Talk:Tech and Design Points Generation Algorithm/@comment-3091111-20130516214930/@comment-8961248-20130516220628

Tech Level is a value that is used both in this algorithm and in the Review Algorithm. The values are in this article (for platforms) and the Raw Data for Review Algorithm article (for graphics level of the engine), and the Tech level is the average of both those values (for your concerned platform and graphics level)

In the Review Algorithm it is indeed a minimum requirement to get the best score for your game. Here, however, it merely increases the chance of spawning a point, meaning that it is not a minimum threshold, rather a value that will continue to increase your spawn rate when this value is increased.

This article doesn't explain how research points are generated, so we would need further research to answer your second question.