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Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 2:40 am
by chris13524
Currently, gun turrets only show the error symbol when they are out of ammo, it would be nice if there was a similar symbol (maybe yellow instead) to indicate that it's low on ammo.

Not sure, but maybe if a similar feature would be implemented for player guns, grenades, etc.?

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 10:56 am
by ssilk
What is "low on ammo?" Please define that more exactly, cause for me it is when there is one magazine left, for others it's maybe 10. It depends also on the stage you currently are. It depends on how often a gun turret is attacked. It depends on, what type of biters are attacking etc.

The same is with the second point. :)

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:39 am
by chris13524
ssilk wrote:What is "low on ammo?" Please define that more exactly, cause for me it is when there is one magazine left, for others it's maybe 10. It depends also on the stage you currently are. It depends on how often a gun turret is attacked. It depends on, what type of biters are attacking etc.

The same is with the second point. :)
Yes, this could be an issue to pick the exact value. I was thinking 5 would be a good number. Maybe this value could change depending on how active the turret is? If it gets attacks more regularly, it would increase the alert level.

Obviously, it's not an ideal solution, but I'd be something to think about at least.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:46 am
by TheTom
Not half as complex. Just define an arbitrary number below 50%. 1/3rd would be a good compromise. It means "slowly coming to an end" - and seriously, this normally means either I am in the field (and dropping turrest) - or my feed mechanism is not working/ammy supply chest is empty.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:04 pm
by chris13524
TheTom wrote:Not half as complex. Just define an arbitrary number below 50%. 1/3rd would be a good compromise. It means "slowly coming to an end" - and seriously, this normally means either I am in the field (and dropping turrest) - or my feed mechanism is not working/ammy supply chest is empty.
I think the issue would be during the beginning of the game, can you really have 33 clips in each turret to suppress the warning? (I think they stack to 100)

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:07 pm
by ssilk
10 is the number of magazines, that are loaded by default, when you load it with inserters. 1/3 is then 3 (or 4) magazines.
Well. I cannot speak for others, but in the early game my turrets would be always alert with that setting.

That's the reason why I think this is not so easy: Cause everyone plays it different.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:58 pm
by chris13524
ssilk wrote:10 is the number of magazines, that are loaded by default, when you load it with inserters. 1/3 is then 3 (or 4) magazines.
Well. I cannot speak for others, but in the early game my turrets would be always alert with that setting.

That's the reason why I think this is not so easy: Cause everyone plays it different.
This is why I think 5 would be a good number, it will not happen when auto-loaded, and I usually have more than 5/turret when just starting out. They get used up fast anyways.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 12:22 am
by electricmonk2k
I'd suggest 2 as the magic number. 1 is the lowest amount of ammo required to keep the turret functional, and 2 is twice 1.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:21 pm
by Factoruser
Good idea, below 5 magazines are optimal. - The warnings should be shown on the overview map too.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:23 pm
by Grimtongue
I would think it's better to just use combinators. You could connect a lamp to the circuit network and have it turn red when the ammo is low and green when it's full.

I think it's best to just give gun turrets a constant supply of ammo using belts or trains. You never want to be low on ammo, and it's so cheap there's no reason to run out.

Re: Low Ammo Notification

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:56 pm
by chris13524
Grimtongue wrote:I would think it's better to just use combinators. You could connect a lamp to the circuit network and have it turn red when the ammo is low and green when it's full.

I think it's best to just give gun turrets a constant supply of ammo using belts or trains. You never want to be low on ammo, and it's so cheap there's no reason to run out.
This is more of an early game type thing. Combinators and/or constant supply is not available at this point.