GUIDE: How to R&D like a pro

[Timrod]

I play RD a lot, and I always see people screwing it up. This is a guide on my method of R&D.

http://pastebin.com/aLQL9fCz

[Vekter]

The 5 gun path keeps you from having to loot half of tech storage and saves on gold and acid.

[Mandurrrh]

You're doing too much. Everything you need is in science. The only things you need to get outside of science are silver from cargo(upgrading medbay to autocloners when done), two upload boards(paladin and tyrant), and acid from chem. If you are on meta chem can even throw you the acid so you dont have to go anywhere. Heres my guide http://pastebin.com/1XMmXjSH.

[Bluespace]

muh guide
http://pastebin.com/AZYDwVMT

[imblyings]

>people posting these guides
>dumber people follow these guides like a bible and get pissy when you do something different in game or tell them they're wrong

I can understand people following guides but true space men check the code/experiment.

This guide is also completely possible for a roboticist to follow and it's kind of catered towards them because unlike other guides, it asks robotics to print off the bare minimum from their fabs. It's a pretty cheap guide. You also don't need to break apart any machine nor deconstruct something valuable like hand teles. At most you'll need to run to tech storage to get the intellicard or break into the rd's office to get his.

this is from memory so it might be a bit rusty

>get toolbox
>deconstruct analyzer, gives you electromag 2, pretty sure it gives you engineering 2
>make stun prod and flamethrower using two rods, a welder and wirecutters and cable cuffs, no tank needed for the flamethrower
>decon the flamethrower then stun prod. Gives you combat 2 and plasma 2, then combat 3
>chuck in a micro manipulator, this gives you materials 2 and data 2
>chuck in a tracking beacon for bluespace 2
>chuck in two high cap cells for power 2 then 3
>make mesons for engineering 3
>make pAI for data theory 3
>make mining drill for materials 3 and power 4
>print off an exosuit fab board, decon it for data 4 and engineering 4
>make advanced matter bin and decon for materials 4
>steal the rd's intellicard because he's a nerd or break into tech storage and take the intellicard and gloves if they're there
>decon that for materials 5 and data 5
>sync to robotics

at this point you can make pico manipulators and super matter bins and hipower lasers

upgrade all your shit

>ask robotics for ONE syringe gun, ONE mech taser, TWO super caps, ONE grav catapult
>you don't literally need anything else for your first request.

>decon taser for weapons 4
>get durand/gygax board for weapons 5
>bribe cargo with upgrade parts or something for a combat shotgun for combat 6 for xray lasers
>decon two super caps for power 5 then power 6
>decon grav catapult for bluespace 3 and electro 4
>decon syringe gun for electro 5
sync with robotics, ask them for a wormhole gen, decon that for bluespace 4

>make SMES board, two of them, for engineering 5 then engineering 6. Not sure if you can skip deconning two super caps before making SMES boards to do power and engineering in one go but guides are shit mine included so the best thing for you to do here is to find out a more efficient way yourself.

>steal/lie/cheat your way into the ai upload for the freeform core and paladin core modules. Decon both for materials 7 because >mining >ever working

if mining ever shows up

>make boh, decon for bluespace 5
>make hypercap cell from robotics for power 7

for med research there are a few ways you can go about things
>if robotics is having a slow day, just take all their shitty normal mmis, decon all of them for med 4. That's okay because if you've done the rest of your research, you can then make radio enabled mmis for robotics and they can make them too on their fabs.
>if robotics are using them, snag a health analyzer from somewhere. Decon that for med 2. Make a medhud for med 3. Make a mmi for med 4 (might need to upgrade your deconstructive analyzer or use a fab-made mmi). Make a radio enabled mmi or just use a mech syringe gun for med 5. You can also just spam used slime cores which is real neato because assuming xenobio is working, they throw out used slime cores by the dozen.

I'm pretty sure illegal tech is useless but if you like seeing larger numbers, just spam energy relays when mining comes by with minerals

I have a feeling fully upgraded deconstructive analyzers can also analyze ultra-power micro lasers/phasic sensors, which means you can get electro 6.

edit I forgot about plasma research. Once you've done the flamethrower you have plasma 2. Chuck in a sheet of plasma for plasma 3. Chuck in a PACMAN board for plasma 4.

