Different Research Types

[Crlaozwyn]

I'm not sure if anyone else thinks the straightline research is a bit odd... Every v1 file is the same regardless of who researched it and how fast. I'd love to see not only a bit of randomization, which would give people a reason to re-research files, but also other things to research on files... As in research to reduce HDD, CPU, or MEM use.... It doesn't make sense that every file naturally becomes a piece of resource hogging bloatware. There would, of course, have to be limits - you don't want a V500 password protect running for 50cpu/mem, but it would definitely broaden the spectrum of the game.

ADD:
there are a few ways this could work... resource reduction research could be either a flat rate or a percent. I really like the idea of being able to make the code more efficient.

[virus man]

That would be good.  Of course I would say it would have to be software based and maybe different values for the different stats on the software.

Example
File Share (which is not as useful as Adware with the Hide nerf)
V1.0 uses
2,500 CPU
32gb HDD
100,000 kb Ram
500 BW

Now as you all know none of the 500 BW servers can run this software.  Why?  Because of the HDD usage.
Now lets say we want to cut off 40% from the HDD usage.   To maintain balance that 40% would have to be allocated elsewhere as a penalty.  So we could end up with something such as
3,500 CPU
19.2gb HDD
100,000 kb Ram
500 BW
or
3,000 CPU
19.2gb HDD
120,000 kb Ram
500 BW
or
2,500 CPU
19.2gb HDD
140,000 kb Ram
500 BW

Obviously no one would be stupid enough to take a penalty to the BW which is why none of those showed.

Or you could even make it a little more strict.  Say a max of 50% reduction but the cost could be a 100% penalty total to the other stats such as
3,750 CPU
19.2gb HDD
150,000 kb Ram
550 BW

With Virii you could even adjust the AMOUNT of HPD generation to BW ratio.  But I would say the percentage would be of the current ratio.  In this example I will use both File Share and Adware.

File Share base is
1.2:1 or 1.2 HPD to 1 BW
So with a 50% improvement on it you would get 1.8:1 ratio
Adware base is
1:1 or 1 HPD to 1 BW
So with a 50% improvement on it you would get a 1.5:1 ratio.

Now lets take some of the other programs and use them as examples.  Mind you all examples will be with a V1.0 software.
Encryptor V1.0
6,000 CPU
3,417.968750 mb HDD
300,000 kb Ram
Now HDD space is cheap so for this one we will do a 25% improvement to CPU and RAM with a 100% penalty to the HDD
4,500 CPU
6,835.9375 mb HDD
225,000 kb Ram

As you can see with the customization to research you are able to make software that younger Hackers can use and give them the same strength as the Higher level Players.

Yes the Higher Level players can have a lot of fun with this as well.   But that is what the Bonus to Penalty ratio is a 1:2.

[ZacQuicksilver]

Let me give my take on this:


What we currently have is just one form of research: what we'll call General Research. It provides:

+.006 version for all effects
+.06(Base) HDD Use
+.06(Base) CPU Use
+.06(Base) Memory Use
+.06(Base) Bandwidth Use

(For all these things, base is the stats at v.1)

I think we should keep Version as the number that determines all effects: things like AV effectiveness/resistance, hide/unhide, etc. However, perhaps the other research could do other things:

Brute Force research (faster, but worse in the long run)
+.01 version for all effects
+.15(Base) HDD Use
+.15(Base) CPU Use
+.15(Base) Memory Use
+.15(Base) Bandwidth Use

Compression Research:
No version change
-.06(Base) HDD Use
+.12(Base) CPU Use
-.06(Base) Memory Use
+.06(Base) Bandwidth Use

Careful Research (Better in the long run, but costly):  {Edited after seeing Witcher's comments below}
+.002 version for all effects
+.01(Base) HDD Use
+.01(Base) CPU Use
+.01(Base) Memory Use
+.01(Base) Bandwidth Use

[Witcher]

I very much like the idea of Ebolla to have differential research - adjusting the characteristics of the program without changing the version number because it implies a few things:

1) You first need to research the file
2) Then you can optimize it how you feel good

The one thing which is the basic limiting factor of virii is the bandwidth usage - I would say that should not be alterable because you could really run into virii which are hyperefficient, even with just a little tweak to research. So I would leave bandwidth used by virii strictly linked to version number - just play around with the resources used.

I do have a question though - once you have modified a virii file, can you continue then to research it normally or can you only continue optimizing it till it gets to the cap (wherever the cap may eventually be)

This really would make things very interesting and open up a lot of options.

One thing I don't like about the option from ZacQuicksilver is the option of researching virii without increasing bandwidth use. I find that would be ... yes you know the phrase... brutally unbalancing. Sure, it may be more expensive and take long but it would be the road to riches and fame. (consider a v5.0 adware virus which could run and use only 3 bandwidth!)

There is an alternative way to implement this incidentally -

By the introduction of "coder skills". Consider the following:

Coder skill: Compression (smaller file sizes, bigger CPU usage/memory usage)
Coder skill: Memory manager (smaller memory use, bigger CPU usage/HD storage)
Coder skill: Process efficiency (smaller CPU usage, bigger memory use/HD storage)

The trick? Each coder could have only ONE of those skills, (chosen, randomly assigned, whatever take your pick on how to assign them and whether or not they could be changed)

The advantage of this is that it encourages cooperation between players and the formation of player groups, as the different skills would have different effects depending on the programs being coded. You could have the skill either be boolean (either you have it or you don't) or something which you need to develop and pay for (either in HPD or time or by other means)

I don't provide figures for the skills as I find Ebolla's figures for the adaptation of programs to be more than adequate.

[RavenXP]

If this will be the case, then there should be a popup javascript window that must appear when you hover the mouse on the File/Program section so that it will show the exact amount of RAM/CPU/HDD and BW to be used when running/researching this software. Just an addition to your suggestions. 

[Araeus]

I like the coder skills idea, that would bring a lot of dynamics to groups, have one person research something for a while and pass it off to the next person for a different set of benefits...