This would require quite a bit of work and balancing, since the idea is that the biters would remain a challenging opponent through the game.
The idea I had involves this: Allow biters to 'claim' resources and use those to produce more / more powerful biters.
When a biter base is nowhere near a resource patch, it only spawns simple biters or spitters, based on evolution. It's probably a good idea to note right now that evolution should still impact the the general difficulty of the game, and more difficult forms of biter (as discussed later) only show up at certain thresholds of evolution.
If a biter base is close to a resource (Water, Oil, Coal, Stone, Copper and Iron) it captures that resource by placing down a node and spreading a 'creep' over the top of the resource. This both prevents the player from mining that resource patch and provides a bonus to the biters based on the size of the captured patch. It's important to note that a biter base capturing the resource should not drain it. That would potentially make the game far too difficult.
Depending on which resources they have, and the amount of these resources they have access to biter's gain various benefits from resistance to additional damage. Additional unique forms of biter may also spawn based on the resources and the combination of resources that their cluster owns. The more resources, and the more varied the resources the larger the amount of creatures a biter base may spawn. And more dangerous, varied types of biter. if a nearby biter base has captured a coal deposit, for instance, they may be able to spawn suicidal, explosive biters that run up to your wall and detonate against it.
Potential Examples:
Stone: +Physical damage, +Physical resistance. Unlocks 'Mini-behemoths'
Coal: +Fire Damage, +Fire resistance. Unlocks 'Suicide biters'
Oil: +Poison resistance. +Poison damage. Unlocks 'Acid cloud spitters'
This is just a small example, and a biter base having both 'coal' and 'oil' might create a unique form of biter. These alternative biters and spitters would be rarer, harder to kill and much more dangerous to fight depending on how they work.
To provide for these new features, a few additional biter structures would be required.
One would be a 'creep' that is laid over a resource patch to claim it, and add it's production to the nearby hive. (Potentially a new research that allows for an incredibly slow, yet infinite mining from resource patches using similar technology to the biter creep?)
One would be a form of 'connector' (similar to the player's conveyors) that connects this creep to the structures. Items don't actually travel along this connector, it just allows the structures to share resources together.
A resource collector that connects directly to oil/water pumps and resource patches (to spread the creep.)
A collector node that extends the range of a biter base and allows potential connection of various biter bases.
Additional structures for the unique forms of biter.
A central structure that all nearby biter buildings connect to.
More forms of biter defences, other than worms?
Potential biter colony layout using this.
Obviously no art assets, just blocks and colour-coded squares with labels and names. The scale is way off and it doesn't conform to Factorio's grid, but the 'connectors' should grow based on how many sub-structures they're connected to. Resource collectors may only collect one form of resource, but nodes have no limit of types of resource that they're connected to. The connectors would just grow wider and take more 'tiles' of space. Connectors themselves are not target able, and do not prevent crossing (Larger ones may slow movement, similar rules for the creep.) But the nodes are target able. Nodes have more health and resistance based on how many sub-nodes / resource collectors are connected to them that are currently alive and resource collectors have more health based on how large a resource patch they're connected to. (But with a reasonable limit so that they never end up indestructible.)This entire idea is pretty hefty and I don't suspect anyone will have an interest in attempting to make it, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. As a last point, the idea of this would be that it'd force players to use more varied weapons and tactics against biters. So some should be highly resistant to bullets, fire, lasers ect. But not so resistant that if the player has dedicated themselves heavily to one 'build' that they're entirely unable to conquer their foe. It'd just be incredibly difficult without them resorting to using other weapons. (The 'Rampant AI' mod would fit alongside this rather well.)
Ideas, thoughts, suggestions, critique?