Should you ever reach a point where you've upgraded everything, consider sharing the love. RD now has a ton of useful things to do. Give out advanced mesons, upgrade medbay, upgrade the cargo autolathe, set up additional cloners, set up RDconsole/protolathe setups in cargo/brig ecetera.

[paprika]

>Using guides for RND
>people unironically deconstructing the intellicard for mat 5 when they can decon uranium from mining or AI lawset boards instead

We have so many guides to finish RnD quickly yet nobody does it.

[miggles]

uranium and lawset boards both require miners delivering
or getting the ai to let you into the upload
the likeliness of either is laughable

[paprika]

Not if the AI depowers the upload computers but
>AI players
>Not retarded

So fair enough

[Mandurrrh]

uranium and lawset boards both require miners delivering
or getting the ai to let you into the upload
the likeliness of either is laughable

I never have a problem getting boards from the upload. I must get lucky with the AIs. Or there is no AI. Either way. Miners may never come but you can still max research.

I figured out and wrote my own guide so I dont really feel that bad for using it or asking scientists too when Im robotics because I want those upgrades quick.

[miggles]

>people posting these guides
>dumber people follow these guides like a bible and get pissy when you do something different in game or tell them they're wrong

this is really annoying and people have berated me before for "fucking up research" when all i did was research some basic shit like analyzers and flamethrowers

[paprika]

The guide meta around RnD is a result of RnD being fucking uninteresting. Throw random shit in the DA and waste items/time, or follow a guide and get to max in 5 minutes? There's no luck or skill element in RnD and that's why it's shit. Virology and Genetics are both top tier departments because of their luck and skill element and they can get their work done fast without it being boring as fuck most of the time unless you do it every shift. RnD is boring after one shift. There's no 'research', it's following a flow chart or a lego instruction manual. Virology and genetics are more about research than fucking RnD.

[Incomptinence]

Xenobio slime farmers and botanists do more research than R&D even.

[imblyings]

hold up

RnD isn't about research. That's not actually the point. Think of the actual research part of RnD as a barrier test to keep out illiterate or lazy faggots. The actual job part of RnD is to upgrade machines around the station, build new ones and make new protolathe items. That's their actual job, not research. When you look at it this way, research being easy makes sense. Why would you make it hard for someone to do their actual job right?

[paprika]

Because upgrading machines is still incredibly tedious and also if RnD is a barrier to keep out illiterate or lazy faggots why is it so fucking easy? There's guides that show you how to do it in 10 minutes, how is that some kind of 'test'? Fucking bartending is harder than that.

[imblyings]

RPED makes it pretty easy to upgrade machines.

RnD is a barrier test to keep out illiterate or lazy faggots, of course it's easy. If people can't even read a guide then they fall under the categories of illiterate or lazy faggot, in which case the barrier test has done it's job.

[paprika]

Idk it seems like a poor way to filter newbies to science. Why not just make it more creative/interesting to research technology for upgrades so it's not as shit instead of worrying about newbie filters in the first place? Not even experienced players can be fucked to do science and upgrade everything, it can take longer than the engine.

[imblyings]

well, newbies aren't necessarily illiterate or lazy

and how would you make research interesting or creative because tbh research will always be just a means to an end, a speedbump, an extended round-start set up procedure.

I honestly don't have high hopes for it unless someone makes research use procedural generation.

[paprika]

Lower research reliabilities for everything so you can actually not gain research from some things 100% of the time, making it a good idea to not deconstruct the intellicard? Sure it would have metaguides and stuff but it would still be harder and have more of a roll effect towards it. Sure it would make it so you'd waste more items but the whole point of research is to j-j-jam shit in to the DA. And it wouldn't be SUPER low to make it boring and horrible, just 90-95% so there's actually a chance of the DA not taking any research out of an item you put in. The idea behind research is you crunch down multiple items to get the research to make one better item. And if research could actually fail sometimes like practically every other department could, it'd certainly be less lego building shit. And difficulty is not ALWAYS a bad thing, especially if we made the reward for researching greater to go along with this, like lowering the amount of materials necessary on all the items or adding more fun stuff for the protolathe to make.

