Research

Research Tree

You are given Laser weapons, Medi-Kits, and Motion Scanners as research topics at the start of the game. Every subsequent research topic stems from a breakthrough in a previous research topic, or new technology picked up on the battlefield and brought back to your stores. You need scientists and laboratories to do research, 100 scientists and 2 laboratories are recommended if you can afford it. Don't forget to build the Alien Containment area!

Alien artifacts from the battlefield cannot be manufactured or used by your soldiers until research has completed.

Tip: You can sell off the item from your stores once research has started, if you need the space. The research will continue (unless you cancel the project!). Also, you get the same amount of cash, whether you've researched it or not.

Laser Weapons

Laser Weapons  (tech breakthrough)
  |
Laser Pistol
  |
Laser Rifle
  |  
Heavy Laser       
  |  
Laser Cannon 
(Laser Tank)
  | 
Laser Defense

Plasma Weapons

    Heavy Plasma               Plasma Rifle 
         |    Heavy Plasma Clip   |  Plasma Rifle Clip  
         |___________|            |__________|
                 |                       |
                 |                       |
                 |__________OR___________|
                            |
                      Plasma Cannon
                   (Hovertank/Plasma) *See Note 1
                            |
                      Plasma Defense

Fusion Weapons

 Blaster Launcher    Blaster Bomb
             |___________|
                  |
               Fusion Ball
          (Hovertank/Launcher)  *See Note 2
                  |
          Fusion Ball Defense

Armor

      Alien Alloys
              |  
Elerium-115  Personal Armor  UFO Power Source      
|_____________|_________________| 
          | 
          |     
     Power Suit      UFO Navigation  
          |_________________|   
                   |
              Flying Suit 

Craft

Alien    Elerium        UFO            UFO
Alloys      115     Power Source   Navigation
|___________|___________|______________|
           |
   UFO Construction
           |
           |
   New Fighter Craft
      (Firestorm)  *See Note 1 (Required for Hovertank/Plasma)
           |
New Fighter-Transporter
      (Lightning)
 __________|____________
 |                      |
Grav Shield     Ultimate Craft (Avenger)

Notes

1. "New Fighter Craft" required before you can build the Plasma Hovertank.
2. Fusion Ball Launcher required before you can build the Launcher Hovertank.

-- from Kasey Chang's USG

Live Alien Research

Researching live aliens gives different results depending on their rank. It is very important to take certain aliens alive to finish the game. Picking your aliens becomes easier with the Mind Probe and Small Launcher, although a well-applied Stun Rod early in the game can give your tech tree a big boost. Note you not only need to have an unconscious alien when you exit the Battlescape, you also need an Alien Containment module at the base your craft returns to, or they'll die before you get any useful info.

• Any Live Alien
  • Alien Origins
• Alien Soldier
  • Nothing, beyond information on own species
• Alien Medic
  • Species information *1
• Alien Navigator
  • Alien missions (harvest, base, etc.)
  • Hyper-Wave Decoder

• Alien Engineer
  • UFO Types (they will show you all UFO types, not just their own)

• Alien Leader (or Commander)
  • The Martian Solution

• Alien Commander
  • Cydonia or Bust *2

• Any Ethereal, or Sectoid Leader/Commander
  • Psionics (see below)

Notes

1. Alien medics can give information on species other than their own. This is the only way to gain information about "live" Cyberdiscs. Information gained about Etherals (or Sectoids) in this way will not give you access to Psionics, however.
2. Commanders can be found in their Battleships, or their bases (or your bases, should they choose to attack). The USG incorrectly states that only a Commander from an alien base can be used to give access to "Cydonia or Bust", however, in practise any Commander will do - so long as The Martian Solution has already been researched. Should you research a Commander prior to this, you'll have to capture another.

Psionics

Psionic Alien
  |
Psi Lab
  |_______
  |       |
Psi-Amp Mind Shield

Endgame

Any Live Alien
 |
Alien Origins
 |
 | Any Live Alien Leader
 | /
The Martian Solution  
 |
 | Any Live Alien Commander
 | /
Cydonia or Bust
 |
 | Avenger
 | /
Cydonia (mission)

-- from Kasey Chang's USG

Research Time

Here are a couple of ways to look at the time (Scientist Hours) needed to complete Research Projects: alphabetically by Project, or by increasing Hours.

Also shown is the number of Hours divided by 50 (One Lab); in other words, how many hours one lab full of 50 scientists needs to complete the Project. Two labs full of scientists would need half this time, etc. Note that the One Lab numbers are probably inaccurate because Projects probably only complete on the hour (clock hand straight up), and thus numbers should be rounded up. But decimals are still shown so you can project to multiple labs and/or see where time is "lost".

