It seems to me that when I play Altarians I do get more chained research techs. Those that have stated you get more techs b/c your research was enough to pay for them are basically right, but it seems a creative race might get a bonus... like maybe Altaria pays 30% if, and only if, they had an overrun and will complete the tech this turn. So if you research beam theory late game, you pay for beam normally, but laser I is 30% cheaper, so is laser II, but laser III is normal b/c you will not finish it this turn. A non-creative race might end up at Laser II, or with fewer points towards Laser III.
The effect would not be more overruns, but overruns would be deeper. This corresponds to my experiences.
I play two setups often: Altarians and a custom race (Dark Snathi!!!) geared up for tech ability ( max res bonus, tech party). The Altarians are creative, whereas the the Snathi are loyal soldiers. i play both roughly the same, and it does seem like the Altarians get longer chains.
If it is currently useless, I'd suggest this be how it is re-activated. I'd pay a point to be able to dig a bit deeper into lesser techs when the time comes...
As to the lost library.... I for one am glad it is not present.... if the Dark Snathi got a hold of it early game, I'd just quit...it would be too easy. I don't really like the mine either, I'd rather see two 300% tiles.
I'd love to see 300% bonus tiles for approval and influence.... might make me actually use a 300% food if it was on the same planet . And how about an economics tile pair for our stock markets? Another I'd love to see would be 'ruins' or 'local resources' or 'precursur factory' tile which reduces the cost of structures built on it.... the spot would be great for a cheap-to-upgrade factory or for speeding up a single wonder.
come to think of it, if its moddable... a set of diverse tile sets akin to 'the game whose name shall not be spoken' (Moo3) incredible number of quirky planet rares.
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