I like the new mechanic of assigning employees to research, having to prioritise research over other tasks and the time cost associated with research. It feels less abstract than the Money Cost + Time mechanic in Planet Coaster where you just throw money at stuff and sit back and wait.
However I feel that research should also cost in terms of money in addition to assigning an employee and the time cost, to represent purchases and prototyping or whatever. I would like to see this research cost appear in the finances in ongoing expenses. Each research item doesnt have to have a different money value attributed to it but it could just be a flat rate of cost per time for everything, the longer you take to research something (say if the employee keeps have to go off to do other things) the more total money you spend.
I feel this would also help to balance out the problem of an endless cash surplus once you have got over the initial hump of attracting enough people and free-coasting which tends to blight games like this. I know they want to have more focus on nurturing and conservation ideas but I dont think a real money cost for research would upset this.
However I feel that research should also cost in terms of money in addition to assigning an employee and the time cost, to represent purchases and prototyping or whatever. I would like to see this research cost appear in the finances in ongoing expenses. Each research item doesnt have to have a different money value attributed to it but it could just be a flat rate of cost per time for everything, the longer you take to research something (say if the employee keeps have to go off to do other things) the more total money you spend.
I feel this would also help to balance out the problem of an endless cash surplus once you have got over the initial hump of attracting enough people and free-coasting which tends to blight games like this. I know they want to have more focus on nurturing and conservation ideas but I dont think a real money cost for research would upset this.