Research Autopilot

Never leave your labs idle again. When nothing is being researched, this mod starts the cheapest research your labs have the science packs for. Press Shift+U or the shortcut button to turn it off and run your own list.

What it does

• Starts research when nothing is running. It picks the cheapest research that a single lab holds at least one of every pack for. Labs on any surface count, including space platforms.
• Moves on when packs run out. If no lab has held all the packs for 10 seconds, it switches to the next cheapest research it can run. If nothing else is possible, it stays put.
• Goes back when packs return. Research it left comes back once a lab has held all its packs for that same wait, even if something cheaper is running, such as when a rocket lands with packs from another planet. Progress is kept.
• Leaves your research alone. It never replaces research you started, even with no packs for it. If you queue something behind research it started and those packs run out, your queue goes on.

What counts as cheapest

Cost is how many of a single pack the research takes, however many kinds it needs. So 100 each of red, green and blue goes before 150 red.

Ties are broken in this order:

1. Fewer packs in total.
2. New buildings and features before plain upgrades.
3. The shorter research.

Settings

All of these are map settings, so they can be changed during a game.

• Seconds to wait before moving on (default 10): how long packs must be gone before it moves on, or back before it returns. It keeps a short gap in deliveries from changing the research.
• Say what it starts (default on): prints a line in the console each time it starts research.
• Ignore military technology (default off): for games without biters. It won't start weapons, ammunition, turrets, walls, their upgrades or anything needing military science, unless other research depends on it.
• Ignore follower robot count (default off): skips just the Follower robot count research, usually the cheapest thing left once you have military science. The rest of the military research goes on as usual.

You can still queue ignored research yourself. Research already running when you turn on an ignore setting carries on; cancel it and the next one starts.

Good to know

• Works with or without Space Age, and with modded research.
• Works with Ultimate Research Queue. While that mod's queue is paused, turn this one off, or the two will fight over the research.
• Packs split across labs don't count: one lab has to hold all of them.
• Turning it off forgets any research it was waiting to go back to.
• Adds nothing to the game itself, so it's safe to add to or remove from a save.