How to R&D as RD on /tg/ SS13 v1.1

Ryan Ellis's "Finish research in fifteen minutes without leaving the Science Division" guide.

	My name's Dr. Ellis, but you can just call me Research Director.  Being a 'RD' is hard work, as you have many duties, from preventing the inevitable (toxins fire) from happening, to smashing the 'blow cyborgs' button when the AI starts trying to kill everyone.  One duty that you're most likely forced to do, because your scientists would rather make explosives and play with slimes, is manning Research and Development, also known as 'R&D'.

	Before I tell you how to do everything, I should tell you what R&D is, and why it's important that someone (you) does it every shift.  R&D provides some nice shiny things to the station, from advanced energy guns for the Head of Security, to rapid syringe guns for the chemists who have been so kind to you that they've given you acid without even asking.

	R&D requires a sacred bond between several departments, the biggest one being Mining.  If mining is not coming with minerals, then you can't do a lot.  To prevent this, you should make an announcement reminding the miners that you exist, and research is being done.  Offering a diamond drill doesn't hurt, too.  If the miners aren't doing their jobs like Engineers, then use your PDA to yell at them.  If they continue to ignore you, ask the Head of Personnel for Cargo Office and Mining access, and go get the ore yourself.  Reward yourself with a Durand when you return.

	The second department which you're dependent on is Chemistry, for acid refills, but one of the great things about this method of research is that it requires zero acid.  You should save the acid that you begin with for later, when you want an autolathe, or some other boards.

	Research is actually quite simple.  You take an item with a 'tech origin', shove it in a red machine called a Destructive Analyzer, go to the R&D console, press a few buttons, and you're one step closer to finishing your job.  There are lots of different types of research, some more useful then others.  I will list the various types of research defined by Nanotrasen below.

Materials - Very important, as it's used for lots of things in the protolathe.  You can't finish this without help from the miners (or the AI).

Engineering - This is fairly useful, as it's used for things like mining drills.

Plasma - This will sound really weird, but this research is worthless.  Yes, we're on a plasma research station, and I want you to ignore this field of research.  You can't get anything 'great' out of it, but it's easy to research.

Blue-Space - I don't really understand this field myself, but it's used in some teleport-related technologies, as well as a bag capable of holding massive amounts of objects.

Biological - Your roboticists will want this high, to make MMIs.  It's also used in syringe guns.

Power Manipulation - This deals with making batteries bigger and bigger.  In a few minutes, you can make 20,000 cells, and later on, 30,000!  The cyborgs will love you (as they kill you).

Electromagnetic Spectrum - Another field I don't quite understand, but it's used for telecommunications and a few other useful things.

Data Theory - A very important field, as most circuit boards require this.

Combat Systems - Also important, so you can make advanced weapons.

Illegal - This field is difficult to raise if you don't have "connections".  I won't be held accountable for what you do with this field.


	Now, let's assume that you just started the shift, ran to the library, and ordered this guide.  First thing you should do, is go back to your office, and grab something useless inside, mainly the teleporter board.  Go to R&D, and set up the machines.  If you want, order your roboticists to make two 'PBT "Pacifier" Mounted Tasers' and three 'Syringe Guns' for mechs.  If they don't listen to you, then we'll get to that later.

	After setting up the machines, you should see a [Matter Bin].  Grab it and analyze it, for [Materials 2].  After that, go to the toolboxes, take out all the useful tools, maybe put it in your internals box, and take out the [Analyzer].  This thing is useless, as your PDA can do what it can.  Put it in the analyzer for [Engineering 2] and [Electro. 2].  Grab the [Toolbox], which should be empty, and analyze that for [Combat 2].  Grab a [Capacitor] and analyze that, for [Power Manip. 2], then grab a [High Capacity Power Cell] and analyze that too for [Power Manip. 3].  Fill the protolathe with metal and glass, if you haven't already, and make a [Mining Drill], for [Power Manip. 4], [Engineering 3], and [Materials 3].  Sync your research, and head over to Robotics.

