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The Research tab

The Research tab is where you choose what your colony learns next. Almost everything advanced in the game requires completing research first, from stone cutting to ship engines. Press F6 to open it.

The game lays research out as a large node graph. The mod presents it as a tree view instead: arrow Up and Down through projects, expand and collapse with Right and Left.

Categories

The tree groups projects into three categories:

  • Available: projects you can start right now because their prerequisites are met.
  • Completed: everything already researched.
  • Locked: projects you cannot start yet because a prerequisite is unfinished.

With the Anomaly DLC, a second research tree sits alongside the standard one for the DLC's own projects.

Project details

Press Enter on a project to open its full details, then arrow through them. You will find:

  • A description of what the project does.
  • Its prerequisites: the projects that must be finished first.
  • Any other requirements beyond prerequisites, such as a specific workbench or building.
  • What it unlocks: the buildings, items, or abilities the research grants.
  • Its dependent projects: what becomes available once this one is done.
  • A "start research" action to queue it up.

Jumping along the tree

The prerequisites and dependent projects listed in a project's details are navigable links. Press Enter on one to jump directly to that project in the tree. This lets you trace a chain backward to see what you need first, or forward to see where a line of research leads.

When you have followed a link and want to return, press Escape. It steps you back one level at a time, so you can chase prerequisites three projects deep without losing your place.

A note on hidden prerequisites

A few research projects have prerequisites that the game itself never displays on screen. Because the mod reports what the game exposes, it cannot announce a requirement the game keeps hidden, so a project may occasionally depend on something that is not listed in its details. The RimWorld wiki's Research page documents every project's full requirements, including the ones the game leaves out, so it is the place to check when a project will not unlock and you cannot tell why.

Learn more

What to research first, and the order that gets a new colony established quickly, is a strategy question of its own. The RimWorld wiki's Research page lays out the full tree and common opening priorities, and lists every prerequisite, including any the game does not show in-game.

  • Navigating menus covers tree views in general, including the submenu navigation mode if expand-and-collapse feels cumbersome.