Add research money costs, longer research times, era-scaled talent costs, and persona strategy

Research now costs money (drained per-tick) with ~2.5-3.5x longer durations by category.
Early-game talent budget costs reduced via era multiplier (startup 0.2x → bigtech 1.0x).
New seed-driven PersonaStrategy with 8 axes of variation for meaningful multi-run testing.
CI multi-run switched from greedy to persona strategy.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/balance-check.yml

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
         run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
       - name: Run multi-simulation (5 runs)
-        run: pnpm --filter @ai-tycoon/game-simulation multirun -- --runs 5 --parallel 2 --strategy greedy --ticks 28800 --no-timeseries
+        run: pnpm --filter @ai-tycoon/game-simulation multirun -- --runs 5 --parallel 2 --strategy persona --ticks 28800 --no-timeseries
 
       - name: Interpret results
         if: always()

apps/web/src/pages/ResearchPage.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { FlaskConical, Lock, Check, Play, ListOrdered, X } from 'lucide-react';
 import { TutorialHint } from '@/components/game/TutorialHint';
 import { useGameStore } from '@/store';
-import { formatDuration, formatPercent, formatNumber } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
+import { formatDuration, formatPercent, formatNumber, formatMoney } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
 import { TECH_TREE, getAvailableResearch } from '@ai-tycoon/game-engine';
 import type { ResearchNode } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
 
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ export function ResearchPage() {
       totalTicks: node.cost.ticks,
       allocatedResearchers: state.talent.departments.research.headcount,
       allocatedCompute: node.cost.compute,
+      moneySpent: 0,
     });
   };
 
@@ -165,7 +166,7 @@ export function ResearchPage() {
                     <p className="text-xs text-surface-400 mb-3">{node.description}</p>
                     <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
                       <div className="text-xs text-surface-500">
-                        {formatDuration(node.cost.ticks)} · {formatNumber(node.cost.compute)} compute
+                        {formatMoney(node.cost.money)} · {formatDuration(node.cost.ticks)} · {formatNumber(node.cost.compute)} compute
                         {node.cost.researchPoints > 0 && ` · ${node.cost.researchPoints} RP`}
                       </div>
                       {canStart && (

packages/game-engine/src/data/techTree.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 60 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 150, money: 2250 },
     effects: [{ type: 'cost_reduction', target: 'energy', value: 0.25 }],
   },
   {
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 60 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 150, money: 2250 },
     effects: [{ type: 'cost_reduction', target: 'failure_rate', value: 0.5 }],
   },
   {
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 10, ticks: 90 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 10, ticks: 225, money: 3375 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'a100', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['advanced-gpu-arch'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 40, ticks: 240 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 40, ticks: 600, money: 30000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'h100', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['next-gen-gpu'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 200, ticks: 480 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 200, ticks: 1200, money: 240000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'b200', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'agi',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['frontier-compute'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 10, compute: 500, ticks: 900 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 10, compute: 500, ticks: 2250, money: 1125000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'custom', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['advanced-gpu-arch'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 30, ticks: 200 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 30, ticks: 500, money: 25000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'amd', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['quantization'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 150 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 375, money: 18750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'inference', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'agi',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['frontier-compute'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 8, compute: 400, ticks: 720 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 8, compute: 400, ticks: 1800, money: 900000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_rack', target: 'gb200-nvl72', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['advanced-cooling'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 180 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 450, money: 22500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'liquid-cooling', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['liquid-cooling-tech'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 100, ticks: 400 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 100, ticks: 1000, money: 200000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'immersion-cooling', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['network-engineering-i'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 240 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 600, money: 30000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'infiniband', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['advanced-cooling'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 1, compute: 15, ticks: 120 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 1, compute: 15, ticks: 300, money: 4500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_dc_tier', target: 'medium', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['dc-engineering-ii'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 60, ticks: 300 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 60, ticks: 750, money: 37500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_dc_tier', target: 'large', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['dc-engineering-iii'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 6, compute: 150, ticks: 600 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 6, compute: 150, ticks: 1500, money: 300000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_dc_tier', target: 'mega', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['redundancy-protocols'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 1, compute: 10, ticks: 90 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 1, compute: 10, ticks: 225, money: 3375 },
     effects: [{ type: 'cost_reduction', target: 'test_failure_rate', value: 0.25 }],
   },
   {
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['redundancy-protocols'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 150 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 375, money: 18750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'cost_reduction', target: 'network_failure_rate', value: 0.4 }],
   },
   {
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['network-engineering-i'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 80, ticks: 360 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 80, ticks: 900, money: 180000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'cost_reduction', target: 'network_failure_rate', value: 0.5 }],
   },
   {
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['network-engineering-i'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 240 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 600, money: 30000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'network_uplinks', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['network-engineering-ii'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 100, ticks: 400 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 100, ticks: 1000, money: 200000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'network_repair_speed', value: 0.4 }],
   },
   {
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'agi',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['network-fast-repair'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 8, compute: 250, ticks: 600 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 8, compute: 250, ticks: 1500, money: 750000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'network_hot_standby', value: 5 }],
   },
   {
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['dc-engineering-ii'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 180 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 450, money: 22500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'pipeline_speed', value: 0.2 }],
   },
   {
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'infrastructure',
     prerequisites: ['advanced-gpu-arch'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 30, ticks: 180 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 30, ticks: 450, money: 22500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'training_speed', value: 0.2 }],
   },
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 8, ticks: 75 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 8, ticks: 188, money: 2820 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'inference', value: 0.15 }],
   },
   {
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['quantization'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 180 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 450, money: 22500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'capability_boost', target: 'all', value: 5 }],
   },
   {
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['quantization'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 150 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 375, money: 18750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'tokens_per_flop', value: 0.3 }],
   },
 
