Advanced Research Communications Network
The Advanced Research Communications Network, or ARCNet for short, allows scientists on multiple planets across your empire to work together on new technologies simultaneously. Each level of ARCNet researched allows scientists from one extra Research Lab to join in.
Effect
When researching a new technology, the time required is as follows:
| Time(hours) = |
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Without ARCNet, the level of the Research Lab which initiated the technology is used. With ARCNet, the level of other labs may be added. ARCNet will automatically use the highest available Research Lab Level to help decrease times.
Example A player has a Level 10 Research Lab on their Homeworld and a Level 8 Research Lab on a colony. They wish to Research Level 10 Armor Tech (cost of 512,000 Ore) from their homeworld. Without ARCNet the time required would be:
| Time(hours) = |
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T= 46.54 hours.
With ARCNet Level 1 (making the effective Research Lab Level 18 rather than 10) the time required would be:
| Time(hours) = |
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T= 26.95 hours.
Important Notes
- With ARCNet, only Research Labs with levels high enough to research a tech can be included. For instance, Shield Tech requires a Lvl 6 Research Lab to research, so no Research Labs of level 5 or below will be included in researching any Shield Tech, regardless of ARCNet's level.
- For each additional level of ARCNet, you must have an additional research lab to take advantage of the bonus. The level of the additional lab is added to the part of the equation labeled "Research Lab Level" (for example another lab at level 8 would make the value 26).
Costs
| Level | Ore | Crystal | Hydrogen | Additional Labs |
| 1 | 150,000 | 200,000 | 80,000 | 1 |
| 2 | 300,000 | 400,000 | 160,000 | 2 |
| 3 | 600,000 | 800,000 | 320,000 | 3 |
| 4 | 1,200,000 | 1,600,000 | 640,000 | 4 |
| 5 | 2,400,000 | 3,200,000 | 1,280,000 | 5 |
| 6 | 4,800,000 | 6,400,000 | 2,560,000 | 6 |
| 7 | 9,600,000 | 12,800,000 | 5,120,000 | 7 |
| 8 | 19,200,000 | 25,600,000 | 10,240,000 | 8 |
There is no benefit to researching ARCNet beyond Level 8.
Requirements
- Research Lab Lvl 10
- FTL Tech Lvl 7
- AI Tech Lvl 8
