TL;DR
In late-game and post-game Factorio (when you load a normal end-game save, you might not even see a single uncommon small biter while everything else is already behemoth-tier), biters become easy to kill yet so numerous they cause massive lag. My suggestion replaces these infinite swarms with distance-based quality scaling and tactical ambush AI. This creates a balanced, high-performance challenge that keeps the game fun and smooth.What?
I propose making enemy quality a core mechanic tied directly to distance from the starting area. This keeps the game challenging without destroying performance.Distance = Quality and Evolution
Right now you can drive a car infinitely or similar, far to claim huge resource patches without facing tougher enemies, because evolution does not depend on distance, but how many enemies, and worm (evolution, not quality) do depend on distance so the "tracking and affecting enemies, already exist. Instead of the current format (aka mod makers make enemies, with low % to swan a quality enemy but that is just % gambling), quality (uncommon to legendary) should scale with distance from starting area. This creates a safe central zone, and each quality (so exactly how small worns stop existing when large and behemoths exist, aka a "replacing" system, not a "ok all at the same time".
Crucially, each quality tier gets its own independent evolution scale, because what i am saying is that even if all the "zones" have small bitters when you "enter" the zone for the 1st time, the uncomon small bitter, is stronger then the common behemoth... and of course, repeat for each higher quality small bitters. So going from uncomon to rare zone means you'll meet with a small bitter that can kill a common quality demolisher... on it's own. This adds 5 extra “tiers” of difficulty on Nauvis and every other planet without relying on sheer numbers. Also, on the ideea that non quality bitters are to weak, and ai suggestion i will suggest, pollution is turned off since no more need for it and, in distant zones (more distance then a "finished space age" explored area) everything related to pollution is being checkL every chunk, tree, and tile forever, destroying UPS. Plus as you will see, i suggested alternative for this issue and this essentially includes that pollution is not even needed because the bitters "gave up" on going straight towards you only for every last of them being killed without even attacking (tesla + flametrower, lasers, gun turrent, do i need to say more?). Now regarding the enemy attacks:
Tactical and Ambushes
Once in distant areas, disable chunk-based pollution entirely to save UPS and replace it (heck, the "common" enemies could also just "flee" since they know they'll get "killed" so there really is no reason for pollution. Anyways, Replace it with a looping “tactical timer” (the triggered that the enemies use for the enemy expansion/migration). Meaning the game will check the area, will check where player is, and more, but, this is not only to launch an attack like how pollution worked, but also to find weak points and launches smart attacks instead of mindless charges. Once such exemple:
Rail ambushes: Enemies silently build quality worms and nests right next to your tracks. The worms stay dormant, no sound, no attack even if a train pass (as a reminder, quality worm = large range), until all the units are ready to attack. Then, when a train approaches. Then the worm/s destroy the rails, trap the locomotive, and the biters finish the job. Once done, the force retreats (splits up and runs away) so you can’t easily retaliate (no spider army, no atomic bomb, nothing because the nest, while still there, it was abandonaed... because next they'll...