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'generation',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 10, ticks: 90 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 10, ticks: 225, money: 3375 },
     effects: [{ type: 'capability_boost', target: 'all', value: 10 }],
   },
   {
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'reasoning',
     prerequisites: ['transformer-v2'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 240 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 720, money: 36000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'capability_boost', target: 'reasoning', value: 15 }],
   },
   {
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'coding',
     prerequisites: ['transformer-v2'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 35, ticks: 210 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 35, ticks: 735, money: 36750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'capability_boost', target: 'coding', value: 15 }],
   },
   {
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'creative',
     prerequisites: ['transformer-v2'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 30, ticks: 210 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 30, ticks: 735, money: 36750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'capability_boost', target: 'creative', value: 15 }],
   },
   {
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'multimodal',
     prerequisites: ['transformer-v2'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 50, ticks: 300 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 50, ticks: 1050, money: 52500 },
     effects: [
       { type: 'capability_boost', target: 'multimodal', value: 20 },
       { type: 'unlock_product_line', target: 'image', value: 1 },
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'agents',
     prerequisites: ['reasoning-enhancement', 'code-generation'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 6, compute: 100, ticks: 480 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 6, compute: 100, ticks: 1680, money: 336000 },
     effects: [
       { type: 'capability_boost', target: 'agents', value: 20 },
       { type: 'unlock_product_line', target: 'agents', value: 1 },
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'safety',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 8, ticks: 90 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 8, ticks: 270, money: 4050 },
     effects: [
       { type: 'safety_boost', target: 'models', value: 10 },
       { type: 'capability_boost', target: 'reputation', value: 5 },
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'safety',
     prerequisites: ['alignment-research'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 240 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 40, ticks: 720, money: 36000 },
     effects: [
       { type: 'safety_boost', target: 'models', value: 10 },
       { type: 'capability_boost', target: 'reputation', value: 5 },
@@ -372,7 +372,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'safety',
     prerequisites: ['interpretability'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 80, ticks: 420 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 5, compute: 80, ticks: 1260, money: 252000 },
     effects: [
       { type: 'safety_boost', target: 'models', value: 15 },
       { type: 'capability_boost', target: 'reputation', value: 10 },
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'coding',
     prerequisites: ['code-generation'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 150 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 525, money: 26250 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_product_line', target: 'code-assistant', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 3, ticks: 45 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 3, ticks: 158, money: 2370 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'developer-relations', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 3, ticks: 45 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 3, ticks: 112, money: 1680 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'enterprise-sales', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['developer-relations'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 15, ticks: 120 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 15, ticks: 300, money: 15000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'sdk_coverage', value: 0.3 }],
   },
   {
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     category: 'specialization',
     branch: 'agents',
     prerequisites: ['agentic-architecture'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 60, ticks: 300 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 60, ticks: 1050, money: 210000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_product_line', target: 'agents-platform', value: 1 }],
   },
 
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['inference-optimization'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 150 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 25, ticks: 375, money: 18750 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'request-routing', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['request-routing'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 30, ticks: 180 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 3, compute: 30, ticks: 450, money: 22500 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'priority-queues', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'scaleup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['inference-optimization'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 120 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 2, compute: 20, ticks: 300, money: 15000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'unlock_feature', target: 'request-batching', value: 1 }],
   },
   {
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'bigtech',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: ['request-routing'],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 60, ticks: 300 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 4, compute: 60, ticks: 750, money: 150000 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'auto_scaling', value: 0.2 }],
   },
 
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ export const TECH_TREE: ResearchNode[] = [
     era: 'startup',
     category: 'efficiency',
     prerequisites: [],
-    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 60 },
+    cost: { researchPoints: 0, compute: 5, ticks: 150, money: 2250 },
     effects: [{ type: 'efficiency_boost', target: 'data_quality', value: 0.2 }],
   },
 ];

packages/game-engine/src/systems/economySystem.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { GameState, EconomyState, InfrastructureState } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
 import { FINANCIAL_SNAPSHOT_INTERVAL, MAX_FINANCIAL_HISTORY, REGULATION_COMPLIANCE_PER_CAPABILITY } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
+import { TECH_TREE } from '../data/techTree';
 import type { MarketTickResult } from './marketSystem';
 
 export function processEconomy(
@@ -27,7 +28,16 @@ export function processEconomy(
   const complianceCost = bestCapability > 30 ? bestCapability * REGULATION_COMPLIANCE_PER_CAPABILITY * (1 + eraIdx * 0.5) / 100 : 0;
 
   const devRelExpenses = state.market.developerEcosystem.devRelSpending;
-  const expenses = infraExpenses + talentExpenses + dataExpenses + complianceCost + devRelExpenses + extraCosts;
+
+  let researchExpenses = 0;
+  if (state.research.activeResearch) {
+    const node = TECH_TREE.find(n => n.id === state.research.activeResearch!.researchId);
+    if (node) {
+      researchExpenses = node.cost.money / node.cost.ticks;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const expenses = infraExpenses + talentExpenses + dataExpenses + complianceCost + devRelExpenses + researchExpenses + extraCosts;
 
   const money = state.economy.money + revenue - expenses;
 

packages/game-engine/src/systems/researchSystem.ts

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ function promoteFromQueue(
       totalTicks: node.cost.ticks,
       allocatedResearchers: state.talent.departments.research.headcount,
       allocatedCompute: node.cost.compute,
+      moneySpent: 0,
     };
 
     return {
@@ -52,6 +53,10 @@ export function processResearch(state: GameState, compute: ComputeState): Resear
 
   const newProgress = active.progressTicks + speedMultiplier;
 
