Research confusion

[galanom]

Hi!
I've been playing this game a few days, and I have reached a deadlock in research.
I've read the research map, but I still can't find out the problem. I would appreciate any help.

* I have researched A. Origins, but game says A. Astrogation is still listed as unresearchable
* I have researched A. Materials, but game says A. Detection (and A. Propulsion) is still unresearchable.
* I have captured live aliens, I researched Universal Serum, but did not understand what to do with it. Many months have passed and nothing happened. How can I research my stored live aliens?
* I have researched some techs that they never appeared to do something. Eg, I researched "plasma and the grenade launcher" but nothing appeared on production. I have researched Alien Medium Armor, but nothing followed - ok chart also says that further research is "planned but not yet included" but mentions no game version.
* I have produced Base-Defence Laser Turret, but I cannot place it in a SAM site.

My version is 2.4, on Linux, and date is Sep 2084. I have not yet met the Shevaar race. I have disassembled many UFOs and collected A.Astrogation, A.Propulsion, A.Detection, Particle Beam Weapon, all are listed in my research list but none of them is allowed to be researched.

Thank you!

[DarkRain]

Hmmmmm 2.4 is ancient at this point, you might want to try 2.5 (we are working the last details for release), that said...

* For the UFO parts you need to actually have one of those at the base you are doing the research
* Universal Serum is a dead end AFAIR, no actual interrogations are implemented
* There *are* plasma grenades for the launcher, doublecheck?, but Alien Medium Armour was a dead end in 2.4 AFAIR
* The Base-Defence Laser Turret is *not* for SAM sites, only in-base installations (new building should be available)

[ShipIt]

As DarkRain said, we strongly recommend playing 2.5-dev over 2.4.

If you want to stick to 2.4, share the save and I´ll take a look at it.

[galanom]

Thank you guys for your fast response.
I downloaded the latest 2.5-dev branch with git, compiled and installed it, copied over the saved games and now:
* I can research for "The Alien Strategy", which in turn opens "Alien Electronic Warfare" which is not researchable.
* I can research for Encased Plasma Rounds
But nothing more.

When I researched "Universal Serum" I thought that I could now interrogate aliens. But I still can't figure out how. Ok, I have 10 of them in containment, now what? The only option is a button that kills them.
I do have A.Astrogation, A.Propulsion and A.Detection as items, they are on my research list. 2.4 was saying I need prerequisites (but not according the research chart) and 2.5 just says "N/A".

So, it is still a dead-end. I must ask however, is a 2.4 savegame playable correctly in 2.5? Or I should better start from the beginning?

[Grug]

I must ask however, is a 2.4 savegame playable correctly in 2.5? Or I should better start from the beginning?

A 2.4 savegame is playable, but only marginally. Your solider's stats will be lower than that of a new recruit in 2.5 due to changes in how equipment and TU's are allocated. I don't know of any thing that might affect tech tree type stuff, but it would be far safer to start from scratch to avoid any bugs like that.

[DarkRain]

Maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough so here it goes again, hopefully this time it will be clearer.

* The various UFO parts need to be present *at the same base doing the research* (at least one of each being researched), if that's already the case there might be a problem with the save
* As I said before, Universal Serum is currently a dead end, interrogations aren't implemented

As Grug says, you'll take a big hit ground combat (due to soldier stats) if you continue with existing saves, and if on top of that, your research problems turn out to be form a problem with the  savegame you might be better starting from the beginning