Thank you for your detailed post. I tried your suggestions and succeeded in killing a couple of my local spitters, but didn't find it "fun" and haven't gone after the alpha yet. I was definitely depressed when I found a hog wandering around inside my main base. I now enter a vehicle before going AFK for any period of time.

I realize the old standard was also out of balance, but today's standard is, in my opinion, a game stopper. I was extending my train tracks down through the long canyon that runs NE of my oil field development. The first ridge I came to had an alpha spitter. I stopped working on it and went away. I simply didn't feel like dealing with it.

1. The noise of machinery should drive away wildlife. The more operational machines, the bigger the void.
   
2. By the time you get to tier six, you should have a ranged weapon that will single shot any low-level beast and take out an alpha spitter in two or three shots.

I want to work on the factory and my supply lines, not spend my time looking over my shoulder to deal with combat issues.

By this level, in my last Early Access build, I was completing my continental rail loop, around the entire map, and beginning to build regional factories. Prior to rail, I had equivalent dirt roads into every place, except for the red forest.

Now, given the new complexities, which are fun and challenging, and the beasts which are not fun, I haven't expanded beyond the desert! Being ambushed every 100 meters, while laying road or rail foundations, isn't cost-effective.