So, it's a pretty cool mod, has some big fun potential, but honestly I literally can't last long enough in literally any context to even use the platform. How am I supposed to defend against biter waves that number in the dozens by 5 minutes before the first warp?
How am I realistically expected to progress faster than the biters evolve in the default settings? By the time I get the first reactor upgrade, I'm already fighting very occasional medium biters, and I already have most of Bob's mods, not to mention some others which give me immediate turrets to craft, and yet I can't even put down enough production to supply them as much as I realistically need to.

It doesn't significantly increase the difficulty, it skyrockets it so unreliably that some games I don't get attacked for like 15 minutes, and then others, like 17 in a row, I get wiped out completely before I hit ten because of literally 10+ biter waves. You might want to just add to the mod's description that it's recommended to only be vaguely playable with multiple people.

Any suggestions on the settings so the difficulty is less extreme out the gate, so I actually have a vague hope in the stars of actually progressing before hell opens up underneath me? Deathworld conditions are one thing but this is actually on a completely different level to the point where sometimes I feel like if I add mods that allow me to handcraft everything, I can have that chance I need to actually see whatever the hell this mod contains these days, and yet, I don't want to because that feels like cheating. If I never place anything, I can never be attacked, and boom goes the difficulty.

I'm not placing anything on the platform btw, I don't place anything even 5 chunks near it.

1) Read FAQ (the last section) - it has some strategies listed, they are really helpful.
2) Map settings are applied to the first world - tweak number of trees / starting area size

Note that each wrap would reset pollution back to 0, and you can manually trigger warping by pressing "Warp !" button on the left of the status bar, you don't have to wait until autowarp.

How am I realistically expected to progress faster than the biters evolve in the default settings?

Biter evolution is reset on warp. So is pollution.

I already have most of Bob's mods

Warptorio is balanced for vanilla factorio specifically.

It doesn't significantly increase the difficulty, it skyrockets it

Brutal difficulty is only difficulty.

so unreliably that some games I don't get attacked for like 15 minutes

This is affected by several things including how the factorio map generator places biter nests, and the planet you land on.
There is internal biter waves (that orders biters at nests to attack) to improve the consistency and consistent ramp-up of this behavior.

it's recommended to only be vaguely playable with multiple people

I do not recommend this mod to be "only" "vaguely" playable in multiplayer, so I will not be adding this to the mod description.

Any suggestions on the settings so the difficulty is less extreme out the gate

Activate "Carebear Difficulty" by enabling the carebear chest in the mod settings.
There are also several difficulty settings giving you fine control over numerous things like pollution and biter attacks.
I can also suggest using less mods that change progression difficulty like bobs mods, instead stick to quality of life mods like adjustable inserters.

I'm not placing anything on the platform btw, I don't place anything even 5 chunks near it.

You're shooting yourself in the foot with that strategy.

Denspb has given good advice, there is a strategy guide at the bottom of the FAQ.

1) Read FAQ (the last section) - it has some strategies listed, they are really helpful.

I can personally beat warptorio on the default settings without multiplayer and without much struggle, and not just because I am the person who made it.
The mod is tuned to my personal skills, and it is balanced to where I personally find it a fun challenge, so this is probably why it is so hard for some people and not for others.
The most common example is the fact that it is absolutely intended that you are attacked shortly before you are able to complete your first research.

There are many people who feel that the base warptorio is actually too easy, myself included.
For those players, there is the Warptorio Expansion made by MFerrari linked on the mod front page.

Suffice to say, the difficulty of warptorio is reasonably fair and reasonably balanced: It is up to you to get better and overcome my challenge.

In short, my mod kicked your ass fair and square so I welcome you to check out the strategy guide and try again.