what makes you think a turret would be capable of scoring more discs in the goal than a catapult? So far, it seems that the less energy the discs have when entering the goal, the more likely the discs will stay in the goal and the more discs will be able to pile up. Good catapults seem to toss the discs in very gently at close range, with no spin at all.
The main culprit for poor shot retention rate seems to be when discs are fired with too much force and ricochet out of the goal. any launcher that flings discs into the goal with a lot of force will likely be bad.
A single flywheel will always be imparting significant spin onto the discs. This can stabilize them in flight, but also means that if they hit the post of the goal or land on a large pile of discs, they are more likely to deflect sideways due to the spin and fall out of the goal.
Double flywheels don’t quite have the range single flywheels do, but they seem to have very good accuracy and disc capacity.
Catapults seem like the winner at the moment, with superior goal filling abilities to single flywheels due to the gentler toss that lacks any spin, and the fastest possible cycle times, with the triple shot. They can also perform decently in autonomous, easily making accurate single shots, although double shots seem more difficult and triple shots are proving to be quite elusive for most teams. The issue looks to be getting the discs to stay clumped together when they are shot with a steep arc and want to tumble apart from each other.
Shotgun-style flywheels also exist, with a flywheel shooting three discs into the goal simultaneously by feeding a stack of 3 discs into the wheel at once. I imagine these could be done with either singe or double flywheels, and they might have interesting benefits combining longer range single shots with short range triple shot capabilities.
Punchers have not really been seen performing well yet, but I have confidence they will be a very popular choice later in the season. From what I’ve seen, punchers will have the ability to make triple shots similarly to a catapult, but look like they might perform better making triple shots at greater distances.
There has also been talk of a “slingshot” style launcher, similar to a puncher except the discs are drawn back with the launcher, and pushed quickly forwards, instead of being smacked by the head of the puncher. Advantages of this launcher look like they might be able to do clean triple shots from very long range.
There might also be the potential to combine launcher types. Maybe you could use a single flywheel for most of the match, but then use a different launcher type once the goal gets full for extremely gentle close range shots to cram a few extra discs in. I’m not sure if this could ever be worth the complexity or effort, but someone might find a way to make it work.
there are also numerous ways to add on to these launchers to give them more capabilities. With a flywheel you can adjust the rpm to control how much speed you launch the disc with, essential if you want to be making short range shots with any sort of accuracy. People have also been adding angle adjusters for flywheels, the best option seems to be angling a tiny ramp at the exit point to deflect launched discs upwards for close range shots.
With tension-based launchers, people have been coming up with ways to adjust the tension for varied launch powers. Pneumatic cylinders can be used on a catapult to add force to a launch that you want to make from long distance, but then de-pressurize for close range shots. Rubber bands can be tightened or released with single use mechanisms after autonomous ends.
Punchers could use a mechanism like what 12e did back in turning point, which allows the puncher to be released at any point by lifting the driving gear off the rack gear, instead of having it slip at a fixed distance. This would let you vary the amount of force delivered by the launch.
The options for launching are virtually limitless. My advice, pick the launcher you like the sound of best, and stick to it, even if people around you are constantly shifting their opinions on which launcher is best. The people that came out on top in turning point were not the ones that constantly hopped from launcher to launcher, depending on the current online consensus. It was the people that picked a launcher, and practiced driving until they had mastered the game.