Custom Spawn Rates + Tech Changes

Startup settings that edit prototype tables: enemy nest spawns and
tech-tree fields. Blank = untouched; applies at map load.

Syntax

Entries are separated by ; or a newline:

<path> <value>     set
+<path> <value>    add/merge
-<path> <value>    remove
-<path>            clear

Values: 3, a,b,c, k=1,v=2, or {k=1},{k=2}. The engine shapes the
value to the live field, so one syntax covers numbers, name lists,
key=value lists and lists of structs. Unknown names are left in place so
the map fails naming the typo, like vanilla. # is a comment.

Settings

• custom-spawn-rates-<nest> — one per known nest (biter-spawner,
  spitter-spawner, gleba-spawner-small, gleba-spawner). A bare unit
  name means result_units.<unit>; rates are evo=share, normalised
  across the nest.
• custom-spawn-rates-tech — techs: tech-name: <entries>. ingredients
  means unit.ingredients; unit and research_trigger are exclusive;
  unit merges (setting count/time keeps ingredients). enabled false
  disables a technology and visible_when_disabled false hides it from the
  tech tree, for prototypes whose booleans default to true and so never
  appear in data to be inspected.
• custom-spawn-rates-extra — any prototype: type.name: <entries>,
  where the header is the prototype's path in data.raw (item.ice). The
  type is part of the address, because one name can live in several
  tables (iron-plate is both an item and a recipe). Entries name the
  prototype's own attributes; spoil_ticks takes a duration (30s,
  10m, 2h, 1d) or a plain tick count. An item with spoil_ticks
  and no spoil_result spoils into nothing (it is destroyed);
  -spoil_result drops a result an item already has. Only attributes
  the game uses on that prototype's type can be set, so a typo is
  reported instead of silently ignored; the prototype's type and name
  are its identity and cannot be set at all.

Examples from our server

Biter spawner:

medium-biter 0.2=0,0.6=0.3,0.7=0.1,0.9=0
big-biter 0.5=0,0.8=0.4,1.0=0.25
behemoth-biter 0.7=0,0.95=0.3
colossal-biter 0.8=0.0001,1.0=0.02
gargantuan-biter 0.95=0.0001,1.0=0.02

Gleba nests: -loot

Techs:

recycling: research_trigger type=mine-entity,entities={scrap}
calcite-processing: prerequisites; +effects {type=unlock-recipe,recipe=oil-refinery}
landfill: prerequisites; research_trigger type=mine-entity,entities={stone}
rocket-turret: -unit.ingredients chemical-science-pack,space-science-pack; unit.count 100
quality-module: +effects {type=unlock-quality,quality=epic},{type=unlock-quality,quality=legendary}
epic-quality: enabled false; visible_when_disabled false
refined-flammables-1: -effects {type=turret-attack,turret_id=flamethrower-turret}

Prototypes:

item.ice: spoil_ticks 1h
item.nutrients: spoil_result copper-ore

Durations are tick counts (60 ticks = 1 second, so 1h = 216000 ticks).
The map's difficulty_settings.spoil_time_modifier scales that: at the
server's 0.3, 1h of ticks is about 18 real minutes.

Files

Tests

lua5.4 tests/run_tests.lua    # unit suites, no Factorio
python3 tests/e2e_dump.py     # real data stage via --dump-data