Biochambers need a better lategame integration

[engineersmurf]

TL;DR

Biochambers need a late game buff to come in line with other planet buildings like recycler, electromagnetic plant and Foundry

What?

Biochambers utility is not en par with other planet specific buildings. Below I will give my view of the current state
and examples why biochambers could expand to other planets using planet specific biotechnology - thus become a contributing factor in
factorio spaceage late game.

Why?

A planets production building should become relevant on all planets as time progresses. This is true for all buildings, but the biochamber.

Biochambers current state

Biochambers are the Gleba specific prdocution building with an inherant 50% productivity bonus. They can efficiently process fruits, their products and bacteria.

For me it was the first time to reliably produce quality uncommon and rare ore in reasonable qualities.

The biochamber is tethered to Gleba as its products (fruits, nuts, etc.) are as well.

It is hardly useful on a production capacity on another planet and it falls behind with unlocking advanced asteroid processing as creating epic or legendary fruit products is too wasteful.

Comparison to other structures

Vulcanos offers the Foundry. The foundry offers a 50% productivity bonus on any castable product. It is tethered to the planet Vulcanos due its reliance on either lava or calcite that can only be mined on Vulcanos. This tether however is lifted with the advanced Asteroid mining.

Fulgora offers two planet specific buildings: the recycler and the electromagnetic plant. The electromagnetic plant offers a 50% productivity bonus on any copper wire building. Both buildings are not tethered to Fulgora in any capacity and are useful from the start up to the endgame.

Aquilo offers the Crygogenic plant. Again a great unique addition to the mix of plants without any tether to Aquilo and worth replacing older chemical plants to utilise the 8 module slots.

Conclusion: All other planet specific plants are useful on all planets and if they have a tether, that tether is lifted with advanced research later.

Real world biological examples and linking those to planet specific biotechnology

Gut microbes: Most mammals rely on microbes to process their food into useful nutrients. On Nauvis we can see a thriving population of Aliens efficiently using the planets resources sustain an ever growing population. Understanding the biological processes of the Aliens could unlock new ways to process Nauvis resources with biochambers. E.g. using trees to produce biogas that can either be refined into stuff or burned for energy using the already existing treefarm.

Microbes are also a way to concentrate trace elements and particles. E.g. the concentration of microplastic in plankton. While Fulgora is indeed mainly ruins we also have Fulgurite and fulgurite pieces - that resemble bushes or corals - thus could be a result of life forms excreting elemental holmium.
Research could reveal a process to either wash scrap metal or Fulgora soil that results in holmium solution using the biochamber. As fulgora is mainly capped on Holmium Gleba technology with advanced research would offer a huge buff to the Fulgora industry.

Even for extreme condictions on Vulcanos and Aqilo can offer biotechnological late game buffs as we discovered extremophile bacteria - bacteria that can life in extreme heat or cold. If biochambers get buffs on epic and legendary qualities, they could help produce quality thungton products on Vulcanos. On Aquilo we already have energy laden compounds.

unlocking planect specific biotechnology

I see two possible approaches. One is to use normal research requiring both planet specific beakers - e.g. for Vulcanos aggricultural science packs and metallurgic science packs. Or use aggricultural science packs, bioflux on the planet in question.

[engineersmurf]

Having different biological processes for each planet will be a hazzle. I had the impression that this would keep in line with the limits the factorio team has setup. Gleba fruits, nuts and bacteria won´t grow anywhere else but Gleba. And it is in line with real world examples. Most organism populate a niche environment and going to die if things change - e.g. coral bleaching as they die due rising temperatures.

But once we understand certain processes, we can use nature to produce certain features more efficient. E.g. we used organic chemistry to produce ascorbic acid, but with the advances in biochemistry it is cheaper to use bacteria instead. Insulin used to be taken from pigs, today we use bacteria.

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A similar argument could apply for quality fruits. I have really tried to get legendary quality plastic working on Gleba. It is nowhere in line with asteroid reprocessing. To me it felt easier to get a heavy oil tanker from Fulgora over paired with legendary coal from space - with the added bonus that oil-chemistry pollution does not anger Gleba wild life.