Factorio Forums

TL;DR

I propose a new type of ammo (acid ammo) for use in the tank's acid defence weapon and the flamer weapon/turret.

What ?

After some fair amount of thought on the subject I have come to the conclusion that a new type of ammo for the tank and the player flamer would be a rather good idea. Currently the tank is rocking a rather lovely acid spray weapon which is essentially a modified flamer which doesn't cause fires, and whereas the principle is good I feel the execution leaves a bit to be desired. I believe that a new type of ammo is in order, acid ammo. I envision it as an alternative to flamer fuel with a higher AP but no (or maybe less) DoT, which pools on the floor in a manner similar to the lingering flames produced by current flamer fuel to allow for similar tactical utility (thereby keeping the basic use of the flamer the same but also adding new options into the mix). It should probably use acid and flamer fuel cannisters in the recipe to stay in line with the ammo upgrades of the other weapons (assuming it is an upgrade) or just acid and steel if it is to be balanced to the flamer fuel as an alternative option instead (honestly I'm torn between the two, I don't think the flamer actually needs an upgrade per se, but it would be nice none-the-less). Further to this point, flamer turrets could be fuelled by acid instead of oil to gain the same effect for static defences, allowing placement in or near trees without fear of a forest fire or the need to cut fire breaks just past the flamer turret range.

Why ?

At the moment, the flamer is the only player weapon in the base game with only one type of ammo and, although I can see why this is the case, this leaves the flamer feeling a little deprived. It should get new toys like the other weapons do! Furthermore, the new tank acid spray needs some sort of graphic overhaul anyhow, since the flames are more of a placeholder than anything. If the effort is going into new graphics for altered mechanics, you may as well go all the way and implement an actual new weapon effect too. In this way you would avoid using the thematically mismatched flamer fuel for the tank acid gun and simultaneously present new effects and utility for the flamer.

Acid ammo is something I considered for use in the flame thrower for my mod.
I did ultimately abandon the idea, but it's not a bad one.


The biggest problem (and reason why I abandoned it) is that although guns (including gun turret) have a weapon defined by the ammo, Flame thrower turrets have a weapon defined by the turret, and therefore simply allowing acid to pump into it would just give the same flame weapon(projectile). You'd need to make an entirely different turret for it to shoot acid.

Though, if you're talking about modifications to the base game, or even modding API additions, allowing a flame turret to shoot different weapons(projectiles) depending on fluid would be a good idea in my opinion.

To note: Biters, Equipment grid weapons, combat robots, (Worm)Turrets and Laser turrets all also have a weapon based on the entity (Which makes sense since none of those take ammo, they either fire for free, or take electricity)

Ahhh, thankyou for the clarifications, I had assumed there was some layer of complexity I was unaware of in the potential implementation of the idea but that actually makes a hell of a lot of sense!