Multi-directional strikes: To defeat flamethrowers, landmines, and AoE.... and PC limitation, large numbers of enemies is not good. So, insted of hundrends of bitters, the Quality biters split up and attack from every direction at once. Now, due to a maga buff for stats, imagen 1 of them are as dangerous as 200 common ones (aka 1 vs the other the quality will wind since all the 200 can't attack at the same time but the qualit can constantly just kill more and more)
Quality mega-buffs instead of quantity: One quality small biter should require roughly the same total firepower to kill as 200 common ones, but to "simulate" 200 attacks, we can't just make do a * 200 since, as i said, even if there are 200, they can't all attack the wall at the same time, plus the flat resitance... I need to make it clear, increase the damage per second (NOT raw damage) to imitate "multiple attacks at once" since ... let's say walls vs small bitter? walls has a flat damage reduction of 3 and i will IGNORE the 20% reduction. So, a small bitter (Damage: 7 Physical) vs wall will deal 4 damage with each hit. So VS 200 enemies wall will take 800 damage.... do you now see why i said, use attack speed and not raw damage increase? It's impossible for 200 small bitters to attack 1 single tile of wall at the same time. So even if there are 200, they will not be able to do much and just die. So insted, the "like 200" means that i do NOT mean the quality enemy will do 800 damage (aka what a lot of enemy mods do with higer tiers). No, they will just attack as fast as if mutiple enemies reached the wall. Meaning that, even if let's say 3 (normal) bitters attack, they do 3 times 4 damage, so the wall takes 12 damage in one second (?). So if the damge buff is raw damage + how many enemies, then, 7*3 = 21 - Wall's flat 3 = each attack will do 18 damage to the wall insted of 12 in he same "one second" (? i assume 7 = damage per second). So, if the damage is actually the same, but faster, this means that the quality bitter attack so fast, it does 3 attacks as if 3 enemies attacked at the same time, but it's just 1 uni and not 3... or 200 to be more exact... And because of the "repeated attack", each of the 3 attacks's damage, the wall's flat 3 reduction, will apply. Meaning not only are walls and such still relevant even if the enemy do more damage per second (VS enemy mods where each has massive Raw damage so wall are not good or OP walls). Meaning this is imiting an "multiple enemies attack" and not a "it's a boss!". And if you add AoE, even a bitter, not spitter, but a bitter, will be imitanting tons of bitters attacking the wall, and spitters attacking behind the wall (like turrents?), due to raw hp increase, i will lest longer. So, let me try again: NO raw increase for attack power, so everything is still relevant... (enemy mod) bosses destroys everything, Quality Behemoth? i suggest? you get the same amount of damager as a non quality (so all HP and Flat resitances are still relevant, no "new hp tiers), but attack much faster (iminating being attacked by many at once), much faster moving (imitating trapping us), raw hp increase to last long. Meaning like this, if, a single target turret or something, would take (give or take) the same amount of damage, and need the same amount of bullets (this is why i said single target) regadless if it's vs 200 normal or 1 Quality (i don't say uncomon - legendary since oviously this is to important to randomly suggest an exact quality).... so.... 5 quality enemies, attacking from random directions (aka no, no more from their nest to the closes player, this is why i said the enemy expansion to be used to find out where to attack, so 5 enemys attacking from different locations) will be the exact same thing as, from 5 different locations, due to how many nest exist in distance, 200 (normal quality) units attacking you.... in one area.... another 200 in another, and nother 600 in 3 different one..... Do i make myself finally clear? One single nest, generating 5 quality enemies, that attack from random direction, this single nest, is on the same level as having how many nest? how many nest need to be everywhere so 200 units attack? ah sorry... i mean 1000 units... but different direction... so ... insted of 1000 + enemies, different areas, all attacking, only 5. (so again, in map editor, clone the same base, 1 quality around different directions. and in the other (clonned), 200 enemies in different location. After all enemies are death, the destruction and amoung of electricity and ammo, should more or less be the same. Plus they attack from multiple angles you can’t simply nuke or sweep them with one flamethrower. Their damage comes mostly from much higher attack speed (to simulate multiple attackers hitting the same wall tile simultaneously) rather than raw per-hit damage, so flat reductions and AoE still work realistically..... so.... does it now make sense why i said, the enmies to create nest near your train track to ambush you? After all, it's not 1000+ anymore, but few.... and being a "planet" ambush, the units will flee... where? to attack you of course, since you (the character, you group of spidertrons, your Artillery, all to "attack" (yes, by them "hidding" i mean that the Artillery can see them unless they are visible (radar, roboport, spider, you the player present)... And of course, if you use Artillery train... they'll repeat this... and if you don't use the train, because you used your Artillery, the units now know where it is so they, as well as other nest, will join toger to attack one point, to get rid of the Artillery.... 1 = 200... 10....... 2000 units....and since now they are a "group", each AoE is extremly dangerous... But that is exactly why, Artillery became now dangerous to leave it on auto. After all, not only can the enemies "hide", being smart, even if you find a nest ... units flee and construct another nest... meaning even if you know where they are, the Artillery just keep shotting and shotting and by the time it destroys the nest, few bitters create 2 or more nest, and others gather to get rid of Artillery...... OR.... you thing they will do this.... but actually when your robot army arrives.... this was a trap...
