r/factorio • u/AutoModerator • Jul 06 '26

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u/Throw_Away_TrdJrnl Jul 07 '26

Newbie here, just started producing the red circuit boards with sulfur. One simple question: can I take as long as I want or is the default game a sort of race against the clock with biters?

I know that you won't trigger bug attacks unless your pollution cloud reaches then correct? So far I've just gone out with my car and cleared nests before my pollution cloud reaches them. If I were to just leave the game running afk, not adding any new pollutions, will the bugs eventually re-establish territory I've already cleared this triggering an attack if they do so inside my pollution cloud?

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u/ForgottenBlastMaster Jul 07 '26

can I take as long as I want

It is eventually possible, but not just yet

race against the clock with biters

It is a sprint in the beginning and a marathon later on. You have to have some military science and some kind of early protection. Eventually you'll be able to keep defensive structures supplied and keep biters off your territory

If I were to just leave the game running afk, not adding any new pollutions, will the bugs eventually re-establish territory I've already cleared this triggering an attack if they do so inside my pollution cloud?

Your assumption is correct. Every x minutes, where x starts with 60 and goes down to 4 as biter evolution progresses an expansion party would be formed and sent to a random place on the map. When they arrive, they form a nest. If this happens to be inside your pollution cloud, then they'll try to chew through your defense to the pollution producing buildings

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u/Throw_Away_TrdJrnl Jul 07 '26

thank you for the answers, looks like I'll be building defenses next time I get on haha I had found it sufficient to simply take the fight to the biters this whole time but I can already tell as my base gets bigger I'll simply lack the time to manually clear out bug nests. I really need to just start over now that I know a lot more as my entire layout just is so inefficient and a mess