Right now, each artifact gives 5 science points... but, all upgrades are bought in increments of 5, so there doesn't seem to be any point to the inflation. It would be clearer to players to have a 1-to-1 scale.

I agree on that topic. 

But i think Cairn4 gave himself some room to implement later mini-upgrades if needed! =^^=

Wholeheartedly agreed - I always roll my eyes when any game gives you points in increments of e.g. 100 and the two last digits of point counter are always 00. Holdover from arcade games point inflation?

But…if artifacts are supposed to always give 5 science points, what could give less, like 1 point?

• First time you eat a particular dish - 1 point!
• First time you craft an item of a type - 1 point? But this would overflow the player with science points…the existing upgrade costs would need to be +-doubled…
• First time you encounter/kill a type of monster? Could give 1-3 points depending on the type (strength, rarity) of monster (assuming that the rock crabs prove popular and get some company in later updates, including Orange Lava Butterflies, Bluesnakes, and the Rock Crab King)!
• Missions du jour! Either a) you always have 3 missions to do, and upon completion a new one replaces it (many games did this, I remember it working well in Burrito Bison) or b) the missions are really per day - either you do it between dawn and dusk, or you don’t and then it’s gone, with a new one assigned in the morning.

What do I mean by “mission”: simple tasks from Cat Command, like “gather 10 space oranges”, “smelt 10 beams”, “build an expansion base at least N klicks from any other”, “discover an artifact”, “have at least NNN water storage total”, “drive at least NN klicks in a vehicle”.

Now, I’m aware that having those missions would impact the game a bit more than their “take it or leave it” mechanics would suggest. People are drawn in by a challenge, and while checking off missions would probably appeal to a whole slew of players, it would change the feel of the game FOREVER. It would no longer be super-casual take-your-time exploration, there would actually be some structure, something assigned to do beyond “don’t die”. So, you know, be careful.

See also a longer post on missions, rewards etc.

Seems to be a good idea to had  various "points incentive" mini-missions! ʕ✧ᴥ✧ʔ (to replace/counter-balance some big-radius searching for the middle-game artefacts, before having a vehicule, or prefering that slow types of stuff  to make points etc...)

Maybe have a system to replace one mission per day if not fitting for us? (if they are "static", and not replace day by day)

If one do not care for that, they will skip it... so no worries here (no pain, no gain? lol).

One last thing to Cairn4: The change in v0.53 to build a rocket to "finish the mission & go home" was a good addition i think (love it!)  to galvanise the flow of the game, add an extra layer of crafting (easier with all the upgrades to do!), and a final solid goal (doubled by an interesting mecanic to reach a far away base!) Way to go! *clapclapclap*

Just an idea, but i was wondering if the artefacts could have a "pseudo-random" value (>=3  & <=7) upon scanning and showing the picture of it; The average would be 5 so, but being lucky or not could change the flow of your updating etc... (and the search for artefacts would be more interesting, less linear etc... players would think "maybe i found a good one this time?!". Finally, "adding points" to the total should feel like "science/discovery", more than "unlocking with a block". Could be nice! ʕ•ɷ•ʔ ).

Something like this maybe for pseudo-randomness:  

[ 3pts=>10%    4pts=>20%      5pts=>40%       6pts=>20%     7pts=>10% ]

(to counter-balance too much luck or misery lol) Just to add some spices to all that, and to justify  "scanning" the moony thingy! ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