Laser Turrets need upkeep

[Kazuar]

[...]As for the second point, I don't quite view it as a disadvantage. If you build so many accumulators that your power network can't handle them then you probably need to improve the network already. Of course, the number doesn't have to stay at 1% of capacity, it could be a lot lower, even below the treshold for preventing solar panels from charging the accus for night - as long as the energy losses are significant enough to mean you need a huge number of solars and accus to power a factory through night, I'm fine with it, especially if the costs for both increase. It would make getting a solar powered factory an achievement instead of the most efficient option.[...]

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, either. I'm kinda indifferent here - I think both the current 'Way things work™' and your proposal have a merit. Of course, the 1% number was just thrown as an example.

[...]The power requirements of a notebook versus an electric smelter are a different beast, though. As far as I'm aware, we don't have a battery that can provide sufficient voltage and current to smelt alumina.

As for solar panels, I kinda like how they help reduce your coal consumption by providing power during the day, though I agree that they could use a cost increase and perhaps a slight reduction of their power output. Personally, I would add a cost increase to accumulators too, as right now they are very cheap themselves.

Well, I don't think anyone tried to make a battery for an electric smelter, mostly because it's a waste of energy and lithium. There are, however, batteries capable of powering whole cars. Remember that Factorio implies stellar travel, since we have a human on a non-earth planet.

In my opinion, the 'space per MW' cost of solar panels feels appropriate - cutting their output also means increasing this aspect. Since both panels and accumulators have a base build time of 0.5s, though, it's my guess that any cost they currently have is a sort-of placeholder anyway, until the devs feel the time has come to give them proper, dedicated thought beyond "players can has those". That being said, I still feel that 'free, unlimited energy' should have to compete (with progress, growth, and all the other things limited by oil) for a place in the players 'grand plan of resource allocation'.


In other news: I really like how half of this page is just the two us discussing numbers. Anyone else care to post, or did we scare everyone else away?
OP, what's your opinion?

[Marconos]

On accumulator, solar panel balancing ... you have some interesting idea on that front. I like the idea of accumulators overheating if they run for too long a period of time and melting down or just shutting down and dumping their energy. A small change like that could drastically change how those items are used. Having said that you have to be very careful as too big of a nerf and you make them unusable.

Back to the original turret balancing discussion.
Make the lasers take some upkeep, reduce how many can fit in an area, increase the power consumption so it isn't feasible to run 500 of them on one power setup. Something to make it so you have to apply some design. Anything that option a is build and forget and option b requires continuous input you are basically telling the player base to never user option b. The only way that works is if it you can make option A be expensive enough that you can only get to that point with ridiculously large builds.

The two issues do overlap each other though as changing one can affect the other. I am enjoying following the discussion.

[Manti]

2 things:

Magazine size upgrades.
Gun turret armor ignoring upgrades.