Personally I'd like it if those cute winter coats on NT were more robust at cold protection, but instead of being roundstart, you had to research the special cold-resistant fibers to make them and then choose a department color for them. Then instead of using raw materials to make them, you use a combination of raw materials and something else, like a jumpsuit + 200 silver = cold resistant winter coat. Then they could be distributed to the station for robust cold protection over standard clothing or nothing. That would make them way more interesting and make the protolathe more fun by extension. Now if only someone would divide the protolathe up into categories so this could be a thing.

Edit: A better way to go about the clothing manufacturing would be to have the protolathe make special cold-resistant padding, a new item you can put into a machine that functions essentially like a microwave, let's call it the clothing lathe for now, and using recipes with different parts you could make different kinds of exosuits and stuff like robust winter coats/space suits/armored jackets/etc.

[Mandurrrh]

Because upgrading machines is still incredibly tedious and also if RnD is a barrier to keep out illiterate or lazy faggots why is it so fucking easy? There's guides that show you how to do it in 10 minutes, how is that some kind of 'test'? Fucking bartending is harder than that.

Yes but pap I did the research and learned on my own to make my guide. I also have rewritten it 10 times making it more and more efficient as I go. So theres always more to learn, add to it, and change. Plus I learned as a roboticist. I need research done quickly so I can have fun and make cool shit. I worked hard for my guide and have no regrets in using it or sharing it when Im working. Also theres a bartending guide on the wiki. Should check it out sometime. With research done quick we are able to build new machines, create new areas, upgrade machines for other departments, build better mechs, make better weapons, use less materials, upgrade our borg friends so they can do more things, etc. If you are bored in science then you are either lazy or not clever enough to find fun things to do.

[paprika]

There's a bartending guide on the wiki but at least people ask the bartender for drinks. RnD, like imblyings said, is like setting up the engine.

Which is what we're talking about here, not the rest of science or robotics. Jesus.

[Mandurrrh]

There's a bartending guide on the wiki but at least people ask the bartender for drinks. RnD, like imblyings said, is like setting up the engine.

Which is what we're talking about here, not the rest of science or robotics. Jesus.

You are whining about the RnD guides being meta. Whats the difference between a scientist using an RnD guide and a bartender using the wiki or a chemist using the wiki?

[paprika]

Why can't you pay attention and read posts fully?

RnD isn't about research. That's not actually the point.

This is what we've been talking about.

[Mandurrrh]

Why can't you pay attention and read posts fully?

RnD isn't about research. That's not actually the point.

This is what we've been talking about.

The guide meta around RnD is a result of RnD being fucking uninteresting. Throw random shit in the DA and waste items/time, or follow a guide and get to max in 5 minutes? There's no luck or skill element in RnD and that's why it's shit. Virology and Genetics are both top tier departments because of their luck and skill element and they can get their work done fast without it being boring as fuck most of the time unless you do it every shift. RnD is boring after one shift. There's no 'research', it's following a flow chart or a lego instruction manual. Virology and genetics are more about research than fucking RnD.

I read the posts. And read you again making such a strong effort for constant negativity. Im saying dont complain that the guide is meta and that theres no actual work or RnD is boring because of the guide when every job has a guide with it. Its hypocritical. RnD is about figuring out what items get you maxed first so you can do other things. RnD then has tons of other shit to do. So if they use a guide to get it done so they can do other work oh well. Guides teach you what items are good for which research areas and what items you get from different levels so you can use that knowledge as you learn to target specific areas. Say we get ops before we have time to get any work done. Im going to focus on combat research and max it as fast as possible. From using and writing the guide I know which items to research so I dont waste time and we have weapons quickly to fight. Researching and learning the items is still a huge part of RnD. But I agree that theres a ton more to do once your able to get research done quickly and much more to RnD then just deconstructing.

