• merc@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    In Factorio you pollute, but there isn’t much evidence the native critters are intelligent. They sure don’t act intelligent. There also doesn’t seem to be any way to live in harmony with them.

    • weker01@feddit.de
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      4 months ago

      Sure sounds like something a colonizer would say.

      I first wanted to “/s” this but it’s literally the reasons some colonizers used to justify atrocities. Btw it’s canon that the factorio guy is evil as confirmed by the developers.

      I get it in the game there is no way of confirming or even researching the sentients of the bugs but be honest was it your first instinct to check if they are? I sure as hell didn’t. I mean they attacked me first, right?..right?! (Until you realize that you are killing them with your pollution)

      I love that game design, even the music plays a role. Iirc it was designed a bit eerie as if something is wrong.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        be honest was it your first instinct to check if they are?

        From what I remember, on my first play-through the first thing I tried to do was explore, and when I got near the critters I was attacked. I don’t think I even knew how to use my gun, so I just ran away.

        In the real world, non-evil animals are often territorial. OTOH, they’re often also curious, and if you approach slowly you can end up interacting with them without it coming to violence. But, the biters in Factorio go straight from ignoring you to attacking you with no in-between.

        As for colonizing, it’s worth noting that the goal in Factorio isn’t to establish a colony, but to escape after your ship crashed.

        I do like that the game subtly makes it clear that you’re causing a lot of pollution, and that basically the only reason the natives attack is because of your pollution. OTOH, it would have been better if the biter “nests” contained something like worker ants who didn’t attack you but needed to be killed to wipe out the nest. I guess you could argue that the spawner things fill that role, but they don’t seem to do anything other than pump out enemies who immediately attack. So, not really.

        • weker01@feddit.de
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          4 months ago

          Hmmm, ok what if the biters the critters themselves are stupid drones but the nests are sentient. Maybe the biters are like white blood cells part of the natural defenses of the nests. Something the “Brain” cannot control directly.

          I am not saying this is the case or the developers thought that but it certainly is a possibility.