(09-20-2018, 03:38 PM)Haxus Wrote: Patents provide a means for technological progression, in a concrete way.
Their data needs to be adjusted as there are some patents that consume a large amount of materials, mainly because they were copied en masse from the corresponding manufacturing processes.
On that note, some patents are kinda useless.
For example with the Plastic Flower Pot and Plastic Picture Frame, would be simpler if those items just require the Plastic patent.
Maybe the same with Plastic Sailboat and the plastic tools, it is just an upgrade to a item/vehicle that doesn't normally require a patent, so it wouldn't be unreasonable if those things didn't have individual patents.
Maybe also cut down on the multiple patent processes, for example the Large Rocket Motor can be research using Gun Powder, Nitrate Explosive, or Petrochemical. Could make the patent not require the interchangeable material at all, or simply a user interface that allow for selection.
But a lot of that will be easier if patents weren't using the normal manufacturing system and UI.
(09-20-2018, 03:38 PM)Haxus Wrote: At present it takes what, 45 minutes or so to develop a patent for a warp 9 FTL drive? Perhaps that should take a lot longer.
Yeah, and warp-drives could still benefit from using the tiered metal resources or heat sinks. So warp9 modules required Adamantine for example.