[2.0.28] 99%/fractional science packs left over after research complete

[GreyFoxx]

When using inserters to move science packs between labs, sometimes research will complete with an extra 99% science pack left over. The act of moving a science pack while research is ongoing causes some of the science pack to be consumed without contributing credit to the in-progress research. This leads to the situation where a technology that would normally require 20 red science packs will not complete after 20 packs have been consumed, requiring an additional pack to be added to a lab, of which only 1% of the pack is consumed (leaving a 99% pack). This is most noticeable in the early game when resources are limited. What should happen is that for every amount of a science pack consumed, the corresponding amount of research credit is added to the in-progress research, regardless of whether the pack is moved in the next tick.

One possible fix is to adjust the lab system to be more like the assembly machines, where the appropriate research progress is added all at once after the lab has "crafted" the research in some amount of time, moving science packs into a hidden buffer prior and only actually consuming it once the "crafting" is done, entirely eliminating science pack durability.

[Rseding91]

Thanks for the report however we will not likely be changing any of this. Science used to work as you describe and it was changed to how it works now because overall people like it better.

[GreyFoxx]

Fair enough. However, I'm sure the part about the packs being consumed without contributing research credit can be fixed.

[Jap2.0]

Fair enough. However, I'm sure the part about the packs being consumed without contributing research credit can be fixed.

This is a result of inaccuracy and rounding in floating-point math, especially when moving partially used science packs between labs; see e.g. 13674.