I Should be Able to Do This
In this image (which was painstakingly screenshot from my PS5) there's an impaler to the left built into a slope, a block in the middle, and a slope to the right. The impaler is showing its damage area. When I try to build another to the right (again, not the middle block, which the picture appears to have stopped on) it says space contains a trap, even though if you look at the left impaler, its damage area would never touch the damage area of the right one; I COULD see the edges of each damage area touching, but never overlap, which I was assuming was the big no-no when placing traps.
Looking at the picture, you would think it would be allowed to put two impalers that far apart, but it's not allowed. I tried putting one on one wall, got the error on the other, no matter which one I put up first.
Moreover, this restriction seems contradictive and betrays whatever rule is in place that governs trap adjacency rules when you think about how a boltshot and an impaler can be placed 90 degrees from each other with no restriction or limitation whatsoever...
Comments
They actually do overlap. If you push L2 and press triangle while targeting a trap, you will see a highlight of the traps effected area. You would be able to clearly see them overlap if you did that. In that situation just use a boltshot instead of an impaler.
This is intended behavior and does not betray the rules. You can’t put more than one impaler or piston in a block’s space because the trap itself extends out and takes up that space; there is only room for one to activate. You can put 4 bolt shots or claws all facing each other in one cube because the traps do not extend, indeed they remain flat and they fire projectiles.