Factorio Forums

Pollution.. Its not really a big deal as you progress but when you want to play the game and make the "mutation" of biters be more realistic its weird..
I started a playthrough with no Time factor in the evolution.. As we just now crashed.. why would they Evolve faster by time just because we arrived?
Second.. killing them.. Why would killing the biters make them evolve.. we are totally destroying their little community when we attack, I don't understand this.
but pollution. yes.. I see this as a mutation or evolution.. But even the nests don't get affected by our red smog.. they still evolve. even as the land absorb and trees gets destroyed they still evolve.. I'm playing with biggest starting area to test this out, 8h into the save still no nest has been caught with the pollution so I had to install a mod to see the level.. I was expecting to see 0 on the evolution, yet I see 13%.. This is for me very weird, how can they evolve if I have been on the planet for 68 days.. they have yet not seen me or smelled me.. And they have evolved 13% .. I don't get it.. What's your thoughts on this?
I feel this setting should be changed to only start evolving the biters when they actually absorb the pollution.

Biter evolution is the only thing in the game that progresses with time, forcing the player to do something. I think it's not a bad idea to have something that pushes the player along. And, evolution is still pretty slow, so at least on Nauvis, you'll have tons and tons and tons of time before you have to start thinking about evolution. Evolution picks up significantly once you start killing biter nests, but even then, it's very, very slow.

This is really the game, result of more than a decade of balancing.

Personally I typically disable time factor reduce pollution factor by 90% and destroy factor by 98%. But I also take forever to research new techs so. I would try different settings and see what you like based on your playstyle. But yea, I've been disabling time factor since day 1.

My idea about “ Why would killing the biters make them evolve”

Basically natural selection. You killing them cause some mutations on their immune systems. And day by day they are getting stronger. Sorry by the way my English not enough to explain myself with the correct word and grammar but I hope I can explain myself.

Zplinter wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 1:27 pm Pollution.. Its not really a big deal as you progress but when you want to play the game and make the "mutation" of biters be more realistic its weird..
I started a playthrough with no Time factor in the evolution.. As we just now crashed.. why would they Evolve faster by time just because we arrived?
Second.. killing them.. Why would killing the biters make them evolve.. we are totally destroying their little community when we attack, I don't understand this.
but pollution. yes.. I see this as a mutation or evolution.. But even the nests don't get affected by our red smog.. they still evolve. even as the land absorb and trees gets destroyed they still evolve.. I'm playing with biggest starting area to test this out, 8h into the save still no nest has been caught with the pollution so I had to install a mod to see the level.. I was expecting to see 0 on the evolution, yet I see 13%.. This is for me very weird, how can they evolve if I have been on the planet for 68 days.. they have yet not seen me or smelled me.. And they have evolved 13% .. I don't get it.. What's your thoughts on this?
I feel this setting should be changed to only start evolving the biters when they actually absorb the pollution.

Arupu wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:23 pm My idea about “ Why would killing the biters make them evolve”

Basically natural selection. You killing them cause some mutations on their immune systems. And day by day they are getting stronger. Sorry by the way my English not enough to explain myself with the correct word and grammar but I hope I can explain myself

That's a perfect explanation!

ありがとう

NineNine wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 10:15 pm

Arupu wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:23 pm My idea about “ Why would killing the biters make them evolve”

Basically natural selection. You killing them cause some mutations on their immune systems. And day by day they are getting stronger. Sorry by the way my English not enough to explain myself with the correct word and grammar but I hope I can explain myself

That's a perfect explanation!

For natural selection to suffice, pollution would have to actually be harmful to biters (weak biters living in polluted areas would have to gradually die off), the stronger biters would have to come from spawners generated by expansion groups formed from the survivors of pollution-impacted areas, and the increased strength would have to actually improve biter surviveability. (if the increased strength only gives them the ability to scratch a few walls before getting overwhelmed by bullets lasers and fire while their bases are being systematically demolished by long-range weaponry, then it should take a very long time for strength to start getting selected for.)

Also, natural selection would much more plausibly be a selection for either aversion to pollution or increased tolerance, as those would be much more plausible physiological changes.


That said, increased aggression and growth in reaction to pollution (and possibly spread of danger-signalling pheromones beyond the affected areas) would be a realistic explanation for biter behavior as-is (could say the biters are becoming more "alarmed").


My thoughts regarding biters and pollution are that biter attacks should be a gating/challenge mechanism to be worked through at player discretion and pacing (perhaps a scaleable late-game threat), and that pollution should be a direct hazard to the engineer and factory.