Whats so bad about the UI????

[AstralWanderer]

Atrocities said:
I suggested a while back that a pre-designated slot system be implamented. This way a player need only click on a component to add it to the design. The game would automatically add that component to a pre-designated slot in the hull. The drag and drop system would still be present and usable, especially if you wanted to move something. But having pre-designated spots for everything would be far more efficient. Armor to the outside, weapons to the out side forward, other components like cargo, supply, and such fill up the center section, with spots in the center for the bridge, crew quarters, and such.

The difficulty here is how you deal with items that could be inner or outer hull (or both) depending on design philosophy (shields, supply/ordnance units, religious totems, sensors). Component distribution between decks needs consideration. And this has to be done for every shipset.

Going OT a little, it would be nice to see component placement given more importance - for instance being able to specify weapon facing (which would in turn determine arc of fire - with special mounts, aka "turrets", capable of increasing this) and for Armour/Outer/Inner placement to vary by deck (top and bottom decks should have more A and O slots to account for their top/bottom facing with the middle deck having more I slots).