Tech tree and unlock pricing

Players spend gems in the tech tree to unlock workbench trees and research blueprints, then build custom kits (Tech tree for players). Two pages configure it: Tech tree (which trees exist and their layout) and Unlock pricing (what they cost). Both need the store.economy permission (Admin) and the Player store plan feature.

Kinds of trees

Kind	Trees	Who controls the layout	Default in your store
Game	Tier 1 (T1), Tier 2 (T2), Tier 3 (T3), Engineering	RustyThrones (one layout for everyone)	On
Platform	Trees proposed by RustyThrones, for example Military	RustyThrones	Off until you turn it on
Yours	Custom trees you create	You	Off until you activate it

The tab strip groups them as Game, Platform and Yours.

Tech tree page

Open Store > Tech tree.

• Game and platform trees are shown locked (greyed): "Game tree, laid out by the platform. You can hide it from your store, not change it." / "Proposed by the platform: turn it on to add it to your store."
• The toggle on each tab reads Shown in store / Hidden. Use it to hide a game tree from your store or to turn a platform tree on. A hidden tree is not for sale: players cannot unlock it.
• Platform tree prices default to the platform's suggestion and are changed in Unlock pricing.

Create your own tree

1. Click the add (plus) button in the tab strip and type a name: 1 to 40 characters, letters, digits, spaces, - or _. Names that equal a game or platform tree are refused.
2. Search items in the right-hand panel and add them (up to 120 results shown at a time).
3. Place them: drag items onto the grid cells; unplaced items wait in the Unplaced items tray.
4. Link parents and children: click Link Mode, then click a parent node and a child node to draw a connection; click a line to remove it. Auto-layout arranges the tree automatically.
5. Switch the tree to Shown in store when ready and Save layout.

Controls: middle mouse or drag to pan, wheel to zoom. Cancel Edits discards unsaved changes; the page warns when you leave with unsaved changes. Skins and cosmetic items cannot be added to a custom tree.

Unlock pricing page

Open Store > Unlock pricing. "Item prices are set platform-wide": the gem value of items is the platform's price formula, which communities cannot change. You set:

Setting	Detail	Default
Blueprint conversion rate	Gems per 1 blueprint scrap. The cost to research an item is its blueprint scrap value times this rate.	1.0
Workbench unlock fees	One-time gem fee per tree and per server per wipe: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Eng(ineering), plus a fee for every platform and own tree. 0 makes a tree free.	T1 300, T2 1,500, T3 4,000, Engineering 500; platform trees use their suggested fee
Blueprint unlock costs	Per-item override of the research cost (in scrap). Search an item, set a value; blank = the item's default. Remove drops the override.	none

Save applies on the next purchase. Leaving with unsaved changes asks for confirmation.

What players pay

• Unlocking a tree: the fee, once per server per wipe (reset by a full wipe if the Reset tech tree cleanup step is on, see Wipe cleanup).
• Researching an item: unlock cost (scrap value x conversion rate or your override), for the whole chain of missing parents. Needs the player connected to the server; refunded if the game refuses.
• Research is closed for 4 hours after a wipe.
• Buying a custom kit: the sum of item gem values times quantity, up to 24 items. Settings (cooldowns, uses, image) come from the custom kit template.

Notes

• Hidden or switched-off trees are not for sale, but items a player already researched stay.
• One known gap: researching an individual item is not checked against whether its tree is enabled; hide the tree to remove it from the store.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Players cannot find a tree	It is Hidden, or an own tree is not activated.
Tree costs 0	The fee was set to 0, or the platform tree default is 0.
Page says unlock pricing not saved	Fix highlighted values; negative fees are invalid.