I would like to recommend a major change to the way armor is thought of and implemented.
Currently armor is used by actually building different cubes with different materials and keeping them all in inventory. Cumbersome to say the least.
What I would recommend is that Hulls come in one color, grey. Grey would be the current hull type. Paint and armor would then be added while building or once building is done. Current paint changes color and nothing else, does anybody actually use it? New paints would be made with the materials used to make standard and advanced armor and would not just change the color but add armor and of coarse mass to Hull blocks or any other blocks you decide should be paint-able. The color, mass and armor added would of coarse depend on the materials used to make the paint.
As for application I have several ideas.
1. Spray it on the outside like paint using a new support tool. This one is my favorite.
2. Select the paint in the hotbar and click on a block to apply the paint.
3. Paint hull blocks in inventory (undoes inventory gains).
4. Whatever floats your boat.
Behavior of armor would stay the same with one exception. Armor would be ablative. With ablative armor when the armor is attacked it basically vaporizes using up the energy striking it to undergo a state or possibly phase change depending on the armor. In other words when attacking a ship you break through the shields and then begin wearing down the armor. With ablative armor once the armor is worn down it is gone! When a cube has lost its armor you can not just repair it to get your armor back you would need to reapply the armor using more of the correct armor paint. Cubes that have completely lost armor could be repainted with any paint.
This would provide a resource sink to fuel the economy and make building up for war more interesting. Balance would be needed. Maybe making the paint should be a bit cheaper than the current armor since it gets used up more easily?
Reclaiming would be different as well. If salvaging an overheating ship that you have worn down the armor on then you would get no armor at all. If there is still armor left your salvage beams would remove the armor first before the hull blocks. Also I think that the armor should not be obtained as armor or even paint but as the raw materials used to make the paint.
One interesting approach to reapplying armor to your own damaged ships would be if you could use salvage beams against your own ships just for removing the armor. Then you could apply a new coating of any paint you wanted afterwards. Should only be allowed on your own ships or it will mess up battle.
One more option. The current paints seem kinda useless. If the armor changes are made then what about changing the current paints to give a small HP gain? Just treat it like armor that adds HP instead of protection. That is more or less in line with what structures are painted for in real anyway. For example the Golden Gate bridge is not painted to make it pretty but to protect from rust.
This would be a major change but I believe this would help solve the too many types of blocks inventory issue and would IMHO make building more interesting.
Currently armor is used by actually building different cubes with different materials and keeping them all in inventory. Cumbersome to say the least.
What I would recommend is that Hulls come in one color, grey. Grey would be the current hull type. Paint and armor would then be added while building or once building is done. Current paint changes color and nothing else, does anybody actually use it? New paints would be made with the materials used to make standard and advanced armor and would not just change the color but add armor and of coarse mass to Hull blocks or any other blocks you decide should be paint-able. The color, mass and armor added would of coarse depend on the materials used to make the paint.
As for application I have several ideas.
1. Spray it on the outside like paint using a new support tool. This one is my favorite.
2. Select the paint in the hotbar and click on a block to apply the paint.
3. Paint hull blocks in inventory (undoes inventory gains).
4. Whatever floats your boat.
Behavior of armor would stay the same with one exception. Armor would be ablative. With ablative armor when the armor is attacked it basically vaporizes using up the energy striking it to undergo a state or possibly phase change depending on the armor. In other words when attacking a ship you break through the shields and then begin wearing down the armor. With ablative armor once the armor is worn down it is gone! When a cube has lost its armor you can not just repair it to get your armor back you would need to reapply the armor using more of the correct armor paint. Cubes that have completely lost armor could be repainted with any paint.
This would provide a resource sink to fuel the economy and make building up for war more interesting. Balance would be needed. Maybe making the paint should be a bit cheaper than the current armor since it gets used up more easily?
Reclaiming would be different as well. If salvaging an overheating ship that you have worn down the armor on then you would get no armor at all. If there is still armor left your salvage beams would remove the armor first before the hull blocks. Also I think that the armor should not be obtained as armor or even paint but as the raw materials used to make the paint.
One interesting approach to reapplying armor to your own damaged ships would be if you could use salvage beams against your own ships just for removing the armor. Then you could apply a new coating of any paint you wanted afterwards. Should only be allowed on your own ships or it will mess up battle.
One more option. The current paints seem kinda useless. If the armor changes are made then what about changing the current paints to give a small HP gain? Just treat it like armor that adds HP instead of protection. That is more or less in line with what structures are painted for in real anyway. For example the Golden Gate bridge is not painted to make it pretty but to protect from rust.
This would be a major change but I believe this would help solve the too many types of blocks inventory issue and would IMHO make building more interesting.
