Laser Turrets - Continuous Beam instead of single shots
Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 4:16 pm
Alright. So, I've played plenty of Factorio now, and among some of the things that I really like to build are Laser Turrets. Who doesn't love watching biters and spitters getting helplessly mowed down by lasers? But my proposal is this: Can we make them better?
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has watched Laser Turrets activate and fire on a target, and noticed that the (somewhat slow-moving) laser projectiles themselves actually home in on the enemy. Heatseeking laser bolts? I have to admit that while I see the reasoning behind this, I find it to be a little bit ridiculous. So I thought of a possible solution.
What if, instead of firing laser bolts, the turrets actually worked like real lasers, and instead of going "pew-pew", the turrets would fire a continuous focused beam? The beam, unlike the projectiles, would reach its target instantly, meaning that there would be no need for magic heatseeking lasers. This would actually also make the turret itself more efficient in dealing with enemies as well, as damage being dealt would be near instantaneous after target acquisition. Switching targets would be easier too for this exact reason; just power off the beam while the turret traverses to a new target, and fire again once it's locked.
Now of course this would definitely make the turrets more powerful, so it would make sense to balance them by doing something like making them consume more power. But overall it would add to their reliability as a base defense mechanism or offensive turret creep strategy.
Aside from helping the immersion along in a somewhat realistic game, continuous laser beams would make Laser Turrets more effective against enemies, and work more like normal Gun Turrets by having a more instant effect on biters and spitters. That is why I believe it would be an excellent addition to Factorio, and I'm sure others would like to see it in an update as well.
If you've gotten this far, I want to thank you for reading my thread and for your consideration. Factorio has a lot of potential and I truly enjoy playing the game.
-KoblerMan
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has watched Laser Turrets activate and fire on a target, and noticed that the (somewhat slow-moving) laser projectiles themselves actually home in on the enemy. Heatseeking laser bolts? I have to admit that while I see the reasoning behind this, I find it to be a little bit ridiculous. So I thought of a possible solution.
What if, instead of firing laser bolts, the turrets actually worked like real lasers, and instead of going "pew-pew", the turrets would fire a continuous focused beam? The beam, unlike the projectiles, would reach its target instantly, meaning that there would be no need for magic heatseeking lasers. This would actually also make the turret itself more efficient in dealing with enemies as well, as damage being dealt would be near instantaneous after target acquisition. Switching targets would be easier too for this exact reason; just power off the beam while the turret traverses to a new target, and fire again once it's locked.
Now of course this would definitely make the turrets more powerful, so it would make sense to balance them by doing something like making them consume more power. But overall it would add to their reliability as a base defense mechanism or offensive turret creep strategy.
Aside from helping the immersion along in a somewhat realistic game, continuous laser beams would make Laser Turrets more effective against enemies, and work more like normal Gun Turrets by having a more instant effect on biters and spitters. That is why I believe it would be an excellent addition to Factorio, and I'm sure others would like to see it in an update as well.
If you've gotten this far, I want to thank you for reading my thread and for your consideration. Factorio has a lot of potential and I truly enjoy playing the game.
-KoblerMan