+  const node = TECH_TREE.find(n => n.id === active.researchId);
+  const moneyPerTick = node ? node.cost.money / node.cost.ticks : 0;
+  const newMoneySpent = (active.moneySpent ?? 0) + moneyPerTick;
+
   if (newProgress >= active.totalTicks) {
     const completedResearch = {
       ...state.research,
@@ -72,7 +77,7 @@ export function processResearch(state: GameState, compute: ComputeState): Resear
   return {
     research: {
       ...state.research,
-      activeResearch: { ...active, progressTicks: newProgress },
+      activeResearch: { ...active, progressTicks: newProgress, moneySpent: newMoneySpent },
     },
     researchCompleted: null,
   };

packages/game-engine/src/systems/talentSystem.test.ts

@@ -53,8 +53,9 @@ describe('processTalent', () => {
     expect(result.totalSalaryPerTick).toBe(70);
   });
 
-  it('adds 1% of department budget per tick', () => {
+  it('adds 1% of department budget per tick scaled by era', () => {
     const state = createTestState({
+      meta: { currentEra: 'bigtech' },
       talent: {
         departments: {
           research: { id: 'research', headcount: 0, budget: 10_000, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
@@ -66,10 +67,28 @@ describe('processTalent', () => {
       },
     });
     const result = processTalent(state);
-    // 10000 * 0.01 + 5000 * 0.01 = 100 + 50 = 150
+    // bigtech multiplier = 1.0: 10000 * 0.01 + 5000 * 0.01 = 150
     expect(result.totalSalaryPerTick).toBe(150);
   });
 
+  it('applies startup era discount to budget costs', () => {
+    const state = createTestState({
+      meta: { currentEra: 'startup' },
+      talent: {
+        departments: {
+          research: { id: 'research', headcount: 0, budget: 10_000, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
+          engineering: { id: 'engineering', headcount: 0, budget: 5_000, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
+          operations: { id: 'operations', headcount: 0, budget: 0, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
+          sales: { id: 'sales', headcount: 0, budget: 0, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
+        },
+        keyHires: [],
+      },
+    });
+    const result = processTalent(state);
+    // startup multiplier = 0.2: (10000 + 5000) * 0.01 * 0.2 = 30
+    expect(result.totalSalaryPerTick).toBe(30);
+  });
+
   it('adds key hire salaries to total', () => {
     const state = createTestState({
       talent: {
@@ -110,6 +129,7 @@ describe('processTalent', () => {
 
   it('combines headcount salary, budget cost, and key hire salary', () => {
     const state = createTestState({
+      meta: { currentEra: 'bigtech' },
       talent: {
         departments: {
           research: { id: 'research', headcount: 4, budget: 2_000, effectiveness: 0.5, morale: 0.8 },
@@ -133,7 +153,7 @@ describe('processTalent', () => {
     });
     const result = processTalent(state);
     // headcount: (4 + 6) * 5 = 50
-    // budget: 2000 * 0.01 + 3000 * 0.01 = 20 + 30 = 50
+    // budget (bigtech 1.0x): 2000 * 0.01 + 3000 * 0.01 = 50
     // key hires: 15
     // total = 50 + 50 + 15 = 115
     expect(result.totalSalaryPerTick).toBe(115);

packages/game-engine/src/systems/talentSystem.ts

@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 import type { GameState, TalentState } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
+import { ERA_BUDGET_COST_MULTIPLIER } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
 
 const SALARY_PER_HEADCOUNT_PER_TICK = 5;
 
 export function processTalent(state: GameState): TalentState {
   const departments = { ...state.talent.departments };
+  const budgetMultiplier = ERA_BUDGET_COST_MULTIPLIER[state.meta.currentEra] ?? 1.0;
 
   let totalSalary = 0;
   for (const [id, dept] of Object.entries(departments)) {
     totalSalary += dept.headcount * SALARY_PER_HEADCOUNT_PER_TICK;
-    totalSalary += dept.budget * 0.01;
+    totalSalary += dept.budget * 0.01 * budgetMultiplier;
   }
 
   for (const hire of state.talent.keyHires) {

packages/game-simulation/src/simulate.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { runSimulation } from './runner';
 import { GreedyStrategy } from './strategies/greedy';
 import { RandomStrategy } from './strategies/random';
+import { PersonaStrategy } from './strategies/persona';
 import { printConsoleReport, generateJsonReport } from './analysis/report';
 import { writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { resolve, dirname } from 'node:path';
@@ -27,7 +28,9 @@ const jsonOutput = hasFlag('json');
 const verbose = hasFlag('verbose');
 const csvOutput = hasFlag('csv');
 
-const strategy = strategyName === 'random' ? new RandomStrategy() : new GreedyStrategy();
+const strategy = strategyName === 'random' ? new RandomStrategy()
+  : strategyName === 'persona' ? new PersonaStrategy(seed ?? 42)
+  : new GreedyStrategy();
 
 console.log(`Running ${strategyName} simulation: ${totalTicks.toLocaleString()} ticks, interval ${decisionInterval}${seed !== undefined ? `, seed ${seed}` : ''}...`);
 

packages/game-simulation/src/strategies/greedy.ts

@@ -316,14 +316,18 @@ export class GreedyStrategy implements Strategy {
       return pb - pa;
     });
 
