I want a constructor of ships.
For start, of civilian ships.
Falcon, eagle, starflyer, etc.
Player will buy on base a frame of ship.
Other parts of ship player will buy in equipment market.
Slots for parts: Shields slots
Rotated placing of part
Bonuses of parts:
Armoring, and mass.
Player can buy (for example) part for 100,000
but will have less maneuverability than if player will buy part for 2,000,000
Mod can use one model of part, but game will have 3 parts or more, but for example I show 3:
For 2,000 (for newbies)
For 100,000 (for rectuits)
For 2,000,000 (for players with moneys)
And please, use a modules from PLASMAFIRE mod, adaptives of armor,
shield upgrades, power upgrades.
There comes a time when you simply have to say... Enough! The things you're suggesting are, in fact, already there. They' just have different names. Different shields, armors, thrusters etc. The thing is that when you introduce these things, it won't take long until every single ship has it. Take a look at the snubs...
Even if we occasionally see a VHF or a bomber that does NOT have AU 8 or class 10 shield, you have to admit that it's very rare. Only if you make it so that people would have to sacrifice one thing in favor for another... Only then would it be worth considering. Such as a shield upgrade vs an armor upgrade. You can have one of them, but not both. On caps, we already have this, since you can't mount jumpdrives, CAU's and cloaks at the same time.
When it comes to maneuverability, this already exists. Ship classes! A light fighter can easily outmaneuver a very heavy fighter, but sacrifices hull and damage output.
Lucky Luke, how limited you are thinking. Ship Costumization is altering the model, by using bodygroups, which can alot for any possible combinations of ships. STO has this feature, but only allowed you use the parts of that ship class.
Here's some example images of the same ship class from STO with variations:
These 2 images are of the Tactical Blockade Class Cruisers of STO
They are the same class, but using different parts from other escort ships of its class. Thats the customization I think PeterY is talking about.