Can anyone confirm that projects only complete "on the hour" for me? Then take out my "probably"'s, this comment, etc. ---MikeTheRed 12:51, 10 Nov 2005 (PST)

Also - Where are the times for UFO types? ---MikeTheRed 12:51, 10 Nov 2005 (PST)

Research Time, Alphabetically by Project

 Hours  One Lab  Research Project
  150     3.0    Alien Abduction
  400     8.0    Alien Alloys
  150     3.0    Alien Entertainment
  150     3.0    Alien Food
  200     4.0    Alien Grenade
  150     3.0    Alien Reproduction
  150     3.0    Alien Surgery
  300     6.0    Blaster Bomb
  900    18.0    Blaster Launcher
  880    17.6    Craft Fusion Ball Launcher
  420     8.4    Craft Laser Cannon
  660    13.2    Craft Plasma Beam
  450     9.0    Elerium-115
  330     6.6    Flying Suit
  800    16.0    Fusion Defenses
  930    18.6    Grav Shield
  460     9.2    Heavy Laser
  800    16.0    Heavy Plasma
  400     8.0    Heavy Plasma Clip
  670    13.4    Hyper-Wave Decoder
  510    10.2    Laser Defenses
  100     2.0    Laser Pistol
  300     6.0    Laser Rifle
   50     1.0    Laser Weapons
  210     4.2    Medi-Kit
  600    12.0    Mind Probe
  360     7.2    Mind Shield
  180     3.6    Motion Scanner
  600    12.0    New Fighter Craft (Firestorm)
  700    14.0    New Fighter-Transporter (Lightning)
  180     3.6    Personal Armor
  620    12.4    Plasma Defenses
  600    12.0    Plasma Pistol
  400     8.0    Plasma Pistol Clip
  700    14.0    Plasma Rifle
  400     8.0    Plasma Rifle Clip
  205     4.1    Power Suit
  500    10.0    Psi-Amp
  420     8.4    Psi-Lab
  550    11.0    Small Launcher
  180     3.6    Stun Bomb
  250     5.0    Tank/Laser Cannon
  450     9.0    UFO Construction
  450     9.0    UFO Navigation
  450     9.0    UFO Power Source
  900    18.0    Ultimate Craft (Avenger)

Research Time, by Hours Needed

 Hours  One Lab  Research Project
   50     1.0    Laser Weapons
  100     2.0    Laser Pistol
  150     3.0    Alien Food
  150     3.0    Alien Reproduction
  150     3.0    Alien Entertainment
  150     3.0    Alien Surgery
  150     3.0    Alien Abduction
  180     3.6    Motion Scanner
  180     3.6    Personal Armor
  180     3.6    Stun Bomb
  200     4.0    Alien Grenade
  205     4.1    Power Suit
  210     4.2    Medi-Kit
  250     5.0    Tank/Laser Cannon
  300     6.0    Laser Rifle
  300     6.0    Blaster Bomb
  330     6.6    Flying Suit
  360     7.2    Mind Shield
  400     8.0    Heavy Plasma Clip
  400     8.0    Plasma Rifle Clip
  400     8.0    Plasma Pistol Clip
  400     8.0    Alien Alloys
  420     8.4    Craft Laser Cannon
  420     8.4    Psi-Lab
  450     9.0    Elerium-115
  450     9.0    UFO Power Source
  450     9.0    UFO Navigation
  450     9.0    UFO Construction
  460     9.2    Heavy Laser
  500    10.0    Psi-Amp
  510    10.2    Laser Defenses
  550    11.0    Small Launcher
  600    12.0    Plasma Pistol
  600    12.0    Mind Probe
  600    12.0    New Fighter Craft (Firestorm)
  620    12.4    Plasma Defenses
  660    13.2    Craft Plasma Beam
  670    13.4    Hyper-Wave Decoder
  700    14.0    Plasma Rifle
  700    14.0    New Fighter-Transporter (Lightning)
  800    16.0    Heavy Plasma
  800    16.0    Fusion Defenses
  880    17.6    Craft Fusion Ball Launcher
  900    18.0    Blaster Launcher
  900    18.0    Ultimate Craft (Avenger)
  930    18.6    Grav Shield

Total Research Time

The total time needed for all Projects is 20,215 Hours. This can be broken out by hours, days, and weeks, for 1 person, 1 lab, 2 labs, etc. Numbers for each project were rounded up (due to Projects only ending "on the hour") relative to the number of scientists within each column, where applicable:

          Scientists
               1       50      100      150      200
Hours     20,215      414      217      151      120
Days         842     17.3     9.04     6.29     5.00
Weeks        120     2.46     1.29     0.90     0.71

As can be seen, one lab can do plenty of work, and having more than two is not particularly productive - three labs only saves three days, versus two labs.

Also note that rounding up hours to the next on-the-hour is not an entirely trivial thing, particularly as more and more labs are used... the "120" for four labs would have needed only 101.1 hours (84% of the time), if Projects were not rounded up. Another strike against a huge research facility.