🔬 Resource research
Resource research makes you produce more stone, metal or fuel. Every level adds 5 % yield for that resource. Level 20 means +100 %, so you produce twice as much.
You can repeat each of the three research projects as often as you like. Only one resource research runs at a time though, and you start each level yourself once the previous one is done.
What a level costs
Every research costs money plus a little stone and metal. This is the price of the first level:
| Research | Money | Stone | Metal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarry | $150,000 | 500 t | 100 t |
| Metal Factory | $150,000 | 100 t | 500 t |
| Fuel Factory | $250,000 | 100 t | 100 t |
The Fuel Factory does not cost fuel. Like the others it costs money, stone and metal. Its base price is just higher, so in money it is always about 1.7 times as expensive as the Quarry or the Metal Factory.
How the cost goes up
Speedserver Season 1: every level costs 25 % of the base price more than the one before. For the Quarry, level 1 costs $150,000, level 2 costs $187,500 and level 5 costs $300,000. The cost rises evenly, so even very high levels stay affordable.
Other servers: every level costs 1 % more than the one before. That is cheaper at first but gets very expensive very fast from about level 500.
How long a level takes
The first level takes 10 minutes, every further level at most half a minute longer. This time is divided by the speed of the server.
On Season 1 (10× speed) level 1 takes 1 minute, level 1,000 about 51 minutes.
Season 1: cost and time at a glance
"So far" adds up all levels from 1 up to this one. The time assumes you start every level right after the previous one is done.
| Level | Yield | This level | Time | Quarry / Metal Factory so far | Fuel Factory so far | Time so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +5 % | $150,000 | 1 min | $150,000 | $250,000 | 1 min |
| 10 | +50 % | $487,500 | 1.1 min | $3.2M | $5.3M | 10.5 min |
| 50 | +250 % | $2M | 1.6 min | $53.4M | $89.1M | 1.1 h |
| 100 | +500 % | $3.9M | 2.7 min | $200.6M | $334.4M | 2.8 h |
| 200 | +1,000 % | $7.6M | 7.2 min | $776.3M | $1.3B | 10.5 h |
| 500 | +2,500 % | $18.9M | 26 min | $4.8B | $7.9B | 4.2 days |
| 1,000 | +5,000 % | $37.6M | 51 min | $18.9B | $31.5B | 17.5 days |
| 1,500 | +7,500 % | $56.4M | 1.3 h | $42.4B | $70.6B | 39.6 days |
| 2,000 | +10,000 % | $75.1M | 1.7 h | $75.3B | $125.4B | 70.3 days |
- The round lasts 91 days. Researching without a break you reach just under 11,400 % on one resource. If you keep at it but also sleep, you end up at about 9,500 to 10,500 %.
- Besides money, every level needs resources: the Quarry mostly stone, the Metal Factory mostly metal. Up to level 1,000 that is about 63 million t, up to level 2,000 about 251 million t. The growing yield bonus helps with that.
- The three research projects share one slot. If you want all three high, it takes correspondingly longer.