Research efficiency

[Jorgen_CAB (OP)]

I really like the idea of tying research efficiency to time rather than an arbitrary linear diminishing factor.

It should also be quite simple to add, at lest I believe so. For the player all that is needed is an efficiency score that is represented at each project. When you add labs you will directly see this number from 100% and down. You may add a number of labs before it drops below 100% based in the scale of the project.

Perhaps a baseline of six years for a regular project and two years for racial projects. The rule should perhaps be that 1 lab always give you 100% efficiency so extremely cheap projects don't take forever to finish.

[CharonJr]

IMO the scientist's skill should still play a role for the time needed to complete a project other than simply needing less labs. A brilliant researcher working at the project's lab cap (e.g. 20 labs in his case) should still be faster than his mediocre collegue at his lab cap (e.g. 30 in his case).

And there should be a point as well where adding another lab does nothing for a project.

Maybe standard/minimum time based on research tier might do the trick, with racial techs being a percentage of those values and the researcher's skill being able to lower those times a bit. E.g. tier 5 research needs 5 years to complete at full efficiency (standard) and a minimum of 2 years, but a 60% researcher can bring those times down by an additional 12%.