Typical Newbie Question

[Darandio]

I have looked all over this forum for an answer to this so please forgive me if there are many obvious locations for an answer. Me and a friend have been playing one on one for a while now but we always have to start with relatively little research, the only variations being if we change the size of the bases at the beginning. Is there a way to start with a higher level of research already done, I have noticed in a couple of games that I joined through the lobby that it had weapons far advanced than anything I had come across before so is it a case of downloading a file?

Thanks in advance, and again, apologies if this seems a bit of a ridiculous post to some people.

[Zarel]

I have looked all over this forum for an answer to this so please forgive me if there are many obvious locations for an answer. Me and a friend have been playing one on one for a while now but we always have to start with relatively little research, the only variations being if we change the size of the bases at the beginning. Is there a way to start with a higher level of research already done, I have noticed in a couple of games that I joined through the lobby that it had weapons far advanced than anything I had come across before so is it a case of downloading a file?

Thanks in advance, and again, apologies if this seems a bit of a ridiculous post to some people.

It's kind of counter-intuitive, but this setting is in Maps. When you select a map, along the left, there will be buttons labeled "T1", "T2", and "T3". These correspond to Tech Level 1, Tech Level 2, and Tech Level 3, and correspond roughly to the amount of tech you have at the beginning of the corresponding campaign (although if you haven't seen those weapons before, you probably haven't played campaign).

If you want to know how to research those weapons from T1, my Warzone 2100 guide might come in handy.