Research Center

The Research Center is the local research facility where the scientists Merlin and Petra work to develop technologies using relics from the past. The building is located just north of the Central Plaza, on the East side of town. You can typically find Merlin and Petra here during the day. Hours are 8:00 - 18:00.

Relic recovery
The Research Center has its own Recovery Machine in-house, used for assembling relic pieces into complete relics. The machine is located inside the Research Center.

To use the Recovery Machine the player needs to obtain all of the pieces of a given relic by quarrying in one of the Abandoned Ruins. (Note: All pieces for a given relic will be found in the same ruin.) Once the player has all of the pieces, they can bring the pieces and some Data Discs to the Research Center and use the Recovery Machine to combine those materials into one restored relic. Most relics can then be donated to the Museum, sold, used as furniture, or given as gifts.

The player can obtain a Recovery Machine of their own after donating a certain amount of items to the Museum.

Research Center Exchange
The Research Center Exchange is a shop located inside the Research center, where the player can exchange Data Discs for a number of useful items, including Research Notes for increasing the Factory output, data chips for upgrading Ack, and several assembly diagrams.

The Exchange can be accessed during the Center's working hours by interacting with the cash register in the middle of the Research Center.

Disc recovery
When talking with Petra, the player can select Research to turn in Data Discs for new Handbook diagrams. Petra takes the discs and analyzes the data before sending a new diagram to the player in the mail. The time required to research each diagram varies; see the table below.

The blueprint that is researched depends on the number of Data Discs handed in; each unique blueprint requires a specific number of discs (i.e. handing in 10 Data Discs will research a 10-disc blueprint, and handing in 5 discs will research a 5-disc blueprint; see the table below). After giving Petra Data Discs, giving her more Data Discs will speed up the research process and allow the player receive the results faster. Additionally, if the player talks to Petra about the research after receiving the mail that they have discovered something on the disks she may ask for certain components related to the current research to speed it up further. Baseline blueprints are given in random order. Reloading the day that the diagram is received does not rerandomize which diagram is received, as it is determined prior to the delivery day. It is possible to check which blueprint will be given by visiting the Research Center while research is underway.

For baseline research, it is recommended to get all of the 5-disc blueprints before moving on to the 10-disc blueprints, and all of the 10-disc blueprints before moving on to the 20-disc blueprints. Otherwise, it is possible to fail commissions due to not having the unique crafting station required, such as the Cooking Set or Blender from the 5-disc tier.

Several missions will send the player to the Research Center for mission-specific blueprints. Mission blueprint research does not interfere with other research progress, and can be done in parallel to both baseline research and all other mission research, should any research happen at the same time.  This table is accurate to PC version.