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[EOR]
[BOC]
The original X-COM actually did this, with a range of possible man-hours required for the completion of various research projects in the tech tree.

And I still progress through that tree the exact same way every time I go back and play the 1994 game, because I know what items I need to be working for in the tactical game.

Instead, what if the research times stayed as they are, but certain items are randomized? As with real world basic research, you don't always know what will come of various discoveries, and unlocking an item for manufacture that you weren't expecting might drastically change how you play.

"Researching Alien Materials gave access to the Wingtip Sparrowhawks Foundry project in March of the first year? Huh. That's surprising - maybe I should save up for that and really do well in the early air game."

"Wait, where's my Autolaser? The Beam Lasers project only unlocked standard Laser Rifles. Are you telling me that the Autolaser and Gatling Laser were moved to Advanced Beam Lasers? Well now I can't put off that project like I was planning to."

This idea introduces an element of variability by giving you awesome later game tech early or withholding upgrades you were trying to get for just a little bit longer. In my hypothetical, you'd still want to keep all the laser weapons *somewhere* in either beam lasers or advanced beam lasers, so you have *some* idea of when you'd get access to them, but introducing unpredictability into what kinds of prototypes Vahlen is going to come back with would be fun.
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