So assuming the planet is rich in iron meaning it has an abundant amount of iron on the surface could they reach society stage before running out of iron to eat. Additionally to be generous well also assume there is a asteroid that is made up of iron that hits the planet every now and then, the asteroid will be small enough as so it doesn’t cause a mass extinction event.
The iron amount brought by such asteroids might not be worth the damage…
Oh.
Yeah but given ideal conditions could it happen?
Maybe, if the player species becomes civ-capable fast enough.
Given how quickly multicellularity can be achieved through lithotrotrophy, it is entirely possible that this could be used in speedruns.
I am not sure the developers are planning to make MP amounts in multicellular dependent on your place in the food chain…
What I mean is that because of the enormous amount of energy generated by lithotrophy, you can put a nucleus in just a couple of generations and become multicellular in a couple more generations. I was able to become multicellular in less than a billion years this way.
Hm. Maybe getting to becoming an ironeater sapient before the iron stash of a planet runs out isn’t so insane afterall…