Dalas120
Walt Allow PD to shoot at ships.
Allow PD to shoot at ships and penetrate into them, killing crew.
I'll think some more about how these might work, and also see if I can think of any additional options that wouldn't involve changing PD from machine gun to energy flak. Let me get back to you.
One idea: allow PD to shoot at ships for minimal damage but high knockback. It could be good for pushing off clingers.
Another idea: allow PD to shoot at ships for minimal damage but start fires (with whatever fire changes are needed for incendiary missiles). It would be a good support weapon, but would not be spammable.
Both of these ideas buff PD vs non-missile ships (where they're too weak), without making PD any stronger vs missile barges (where they're too strong). Though there are significant risks and potential issues with either idea (to be honest I don't really like either of them). IMO it's still a better solution to allow PD to defend against all weapons.
Oneye I mean from a lore standpoint it doesn't make sense for flak to be shooting heavy cannon shells ment for doing lots of damage.
I agree it's unusual, but IMO not abnormally so. Large cannons somehow fuse 4 shells into 1, and crew somehow use the same missile part for the head and tail of a missile. And honestly, why do we have people carrying around the stuff instead of conveyor belts?
Oneye my main concern is that it will be way too hard to fit in if you need to also spend money and space on an ammo factory.
Yeah, I agree with your concern. PD would probably need to be changed to have much more strength per surface area, so that it doesn't take up nearly as much space.
IMO spending extra money on an ammo factory is actually a good thing. Right now PD can't be made much more powerful per surface area because raising the cost too much feels weird (since it's such a small part). Needing ammo factories near the PD is effectively a cost increase, without feeling weird.
Edit:
Oneye But the problem is adapting old ship designs.
Hopefully after the change, you wouldn't need PD on every ship like you do now. It would be a defense option, but not almost-mandatory vs missiles. So worst case you could just reduce the number of PD on an old design, or remove PD from it altogether.
But I generally agree with you. Breaking old ships is my biggest concern with changing PD to use ammo.