 90 net days worth of research. EME decreases research costs by 2%, thus it's a simple math problem to determine how long until you break even with the 90 net days you invested in getting the tech. (x*4*0.02=90) (x is the number of days. the 4 is the number of active research slots, because you're getting the 2% bonus on four techs at a time. The 0.02 is the 2% multiplier) Work it out and you get x=1125. 1125 days!
Yeah.......... You don't break even with net research days until 3.08 years after the tech finishes. Until that day you're technically behind on research. You would have gotten other techs faster if you would never have researched EME. While this isn't terrible it isn't a benefit either. It's April of 1939 before you start seeing any sort of benefit, which means the research speed tech doesn't get you any technological edge before war breaks out, which one would think it should.
Additionally, if you calculate out the long term benefit, it's not all that great. Assuming that a player will get a fifth research slot at the start of 1938. After all costs, the player gets only 326 bonus net research days by the end of 1948. Given the cost of techs, that means you're getting 2 or 3 more techs than someone who didn't get EME. This is not much of an advantage at all. You get FAR more benefit by choosing good foci which give you research speed increases.
The next tech in the tree is Mechanical Computing which take 135 days, but it decreases time by 3% (an increase of 50% on both sides of the equation) so the time until break-even stays the same.
Another problem is that you can't tech rush because of the ahead of time penalty. You'd spend so many extra net research days getting the tech that it'd be 1945 or later before you break even.
Maybe there are some national foci for certain nations that decrease the cost of the electronic techs and make this viable? Maybe it will be changed before release. Maybe there are some related features we haven't seen which fit into this? Hard to know before we see the full game.
I think that if you research a tech that decreases your research time, you should see a benefit within 2 years, maybe even sooner. To me, the solution is to decrease the time needed to research EME and related techs. If you buff the research time decrease too much you'll end up with all techs researching too fast. The 2-3% decrease feels about correct.
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