-    const best = sorted[0];
-    actions.startResearch(state, {
-      researchId: best.id,
-      progressTicks: 0,
-      totalTicks: best.cost.ticks,
-      allocatedResearchers: 0,
-      allocatedCompute: 0,
-    });
+    for (const candidate of sorted) {
+      if (!cashSafe(state, candidate.cost.money, 50)) continue;
+      actions.startResearch(state, {
+        researchId: candidate.id,
+        progressTicks: 0,
+        totalTicks: candidate.cost.ticks,
+        allocatedResearchers: 0,
+        allocatedCompute: 0,
+        moneySpent: 0,
+      });
+      return;
+    }
   }
 
   private tryHireTalent(state: GameState): void {

packages/game-simulation/src/strategies/persona.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,599 @@
+import type { GameState, Era, RackSkuId } from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
+import {
+  RACK_SKU_CONFIGS, DC_TIER_CONFIGS, COOLING_ORDER,
+  PARAMETER_OPTIONS, DEFAULT_DATA_MIX,
+  MAX_CONCURRENT_TRAINING, PRETRAINING_BASE_TICKS,
+  CLUSTER_COST_CONFIG, LOCATION_CONFIGS, maxComputeRacks,
+  VRAM_REQUIREMENTS_BY_GENERATION,
+} from '@ai-tycoon/shared';
+import {
+  canRaiseFunding, getNextFundingRound, getAvailableResearch, TECH_TREE,
+} from '@ai-tycoon/game-engine';
+import * as actions from '../actions';
+import type { Strategy, SimulationMetrics } from './types';
+
+const ERA_ORDER: Era[] = ['startup', 'scaleup', 'bigtech', 'agi'];
+
+interface PersonaProfile {
+  riskTolerance: number;
+  researchFocus: number;
+  talentBias: { research: number; engineering: number; operations: number; sales: number };
+  modelAmbition: number;
+  pricingAggression: number;
+  infraStrategy: number;
+  expansionTiming: number;
+  safetyWeight: number;
+}
+
+function hashDimension(seed: number, dimensionIndex: number): number {
+  let h = (seed + dimensionIndex * 0x9E3779B9) | 0;
+  h = Math.imul(h ^ (h >>> 16), 0x45D9F3B);
+  h = Math.imul(h ^ (h >>> 13), 0x45D9F3B);
+  return ((h ^ (h >>> 16)) >>> 0) / 4294967296;
+}
+
+function lerp(min: number, max: number, t: number): number {
+  return min + (max - min) * t;
+}
+
+function generatePersona(seed: number): PersonaProfile {
+  const riskTolerance = lerp(0.3, 1.0, hashDimension(seed, 0));
+  const researchFocus = Math.floor(hashDimension(seed, 1) * 5);
+  const modelAmbition = lerp(0.4, 1.0, hashDimension(seed, 2));
+  const pricingAggression = lerp(0.5, 2.0, hashDimension(seed, 3));
+  const infraStrategy = Math.floor(hashDimension(seed, 4) * 3);
+  const expansionTiming = lerp(0.5, 1.5, hashDimension(seed, 5));
+  const safetyWeight = lerp(0.3, 1.0, hashDimension(seed, 6));
+
+  const rawWeights = [
+    hashDimension(seed, 7),
+    hashDimension(seed, 8),
+    hashDimension(seed, 9),
+    hashDimension(seed, 10),
+  ];
+  const floor = 0.1;
+  const floored = rawWeights.map(w => floor + w * (1 - 4 * floor));
+  const sum = floored.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
+  const normalized = floored.map(w => w / sum);
+
+  return {
+    riskTolerance,
+    researchFocus,
+    talentBias: {
+      research: normalized[0],
+      engineering: normalized[1],
+      operations: normalized[2],
+      sales: normalized[3],
+    },
+    modelAmbition,
+    pricingAggression,
+    infraStrategy,
+    expansionTiming,
+    safetyWeight,
+  };
+}
+
+const BASE_RESEARCH_PRIORITY: Record<string, number> = {
+  'advanced-cooling': 200,
+  'dc-engineering-ii': 190,
+  'advanced-gpu-arch': 180,
+  'alignment-research': 250,
+  'transformer-v2': 165,
+  'quantization': 160,
+  'data-pipeline': 155,
+  'developer-relations': 150,
+  'enterprise-sales': 175,
+  'redundancy-protocols': 140,
+  'quality-assurance': 130,
+  'liquid-cooling-tech': 120,
+  'next-gen-gpu': 115,
+  'distributed-training': 110,
+  'inference-optimization': 105,
+  'dc-engineering-iii': 100,
+  'code-generation': 170,
+  'reasoning-enhancement': 90,
+  'amd-ecosystem': 85,
+  'infiniband-networking': 80,
+  'distillation': 75,
+  'inference-specialization': 70,
+  'sdk-platform': 65,
+  'request-batching': 60,
+  'request-routing': 55,
+  'code-assistant-product': 168,
+  'creative-systems': 45,
+  'multimodal-fusion': 40,
+  'network-engineering-i': 35,
+  'rapid-deployment': 30,
+  'priority-queues': 25,
+  'interpretability': 180,
+  'immersion-cooling-tech': 18,
+  'frontier-compute': 16,
+  'dc-engineering-iv': 14,
+  'network-engineering-ii': 12,
+  'agentic-architecture': 88,
+  'constitutional-ai': 160,
+  'network-redundancy': 6,
+  'auto-scaling': 5,
+  'agents-platform-product': 86,
+  'network-fast-repair': 3,
+  'rack-scale-compute': 2,
+  'custom-silicon': 1,
+  'network-hot-standby': 0,
+};
+
+const INFRA_RESEARCH = new Set([
+  'advanced-cooling', 'dc-engineering-ii', 'dc-engineering-iii', 'dc-engineering-iv',
+  'liquid-cooling-tech', 'immersion-cooling-tech', 'redundancy-protocols',
+  'network-engineering-i', 'network-engineering-ii', 'network-redundancy',
+  'network-fast-repair', 'network-hot-standby', 'rapid-deployment',
+  'distributed-training', 'inference-optimization', 'quantization',
+  'infiniband-networking', 'rack-scale-compute', 'custom-silicon',
+  'frontier-compute', 'auto-scaling',
+]);
+
+const SAFETY_RESEARCH = new Set([
+  'alignment-research', 'interpretability', 'constitutional-ai',
+  'quality-assurance', 'enterprise-sales',
+]);
+
+const CAPABILITY_RESEARCH = new Set([
+  'transformer-v2', 'code-generation', 'reasoning-enhancement',
+  'creative-systems', 'multimodal-fusion', 'agentic-architecture',
+  'advanced-gpu-arch', 'next-gen-gpu', 'amd-ecosystem',
+  'distillation', 'inference-specialization',
+]);
+
+const PRODUCT_RESEARCH = new Set([
