Research

Progression

Items collected on the battlefield, captured humans, and bodies, hacking/Downloading data and other artifacts lead to new research opportunities. Research is the gated progression for the game. The player conductions missions and recovers game items. Then new research projects become available. On completion of the research project, some new attributes/progress is made.

Selecting research projects

Players can select from the available projects in the research screen. If research is dependent on having an artifact, then if the player sells it or uses it elsewhere, then the research is disabled but visible.

(New UI design required)

Research multiple projects at a time.

To complete research, players must assign scientists to each project. The more scientists (to a cap) assigned, the faster the research will go. Some projects will allow large number of scientists, while others will not. Scientists take up laboratory space to work. They also take up living quarters. These quarters are shared with soldiers and support teams, so balancing is quite important.

Requirements

• Living Quarters (indirect)

• Laboratory (Holds 50 Support staff on any number of projects at once)

• Support staff (project dependent)

Commander Bonuses (Examples)

• +scientists per lab

• Speed up research in a particular field (neuroscience could take 1/3 less time)

• Reduced living space requirements

• Some commanders stifle scientific discovery

Prelude to Humanity	The research team theorize that these pathetic Humans might be more valuable to our cause than originally thought. More investigation is necessary.
Human Metals	This planet’s gravity and weathering wreaks havoc on our technology. We need to integrate Human metals into our composites.
Heavy Atmosphere	Our craft, soldiers and facilities are struggling in the dense planetary atmosphere. We need to conduct further tests to try and improve our efficiency in this environment.
Bio-Power Vibration	Humans have a most unusual energy signature, one we can harness to power our machines and open the portal to our dimension much faster. More research is required to see if this is a possibility or a pipe-dream.
The Human Condition	We need to understand the energy output of Humans in more detail. There is much more we still don’t know about how this energy works and how we can harness it. This research builds upon Bio-Power Vibration.
Holding Humans	Captured humans are not surviving. If we could study live humans and get an idea on how to keep them alive, then we have a better chance of building a longer lasting energy source.
Atmosphere Slipstreaming	Our craft are experiencing a very high drag coefficient. We need to drastically improve our aircraft power cells to compensate.
Human Batteries	We theorize that a human cell can sustain a constant flow of power for a long period of time. To prove this theory, we’ll need to run tests on live Humans. Opening the portal will require great amounts of power, some6thing our current power generators just can’t produce. Human batteries might be the answer.
Supercharged Power Cells	Through genetic manipulation, we can vastly improve the power output of each human cell. A new conductive charging process will help to achieve a stronger powercell.
Craft Power Improvement	Finally we are extremely close to integrating what we have learned from Human power research into improving our aircraft systems.
Tier 2
The human brain	To defeat our enemy, we must understand our enemy. Humans might seem pitiful and weak but they have proven to be elusive and cunning. One can hypothesize there is more to this enemy than we currently understand.
Human comforts	Humans are not always better off dead. They power our weapons, craft and base facilities but they can also be used to service our needs. To utilize Humans better, we need to build human habitats for long term storage.
Follower Preparation	Some Humans are willing to help us, while others prefer death. The mortality rate of Human conversion is extremely high, we need to improve the conversion rates to open the portal.
The Human Solution	Our intel suggests humans have a hierarchical social structure. We need to determine how to identify which humans are in important positions and how to find them.
Dark energy manipulation	Dark energy is the lifeblood of Horde existence, without it we can’t travel to other dimensions. Until now, we were unsure how to overcome this dimension’s influence over the dark energy. We think we now know enough about this planet and dimension to try to overcome the effects.
Lattice Lexicon	We depend on Dark Crystals for many operations on this planet. As you are aware, in our dimension, these crystals are abundant. Unfortunately they are rare here. If we can determine what is preventing the lattice from forming, we could grow our own crystals here on base!
Tier 3
Dimensional Portal Experiments	Our goal is near! We can manipulate dark energy and have the tools to begin experiments to open the portal from this side. This is a highly complex task.
Portal Organics	We are unable to send or retrieve organic matter through the portals we establish. This must be corrected to allow our armies to enter this realm.