Guide to Research and Development

From Unitystation

As a scientist, your primary role to the station is to provide new technologies to the station through the techweb. The techweb, in short, is a tech tree in which the science department can research new technologies for the cost of research points (RP). In unitystation, RP is earnt through physical experiments, divided into several subcategories:

-> Xenoarchaeology, The study of artifacts and their effects

-> Ordnance, The study of chemicals and explosives

-> The High Energy Lab, The study of high energy lasers

-> Xenobiology, The study of slimes and their behaviours

The Techweb

The Techweb

Standard research server room

The Techweb is the technology tree that you are tasked to research. It is stored and accessed through the stations research server inside the science department. The Techweb contains a series of nodes, that when researched, unlock designs.

Designs are products that can be produced within machines such as the Protolathe, Circuit Imprinter and Exosuit Fabricator. Designs have a material cost, a required machine type and may have a required department. Once a design is researched, it can be manufactured at any valid machine that is connected to the research server. If the machine is not connected to the research server (often indicated by red lights beside a 'connected to server' label in the machines UI) it can be connected via a multitool.

Example designs and their restrictions include Synthetic Lungs (Producible at an Exosuit Fabricator) or an Advanced Mop (Producable at a Science or Service Protolathe). The Techweb is divided into three categories: Researched Tech, Available Tech & Future Tech. Researched tech encompasses all Tech web nodes that have already been researched on this Techweb. Available tech lists all tech that has not been researched but the prerequisites have been met. Available tech lists the technology type in square brackets [], the cost in RP to research the node, as well as the node description. The images in the description of the node visually show what will be unlocked for production once the node is researched. Not all nodes unlock new designs, some nodes, such as 'Bluespace Technology' simply serve as prerequisites for more advanced nodes further up on the Techweb. Future tech holds all technologies that the department does not yet meet the requirements for, the prerequisites for that node are listed in its description.

Standard UI for the Techweb

Technology Types & Research Focuses

For standard duration rounds, it is unlikely that the science department will be able to research the entire Techweb. As such a science department might choose to focus on one type of technology over another. In Unitystation, technology is split into several categories:

Machinery [Mch] - Focusing on machine parts and circuit boards,

Robotics [Rbt] - Focusing on cyborgs and synthetic implants,

Chemistry [Chm] - Focusing on matter and chemical storage as well as other chemistry materials

Equipment [Eqp] - Focusing on gear and tools applicable across the station.

The category a node belongs to is stated in its title in square brackets []. If a science department wishes to focus there efforts to a particular category, the research director, or anyone with research director access, may allocate a research focus in the Techweb UI. Allocating a focus costs 10 RP and can only be done once. Once a focus is selected, all technology in that category will receive a 25% discount.

Focus page in the Techweb UI

List of Techweb Nodes

Synthetic Organs Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Synthetic Lungs, Synthetic Heart, Synthetic Liver Robotics 15
Synthetic Enhancements Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Breathing Tube Implant, Reviver Implant, Welding Shield Implant Robotics 30
Advanced Cybernetics Unlocks Tech Type Cost
All Cyborg limbs, Man-Machine Interface, Positronic Brain, Cyborg Light Implant, Battery Pack Robotics 30
Cyborg Tools Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Janitor Tool Carousel, Engineering Tool Carousel, Medical Tool Carousel Robotics 25
Bluespace Technology Unlocks Tech Type Cost
None None 30
Janitorial Science Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Advanced Mop, Advanced Light Replacer Equipment 10
Industrial Tools Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Welding Mask, Jaws of Life, Mag Boots Equipment 15
Anomaly Science Unlocks Tech Type Cost
AP Hardsuit, Anomaly Suit, Hand Pick, Sample Container, Artifact Data Disk Equipment 30
Mining Technology Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Mining Hardsuit, Drill, Diamond Drill, Plasma Cutter, Advanced Plasma Cutter Equipment 40
Bluespace Holding Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Bag of Holding, Satchel of Holding, Trash Bag od Holding Equipment 50
Advanced Machine Parts Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Advanced Capacitor, Advanced Scanning Module, Nano Manipulator, High Power Micro Laser Machinery 15
Expert Machine Parts Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Super Capacitor, Phasic Scannign Module, Pico Manipulator, Ultra Micro Laser, Quadratic Capacitor, Triphasic Scanning Module, Femto Manipulator, Quadultra Micro Laser Machinery 45
Advanced Power Storage Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Hyper Capacity Powercell, Bluespace Powercell Machinery 30
Basic Chemistry Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Science Goggles, Advanced Matter Bin, Beaker, Large Beaker, XL Beaker Chemistry 15
Meta Material Storage Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Meta Material Beaker, Super Matter Bin Chemistry 30
Bluespace Storage Unlocks Tech Type Cost
Bluespace Beaker, Bluespace Matter Bin Chemistry 30


Tips & Tricks

  • Using your first 10RP each round to set a research focus can drastically speed up research time in future, don't forget it as part of the round start setup, especially if you are the stations research director.
  • Xenoarchaeology can yield large quantities of RP, upwards of 30RP per artifact, however, can only be conducted when the science department has an artifact. Conversely, Ordnance and The High Energy Lab require no outside materials to run but tend to have lower yields for time investment. Make the best use of all of them to maximise RP!
  • If your science department contains multiple scientists, split them up amongst each of the areas of research, more scientists researching the same thing doesn't always make it go quicker!
  • While you should be busy researching, don't neglect customer service! Make sure you are still supplying the station with your discoveries and listening to requests from peers.


Unity Station Roles
Command
Synthetic
Security
Engineering
Science
Medical
Cargo
Service
BartenderCookJanitorClownMimeCuratorLawyerChaplainAssistantBotanist
Central Command
Antagonist
Ghost