+  'developer-relations', 'enterprise-sales', 'code-assistant-product',
+  'agents-platform-product', 'sdk-platform', 'request-batching',
+  'request-routing', 'priority-queues', 'data-pipeline',
+]);
+
+function buildResearchPriority(profile: PersonaProfile): Record<string, number> {
+  const priorities = { ...BASE_RESEARCH_PRIORITY };
+
+  const boostSets: [Set<string>, number][] = [
+    [INFRA_RESEARCH, 100],
+    [SAFETY_RESEARCH, 150],
+    [CAPABILITY_RESEARCH, 120],
+    [PRODUCT_RESEARCH, 130],
+  ];
+
+  if (profile.researchFocus <= 3) {
+    const [targetSet, boost] = boostSets[profile.researchFocus];
+    for (const id of targetSet) {
+      if (id in priorities) priorities[id] += boost;
+    }
+  }
+  // focus=4 is balanced — uses base priorities as-is
+
+  return priorities;
+}
+
+const TALENT_TOTALS: Record<Era, number> = {
+  startup: 15,
+  scaleup: 32,
+  bigtech: 60,
+  agi: 116,
+};
+
+function getOperationalDCs(state: GameState) {
+  const results: { dcId: string; coolingType: string; rackSkuId: string | null }[] = [];
+  for (const cluster of state.infrastructure.clusters) {
+    for (const campus of cluster.campuses) {
+      for (const dc of campus.dataCenters) {
+        if (dc.status === 'operational') {
+          results.push({ dcId: dc.id, coolingType: dc.coolingType, rackSkuId: dc.rackSkuId });
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return results;
+}
+
+export class PersonaStrategy implements Strategy {
+  name: string;
+  private profile: PersonaProfile;
+  private researchPriority: Record<string, number>;
+
+  constructor(seed: number) {
+    this.profile = generatePersona(seed);
+    this.name = `persona-${seed}`;
+    this.researchPriority = buildResearchPriority(this.profile);
+  }
+
+  decide(state: GameState, _metrics: SimulationMetrics[]): void {
+    this.tryRaiseFunding(state);
+    this.tryBuildInfrastructure(state);
+    this.tryDeployRacks(state);
+    this.tryDeployModels(state);
+    this.tryOpenSourceModel(state);
+    this.cancelStalledTraining(state);
+    this.tryStartTraining(state);
+    this.tryEnableRevenue(state);
+    this.tryStartResearch(state);
+    this.tryHireTalent(state);
+    this.tryUpgradeInfra(state);
+    this.tryExpandInfra(state);
+  }
+
+  private cashSafe(state: GameState, cost: number, baseRunway = 100): boolean {
+    const runway = Math.round(baseRunway * this.profile.riskTolerance);
+    return state.economy.money - cost > state.economy.expensesPerTick * runway;
+  }
+
+  private getBestAffordableSku(state: GameState): RackSkuId | null {
+    const era = state.meta.currentEra;
+    const completed = state.research.completedResearch;
+
+    const eligible = (Object.entries(RACK_SKU_CONFIGS) as [RackSkuId, typeof RACK_SKU_CONFIGS[RackSkuId]][])
+      .filter(([, sku]) => {
+        if (ERA_ORDER.indexOf(era) < ERA_ORDER.indexOf(sku.era)) return false;
+        if (sku.requiredResearch.length > 0 && !sku.requiredResearch.every(r => completed.includes(r))) return false;
+        if (state.economy.money < sku.baseCost) return false;
+        return true;
+      });
+
+    const strat = this.profile.infraStrategy;
+    if (strat === 1) {
+      eligible.sort((a, b) => b[1].trainingFlops - a[1].trainingFlops);
+    } else if (strat === 2) {
+      eligible.sort((a, b) =>
+        (b[1].inferenceFlops / b[1].baseCost) - (a[1].inferenceFlops / a[1].baseCost),
+      );
+    } else {
+      eligible.sort((a, b) =>
+        (b[1].trainingFlops / b[1].baseCost) - (a[1].trainingFlops / a[1].baseCost),
+      );
+    }
+
+    return eligible.length > 0 ? eligible[0][0] : null;
+  }
+
+  private pickModelParams(state: GameState): number {
+    const vram = state.infrastructure.totalVramGB;
+    const era = state.meta.currentEra;
+
+    const maxByEra: Record<Era, number> = {
+      startup: 7,
+      scaleup: 70,
+      bigtech: 300,
+      agi: 1400,
+    };
+
+    const vramPerBillion = 2;
+    const maxByVram = Math.floor(vram / vramPerBillion);
+    const eraCap = Math.floor(maxByEra[era] * this.profile.modelAmbition);
+    const cap = Math.min(eraCap, maxByVram);
+
+    let best = PARAMETER_OPTIONS[0];
+    for (const p of PARAMETER_OPTIONS) {
+      if (p <= cap) best = p;
+    }
+    return best;
+  }
+
+  private tryRaiseFunding(state: GameState): void {
+    const { canRaise, nextRound } = canRaiseFunding(state);
+    if (!canRaise || !nextRound) return;
+
+    if (this.profile.riskTolerance < 0.5) {
+      const lowOnCash = state.economy.money < state.economy.expensesPerTick * 300;
+      if (!lowOnCash) return;
+    }
+
+    actions.raiseFunding(state, nextRound);
+  }
+
+  private tryBuildInfrastructure(state: GameState): void {
+    if (state.infrastructure.clusters.length === 0) {
+      actions.buildCluster(state, 'Primary', 'us-west');
+    }
+
+    for (const cluster of state.infrastructure.clusters) {
+      if (cluster.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+      if (cluster.campuses.length === 0) {
+        actions.buildCampus(state, 'Campus-1', cluster.id, 'small');
+      }
+
+      for (const campus of cluster.campuses) {
+        if (campus.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+        if (campus.dataCenters.length === 0) {
+          actions.buildDataCenter(state, 'DC-1', campus.id);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryDeployRacks(state: GameState): void {
+    const skuId = this.getBestAffordableSku(state);
+    if (!skuId) return;
+
+    const sku = RACK_SKU_CONFIGS[skuId];
+    const operationalDCs = getOperationalDCs(state);
+
+    for (const { dcId, coolingType, rackSkuId } of operationalDCs) {
+      if (rackSkuId !== null && rackSkuId !== skuId) continue;
+
