ATM, getting Kovarex researched is a massive pain, beacuse it is basically impossible to get that many green rocks without a massive buffer of gray rocks, and there is basically nothing you can even do with them without needing even MORE gray rocks.
Reducing the green rock cost of getting Kovarex seems vital. If direct cost reduction is unappealing, remember that techs do NOT have to use the same number of packs of each type. You could divide the overall cycle count by 100, then have it use 100 of each pack except nuclear, and then increase the cycle lengh by 100.
This should make it more bearable, especially if some sort of tech cost multiplication is in effect.

This is a good idea, thank you.

Version 0.2.2 includes a setting to allow the user to select their Kovarex difficulty. The default is "cheap", which implements your suggestion. "Expensive" leaves the recipe unchanged. "Trigger" changes Kovarex to be a trigger technology, researched by crafting 40 uranium-235.

I like the last one, but it feels a bit too easy. Perhaps a larger number as another option?

Balancing things is hard.

I thought collecting 1000 uranium-235 was a reasonable challenge, but people seem to think that's too difficult (or time consuming). Hence this change. Some people don't want a challenge, some people do. So the trigger tech is an option.

Purely in terms of uranium-235 amount required, the trigger tech is four times harder than the default option.

However, balancing things is hard. I'm open to changing the trigger tech requirement. But I'd like to do it after some time of people playing with the mod and giving feedback.

I think something like 400 or 200 is a reasonable ask. I currently have that already in my current base, despite still not having purrple science set up. I have a box of 235 waiting for me to start the K process.

I think a good way to look at it is "How many chests full of U238 should I make the player stockpile before unlocking Kovarex?" because that's the true limiting factor here. There are no ways to spend the U238 before doing nuclear research. A full steel chest of U238 (4800) will yield about 34 U235. So, if you believe the player should be stockpiling 10 full chests, then a value around 350 is reasonable.

Personally, I think anything beyond 2 or 3 chests is excessive, because there isn't any gameplay benefit to it. There are no puzzles for the player to solve, other than "build more chests and wait".

Perhaps an alternative would be to provide a "Simple Kovarex enrichment process" tech that gets unlocked easily by trigger but is less efficient, and then the real fully efficient Kovarex tech can keep its original expensive cost. This is how Space Age handled coal liquefaction on Vulcanus, so there's precedence for the approach.

(I like the Kovarex unlock options as they are right now. I don't think you actually need to change anything - just wanted to add to the discussion here)

Perhaps I can recommend to rename "cheap" to "default", otherwise we feel so cheap ;-)

Perhaps I can recommend to rename "cheap" to "default", otherwise we feel so cheap ;-)

Sure. Implemented in 0.2.4.

You're still cheap, though.

haha, thanks!

The 1 to 100 ratio doesn't function that well with daisy chained labs. The inserters keep trying to insert 200 packs into the next lab, and if they have a stack size over 1, they end up stuck with an item in hand and no space to put it. 75 to1 should work just as well while not being significantly more expensive.

The 1 to 100 ratio doesn't function that well with daisy chained labs. The inserters keep trying to insert 200 packs into the next lab, and if they have a stack size over 1, they end up stuck with an item in hand and no space to put it. 75 to1 should work just as well while not being significantly more expensive.

Implemented in 0.2.5.

I'm currently playing with almost all planet mods there are. Lignumis moves productivity science to a later point. You first need to go to Muluna and then back to Lignumis before you can research utility science and then Kovarex. So I'm stuck without it for quite some time. That leads to me researching Nuclear power first, which leads me to the same point as the other complaints about Kovarex research.

Personally, I think this shouldn't be something that needs a setting to please all players. As long as the result is reasonable, most people will be happy and I guess all will accept it. While there is a setting at least for Kovarex, I find 1000 flasks ridiculously expensive and 10 flasks way too cheap.

These are my thoughts on the balancing and summarizes my taste (feel free to ignore it :-D ):

• Let the recipe yield in at least 2 flasks instead of 1. 1 U235 per flask feels super expensive.
• Remove the option for the 50% prod on the centrifuge. It feels weird.
• Balance ingredient costs of the technologies to require 50 flasks each for both Nuclear power and Kovarex.
• Add the Atom forge as a MK2 centrifuge with the 50% prod bonus that can be researched later.

Kovarex being locked by a trigger tech seems very appropriate. It's similar how Agriculture science pack is unlocked after making 100 Bioflux.

Having Kovarex being a requirement for making the nuclear science packs, which is a requirement for Nuclear Power means that making a nuclear reactor goes from being a chemical science tech to a productivity science tech, since it requires 750 productivity science.

Not a fan of the latter part.
Kovarex is not needed to use nuclear.