Laser Turret - What do you use them for?

Umbra_Vorago · 2017-09-19T11:18:59.000Z

A small while ago, I found an inactive laser turret inside a rat cave, which made me so excited.
The turret can not be placed on a vehicle, so I decided to place it near my base. It was, perhaps the most disappointing thing I’ve ever seen.

The turret apparently requires sunlight to fire, as it’s solar powered. Bit of a problem there when it’s always bloody raining and it’s rarely ever sunny. What kind of military produces such a useless piece of defence technology that it can be defeated by a cloud?
I mean I did some research, and this topic has been brought up before YEARS ago, but why hasn’t it been given say, an internal power source that charges so it still has power even when it’s not sunny? Or be able to be placed on a vehicle/power source? Just SOMETHING.

With that rant out the way, the question is what do you bother to use these turrets for? They are useless for defence, so do you guys just strip them apart for their parts and make actual GOOD turrets for your vehicles using the parts because they can actually be powered? Or do you just store them away and never bother with them? Or do you just place them down whilst a horde is approaching you and let them destroy it and blow them all up like a mine?

From what I can tell, I can strip it apart and get 3 TX-5LR Laser Cannons, each of which can be made in to a Turbolaser cannon, then you can turn those 3 Turbolaser Cannons in to 3 Turbolaser Turrets, each of which simply need a power source such as being placed on a vehicle, then you’ve got 3 deadly turrets compared to 1 useless turret. Why would anyone bother with a normal laser turret if they can make 3 instead, each of which are more powerful than the standard laser turret even if it WAS powered?

Edit: Meant to post this in the general discussions section, but I suppose it works here too. Seriously, add an internal battery thing to them so they’re not so damn useless, they’re only good for tearing apart at this point.

Pandromidal · 2017-09-19T23:01:41.000Z

So what is your proposed fix?

Umbra_Vorago · 2017-09-19T23:44:44.000Z

Laser Turrets should come with an internal battery, which charges over time in direct sunlight. I don’t know anything about coding, but that should be the easiest fix.

DeWolf · 2017-09-20T00:12:47.000Z

Probably because I am running with a modded setup but every time I tried to attack one at night I usually get shot by them.

Umbra_Vorago · 2017-09-20T00:55:35.000Z

I’ve never actually seen an ‘enemy’ laser turret, only the inactive kind you can pick straight up off the floor.

Either way, I just think the idea of a high grade military weapon being so useless is a joke. Can we use them in a building? Nope. Underground? Nope. On a vehicle? Nope. Outside? Only 10% of the time because it’s usually drizzling, raining, stormy, cloudy, thundering, lightning storm, flurries of snow. If you’re lucky, you’ll get sunny weather for about 30 minutes before it suddenly starts drizzling again.

I know the perfect way to describe it! It’s like when you’re very young, you see a toy that is the most awesome thing ever because the advert shows it flying or blowing stuff up simply by running on a bit of electricity! You nag and nag your parents, until finally you get it for Christmas! You open it up, waste no time to play with it, only to find a note on the side;

“Batteries not included nor compatible.”

DemAvalon · 2017-09-20T01:03:03.000Z

Umbra Vorago:

Laser Turrets should come with an internal battery, which charges over time in direct sunlight. I don’t know anything about coding, but that should be the easiest fix.

That might not be so simple, an active turret is a creature, while an inactive turret is an item (and vehicle turrets are vehicle parts), I don’t think the game can store the amount of energy a creature has (like with CBMs for the player) because that might be exclusive to the player.

DeWolf · 2017-09-20T01:05:44.000Z

[quote=“Umbra Vorago, post:5, topic:14250”]I’ve never actually seen an ‘enemy’ laser turret, only the inactive kind you can pick straight up off the floor.

Either way, I just think the idea of a high grade military weapon being so useless is a joke. Can we use them in a building? Nope. Underground? Nope. On a vehicle? Nope. Outside? Only 10% of the time because it’s usually drizzling, raining, stormy, cloudy, thundering, lightning storm, flurries of snow. If you’re lucky, you’ll get sunny weather for about 30 minutes before it suddenly starts drizzling again.

I know the perfect way to describe it! It’s like when you’re very young, you see a toy that is the most awesome thing ever because the advert shows it flying or blowing stuff up simply by running on a bit of electricity! You nag and nag your parents, until finally you get it for Christmas! You open it up, waste no time to play with it, only to find a note on the side;

“Batteries not included nor compatible.”[/quote]
Usually around unknown bunkers from the cataclysm + mod.

Azrad · 2017-09-20T03:32:33.000Z

As I recall, the turbo laser and most of the other craftable laser weapons are from a mod, which does veer into OP-ness, especially the turbolaser which does massive damage and an explosion to boot.

That said, improving the standard laser turret could be nice. Like, I dunno, have it use plutonium cells as ammo or something, since for most part the only purpose for the two that I found is just another rare item in the loot pile.

DeWolf · 2017-09-20T03:38:46.000Z

[quote=“Azrad, post:8, topic:14250”]As I recall, the turbo laser and most of the other craftable laser weapons are from a mod, which does veer into OP-ness, especially the turbolaser which does massive damage and an explosion to boot.

That said, improving the standard laser turret could be nice. Like, I dunno, have it use plutonium cells as ammo or something, since for most part the only purpose for the two that I found is just another rare item in the loot pile.[/quote]
Were talking about the deploy-able one like those found in labs only it shoots lasers.

Umbra_Vorago · 2017-09-20T04:17:26.000Z

If the Turbo-Laser is part of a mod and not even vanilla, that just makes the normal laser turret even MORE useless. Because without the mod, you wouldn’t have anything worth dismantling the laser turret to make in to something else.

It needs some way to be powered. If having an internal charge is too difficult because it classifies as an ‘creature’ when deployed, we need to think of another method. If it continues they’ll just continue to be useless.

Why not change the laser turret so that it doesn’t run on “sunlight” but just any light in general? So long as it’s in a “lit” environment, it should be able to shoot. Albeit, more slowly, and less powerful perhaps as an offset.

I don’t know who does coding and such, but I’d like the opinion of someone who knows how to code the game and tell us how difficult it would be to tweak the turret a little.

Pandromidal · 2017-09-20T20:31:59.000Z

Can you make the turret shoot batteries at night?

Umbra_Vorago · 2017-09-21T03:48:09.000Z

I don’t think so. When the turret is placed down, it counts as an actual ‘creature’ and I don’t think you can ‘feed’ it. It might be possible?

Side note, I find the image that a high tech military laser turret would run on the same power source as an electric vibrator quite funny.

DemAvalon · 2017-09-21T12:11:40.000Z

That might be feasible I think, if the game puts like 100 batteries on the turrets inventory for every hour it stays on sunlight or something and the turret just uses those as ammo, that way it should still have some when its dark.