The point of the mod is to provide better, but more expensive turret options, and I absolutely love the mod, but I've noticed something

Comparing the basic Heavy MG turret to the OG gun turret, the differences are noticeable and the Heavy MG beats out the gun turret in all but cost. That's good, it's meant to be an improvement, I'm happy with it

A single gun turret takes up a 2x2 space, deals 80 physical damage per second with piercing ammunition, and has a 360 degree vision

A single MG turret takes up a 3x3, deals 96 physical damage per second, has a 360 degree vision, deals double damage (or rather, uses half the cost of bullets) and has pre-tracking, making them quicker to respond, rotate, and fire on incoming enemies. I love the pre-tracking

Having a group of each turret within the same space, we fill up a 6x6 area with 4 MG turrets or 9 gun turrets. That gives us a total dps of 384 phys for MG turrets, and 720 for gun turrets, for a cost of a total of 2.4 clips for the MG turrets, and 9 clips for the gun turrets. Ah.

Now, MG turrets are the economical choice rather than the effective dps option. That's... not great

I've also tested this with pulse laser turrets, which get even worse tbh

1v1, Pulse vs OG Laser, we have the same size, with 45 dps to 30 dps and a consumption of 650 kj to 800 kj per shot, or 1.95 MW to 1.2 MW in 1 second

Expanding this to the 6x6, this is 140 dps to 180 dps and 7.8 MW to 10.8 MW.

Also, the pulse laser has a very small fire cone, compared to the laser turrets's 360 no minimum fire cone

In both cases, using space efficient placement on a larger scale ends with the "better" turrets being the more economical option rather than the more effective option. I have yet to test the rest of the turret options, and I will enjoy doing so when I do, but already the lower end isn't exactly promising. I haven't exactly thought of everything, so if you have any counter arguments I'd love to hear them, this shit is my jam and I love doing it

Still love the mod and plan to keep using it <3

You're right that stock Factorio weapons have "on paper" better damage output per tile footprint than modded turrets.

This mod was made with variety and balance in mind, not power. I have an Excell sheet with the stats, and most of the modded turrets either match the Gun Turret in (raw) DPS, or are technically worse. Because there is a very good reason for that.

And that reason is RANGE. Being able to shoot further makes a massive difference, and those firing arc limits and DPS reduction is there to compensate for that huge advantage.

Take following scenario. You have a row of 20-30 turrets in a line VS a group of Big Spitters that try to attack it. In 1) case, turrets are Gun Turrets, in 2) they are HMG's (Frontline). MG's have 30 range VS 18 on Gun Turrets. Let's say it takes 2 seconds for those Big Spitters to close distance from 30 to their spitting range (15).

In scenario 1, Gun Turrets need to play their prepare animation first - which means that 3 tile distance is closed when turrets are ready, and both parties start shooting at the same time. Result will be Spitters dead, but Gun Turrets are very likely to take several losses in that fight.

In scenario 2, HMG Turrets open fire at distance of 30, and Spitters take heavy losses before they even make it to 15 tile distance - resulting in barely a scratch on the turrets.

Above situation is why modded turrets seem weaker in damage output on paper - they almost always actually are, but thanks to longer ranges, can deliver their DPS earlier, and cut down numbers of bug hordes before they can close in to damage-dealing distance.

I have a save with Krastorio 2 + Rampant + Armored Biters + Death World settings. Despite constant attacks, walls rarely receive damage, because my defence setup (Scattergun in front of the wall, behind walls 1 row of Frontline HMG, then 2 rows of Backline Pulse Laser) does such a good job of taking most of them out before they can reach the wall. My total losses this game to biters are 3 Scatterguns and couple dozen Construction Robots, while Evo is at 85% and game time at 40 hours.