Diminishing return science on similar or related experiments/reports

[thereaverofdarkness]

With the introduction of biomes for the Mun and Minmus, it became easy to unlock the whole tech tree without leaving the Kerbin system, and this was before contracts. Now I understand there will be more things added to the tech tree, but there will also be more planets, and lots of biomes on each planet. I am suggesting a system that will give you the most science the first time you land on a planet, and will gradually give you less as you explore new parts of the planet, especially if the new parts aren't very dissimilar from what you have explored before. This could be balanced further by increasing the initial amount of science you receive in any given biome.

Benefit of this system:

* Player feels less obligated to explore all of the biomes, and will be more content with exploring just some of them

As a very easy to understand example, I will use the biomes of Minmus:

• poles
  
• highlands
  
• midlands
  
• lowlands
  
• slopes
  
• lesser flats
  
• flats
  
• great flats
  
• greater flats
  

To determine how they best connect in similarity (and to transfer this to a mathematical equation), you would make a biome similarity map like this:

I placed the different types of flats close to each other, and the "lands" close to EACH other, in two groups of greatest similarity. The slopes are closest to lowlands and midlands, but significantly different from either. The poles is out by itself, being very different from any other biome. It is most similar to highlands if anything.

The distance between two biomes on this map determines their similarity index, and the resulting reduction in scientific value of one caused by research from another. There are several possible ways to calculate this, but it is important to use a calculation that gives the same amount of science in total regardless of the order in which the biomes are researched. One easy calculation involves borrowing science from similar biomes based on their similarity index, which merely has the effect of reducing how much science those nearby biomes have remaining when you get to them. If, say, all of the flats are considered to be 40% similar to each other flat, and 15% similar to lowlands, which are 40% similar to midlands, which themselves are 40% similar to highlands--then the slopes are 30% similar to lowlands -or- 20% similar to midlands, while the poles are 15% similar to highlands:

* you collect a temperature reading in the Greater Flats, and transmit it at 50% value.

1. You get 20% value from each other flats (60%)
   
2. you get 7.5% from lowlands
   
3. you get 3% from midlands, and 2.25% from slopes
   
4. you get 1.2% from highlands
   
5. and finally, 0.18% from the poles
   

Now these individual amounts aren't listed to the player, but instead are added up and the player is presented with the total after they collect the data and before they send/store it. If the base value for just Greater Flats is 40, then the first transmission will yield 49.652 science. Greater Flats temperature scan will now show that it is 50% researched, and you cannot receive anything further from it unless you recover a temperature scan or process it before transmitting.

If you then go to Flats and perform another temperature scan, you will see that it is 20% researched already. If you transmit, you can get 30% more science from this biome, which will also give you:

1. 12% from Great Flats and Lesser Flats, none from Greater Flats
   
2. 1.8% from Lowlands
   
3. 0.72% from Midlands and 0.54% from Slopes
   
4. 0.288% from Highlands
   
5. 0.0432% from Poles
   

for a total of 56.8512% or 22.7405 science.

You would now see that the remaining flats have an 18% transmit value on temperature scan, or 68% with recovery. More temperature scans from the flats areas won't give you much unless you recover, though with transmitting, you will continue to get some science. But you can also travel to a higher elevation and transmit a lot more from your temperature scans. The lowlands are still going to give 40.7% value from temperature transmission, and the poles are barely scratched, still giving 49.7768% value.

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To recap:

Diminishing return on science causes the player to get a larger amount initially, with a diminishing return as similar biomes are researched with the same tool. This encourages the player to explore biomes with less similarity, or new planets entirely. It helps the player to feel less like they are missing something important when there are parts of the planet they have not yet explored.