And to explain the trap better, as in how can they "hide"? And what solution i have for massive maps = low to no ups issues ( again, pollution OFF, no more scaning, more calculation nothing, even machins, 0 pollution, this is why "new beheviour" replaces pollution). And how the map can be "full", yet almost empty, and why, it's more and more dificult the more far you go: Insfested acid forests...
Infested forests and terrain: Replace huge forests with single large “infested forest” entitie per chunk ( To rephare, insted of each tree that have HP and other stuff, rocks, Decorations, thre is a new "entity", 1, one single, no decoration, no separat hp, nothing, it's just 1 unit ocupiing a WHOLE CHUNCK. And because it's an "infested forest", means the bitters created it to prevent you from using spider, tank, bots, anything, even the Artillery since it's a forest and not enemy base. These act as barriers: spiders and tanks get stuck, AoE is heavily reduced (aka flames and explosion clear mutiple, this entity? is 1 units = AoE vs 1 enemy does not work), biters, since they are the ones who made this, move freely through them. Quality biters can further “acidify” areas, turning water edges and lakes into sticky, damaging terrain (aka we go to water since "safe area" since bitters can't swim.... but... we see the same infestation from the eage? (just to make it clear, i mean that in a higher quality zone, the map generates this tiles, to give the "impresion" that the bitters started landfilling. So it's a map generator thing, not bitters now use landfill. and of course, this is only for the higher quality, lower quality zone still have water, fish and so one... btw... this is also a perfect time to remove fish (another thing with hp, movement o on). And the legendary zones become waterless (water is infinite, space has infinite ice, look up how you can use a space to get fish, also how can you mange to get to the legendary zone but somehow used up all the fish without using fish breeding? So yes, can people stop talking like no water is "oh no!" because the ideea is that this infested tiles... <- THIS!!! via "infestation", there is not even anything, it's an empty chunck with an infested tiles. Of course you can't construct on it, and need foundation from Aquilo! And not only is it just a tile, then we talk, the speed is calculated, well if in that script a "if infested tile" exist, that can cause low to NO movement.... and we take damage.... look, imagen this is the lave tiles. But you can walk on it... to get damage... meaning we die if we walk over and don't have mech armour to fly over.... and ... while this is a tiles (aka empty space), there is still the "wall" of "infested forest"... and the quality enemy doing ambush... So, even if you can fly over, the enemies, including worms, will actually already wait for you. And unless you can destroy the "infested forest" via railgun, you'll die since the enemies waited for you to be close, and any acid attack will disable your flying and exoskeleton, aka whatever demolisher do... so no fly, no speed bonus...very fast enemies (no damage for them), larger range since quality buff, larger HP.... so... you got killed and respawn.... how are you now going to get your armour back? how many siders will you sacrify because the bitters covered your corpse in acid and that means bots, no materr how fast, can recover anything... and that is a full legnedary...plus inventory with more legnedary.... Just as a remind, this is Legendary tier. everything i listed now started with "And the legendary zones", so from there everything means this is the top top top enemy, despite still making the same damage (per attack, not per second) as their non legendary version. This is why... the enemies don't even exist......... Yep. IF you reached legendary area, it means you traveled extremly far. This means your pc is handling tons and tons of stuff. And because of that, nests, units, worms, don't even exist. But, when you are close, and randomly, out of nowhere you are being attack. So you NEED to clear a large area to ensure you are not attacked. And since even if you destroy the "infected fortest", their "corps" leaves behind the infested tile so you can't contruct tons of turrents unless you have enough foundry. Also, nests hide inside these forests, making it impossible to see them , since you destroying the forest, meanins you use so much fire power that the nest inside got destroyed..... meaning that no more nest generated, no more calculating nest. Units, inlcuding worms, just "show up" from nothing (but the "forest" covers them, so when they leave the "forest" it looks like they where hidding.... and to make it worse but actually this is to further reduce any kind of PC impact.... Performance Optimisation (UPS)?