RECAP: Matter Bin, Analyzer, Toolbox, Capacitor, High Cap. Battery, Drill, Sync

	If your roboticists are competent, they will have your mech parts ready for you.  If not, you need to make them yourself in the fabricator.  Insert metal and glass in a fabricator, go to the console near the north-west of Robotics, and sync the servers.  After that, sync the fabricator you will use to make the parts.  You will be making heavy use of the fabricator, so let your roboticists know.  You will start by making three mech syringe guns, and two mech tasers.  At this point, you can make super-capacity cells, so make two of those as well, and inform Robotics to use those kind of cells for now on.  When everything is done being made, bring your parts back to R&D.

RECAP: Build 2 Mech Tasers, Three Mech Syringe Guns, Two Super Cap. Batteries, Go to R&D

	Back at R&D, analyze the two [Super Capacity Powercells] for [Power Manip. 6], which is as high as it needs to be (it can go higher, but there's no point).  Analyze the [Syringe Guns], which will give you [Materials 4], [Bio. 4], [Data 4], and [Electro. 5].  All of that with just three syringe guns!  Now analyze the mech [Tasers] for [Combat 4].  Analzye a [Tracking Beacon] for [Bluespace 2], then a [Teleporter Board] for [Bluespace 3].  Sync to servers, then go to robotics again.

RECAP: Super Cap. Batteries, Syringe Guns, Tasers, Tracking Beacon, Teleporter Board, Sync.

	At robotics, sync both the console and fabricators.  Make one more mech part called a 'Wormhole Generator', and run back to R&D.  Analyze the [Wormhole Generator] for [Bluespace 4]. You've now completed research, until the miners come (if they come.)  Your research levels should look like this.

Materials - 4
Engineering -3
Plasma - 1 (if you really want plasma higher, build a flamethrower or steal plasma from Xenobio)
Bluespace - 4
Bio. - 4
Power Manip. - 6
Electro. - 4
Data - 4
Combat - 4
Illegal - 1

	Now, wait at your desk and yell at the miners, until they bring you nice, shiny minerals.  They'll likely want a diamond drill in return, but we need to do a little more researching, which will only take about two minutes.

	Ideally, the miner will give you a little of everything.  Gold, silver, uranium, diamonds, etc.  Most people make a mistake here and analyze the diamonds.  -DO NOT DO THIS-.  That is wasteful, as diamonds are rare, and valuable.  Instead, you should analyze the [Uranium] until you have [Materials 6], put diamonds in the protolathe, make a [Diamond Pickaxe], analyze that, for [Materials 7] and [Engineering 4].  Make a drill for the miner, and now you're finished.

RECAP:Wait for Miners, Uranium, Diamond Pickaxe, Build Diamond Drill, You're done!

Your research levels should look like this,

Materials - 7
Engineering -4
Plasma - 1 (3 if miners bring plasma, give the rest to xenobio.)
Bluespace - 4
Bio. - 4
Power Manip. - 6
Electro. - 4
Data - 4
Combat - 4
Illegal - 1

	You're finished!  You should have 50 units of acid, as you haven't used any for research, so make an autolathe if you want, or make the AI call your Captain a comdom.  You will have about 95% of everything ready to make, with the 5% not useful/asked at all, but still easily reachable.  You can get a few more levels higher, for example, analyzing hyper-capacity power cells for Power Manip. 7, but there's no point, as everything you need is already there.  Be sure to sync one last time, for Robotics.

	One last thing you should know, is that there are many ways to do research, as this is just one of them.  This isn't my own unique method, in fact, this method was taught to me by a very competent scientist, a long time ago (who I'll never see again, rest her soul).  I don't see this method used too often, rather, I see scientists using loads of acid for boards.  If you're not a Research Director, then this guide can still be followed.  Just ask your RD for those useless boards in his office, and ask robotics for the mech parts.

	This guide likely could be done better, so experiment, do some real science, and maybe I can sit back and fall asleep in my office instead of in R&D.