4 ms·

It's sort of that way today, except there are disempowered wage workers powering it all and not-so-clean energy.

• Meph504 6y ago
  A large element of factorio is that as you scale up, you generate more pollution, and then slaughter the native population of the planet because they try and stop you from destroying their world. It's an aspect of the game I think most doesn't seem to give a lot of thought.
  • pm90 6y ago
    I think this is the most brilliant aspects of the game. Throughout history, colonization has always required the demonization of the colonized people. Savages, barbarians, white mans burden etc. Now a typical factorio player would be aghast for murdering humanoids to take over their resources ( or maybe they wouldn’t? Could be an interesting mod!). But we know those slimy brainless insects are just reactive monsters. But even more... if you play the game, the early waves of the natives can actually do a lot of damage if you aren’t too careful, and can even kill ya. So the game instructs you to absolutely hate these creatures and to fear them. And when you finally build a base large enough to defend itself from hordes and hordes of natives, you feel rather proud, rather than feeling aghast at the carnage. There is a visceral hatred the game has taught you for these “enemies”.
  • m463 6y ago
    I haven't gotten that far. you can make a lot of the stuff cleaner. I think mining makes pollution, I don't know if the modules will curtail that. But I don't think nuclear or solar+accumulators generate pollution.
  • avalys 6y ago
    Well, let’s not get carried away here. The “native population” are bugs and worms and there is no indication in the game that they’re sentient.
    • Waterluvian 6y ago
      I hear you. I agree. But I also see the concerning potential for ignorance and parallel to new world problems. They look different. They’re inferior. I don’t see any sign of high intelligence.
      • avalys 6y ago
        Is this something you struggle with when you find ants in your kitchen?
        • Meph504 6y ago
          If ants were able to determine that you and your efforts were causing pollution, and could understand that it was you doing it, then organize in mass to attack you to stop it, and when their efforts weren't effective evolve new forms of themselves solely to stop you, I certainly think I would give pause when seeing them in my kitchen, wouldn't you?
          • roel_v 6y ago
            There is no indication in factorio this is what's happening. Maybe they just instinctively attack pollution because it smells bad to then without knowing higher level implications of it.
            • fallenasleep 6y ago
              They aren't actual animals that we have to approach scientifically; it's better to look at them through a literary lense. I personally assumed they were intelligent. I thought the game was making an attempt to draw parallels to the way real life colonialists dehumanazed the native people. You could definitely read them as being more inspired by scifi aliens like the zerg, though. It is a very common trope for zerg/flood/bugger style aliens to be initially percieved as lacking higher intelligence, but twist they're actually as smart or smarter than humans. But that's not necessarily the case in factorio (afaik, I never got to the endgame). If they aren't intelligent, how does that cast the player's actions? I guess it puts you more in the role of being harassed by wolves?
  • vbezhenar 6y ago
    I'm walling spawners with a 8-squares thick wall. Now they can't spawn resistance forces and will just absorb pollution.