I'm kinda vacillating on that. On the one hand I don't want to make picking prototype tech the automatic correct answer, but on the other hand a permanent debuff seems kinda harsh. I think I'm happy with the current system for non-critical technology, with maybe just having single-class performance issues on critical tech like shields and hull.
Well when stuff is offered with multiple saving rolls, every ship design we wait reduces that by one. Would this work for a consistent method
@Sayle.
What if when it's a poor roll, we can either take it for this design, or change it for the existing tech with a time penalty.
It would work a bit like this:
The theoretical engine has 3 save throws. If we don't choose it now, next time will be 2.
If we try, fail and decide to keep it- it's crap but it still works, then next ship will offer the 2 save throws, but the experience gained from using it already means that 1 poor roll can either be re-rolled or upgraded to an acceptable/no improvement.
If the second die makes it fail again, it's an improvement over previous- but still could be better. Repeat the same keep/swap choice.
The 3rd ship design now only has a single die roll with the re-roll/upgrade.
Personally I think the upgrade works better as otherwise you could fail the re-rolls and it would be utter crap until the 4th ship when all the saving throws are eliminated. With the upgrade option it will at least be better until it finishes on ship 3.
[X] Type-3 Impulse Thruster [Theoretical] (Three Success Rolls: Size -> Thrust -> Prototype Performance)