Why aren’t 50% of excess funds allocated to research?

[100thMonkey]

First time I manually allocate funding (new game just started with v1.0.8.0 beta), playing as Boskaras. Wanting to maximize research, I’ve (temporarily) allocated 50% of excess funds to research. But when I look at the amounts used, of the 4,202 excess credits, only 192 are used for research, the rest (4,188) being allocated to growth.

Why is that? Why aren’t 50% of the excess credits allocated to research?

Funding levels.png (59.61 KiB) Viewed 593 times

I hope it’s not related to my actual research output or my maximum potential research, which are both low:

Research potential and output.png (56.37 KiB) Viewed 593 times

In my mind, if I allocate 50% of excess funds to research, 50% of those funds should be allocated to research. Period. The actual effect of those funds could (should?) be affected by the maximum potential research. But not the amount of funds allocated. That should be control by the percentage specified.

So, if you know what’s going on, please let me know, whether it’s related to research output or potential, or caused by something else entirely.

If anyone want to check a save, here it is:

The Culture - Boskara - 2765-05-09.zip

(5.36 MiB) Downloaded 16 times

[AKicebear]

You have to build more research stations to increase potential research output, which will then use the available budget.

[StormingKiwi]

No, there are 8,404 excess credits.

4,202 are allocated to growth.
4,202 are allocated to research.

You have enough colonies to use 4,188 of the 4,202 credits allocated.
You have enough research capacity to use 192 of the 4,202 credits allocated.

The unspent portion (4,024) is returned to you.

[100thMonkey]

Clearly I looked too quickly to the numbers (I'm not a number guy, but still ): it obviously IS because of the max potential research. I'd prefer that the allocated funds would be used, even if not optimally because of a low max potential research. But, as they say, it is what it is...

Thanks , both of you.

[StormingKiwi]

Clearly I looked too quickly to the numbers (I'm not a number guy, but still ): it obviously IS because of the max potential research. I'd prefer that the allocated funds would be used, even if not optimally because of a low max potential research. But, as they say, it is what it is...

Thanks , both of you.

I have to admit I do not understand.

Are you saying you want to spend every credit allocated, while keeping your actual research output at your maximum research output?
Or are you saying you want your actual research output to surpass your maximum?

Actual Research Output = Minimum Research Output + Funded Research Output.

The maximum potential research output is the highest value that can be attained. If the actual value could be above the maximum value, the maximum would not be the maximum, would it?

Funded Research does work to convert allocated funds into research output. Your research infrastructure has a certain capacity. I.e. at 100% funding, you will achieve your Maximum Potential Research Output.

Beyond that, although the credits are budgeted, they cannot be spent because there aren't enough labs to use them. The solution is simple - increase the quantity or quality of labs (in research stations and spaceports) to increase your Maximum Potential Research Output. You are already allocating the credits, so they will be spent.

By the way, if you hover your mouse over the value in the Amount Used column for research, the tooltip will tell you how much is the maximum that can be spent funding research. Why this value isn't available in a better place in the UI is beyond me.

[arvcran2]

No, there are 8,404 excess credits.

4,202 are allocated to growth.
4,202 are allocated to research.

You have enough colonies to use 4,188 of the 4,202 credits allocated.
You have enough research capacity to use 192 of the 4,202 credits allocated.

The unspent portion (4,024) is returned to you.

Wow! 22 credits interest!

[100thMonkey]

Are you saying you want to spend every credit allocated, while keeping your actual research output at your maximum research output? Or are you saying you want your actual research output to surpass your maximum?

While thinking about how to answer your question, I changed my mind!

Up to now, I've always thought of the maximum potential research being based only on population, labs and research bonuses (ignoring funding), as being "gamey". My reasoning was that in real life, increasing funding would always increase research output, even without increasing the amount of available labs. By hiring more personnel, more and better equipment, computers, etc.

But your questions and infos made me question my assumptions. And my reasoning is only true up to a point. Yes, you can increase science output with more funding, even with the same available labs. But the thing is... there IS a theoretical (aka "potential") limit to how much it can be increased without increasing the amount of available labs. Might take a while to reach that limit in real life, but at one point it will be reached.

So that limit not being raised by funding in DW2 suddenly looks much less gamey to me.

Thanks for helping me think a little deeper about that aspect of the game and, doing so, helping me change my mind.

[StormingKiwi]

No, there are 8,404 excess credits.

4,202 are allocated to growth.
4,202 are allocated to research.

You have enough colonies to use 4,188 of the 4,202 credits allocated.
You have enough research capacity to use 192 of the 4,202 credits allocated.

The unspent portion (4,024) is returned to you.

Wow! 22 credits interest!

Where did you get 22 credits from?

And no, it is not interest. You have earned 8,404 credits. You spend 4380, and have 4024 left over.

Are you saying you want to spend every credit allocated, while keeping your actual research output at your maximum research output? Or are you saying you want your actual research output to surpass your maximum?

While thinking about how to answer your question, I changed my mind!

Up to now, I've always thought of the maximum potential research being based only on population, labs and research bonuses (ignoring funding), as being "gamey". My reasoning was that in real life, increasing funding would always increase research output, even without increasing the amount of available labs. By hiring more personnel, more and better equipment, computers, etc.

But your questions and infos made me question my assumptions. And my reasoning is only true up to a point. Yes, you can increase science output with more funding, even with the same available labs. But the thing is... there IS a theoretical (aka "potential") limit to how much it can be increased without increasing the amount of available labs. Might take a while to reach that limit in real life, but at one point it will be reached.

So that limit not being raised by funding in DW2 suddenly looks much less gamey to me.

Thanks for helping me think a little deeper about that aspect of the game and, doing so, helping me change my mind.

You're welcome.