Raw Data

Raw data is the scientific data collected by your civilization. It is a resources that exists on the strategic map itself. Meaning it must be transported by your fleets. Raw data is always associated with a specific field. When the game first starts, many of the elements of the galaxy will spawn with raw data attached to it in various forms. Early on, this accounts for the majority of raw data that civilizations collect, but as the game goes on it eventually fades away. However many, if not most, actions taken throughout the game will also generate raw data to be collected later, the elements spawned at game start is just a way to encourage early exploration an kickstart the galaxy with a preset history, before the various civilizations of the galaxy begin to make their own history.

Most raw data first exists as a neutral resource in the galaxy. It may be the remains of a destroyed ship or a black hole or anything in-between. This data can be collect by each civilization. Though there are a few limits to this. A civilization must use a ship equipped with a scanner module. The scanner modules stats will determine how much of the data may be quickly, how fast, and how much of the raw data is permanently destroyed in the process. Destroyed data cannot be gather even by other civilizations. Sometimes as you get better scanning modules, you can collect additional data from previous sources, unless that data has been destroyed by previous attempts with cruder technology. Many sources of raw data also decay over time. Some events, like a super nova, may create raw data that dissipates. Raw data dissipates at different rates depending on it's source. When a player collects raw data, their copy of it (since all civilizations can scan the same neutral source of raw data) will stop decaying. (Decay slower?)

One of the ways that civilizations create more raw data in the world is through combat. All modules and hulls have a raw data value on them. When a ship is destroyed, it leaves behind an amount of raw data equal to (50 - (overkill %/2))% of that ship's raw data. (That equation is subject to change.) Which is calculated using it's modules and hull. (Should this data be created only after a fight has fully finished?) The above equation may also be called for things such as trying to backwards engineer enemy ships that you have captured or engaging in espionage. During combat, ships also accumulate data when damaged based upon based on the weapon that attacked them. If a ship is destroyed, it's accumulated data undergoes the same equation as it's native data. If a ship survives until the end of combat however, it's accumulated data is sent into a fleet wide pool to conserve processing resources. If an entire fleet is destroyed, it's accumulated data is "dropped" and becomes just like any other form of raw data existing in the galaxy. It might be nice to have fleets "drop" some raw data every time a ship is destroyed as well. But I would want to be careful with this to avoid frustration and micromanagement. It just might be nice to raid science fleets as they flee and than be able to scavenge some of the data they leave behind in the process. I imagine most of the "dropped" data is in the form of black boxes and scavenge-able computers.

To supplement the raw data present throughout the galaxy, civilizations can conduct experiments. An experiment is a construction project that produces a large amount of raw data when completed. I may provide a smaller amount of raw data each turn while in progress too.

While most raw data is collected from the strategic map, some raw data is gather spontaneously. That is to say that some events and other triggers will cause raw data to be attached to a fleet without them actually having harvested it from a source. This may be as a result of certain modules witnessing unknown technology in use. I will likely keep this rare however, using it only when generating collectible raw data would only serve to create monotony. Such as the above example where if every time a piece of tech was used it created raw data that vanished at the end of the turn, it would serve no purpose other than to waste resources and possibly add one more thing for the player to have to micromanage.

Civilizations will get raw data and/or science from being in proximity to other civilizations and/or having good relations with them. As scientific progress passes back and forth between the civilian populations.

Fleets with coms relays will transmit some of their collected raw data back to their civilization while they are in coms range. This process is slow however and most fleets dedicated to collecting raw data will need to make trips back to physically drop of their collected data.