I'm giving this a bump as I've updated the section regarding research agreements/coalitions.
To summarize it, nations can now pool their Scientific Advancement Levels (SALs) according to the described formula. The catch is that nations in a research agreement/coalition have to all research the same unique tech.
I've described the basis for the formula earlier on this thread, so I won't go back into that at this time. The basis for the catch that all nations in the agreement must research the same tech is the logical assumption that, in order for nations to be researching together, they must be researching the same thing; if nations were researching different things, then there would be no tangible benefit to a research agreement, as neither nation would be gaining research of value to their own project from the other.
Currently, the only research coalition is the Chimeran Commonwealth, and that is merely an assumption on my part based on their "same thinking" mantra. Assuming the Chimeran Commonwealth is a research coalition, the group SAL, as of today, comes out to 150 SAL.
...however, there is a slight issue. Harvendir has already claimed a unique tech prior to the implementation of these new research agreement mechanics. Therefore, from what I can see, one of three things could happen:
> Harvendir does not follow the Commonwealth's "same thinking" program;
> Harvendir is part of the Commonwealth's research coalition, and the rest of the Commonwealth gains the tech Harvendir has already researched;
> Harvendir is part of the Commonwealth's research coalition, and Harvendir loses its prior unique tech and gains whatever tech the Commonwealth decides to invest in.
There is also a fourth option, though the fourth option would make things a bit more complicated. The fourth option is that nations may research a unique tech once they reach 100 SALs and contribute everything past 100 to the research agreement. Nations may then proceed to follow this same method each time their individual SAL reaches the next unique tech level (200, 300, 400, etc).
For example, Harvendir currently has 122 SALs, so it could claim 100 SALs for its first unique and then contribute the remaining 22 SALs to the Commonwealth's research coalition. Harvendir's second tech, at group SAL 200, would then be the same as the rest of the Commonwealth, in accordance with the guidelines regulating research agreements.
Thoughts on the matter?