Science is Fake

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas A. Edison

Isn't it peculiar that you mash together a copper plate and an iron gear, in order to make a mysterious potion, which magically gives you the insight to build new things?

Wouldn't it make more sense that in order to gain certain knowledge and build new things, you actually run experiments with available tools and items that will actually result in those new things?

Incompatibility warning

Incompatible with mods that add multiple recipes which produce the same science pack, resulting in possible deadlocks
Incompatible with mods that require science packs as ingredients in recipes
Incompatible with mods that add fluid which refuse to be barreled or fluids which are not properly defined
Incompatible with mods that add/remove items/fluids/recipes/technology/labs in the data-final-fixes stage
Incompatible with mods that edit affected recipe ingredients/results, technology costs or lab inputs in the data-final-fixes stage

IMPORTANT: run command /sif-test-deadlock to test if all technology can be researched!

How it works

Instead of researching by consuming science packs, research is done by consuming the ingredients of the recipes that are unlocked by that technology.

For example looking at the technology Logistics:

Unlocks splitter, with ingredients: 5x green circuit + 5x iron plate + 4x yellow belt
Unlocks underground belt, with ingredients: 10x iron plate + 5x yellow belt
Total ingredients for recipes in this technology: 5x green circuit + 15x iron plate + 9x yellow belt
Original science units required: 15s & (1x automation science pack) x 20
New research units required: 15s & (5x green circuit + 15x iron plate + 9x yellow belt) x 20

The new ingredients are multiplied by the average number of original science packs required

In vanilla all research cost an equal amount of science packs, but this is not a prerequisite
There could be a situation where a tech requires (1x automation science + 3x logistic science)
The average science packs in that scenario required would be 2 (rounded up)

Exceptions

Technologies unlocked by a trigger are not affected
Recipes that require fluid translate to fluid barrels in the related technology
For technology that does not unlock a recipe, the cost will be calculated according to the ingredients of the original science pack cost
Each non-recipe effect in a technology will multiply the base cost by +1

What happens to science packs
Science packs no longer exist, simple as that. This means:

Recipes that produce science packs will get the science pack removed from the output
If said recipe then does not produce any output, the recipe is removed
Same goes for science packs in the recipe's ingredients
Removed recipes will get removed from their unlocking technologies
If said technology then does not have any research effects, the technology is removed
If said technology is removed, it's pre-/postconditions are passed through so that the tech tree remains in tact
Science packs are removed from lab inputs

Known issues

This mod has not been extensively stress-tested and there is no guarantee that the mod is deadlock free
Not all locale is properly defined
Not all "tool equivalent" item/recipe icons are properly defined
There are "tool equivalent" items/recipes created for all non-tool items, but not all of them are used as lab input
Science pack related items/recipes/technology are not actually removed but instead are hidden

Roadmap

Make this mod awesome
Add a "research paper"-like item as the basis for all technology
Recursive replace science packs in recipe ingredients
Add a give-item modifier to each technology --> You'll get the first one free because you were successful
Add a GUI to show which item is used how many times in remaining technology

Collaborations welcome

Start a discussion with your ideas
Open a pull request on Github
Report issues under discussions

Acknowledgement

Me, for being awesome