Remember what i said about this new "timer" is just the enemy expansion/migration? Well, just like that one, if you are using a chunck it won't CREATE an infected forest (aka trees, decoration, NO resource, NO structures = everything in that chunck, including decoration, becomes an infected forest .... 1 entity that does nothing... yet... you can NOT pass it unless you destroy it... meaning the game how can "buy time" to create more chunck so you don't realise nothing existed. So, if there is a structure? of course the bitters will atack to ocupy it. Resouce? this was honestly the most dificult one... until i realise ... the infected tile... it does nothing... it's just a tiles... the "speed calculation" is what applies the damage and speed lowering.... so.. if this tiles is only placed on "destroyed infested forest" but, the enemies will "redo" the forest... and anywhere where "water sould exist" this tile exist... but just like enemy migrations... the enemies will cover it with "forest"... allll ALLL, means the game can delete chuncks... because we can NOT go deep unless we "dig" And sinceeverywhere this fores, no enemy nest, no water, there is no reason to not delete the chunck.... untill i realised... except resources... but actually that one is also easy... the chunck a resource is generated will be an infected tile. Meaning in that chunck, there is just 1 tile and 1 resource... so all the "system" needs, is that at "chunck in this exact location, 100% infested tile and "resource type = X, ammount = N". And due to it being infected, we need to place fondation to mine it, the "visual" look will always "look different". As in, if the enemy comes, you flee, they destroy the foundation, you come back, it look different but of course, it's what remaned, so of course if you place the foundation again to mine, it will be "normal" that it look "different". But, in reality, what actually happened, is that because we left the area for to long, the chunck with the resources and around, actually got deleted. So the "system" juse saved the "resource type = X, ammount = N at chunck Z", so when we finally managed to come back, it looks different because the "system" just generated that resource patch. And of course, via this "rembers the ammount" if we empty it, come back, there is NOTHING be there, since we clared it. But, since the "system" still have "resource type = X, ammount = 0 at chunck Z", "at chunck Z" will be "rembered" to ensure we can't abuse the leaving and returning until a new Type = X is generated around chunck Z. And this means that all resources, even if the chunck get's removed, deleted, will not only save the location, amount (even if 0), type, to also can generate it again without "issues". Plus, the reason why that chunck is not covered with the "forest" is because the bitters know you will want to get to it, and, except for that single chunck, everywhere is just forest. So yeah, i would not be suprised if people stop mining completly, get most from space, and only ever go after uranium...
Anyways, regarding other palnets. Sorry, because of how insane suggestion is what i did, i don't think it's even remotely possible.... plus, now the starting planet is the one where all the other planets need to send stuff (like foundation, rail guns (reminder: raigun speed = your HAND gun version fires faster = perfect for "deforestation"), tesla since now slowing them down is even more important then ever, rail guns to target worms... sine the quality enemy UNITS, will avoid the railgun, after all, it's one direct line and slow.... so as you can see, quality here is already insane level.
