Greetings, I'd like to suggest that something be done about research points being useless after the tech tree's have been researched. If you're like me, you may wish to continue playing after you or an opponent has claimed a victory condition, personally I keep playing until I'm satisfied with my empires territory in the galaxy, conquering troublemakers, completely upgrading systems, enjoying space battle, etc... but I find all the research points I am accruing are doing nothing, this is especially bothersome for anyone with the Sophon Affinity. So I've made a few suggestions below which may remedy the situation, but they may prove useful even before completing the tech tree's.



System enhancement that convert Research points into Dust, Food, Industry or Approval.



SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS



Name - Lab Economic Focus

Effect - Research -> Dust conversion on system.

Description - All research facilities and resources on this system are dedicated to projects that will make Dust production greater.



Name - Lab Production Focus

Effect - Research -> Production conversion on system.

Description - All research will focus on making construction projects in the system more efficient, resulting in faster construction.



Name - Lab Agricultural Focus

Effect - Research -> Food conversion on system.

Description - All research facilities in this system dedicate their time and effort to improving agricultural output on the system.



Name - Lab Social Focus

Effect - Research -> System Approval conversion on system.

Description - All research in this system will pertain to the study and exploitation of ongoing social and recreational trends within the system as well as predicting future trends, ensuring the citizens of this system will become happier.





TECHNOLOGY



New technologies at the end of each Tech Tree that are repeatable.



REPEATABLE TECHNOLOGY - A technology that, when researched, grants a small bonus upon completion, but can be research over and over again to gain repeated benefits.



ECONOMY TREE



Name - Future Investments

Effect - Flat Dust bonus earned upon completion.

Description: With technology now so advanced that it is becoming harder and harder to reliably pursue new area's of interest, research can instead be devoted to boosting Dust output through commercial and corporate research projects.



EXPLORATION TREE



Name - Social Research

Effect - Permanent +2 bonus to empire approval rating

Description: Our researchers have dedicated a portion of their time to conducting social and psychological research regarding trends and area's of public and social interest throughout each worlds of our domain, these things can be expanded upon and exploited. By focusing on what makes the modern citizen happy we can boost approval across the empire.



WARFARE TREE



Name - Focused War Efforts

Effect - Construction time for all ships currently in production is reduced.

Description - By focusing all scientific resources on making ship construction more efficient, we can boost the production of our fleets.



SCIENCE TREE



Name - Focused Construction Efforts

Effect - The system enhancements currently underway with the longest build time will receive a large bonus to their construction time, usually resulting in instant completion.

Description: By focusing our research teams on current building projects, we can speed up the completion of construction projects exponentially by lending the project the expertise of our scientists and the advanced equipment of their facilities.

Lord_Proteus wrote:






TECHNOLOGY



New technologies at the end of each Tech Tree that are repeatable.



REPEATABLE TECHNOLOGY - A technology that, when researched, grants a small bonus upon completion, but can be research over and over again to gain repeated benefits.



ECONOMY TREE



Name - Future Investments

Effect - Flat Dust bonus earned upon completion.

Description: With technology now so advanced that it is becoming harder and harder to reliably pursue new area's of interest, research can instead be devoted to boosting Dust output through commercial and corporate research projects.



EXPLORATION TREE



Name - Social Research

Effect - Permanent +2 bonus to empire approval rating

Description: Our researchers have dedicated a portion of their time to conducting social and psychological research regarding trends and area's of public and social interest throughout each worlds of our domain, these things can be expanded upon and exploited. By focusing on what makes the modern citizen happy we can boost approval across the empire.



WARFARE TREE



Name - Focused War Efforts

Effect - Construction time for all ships currently in production is reduced.

Description - By focusing all scientific resources on making ship construction more efficient, we can boost the production of our fleets.



SCIENCE TREE



Name - Focused Construction Efforts

Effect - The system enhancements currently underway with the longest build time will receive a large bonus to their construction time, usually resulting in instant completion.

Description: By focusing our research teams on current building projects, we can speed up the completion of construction projects exponentially by lending the project the expertise of our scientists and the advanced equipment of their facilities.

I have been wanting repeatable research tech, even though I suggested it be implemented a modding option, so as not to disrupt those who like to play the game the way it is.



Here is my suggestion from a few days ago: /#/endless-space/forum/28-game-design/thread/12974-tech-levels