What is the use of "advanced research"?

[shirandhak]

If you (resp. your vets) are done with normal research, you receive this gold "coin" in the research window and you can do "advanced research". (Edit: You have that progress bar with the pink scolar*s hat and it says something like "Bonus for advanced research" in the title.) But I don' t ever see any progress in the progress-bar. If seems to be always just a little bit done and stuck there (ca. 1/7 of the bar is pink). And where you can look what goodies there are, everything has a green checkmark, only the bottom field with the pink bubbles stays white. In Zoopedia everything seems to be unlocked and the curiousae are there, too. So, what is this "advanced research" doing? And can you somehow somewhen complete the pink bar? And what is the bonus if you do?

 

[Dezessete]

If I remember correctly, advanced research helps to boost the education rating for this specific animal.

 

[iloveyourzoos]

From the in-game help menu (Question Mark in top left corner, Management Section, Page 4 on vet research):

"Once a research chain has been completed, the vet can be left researching the animal, this is advanced research. This will provide a boost to a zoo's education rating."

Education ratings in turn help keep guests happier longer, which can lead to more donations and spending, and also help your zoo's reputation (which in turn helps bring more guests to the zoo).

I've also seen unconfirmed player theories of some other possible impacts (although again, I'm not sure if these are 100% accurate):

Some say that happier guests (which education and advanced research influences) are more likely to go deeper into your zoo, and can go further distances between destinations before they give up and turn around.

Some say that happier guests improves an animals star ratings, (and/or that seeing an animal with advanced research makes happier guests see more animals or travel to see more animals, and that the number of viewers can in turn help increase the star ratings of other animals or the zoo as a whole).

Some say that advanced research helps with breeding and fertility -- either directly, or as a cumulative side effect of one of the other benefits, such as stars, etc.

These cumulative impacts are a bit tougher to prove or disprove, since there are so many other factors involved. But it is worth remembering that education ratings aren't just one static number to achieve, but rather a game mechanic that is tied to several other interconnected game mechanics, at least marginally.

Presuming that I have enough money to hire enough vets, I like to do it. I like to do it for the animals nearest to my entrance first (so that guests get an immediate education/happiness boost as they come in), as well as any animals that I'm having trouble breeding (just in case), and high-priced animals (both to get a donation boost, and because they often have larger habitats that guests need to traverse to/around). Sometimes I even make enough money that I can advanced research every animal in the zoo.

One important note and potential downside: Vets who are doing research (including advanced research) tend to forget all of their other tasks. So make sure you have a good mix of "working" vets who actually care for animals, and dedicated research vets who you aren't relying on to keep the rest of the zoo functional.

 

[eviltiger13]

From the in-game help menu (Question Mark in top left corner, Management Section, Page 4 on vet research):

"Once a research chain has been completed, the vet can be left researching the animal, this is advanced research. This will provide a boost to a zoo's education rating."

Education ratings in turn help keep guests happier longer, which can lead to more donations and spending, and also help your zoo's reputation (which in turn helps bring more guests to the zoo).

I've also seen unconfirmed player theories of some other possible impacts (although again, I'm not sure if these are 100% accurate):

Some say that happier guests (which education and advanced research influences) are more likely to go deeper into your zoo, and can go further distances between destinations before they give up and turn around.

Some say that happier guests improves an animals star ratings, (and/or that seeing an animal with advanced research makes happier guests see more animals or travel to see more animals, and that the number of viewers can in turn help increase the star ratings of other animals or the zoo as a whole).

Some say that advanced research helps with breeding and fertility -- either directly, or as a cumulative side effect of one of the other benefits, such as stars, etc.

These cumulative impacts are a bit tougher to prove or disprove, since there are so many other factors involved. But it is worth remembering that education ratings aren't just one static number to achieve, but rather a game mechanic that is tied to several other interconnected game mechanics, at least marginally.

Presuming that I have enough money to hire enough vets, I like to do it. I like to do it for the animals nearest to my entrance first (so that guests get an immediate education/happiness boost as they come in), as well as any animals that I'm having trouble breeding (just in case), and high-priced animals (both to get a donation boost, and because they often have larger habitats that guests need to traverse to/around). Sometimes I even make enough money that I can advanced research every animal in the zoo.

One important note and potential downside: Vets who are doing research (including advanced research) tend to forget all of their other tasks. So make sure you have a good mix of "working" vets who actually care for animals, and dedicated research vets who you aren't relying on to keep the rest of the zoo functional.

That is a proper answer

 

[shirandhak]

Thank you for answering .
Next question: Has anybody succeeded in completing the "advanced research" bar? If yes: how long did it take?

 

[iloveyourzoos]

(I'm much less sure about this answer, so if anyone has "completed" and gotten different results, please do correct me!).

My understanding is that advanced research isn't something that you "complete", but rather something more like ongoing study that can last forever if you want it to. And the education bonus (and any other cumulative benefits from that) will last as long as you continue to have a vet dedicated to that task. (And presumably stop if you take the vets off).

But I'd love to hear if anyone else has found this to work differently.

One other thing I have noticed for franchise players, is that while regular research carries over between all the zoos in your franchise, advanced research doesn't appear to. For example, I have advanced research going in my community challenge zoo for the camels which are coming up, but when I look at another zoo that has camels it shows them fully researched for regular research, but not getting a bonus for the advanced research that is happening in the first zoo. (Although if there does turn out to be a "completion" somewhere down the line, maybe this would change?)

 

[shirandhak]

Again many thanks for answering
Your answer explains very good another wondering of mine: Because my guests have suddenly an education of 100% in a rather small zoo with just the exibit-boards and no other educational things. OK - this is how advanced research works and I'm fine with in. (It should be explained somewhere, though. This game needs a manual pdf for download.)

 

[Firestar97]

Again many thanks for answering
Your answer explains very good another wondering of mine: Because my guests have suddenly an education of 100% in a rather small zoo with just the exibit-boards and no other educational things. OK - this is how advanced research works and I'm fine with in. (It should be explained somewhere, though. This game needs a manual pdf for download.)

Thanks for writing this. Just wanted to ask how much you can make the Education Rating better. This should answer my Question.
I hope the Vets don't necessarily need to have a high Level for it to progress. I really want to try if I can do advanced Research for every single Species in my Japanese Zoo. I hope it will work.
Do they need Access to the Enclosure for advanced Research or only for the normal Research?

 

[shirandhak]

My vets are both 5 stars. And I think, they need access. At least they are visiting regularly (but may be that's just the normal vet visit).