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Research Records

This mod is a rework of the research system of RimWorld.

In the vanilla game the research and tech advancement is represented by the global pool of knowledge, the unlocked technologies instantly become available to all colonists worldwide. Instead of that the mod places all the knowledge into the heads of individual pawns and into the research books (introduced in the version 1.5).

The motivation for the mod is to put more value into individual colonists and incentivize search for other pawns. It is a variation on the same idea as was done in Colonist Tech Background: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1264778930

Note: This mod hasn't been tested, and is probably full of bugs. At the moment I would not recommended to start a long playthrough with it.

Known incompatibilities: Xandrmoro.Rim.FinishIt mod.

As for other mods, including the official dlc, that add new types of pawns and change the basic research mechanics, it may or may not work as intended. If you would like to see me add support for those mods, consider supporting this project: https://aes-sidhe.itch.io/rimworld-research-records

Added some support for mechanoids from Biotech mod.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Yoann for his help with coloring icons and xml files and debugging.

Features:

1. Colonists are generated with the knowledge based on their backstories and stats.

2. For every tech there are two levels of knowledge: extensive and partial.

3. In order to perform crafting, construction, repair, planting and harvesting the colonist must have the extensive knowledge of the relevant techs. While performing these jobs they will continue to gain knowledge in these techs.

4. In order to equip weapons and armor, use facilities for crafting, use recipe ingredients or provide medical care the colonist must have at least partial knowledge of the relevant techs.

5. The primary way for a colonists can learn a new technology is by finding and reading the corresponding book.

6. If the colonist already knows a technology (or how to use a technology) they can transcribe their knowledge into a book that can be used by others.

7. If neither a book nor a colonist with the knowledge of a specific tech can be found, the technology can be discovered by brute force research from scratch. However, unlike transcribing, this is an extremely slow process.

8. To offset the convenience of having all the books and every colonist knowing all the techs, both books and known techs add to the value of the settlement and colonists.

Examples that illustrate how the mod works:

1. Chad wants to build a power plant, but he doesn't know a first thing about electricity. (screenshot 1)
He could try to research it from scratch, but it is going to take a *very* long time. (screenshot 2)
Luckily for him, his friend Nerd knows all there is to know about electricity. (screenshot 3)
Nerd can use a writing table to write down what he knows and produce a book on electricity. (screenshot 4)
After that Chad can learn it by reading the book. (screenshot 5)

2. Chad may not be a sharpest tool in a box, but he sure knows how to make a club. Usually he is using his favorite crafting corner to make stuff, but today he wants to try the fancy station his friend Nerd is using. To his shame he can't even figure out how to turn it on. (screenshot 6)

3. Nerd has a made a charge lance and his friend Chad really wants to try it out. Of course he needs to learn how to use it first, but for that he doesn't need to know how to make it. (screenshot 7)
So instead of writing the full book on pulse-charged munitions Nerd can write a much shorter manual, just on how to use them. (screenshot 8)

4. Nerd got a splinter in his finger, luckily he has a stack of glitterworld medicine lying around. He asked his friend Chad to take care of his finger, but to his dismay Chad can't even figure how to use such an advanced medical equipment. (screenshot 9)


Compatibilty patching for other mods:

For mods that add new types of non-human pawns: look at the SpecialPawnTechs.xml, where I've added a patch for the insectoids mod.