Ammo press

The ammo press is an ammunition manufacturing machine found in The Pitt's steel mill. The player gains full access to it after completing Free Labor. It appears in The Pitt.

Overview
The press is a largely automated device, used by the Pitt raiders to manufacture ammunition en masse from scrap metal salvaged by slave workers across the city. It can also recycle existing ammunition into other types. Understandably, it cannot process any ammunition for energy weapons.

The ammo press consists of a terminal used to operate the machine and a materials bin at the bottom of the stairs, where ammunition or is deposited. The ammo press can produce any variety of conventional ammunition from the deposited ammunition or scrap metal. Once placed in the materials box, the deposited items inside can be converted and pressed into any other variety of conventional ammunition by using the terminal. Unfortunately, the press is unable to create any energy weapon ammunition, only conventional ammunition.

Operation
In game terms, once the player has access to the ammunition, they can process scrap metal and any spare ammunition they have by placing it in the materials bin (transfering them into it; it's the green box located at the front of the press, near the terminal). Then they can select the desired ammunition type from the Ammunition Mill terminal.

The bin acts as a regular container, meaning any item can be placed inside. However, the script will only remove scrap metal and conventional ammunition.

Production rate
The ammo mill produces ammunition depending on the following formula:


 * (Value of items in bin * Number of items in bin)/Value of target ammunition = Target ammunition

In other words, to determine the amount of ammunition you can obtain from any given input:
 * 1) multiply the amount of each accepted ammunition type and scrap metal in the bin by the values in the table below,
 * 2) divide the obtained number by the value of the ammunition you're pressing, also from the table,
 * 3) pick up the resulting ammunition. Note that the results of the calculation are always rounded down, with any excess lost.

For example, by putting 10 units of scrap into the materials bin, the player can manufacture 200 units worth of ammunition. This means 66 5.56mm bullets (200/3=66.7, rounded down to 66), 13 .44 Magnum rounds (200/15 = 13.33, rounded down to 13), or 200 5mm rounds.

Incidentally, this is also an excellent way to generate caps. .44 Magnum can be converted into 5mm rounds, generating 15 5mm bullets per .44 Magnum bullet, which can then be sold at a profit (with 90 Barter .44 Magnum rounds cost 2 caps to buy, while 5mm rounds sell for ~15 caps, giving a 13 cap profit per bullet; Magnum rounds are available at at Rivet City, Paradise Falls, Tenpenny Tower, Evergreen Mills or Lucky Harith). The value is even better with scrap metal, as the return is roughly double what eg. Walter at Megaton pays.

Location

 * Inside the steel mill, overlooking The Hole