[paprika]

Are you just gonna ignore all my points about rnd having no real research factor and continue ranting about how you are some big exception to what I'm saying when it's already completely evident 90% of players follow guides other people have written because RnD has a 100% chance of maxing and there's no luck or skill involved in it at all?

Again, I'll say it one more time, THAT is what we are talking about here, not what you personally get out of science as a whole. I understand your personal experience with research but I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, are you arguing AGAINST adding a luck factor to research or something? I just don't get what your big rants about your experience with science has to do with my argument/peeve with the guide meta around it. I'm not saying you're a fucking rule breaker or anything for using guides I'm saying that yes, there are departments LIKE BARTENDER that have guides, but RESEARCH should have actual RESEARCH involved in it. Yes, you did research all those things to make your guide, yes you did it properly, but that research should NOT carry over into the next round. After you've learned all this shit, you've maxed research, it's a fun experience for you, my goal is to make it so that research fun happens EVERY ROUND with the research sub-department in science rather than one round of learning how to shove things into the DA and the subsequent rounds being monotonous as fuck like setting up the singularity.

If there was a rolling/risk factor or some more randomized elements in research, like there are with genetics, virology, xenobio, and telesci(even fucking janitoring has randomized elements), RnD would be MUCH more fun on a round by round basis.

[miggles]

mandurrrh, what paprika is saying is that it's not about whether people use a guide or not, its about research not being dynamic at all
a recipe for a bar drink is not something that's going to change. a recipe is a recipe. research should not require a giant cook book to get the good stuff.

[King Cohort]

Idk it seems like a poor way to filter newbies to science. Why not just make it more creative/interesting to research technology for upgrades so it's not as shit instead of worrying about newbie filters in the first place? Not even experienced players can be fucked to do science and upgrade everything, it can take longer than the engine.

this is a good solution to a legitimate problem

Lower research reliabilities for everything so you can actually not gain research from some things 100% of the time

this is not a good solution and, on its own, would make R&D even more tedious than it already is

imagine if the singularity engine had a failure rate on turning on emitters or constructing the PA. that's basically what you're suggesting and equally as 'creative' as the DA randomly eating parts

it could work but not without a significant overhaul to R&D because there'd still be an optimal, risk-free guide to maxed R&D otherwise

[Psyentific]

mandurrrh, what paprika is saying is that it's not about whether people use a guide or not, its about research not being dynamic at all
a recipe for a bar drink is not something that's going to change. a recipe is a recipe. research should not require a giant cook book to get the good stuff.

Pap is right, yo. If I have the pastebin to tell me how 2 R&D, and I'm screwed if I don't have some variant of that?
If the veterans look at R&D as a chore to be done (As opposed to toxins/xenobio)?

R&D is shit. You know this, I know this. The only reason to do it is ~shiny toys~ at the end of it, which really pale in comparison to the other departments shiny toys.

[paprika]

Idk it seems like a poor way to filter newbies to science. Why not just make it more creative/interesting to research technology for upgrades so it's not as shit instead of worrying about newbie filters in the first place? Not even experienced players can be fucked to do science and upgrade everything, it can take longer than the engine.

this is a good solution to a legitimate problem

Lower research reliabilities for everything so you can actually not gain research from some things 100% of the time

this is not a good solution and, on its own, would make R&D even more tedious than it already is

imagine if the singularity engine had a failure rate on turning on emitters or constructing the PA. that's basically what you're suggesting and equally as 'creative' as the DA randomly eating parts

it could work but not without a significant overhaul to R&D because there'd still be an optimal, risk-free guide to maxed R&D otherwise

Well that's why I suggested adding more fun things for RnD to do like produce cool variations on clothes. RnD adding protective stats to different things like armor and shit would be awesome as FUCK. More melee protection on my armor as sec? Of course, there would be a limit to the amount of shit you can add on to jumpsuits/exosuits, but it'd still make the RnD lab HELLA more interesting once you reach max.

[Psyentific]

So you're saying make R&D actually research and develop? Yeah, pimping out gear would be pretty cool.

[paprika]

Imagine researching and upgrading tasers/eguns to have more ammo capacity. That might take some doing though, but IIRC they work off internal batteries because of EMP affecting battery cell charge.