Research speed and size

[Emre Yigit]

I have looked at the various research-related threads and noted a multiplicity of opinions on this subject.

I believe the general opinion is, that the more provinces in your empire, the slower the research, all else being equal.

Playing the game, I have noticed the following:

a) research costs periodically rise, when one is on the crux of an important new discovery

b) research speed accelerates if you bump your colonial cities' size up

Has this been confirmed?

Has anyone tried to recreate the research cost algorithm?

 

[Heretic]

research

not claiming to be an expert,,

but surely research rate is to do with cost,
and each advance takes up a larger ammount of money..
so that as you progress through tht egame you need to have lots more spare cahs to make the same rate of progress.
I think your theory about the number of provinces is a false correlation, although as time goes by (and the empire grows) it would appear that research is happening slower.
they say it hurts your rate if you are in the lead.
so it's time tio engage in lots of profitable activities..

i could have missed the point though

 

[SideshowBob]

I thought research included the cost of updating all your provinces, so the more provinces you have the more it costs to update them all. I have been led to believe this is why 1 province states are always 1st to get new advances. On the other side of the coin the more provinces you have the more money you make and therefore more can be put into research.

 

[Emre Yigit]

Well....

the problem was that, say, my Land Tech 18 cost me (for argument's sake) 1000 ducats, while Land Tech 17 cost not less than 5,000. And, no, all my competitors did not suddenly rush past me in Tech, nor did it take me fifty years to achieve Tech 17.

 

[Sir James]

Some tech advances, eg muskets, do cost more than others. I think the cost for each level is based on the perceived cost of the advance IRL - both in terms of number of provinces and the nature of the advance itself.

Obviously, the more provinces you have, the more income for tech advance you have, but big empires tend to accumulate low value provinces, unlike small German or Italian states, whose tech can advance quite quickly.

Apparently, tech advance rates, esp for smaller nations, have been extensively tweaked in the last few patches.

 

[Pewe]

Inflation is another factor. You'll notice it best after the -33% inflation event.

 

[unmerged(3627)]

It does largely depend on how big you are. Conquering lots of rich provinces (India) will speed your tech advancement. Conquering lots of poor provinces (Australia, North America) will slow it down.

 

[Rex Francorum]

Don't forget too that more you are advanced compared to others, more the "technology" is expensive. It was implemented in 1.09 to avoid so large gap between the technological leader (often us ) and others. However, this gap can't be eliminated, but reduced, yes.

 

[unmerged(3188)]

Technology level is also related to the average discovery year in the land.csv and naval.csv files. I heard every decade you're ahead of this average year, you'll get a big bonus to your research cost.

 

[Emre Yigit]

Specifics

The year was 1565 or thereabouts. I was moving from Land Tech 17 (1627) to 18 (1629). Took me an exceptional amount of time. By 1570, I was moving to Tech 19 (1630). So, I was, ahem, quite a bit ahead of the competition (c10-12) for most, with China leading the rest!. My research cost plummeted by 80%. And my lead actually started increasing again.

I had a fairly massive empire.

So: I am of the opinion that the size of the empire does not matter.

I do however, based on my experiences in this particular game, agree that the wealth of your empire matters, so that poor provinces drag down your research speed. Why? Sometime into Land 19, a host of manufactories got built in my otherwise worthless African colonies (hey, I can't help my choice: I was playing as Turkey).

I also must admit the high probability that some transitions in tech levels are much harder than others.

Anyone for further confirmation / rebuttal?

 

[BiB]

Size does matter Just compare cost for a next level between France and Cologne

 

[unmerged(3627)]

The overall size of your empire definitely IS a factor: of course, if you have a strong economy and build upgrades et al, adding new provinces boosts your research speed by more than it increases the total required, so it's a net benefit. Conqering backward provinces which trade in grain, or slaves, and have a population of 3,000, will only make your job harder unless you build a lot of upgrades in them.

 

[State Machine]

The cost for each tech level varies. Some cost a lot, some not much at all. If you look at the tech pages in the ledger, you will see long periods where the curve on the graph is slightly up, and periods where the curve goes sharply up.

 

[unmerged(4238)]

Yes, size does matter. At least for trade & infrastructure. Perhaps less so (or not at all??) for mil tech. Definately causes trade & infra costs to go up tho.

Some tech levels just plain cost more than others. As a percentage anyway.

If you are ahead of everyone else, then it costs more. There is some kind of modifier applied. So I try not to get too far ahead of the pack in any one area, it just costs too much money to do it. & I figure I get more bang for the buck putting that money into another area where I'm not so far ahead.

John J

 

[unmerged(2833)]

Originally posted by randomjgj
Yes, size does matter.

 

[unmerged(3188)]

LOL

 

[unmerged(1737)]

Do a lot of colonies and trading posts make a difference? Or is it just provinces with cities in?

 

[BiB]

Cities only.

 

[Vulture]

Originally posted by BiB
Size does matter Just compare cost for a next level between France and Cologne

Ya ya, I am sure that was EXACTLY what you were thinking about, France & Cologne??