Plus the other planets are.. well other planets... 3 (i include here vulcanus) there is no pollution system because it can be used. Heck, if you want to see how quality demolisher would be, use a mod that make them faster, then map editor, tell me that, as long as demolisher are faster due to quality, AVOID railguns because "quality enemy"... tesla turrent destroyed asap.... arterary avoidance... Spider playing attack and run to bait? well... because this is a quality enemy... it just ignores the spider and attacks your base insted.... so... yeah, the only "existing" element to buff is really just the speed. Since rest is just new beheviours... Ah, here is new ones. So new beheviours, faster speed = uncommon, rare = they will never ignore you entering their teritory, so no you walking in, driving, spider, you do that? it will chase and if, there are turrents. it goes around them since again, this is now a faster demolisher, and if it still can't catch you, it stop... and now goes back to... your base to level it. On top, if you did NOT have any near base.... is actually worse... because now, as the demolisher follows you, IF where you go is "no territory", the rare quality will "create" lower quality demolisher (aka swamp more), so now that territory is ocupied again... and it still chaces you... and now... if you enter another "no territory", once again , get's repopulated... And if you insted go into an existing teritory, now another one joined the hunt.. and you realise that if you die now, you need to someone collect your armour, and without dying but still get rid of the demolisher since they will just keep following you. So, rare or more, avoid "traps", including railgun turrents, and sheels. You, using the hand Railgun (again, more raigun speed = increase the HAND GUN speed) means you are fighing a who will hit the other 1st? (ince demolisher can disable your speed and fly), but because of you use railgun, sure, you need to manually kill the demolisher, but you still can almost instantly. So while it's very very bad if you try to use turrents, as long as you, the player, personally come, you can easily kill it, especially since spider can... wait.... you need to leave the spider to fire the gun? ah spider is the "fast legs" so you can go behind the demolisher... as it turns so you can't hit it? ah yes, this was the ideea of cat and mouse. Well at least you know you can easilly kill them if hit.... wait... if all this was rare? ...emm... epic? ...where is it.. ah.. there... where there tons and tons of lava... so i need tons of foundation... and... i can't use my spider since large lava And very fast demolisher = i can't avoid, just run stright line... well i still can manage to one hit kill if it i pay attation!..... HA! manged to kill it after waiting for the right moment, and oh boy, it was so wierd, because it almost looked like it was coming towards me, when i was not even near his teritory...wait... why is the teritory still red??? and 2 demolisher just showup up from nowhere! <- more or less this is the "experience" i thing people will have when they go to the "epic" region where not only do all demolisher have very large teritory, they also overlaps (enter 1 teritoy, or harm 1 demolisher, and this provokes 3 or more demolisher... so yeah.. you still can kill them in one hit... but, even when you killed 1, 2 or more come after you... on top... those where the left and right.... there is also the one on the other side... maybe even more? so yeah, one death = mutiple charging, and if any one of them stops chasing you = they destroy your base while also reocupiing. So essentially, you can still kill them easily via rail guns, but you need them to leave the teritoris completly. And, there is one more thing you NEED to do... install the demolisher speed mod... so you see and understand why you definitly don't want mutiple very very very fast demolisher cashing you, or aiming your base... And i thing i don't need to even say anything about legendary since it's just lava... you want resources? kill a demolisher since it's "body" will cover, kind of, the area, and if you are lucky, it will be the ore you look for (rember, coal and such can be obtained from space, so it's easy just 1 ore you look for). So, now at least, you killing mutiple demolishers means you have a better change to "find" the ore you look for. And from there foundation and can start mining. Since you killed mutiple. it means that now you can leave vulcanus and return when it's time again. So this is kind of a balance. No clue is i overly dramatised.
Anyways, sorry for gleba fans, i really have no ideea for gleba because the main issue is that spoilage is the real "issue" and, you don't need to leave unless you don't have enough space to growth trees... and... well... the iron and chopper ore... obtanable from space... all fruits are infinite.... so the reason why i can't say anything about gleba is because i don't even understand why we would want to expand when every last thing we needs... ok maybe stones? but fulgora and vulcanus have so much we need to get rid of them... so if we don't need to expand for stone (as a reminder POST GAME), we already have more then enough "plantations"... and they are infinite... is there any reason to expand on Gleba? ... i really wish there where some thing... whatever.. let me create one.... actually let me post another suggestion to "give reasons" to expand on Gleba
So, quality will be the reasons to expand on Gleba... but i wrote a suggestion in details why so finishing this suggestion
