Hello! Before making an other endless Factorio run with dozen of mod , i figured i would make some test and optimization to avoid running in ups drop in end game ( Krastorio, SE, rampant, etc.....) So during those test i found few things. Its better for UPS to have much less bitter but with crazy life pool (using max lvl 10) but then some other problems arise.

1. With or without mods rampant expansion on evolution factor 1 (max level 1-10) seems crazy fast ( im always testing in editor, don't think it make a difference? Also i deactivated the player pheromones, does it use a lot of ups, like working similar to pollution?). I tried changing the difficulty and temperament modifier but it don't seems to have any impact, same goes for the map gen setting, on 60min to 180min. I tried with and without player action, with and without mods. Always seems to generate new worms, hive and nest every few seconds in crowded area no matter what. I suppose the Map expansion could be for new "clusters" and not for the expansion of the current ones. Either im missing something or it would be nice to understand better what cause this issue. Removing expansion would be a solution but i thought i could make it very slow to make it interesting but not laggy. (lag and ups drop not coming directly from it but more a side effect, as constant increased number of bitter generate constant attack and thus more ups, this is why i think more dangerous and high life bitter with less constant attack and smaller numbers nad time to time a more big wave, that could be better.)

2. Modifier Unit Spawner spawn count scaler and rate, i tried to put these at 0.2 and it didn't seemed to change anything. Still end with crazy amount of bitter in no time. Should i go for a minimal value instead, like 0.0002?

3. Rampant Waves, would be nice to have a double wave system. Max bitter group size and Max attack group active, For performance i want to keep both low ( max 50 group size and max 20 attack group ) , could be interesting to have instead, on low attack waves with 20 attack group and max size 10-20. Then a single attack group with max 100. Not sure its possible and the mod works nicely already but i wanted to suggest it.

4. Rampant nuclear artillery shell lag, I found in the code why they are laggy once used in big numbers (not sure anybody had this issue, but its the same as nuclear mod and Krastorio antimater, seems to be the same code with crazy particle) Just decreasing the repeat for most particle helps a lot (most where like 1000, repeat in radius to make the cloud wave, going down to 10-30 make it possible to use, removing tiles change on the ground helps to. Could be an option in the mod maybe?) For me Artillery with basic shell work smoothly even on large maps, so on a gameplay side i would make the nuclear more expensive but with larger radius and for manual use. ( this mods seems to be a good help , https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Scravers-Atomic-Artillery, if you don't plan to make any change, i will make my own forked version of the nuclear shells. )

Overall thank's for this very cool mod.

Simple test, with most mods, look for bottom left they will take artillery hit and expand faster than we can kill them, is that intended?

save = https://filetransfer.io/data-package/TN22DtuG#link

location = https://ibb.co/D5FhvZt

This one is a more complex setup to see where ups can be improved (warlock surface) ( 0.1 for respawn rate and spawn count doesn't seem to do much, or did i misinterpreted those modifier? )

save = https://filetransfer.io/data-package/0SqVvole#link

EDIT: Even with expansion off and migration off, no other mods they seems to expand (but i do test with editor: new scenario/ command evolution = 1 / then move away from starting point and see rampant work. )

first = https://ibb.co/gZWXht0

2 min after = https://ibb.co/F5Ly1zC

save = https://filetransfer.io/data-package/BOdKfZ1g#link

None of your saves work.

1) Player pheromones is a very small UPS impact. Difficulty is how many points the AI gets per logic cycle to spend on attacks. Temperament is how quickly the AI changes states. The map gen setting for expansion cooldown looks like that code that used those values got removed, so something to try to work back into the code. If you are playing with new enemies then it is most likely the hives that you are seeing. Hives spawn structures around themselves.

2) Respawn rates and spawn count is for how quickly units appear around spawners and how many to stop at. Low respawn rate is faster spawning.

3) Unless I'm misunderstanding this request then the ability to configure attack wave size and attack group count already exists on the mod map settings.

4) The values for 1000 come directly from vanilla. Do the vanilla nuclear rockets cause the same lag for you?

"None of your saves work."

This is unfortunate, i don't know why : ( ( maybe its because they are scenario and not game save? )

1. Ho i see, hive make structure and i messed up the n°2 value, that's what is happening ; )

2. Aaah dam thank you, i assumed a lower value would decrease the spawn rate, i misunderstood , good to know, that solve that part ; )

3. Ah yes my request was to have a second wave value for a random big wave, but as i see how ups is impacted and how i need to keep stuff small for K2 and SE to not go under 30 ups in late end game, i think it might be a bit too much anyway.

4. Aaah i forgot the atomic rocket is vanilla :' ) was focused on artillery shells. Might indeed cause the same lag, will make further testing and eventually make a forked 'lighter' option.

thank's for your time ; )

Didn't realize they were scenarios they load but I have no idea as to the needed mod list.
If you want assistance on reducing UPS impact then I would need a save.
Pollution based attack waves from vanilla will still happen, those would be the large waves you are asking for.

So i made the changes on settings according to what you explained and it works like a charm now; thanks again ; ) The only weird thing i encountered is the behavior of regenerative bitters. Most factions attack in a normal manner but those in particular seems to form a group move to attack and then move back to their starting "village". I observed this many time, idk if it some of the mods causing issue or a normal behavior but it seems a bit odd. Here is a normal save ( not scenario ) this time, by loading it should get all the mods, if not i provided a list here too. ( the map was just a small scale creative test to start testing performance across multiple surface and rampant behavior, i will make more complex and heavy test, don't mind the mess )

Save = https://filetransfer.io/data-package/4AcKE5T8#link

Mod list :

todo list
AAi Containers & Warehouses
AAi industry
AAi Programmable Structures
AAi Progammable Vehicles
AAi Signal transmission
AAi Signals
AAi Vehicles: Chaingunner
AAi Vehicles: Flame Tank
AAi Vehicles: Flame Tumbler
AAi Vehicles: Hauler
AAi Vehicles: Laser Tank
AAi Vehicles: Miner
AAi Vehicles: Warden
AAi Zones
Aircraft
Alien Biomes
Armored train
Armoured Biters
Base mod
Blue Ghost
Blueprint signal
Bullet Trails
Cargo ships
Cargo ships graphics
Combat Mechanics Overhaul
Companion Drones
Early armor grid
Even Distribution
Factorio Library
Factorio Standar Library
Flare Stack
Grappling Gun
Gun equipment
Helmod
Informatron
Jetpack
Krastorio 2
Lightorio
LTN Logic train network
Rampant
Rampant arsenal
Recursive blueprints
recursive resource calculator
robot attrition
Scraver atomic artillery
Shiel Projector
Space exploration
Space explo Graphics part1 - 5
Space exploration Postprocess
Space shuttle
Squeak Through
Storage MK2
Text Plates
Tree collision
Turbo bike
Vehicle snap