+      const coolingOk = COOLING_ORDER.indexOf(sku.requiredCooling) <= COOLING_ORDER.indexOf(coolingType as typeof sku.requiredCooling);
+      if (!coolingOk) continue;
+
+      if (!this.cashSafe(state, sku.baseCost, 50)) break;
+      actions.fillDCToCapacity(state, dcId, skuId);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryDeployModels(state: GameState): void {
+    const undeployed = state.models.baseModels
+      .filter(m => !m.isDeployed)
+      .sort((a, b) => b.rawCapability - a.rawCapability);
+
+    if (undeployed.length > 0) {
+      actions.deployModel(state, undeployed[0].id);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryOpenSourceModel(state: GameState): void {
+    if (this.profile.safetyWeight < 0.7) return;
+    if (state.market.openSourcedModels.length > 0) return;
+    const deployed = state.models.baseModels.filter(m => m.isDeployed);
+    if (deployed.length > 0) {
+      actions.openSourceModel(state, deployed[0].id);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private cancelStalledTraining(state: GameState): void {
+    const threshold = Math.round(500 * this.profile.safetyWeight);
+    const stalledPipelines = state.models.activeTrainingPipelines.filter(
+      p => p.status === 'stalled',
+    );
+    for (const pipeline of stalledPipelines) {
+      const stalledTicks = state.meta.tickCount - pipeline.startedAtTick;
+      if (stalledTicks < threshold) continue;
+      const gen = state.models.families.find(f => f.id === pipeline.familyId)?.generation ?? 1;
+      const requiredVram = VRAM_REQUIREMENTS_BY_GENERATION[gen] ?? 0;
+      if (requiredVram > 0 && state.compute.totalVramGB < requiredVram) {
+        state.models.activeTrainingPipelines = state.models.activeTrainingPipelines.filter(
+          p => p.id !== pipeline.id,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryStartTraining(state: GameState): void {
+    const activeCount = state.models.activeTrainingPipelines.filter(
+      p => p.status === 'active' || p.status === 'stalled',
+    ).length;
+    const maxSlots = MAX_CONCURRENT_TRAINING[state.meta.currentEra] ?? 1;
+    if (activeCount >= maxSlots) return;
+
+    if (state.infrastructure.totalVramGB <= 0) return;
+
+    const gen = state.models.families.length + 1;
+    const requiredVram = VRAM_REQUIREMENTS_BY_GENERATION[gen] ?? 0;
+    if (requiredVram > 0 && state.compute.totalVramGB < requiredVram) return;
+
+    const params = this.pickModelParams(state);
+    const trainingFlops = state.infrastructure.totalTrainingFlops;
+    const totalTicks = trainingFlops > 0
+      ? Math.max(30, Math.ceil(PRETRAINING_BASE_TICKS / (1 + trainingFlops * 0.1)))
+      : PRETRAINING_BASE_TICKS;
+    const targetTokens = params * 20e9;
+
+    const hasCodeGen = state.research.completedResearch.includes('code-generation');
+    const sftSpecs: ('general' | 'code')[] = hasCodeGen ? ['general', 'code'] : ['general'];
+
+    const hasAlignment = state.research.completedResearch.includes('alignment-research');
+
+    const useMoE = this.profile.modelAmbition >= 0.7 && params > 30;
+    const archType = useMoE ? 'moe' as const : 'dense' as const;
+    const activeParams = useMoE ? Math.floor(params / 4) : params;
+
+    actions.startTrainingPipeline(state, {
+      familyName: `SimCorp-${gen}`,
+      architecture: {
+        type: archType,
+        totalParameters: params,
+        activeParameters: activeParams,
+        contextWindow: 32,
+        vocabularySize: 32000,
+        ...(useMoE ? { expertCount: 8, expertTopK: 2 } : {}),
+      },
+      dataMix: { ...DEFAULT_DATA_MIX },
+      allocatedComputeFraction: 1.0,
+      targetTokens,
+      totalTicks,
+      sftSpecializations: sftSpecs,
+      alignmentMethod: hasAlignment ? 'rlhf' : 'dpo',
+      alignmentSafetyWeight: this.profile.safetyWeight,
+    });
+  }
+
+  private tryEnableRevenue(state: GameState): void {
+    if (state.models.bestDeployedModelScore <= 0) return;
+    const score = state.models.bestDeployedModelScore;
+    const pa = this.profile.pricingAggression;
+
+    const ct = state.market.consumerTiers.tiers;
+    if (!ct.free.config.isActive) actions.toggleConsumerTier(state, 'free');
+    if (!ct.plus.config.isActive) actions.toggleConsumerTier(state, 'plus');
+    if (!ct.pro.config.isActive && score >= Math.round(20 / pa)) {
+      actions.toggleConsumerTier(state, 'pro');
+    }
+    if (!ct.team.config.isActive && score >= Math.round(30 / pa)) {
+      actions.toggleConsumerTier(state, 'team');
+    }
+
+    const at = state.market.apiTiers.tiers;
+    if (!at.free.config.isActive) actions.toggleApiTier(state, 'free');
+    if (!at.payg.config.isActive) actions.toggleApiTier(state, 'payg');
+    if (!at.scale.config.isActive && score >= Math.round(25 / pa)) {
+      actions.toggleApiTier(state, 'scale');
+    }
+    if (!at['enterprise-api'].config.isActive && score >= Math.round(40 / pa)) {
+      actions.toggleApiTier(state, 'enterprise-api');
+    }
+
+    if (state.research.completedResearch.includes('code-assistant-product')
+        && !state.market.codeAssistant.isActive) {
+      actions.toggleCodeAssistant(state);
+      actions.setCodeAssistantPrice(state, Math.round(20 * pa));
+    }
+    if (state.research.completedResearch.includes('agents-platform-product')
+        && !state.market.agentsPlatform.isActive) {
+      actions.toggleAgentsPlatform(state);
+      actions.setAgentsPlatformPrice(state, Math.round(50 * pa));
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryStartResearch(state: GameState): void {
+    if (state.research.activeResearch) return;
+
+    const available = getAvailableResearch(state);
+    if (available.length === 0) return;
