I would like to suggest adding two things to the game, none of which are likely to have any effect on game balance, but which will make it easier to make visually appealing ships; armor glass and cosmetic hull.
Armor glass would have the same stats as advanced hull but would be transparent like regular glass. Right now I will not expose my bridge to easy destruction through the use of combat useless glass, rather I seal my bridge in armor and see through cameras. I would be very willing to pay a premium price for armor glass however, as it will improve both the internal and external aesthetics of my ship.
I only ever build stealth ships. I would never dream of building anything that cannot hide from pirates (especially stations) or PvPers. However for a stealth ship, mass is the killer. In order to eek out all the potential of a stealth ship, every bit of mass you add to the ship MUST be functional. Accordingly, the external asthetics of my ships are frankly rather ugly. In the interest of keeping the game pretty, especially for other players, I suggest cosmetic hull.
Cosmetic hull would come in all the standard shapes and colors, except it would have only one hit point and zero armor. It's utility is that it adds zero mass to a ship. All it is good for is making ships nicer to look at, without deteriorating the ship's performance.
Armor glass would have the same stats as advanced hull but would be transparent like regular glass. Right now I will not expose my bridge to easy destruction through the use of combat useless glass, rather I seal my bridge in armor and see through cameras. I would be very willing to pay a premium price for armor glass however, as it will improve both the internal and external aesthetics of my ship.
I only ever build stealth ships. I would never dream of building anything that cannot hide from pirates (especially stations) or PvPers. However for a stealth ship, mass is the killer. In order to eek out all the potential of a stealth ship, every bit of mass you add to the ship MUST be functional. Accordingly, the external asthetics of my ships are frankly rather ugly. In the interest of keeping the game pretty, especially for other players, I suggest cosmetic hull.
Cosmetic hull would come in all the standard shapes and colors, except it would have only one hit point and zero armor. It's utility is that it adds zero mass to a ship. All it is good for is making ships nicer to look at, without deteriorating the ship's performance.