Tables

Explore the Master of Orion technology research costs for all tech levels and difficulties. Learn about the research formula and breakthrough chances.

This section details the research costs for technologies in Master of Orion, broken down by tech level and difficulty. It also includes an analysis of the research formula and breakthrough mechanics.

Technology Costs

The following table shows the average Research Points (RPs) required to develop technologies across different difficulty levels for various races. The costs increase with tech level and difficulty.

Tech Level	Simple	Easy	Average	Hard	Impossible
1	20	25	30	35	40
2	80	100	120	140	160
3	180	225	270	315	360
4	320	400	480	560	640
5	500	625	750	875	1000
6	720	900	1080	1260	1440
7	980	1225	1470	1715	1960
8	1280	1600	1920	2240	2560
9	1620	2025	2430	2835	3240
10	2000	2500	3000	3500	4000
11	2420	3025	3630	4235	4840
12	2880	3600	4320	5040	5760
13	3380	4225	5070	5915	6760
14	3920	4900	5880	6860	7840
15	4500	5625	6750	7875	9000
16	5120	6400	7680	8960	10240
17	5780	7225	8670	10115	11560
18	6480	8100	9720	11340	12960
19	7220	9025	10830	12635	14440
20	8000	10000	12000	14000	16000
21	8820	11025	13230	15435	17640
22	9680	12100	14520	16940	19360
23	10580	13225	15870	18515	21160
24	11520	14400	17280	20160	23040
25	12500	15625	18750	21875	25000
26	13520	16900	20280	23660	27040
27	14580	18225	21870	25515	29160
28	15680	19600	23520	27440	31360
29	16820	21025	25230	29435	33640
30	18000	22500	27000	31500	36000
31	19220	24025	28830	33635	38440
32	20480	25600	30720	35840	40960
33	21780	27225	32670	38115	43560
34	23120	28900	34680	40460	46240
35	24500	30625	36750	42875	49000
36	25920	32400	38880	45360	51840
37	27380	34225	41070	47915	54760
38	28880	36100	43320	50540	57760
39	30420	38025	45630	53235	60840
40	32000	40000	48000	56000	64000
41	33620	42025	50430	58835	67240
42	35280	44100	52920	61740	70560
43	36980	46225	55470	64715	73960
44	38720	48400	58080	67760	77440
45	40500	50625	60750	70875	81000
46	42320	52900	63480	74060	84640
47	44180	55225	66270	77315	88360
48	46080	57600	69120	80640	92160
49	48020	60025	72030	84035	96040
50	50000	62500	75000	87500	100000

Research Formula and Breakthroughs

The exact formula for research in Master of Orion is complex and not fully understood. However, observations suggest that after meeting the base cost for a technology, the chance of a breakthrough appears to increase by 1% for every 4% of the base cost invested, under certain circumstances.

For example, researching Improved Industrial Tech (tech level 3) at an average difficulty costs 270 RP. If 270 RP is invested each turn:

• The first 270 RP meets the base cost.
• The next 270 RP yields only a 25% chance of discovery, indicating a conversion rate and a potential delay in interest calculation.
• A subsequent 270 RP investment results in a 58% chance.

This suggests that while interest is eventually earned, there is a delay in its application. The provided C code snippet attempts to compute this behavior, and it seems to work for constant investment amounts, yielding results close to the game's output (within 1-2% rounding error).

Variable Investment Issues

The code does not accurately handle variable investment amounts. For instance, after meeting the base cost of 270 RP and then investing 27 RP per turn:

• Turn 1 (27 RP): 3% breakthrough chance.
• Turn 2 (27 RP): 10% breakthrough chance.
• Turn 3 (27 RP): 17% breakthrough chance.
• Turn 4 (27 RP): 25% breakthrough chance.
• Turn 5 (27 RP): 32% breakthrough chance.

This shows a gain of 7-8% per turn, which, using the 4:1 rule, would imply a significant RP gain for a small investment. Even with a 15% interest on previous investments, the jump from 3% to 10% is not fully explained. It's speculated that a 2:1 conversion might occur at lower investment levels.

Mean Time to Completion

The average time to complete a project with a fixed research percentage is calculated as 100 divided by the percentage. For example, an 8% breakthrough level, with minimal new investment each turn (e.g., 1 RP to maintain research), would result in an average completion time of 12.5 years.

The observed compounding behavior with small, consistent investments suggests that a slow, steady research approach can be very effective, though the exact algorithm remains unclear.

Note: The provided C code snippet (moo_rps.c) is intended to compute technology advances based on base cost and per-year investment. It appears to work for constant investments but has issues with variable investment strategies.