+
+    const sorted = [...available].sort((a, b) => {
+      const pa = this.researchPriority[a.id] ?? 0;
+      const pb = this.researchPriority[b.id] ?? 0;
+      return pb - pa;
+    });
+
+    for (const candidate of sorted) {
+      if (!this.cashSafe(state, candidate.cost.money, 50)) continue;
+      actions.startResearch(state, {
+        researchId: candidate.id,
+        progressTicks: 0,
+        totalTicks: candidate.cost.ticks,
+        allocatedResearchers: 0,
+        allocatedCompute: 0,
+        moneySpent: 0,
+      });
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryHireTalent(state: GameState): void {
+    const era = state.meta.currentEra;
+    const total = TALENT_TOTALS[era];
+    const bias = this.profile.talentBias;
+    const targets: Record<string, number> = {
+      research: Math.max(1, Math.round(total * bias.research)),
+      engineering: Math.max(1, Math.round(total * bias.engineering)),
+      operations: Math.max(1, Math.round(total * bias.operations)),
+      sales: Math.max(1, Math.round(total * bias.sales)),
+    };
+
+    const depts = state.talent.departments;
+    for (const [dept, target] of Object.entries(targets)) {
+      const current = depts[dept as keyof typeof depts].headcount;
+      if (current < target) {
+        const needed = Math.min(target - current, 3);
+        const cost = needed * 2000;
+        if (this.cashSafe(state, cost, 200)) {
+          actions.hireDepartment(state, dept as actions.DepartmentId, needed);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryUpgradeInfra(state: GameState): void {
+    for (const cluster of state.infrastructure.clusters) {
+      for (const campus of cluster.campuses) {
+        for (const dc of campus.dataCenters) {
+          if (dc.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+          if (dc.coolingType === 'air'
+              && state.research.completedResearch.includes('liquid-cooling-tech')
+              && this.cashSafe(state, 500_000)) {
+            actions.upgradeCoolingType(state, dc.id, 'liquid');
+          }
+
+          if (dc.coolingType === 'liquid'
+              && state.research.completedResearch.includes('immersion-cooling-tech')
+              && this.cashSafe(state, 1_000_000)) {
+            actions.upgradeCoolingType(state, dc.id, 'immersion');
+          }
+
+          if (dc.networkFabric === 'ethernet-100g'
+              && this.cashSafe(state, 200_000)) {
+            actions.upgradeNetworkFabric(state, dc.id, 'ethernet-400g');
+          }
+
+          if (dc.networkFabric === 'ethernet-400g'
+              && state.research.completedResearch.includes('infiniband-networking')
+              && this.cashSafe(state, 500_000)) {
+            actions.upgradeNetworkFabric(state, dc.id, 'infiniband-ndr');
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private tryExpandInfra(state: GameState): void {
+    const era = state.meta.currentEra;
+    const timing = this.profile.expansionTiming;
+
+    for (const cluster of state.infrastructure.clusters) {
+      if (cluster.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+      for (const campus of cluster.campuses) {
+        if (campus.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+        const fillRatio = campus.dataCenters.length > 0
+          ? campus.dataCenters.filter(dc => {
+              if (dc.status !== 'operational') return true;
+              const tierConfig = DC_TIER_CONFIGS[dc.tier];
+              const mc = maxComputeRacks(tierConfig.rackSlots, dc.tier);
+              const existing = dc.computeRacksOnline + actions.pipelineCount(dc);
+              return existing >= mc;
+            }).length / campus.dataCenters.length
+          : 0;
+
+        if (fillRatio >= timing * 0.8 && campus.dataCenters.length > 0) {
+          const tierConfig = DC_TIER_CONFIGS[campus.dcTier];
+          if (this.cashSafe(state, tierConfig.baseCost, 300)) {
+            actions.addDCsToCampus(state, campus.id, 1);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    const expansionDelay = Math.round((timing - 1.0) * 3000);
+    const scaleupTick = ERA_ORDER.indexOf(era) >= ERA_ORDER.indexOf('scaleup')
+      ? state.meta.tickCount
+      : 0;
+
+    if (ERA_ORDER.indexOf(era) >= ERA_ORDER.indexOf('scaleup') && scaleupTick > expansionDelay) {
+      const targetTier = state.research.completedResearch.includes('dc-engineering-iii') ? 'large' as const
+        : state.research.completedResearch.includes('dc-engineering-ii') ? 'medium' as const
+        : 'small' as const;
+
+      for (const cluster of state.infrastructure.clusters) {
+        if (cluster.status !== 'operational') continue;
+
+        const hasHighTierCampus = cluster.campuses.some(c => c.dcTier === targetTier);
+        if (!hasHighTierCampus && this.cashSafe(state, 2_000_000, 300)) {
+          actions.buildCampus(state, `${targetTier}-Campus`, cluster.id, targetTier);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (ERA_ORDER.indexOf(era) >= ERA_ORDER.indexOf('scaleup') && scaleupTick > expansionDelay) {
+      const usedLocations = new Set(state.infrastructure.clusters.map(c => c.locationId));
+      const candidates: ('eu-north' | 'us-east')[] = ['eu-north', 'us-east'];
+      for (const loc of candidates) {
+        if (!usedLocations.has(loc)) {
+          const locConfig = LOCATION_CONFIGS[loc];
+          if (ERA_ORDER.indexOf(era) >= ERA_ORDER.indexOf(locConfig.availableAt)) {
+            if (this.cashSafe(state, CLUSTER_COST_CONFIG.baseCost, 500)) {
+              actions.buildCluster(state, `Cluster-${loc}`, loc);
+              break;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}

