1st of all, please use any ideea you like

For some stuff might improve this mod:

1. Some mods (like https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration) can throw errors due to incompatibility. And of course there are others like Py, K2, etc., so this is only a suggestion. Add (do not replace anything) a tick box that lets us choose one of Infinite Research’s science pack materials as this mod’s required science pack. The idea is that some infinite researches (damage, bot speed, etc.) exist no matter which overhaul mod is used, so this bypasses the need to support every overhaul mod one-by-one. Also, if an overhaul increases research costs, the “it doesn’t use late-game science packs” complaint becomes less relevant, because the cost scaling already pushes it into “late-game effort” anyway.

2. Another “just add” tick box: rails (and only rails) are not affected. No rail lights, no train stops, no elevated rails, no turrets, no power poles, nothing—only the rails. This means we can build outposts where trains are not only useful, but effectively required for “forced small outpost” playstyles.

I also want to mention a few more things.

Can the “unclaim” setting be moved to the mod settings tab (startup settings) so it can’t be changed during a save? Even if it’s another tick box like #2. The whole point is to force small outposts, but that doesn’t work if someone can: claim territory for one outpost, build tons of chests and hoard everything, then remove everything, unclaim, and repeat. If territory cannot be unclaimed, there’s no reason to hoard or build oversized outposts, because territory is limited.

1. Another idea I made for personal use (but it’s fun, so I want to share it). I used AI to write the Lua, so there’s no “my code” to share. I tried to prevent enemies (biters, etc., non-PvP) from constantly destroying rails between outposts, while keeping rails cheap to build, without affecting rations, without making rails invincible, and still keeping it balanced. The solution is simple:

Add a new rail item.

1. It copies everything from the original rails, so no new art needed.
2. Because of the name, it won’t be used as an ingredient anywhere; it’s only for laying tracks.
3. Once placed, the rails on the map belong to the enemy force.
4. Also set: military_target = true.

This means:

1. They can be cheap to craft, so you can build long rail lines between outposts without it being a pain.
2. No need to change anything about the original rails.
3. Because they are a military target, they can’t realistically be placed near turrets (and similar defenses), since your own military/spiders can target and destroy them. So you can’t use them safely inside your base.
4. They can be available from the start (and work with early mini-trains), because you can lay them early, but you must be careful and replace them ASAP.
5. Because they are enemy force, the player and bots can’t pick them up. Once placed, you can only destroy them—no other recovery—so again: you don’t want them inside your base, and you want to replace them with normal rails ASAP.
6. Because they are enemy force, even cheap endless rails won’t “lock” enemy expansion the way player-owned rails can. (Yes, train-loop “death walls” can be abused, but that can already be done without these rails—this only makes it easier, not newly possible.)
7. Your normal rails can still be destroyed. But these enemy-force rails won’t take damage from enemies due to same-force interactions, so they won’t be destroyed every minute, and enemies won’t constantly block trains by pathing/attacking the rails. This matters specifically for the territory gameplay: if rails in unclaimed territory get attacked nonstop, trains stop moving and people will just claim the territory anyway.
8. These rails could be allowed to be placed in unclaimed territory without claiming, because they are enemy force, so they don’t need the player to own the territory.
9. Since what i said at 12, this means that the original rails don't even get an exception in unclaimed teritories, just this specific rails (if you implement them that is, and yes, fell free to use anything you liked since that is why i posted here and not on the mod ideas seciton).
10. Trains can still use this rails to move on them.
11. Due to the risk of destruction of the trains, placing them will be very important since it must never be in a way that the enemies, who attack the base or an outpost, will meet with the train = non direct rail routes, to avoid bitter attacks, are still mandatory.

12. Destroying the rails is actually more simple then people realise due to the military target.... and of course means that no high range turrents or otherwise, unless you do want to destroy them. Meaning you can not use this rails to create right next to enemy base since your own turrents will attack the rails themselfs so no way of escaping... and any way to abuse this can already be achived via placing mines everything in enemy base.

13. Finishing up with the last question: is it possible to create a "can't claim" around enemy bases? Menaing no claiming next to bitters nest and then destroying them via train brigging ammo for turrents and the turents and such are placed via personal bots. Aka if enemy base exist, no territory around it can be claimed.

Thank you for all the mods you create! They are always amazing!

Making the unclaim setting a startup setting wouldn't stop you from changing it's value mid-save. It would just prompt you to sync your startup settings to the save when loading it, (if you toggle the setting mid-game) which can just be ignored. And compatibility with overhauls is hard.