scientists-not-tech-trees opportunity asserted
Research by named scientists
Replace the abstract research meter with named researchers whose skills, relationships, and rivalries determine what gets discovered and when.
thesis
Tech trees are among the most widely used mechanics in the catalog and among the least simulated: research is a currency spent on a graph. Relationship systems are common too, but the white-space analysis shows the two rarely meet. Research performed by a small population of named scientists with skills, collaborations, and grudges turns progression into a social system and makes breakthroughs into stories, using the same agent stack as colony sims.
design sketch
Each project needs a lead and collaborators; compatibility and rivalry change speed and the chance of side discoveries; scientists publish, poach, and defect. The tech graph becomes partially stochastic: what is discovered depends on who works together.
validation experiment
Swap the research meter in a strategy prototype for a ten-scientist system and compare player-recalled research events and build-plan satisfaction. Success: more recalled research stories without lower plan satisfaction.
key risks
- Stochastic research frustrates players planning builds.
- Micromanaging researchers adds busywork.
falsifiable prediction
A strategy or management game will ship research performed by a simulated population of named researchers whose relationships affect outcomes.
Title or expansion released after 2026-10-24 with at least 1,000 Steam user reviews; documentation describes research progress that depends on relationships between named researcher characters, not only on their individual stats.
checks against the data
3 assertionsThe text above states findings about this dataset. The build fails (E032) if any of these stops holding.
derived.tech-tree.prevalence_rank <= 5derived.relationship-values.prevalence_share >= 0.08rank.whitespace.relationship-values.tech-tree <= 10