packages/game-simulation/src/strategies/random.ts

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ export class RandomStrategy implements Strategy {
           totalTicks: pick.cost.ticks,
           allocatedResearchers: 0,
           allocatedCompute: 0,
+          moneySpent: 0,
         }));
       }
     }

packages/game-simulation/src/worker.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { runSimulation } from './runner';
 import { generateJsonReport } from './analysis/report';
 import { GreedyStrategy } from './strategies/greedy';
 import { RandomStrategy } from './strategies/random';
+import { PersonaStrategy } from './strategies/persona';
 
 const args = process.argv.slice(2);
 
@@ -16,7 +17,9 @@ const seed = parseInt(getArg('seed', '0'), 10);
 const runId = parseInt(getArg('run-id', '1'), 10);
 const decisionInterval = 60;
 
-const strategy = strategyName === 'random' ? new RandomStrategy() : new GreedyStrategy();
+const strategy = strategyName === 'random' ? new RandomStrategy()
+  : strategyName === 'persona' ? new PersonaStrategy(seed)
+  : new GreedyStrategy();
 
 process.stderr.write(`[Run #${runId}] Starting (seed ${seed}, ${totalTicks} ticks, ${strategyName})...\n`);
 

packages/shared/src/constants/gameBalance.ts

@@ -1032,3 +1032,10 @@ export const COMPETITOR_PRODUCT_THRESHOLDS = {
 
 export const COMPETITOR_CATCHUP_SHARE_THRESHOLD = 0.05;
 export const COMPETITOR_CATCHUP_PRICE_CUT = 0.3;
+
+export const ERA_BUDGET_COST_MULTIPLIER: Record<Era, number> = {
+  startup: 0.2,
+  scaleup: 0.6,
+  bigtech: 1.0,
+  agi: 1.5,
+};

packages/shared/src/types/research.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export interface ActiveResearch {
   totalTicks: number;
   allocatedResearchers: number;
   allocatedCompute: number;
+  moneySpent: number;
 }
 
 export interface ResearchNode {
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ export interface ResearchNode {
     researchPoints: number;
     compute: number;
     ticks: number;
+    money: number;
   };
   effects: ResearchEffect[];
 }