Struts are a useful part of the game but I find that I usually don't use them because they are not aesthetically pleasing. I think that a good way to make them look better would be the ability to armor/paint the struts. The armor would be purely visual and would not add cost/weight/HP to the module or surrounding modules.
My second idea is that there could be struts that are like corner pieces. So they would just be struts that are cut diagonally down the middle so that you can add nice diagonal edges to ships. They could be half the weight/cost/HP of normal struts and would be able to have armor and paint just like above.
The only real use for struts at the moment are really for advanced boarding (having soldiers stand on the ends of them, but other blocks do that too) or as a ramming guard.
I feel like if they had a damage resistance, or made crew move faster externally they would be able to fulfill one of those purposes but at the moment i'm in agreement with Bigman1103.
The only other good use for them that is actually nice is that they function as cheap bulkheads if you surround ammunition stores with them to stop any unwanted explosions.
Now that the new update shows module health i can say that i really underestimated how valuable they are (i'm using them on almost everything now).
I think the struts look fine during actual battles when the shaders(?) get applied to them, makes them look more like function>beauty monstrosities with pipes sticking out of the hull rather than your average military airship. (which makes sense because that's what the struts do)
Captain
Struts are a useful part of the game but I find that I usually don't use them because they are not aesthetically pleasing. I think that a good way to make them look better would be the ability to armor/paint the struts. The armor would be purely visual and would not add cost/weight/HP to the module or surrounding modules.
My second idea is that there could be struts that are like corner pieces. So they would just be struts that are cut diagonally down the middle so that you can add nice diagonal edges to ships. They could be half the weight/cost/HP of normal struts and would be able to have armor and paint just like above.
Air Admiral
How about if struts had a beam that cuts into the module it is attached to? (For an easier transition)
Captain
@madking321 what do you mean by that? I can't quite picture that in my head.
Aerial Emperor
I see your point about struts being non-aesthetic. Hmm. OTOH the exposed struts also make for nice variations.
Corners are a no-go, though. They'd make collision detection much harder.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
The only real use for struts at the moment are really for advanced boarding (having soldiers stand on the ends of them, but other blocks do that too) or as a ramming guard.
I feel like if they had a damage resistance, or made crew move faster externally they would be able to fulfill one of those purposes but at the moment i'm in agreement with Bigman1103.
The only other good use for them that is actually nice is that they function as cheap bulkheads if you surround ammunition stores with them to stop any unwanted explosions.
Air Admiral
What i mean by struts being built into the hull is that it will graphically be a more smooth transition from hull to struts.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
Now that the new update shows module health i can say that i really underestimated how valuable they are (i'm using them on almost everything now).
I think the struts look fine during actual battles when the shaders(?) get applied to them, makes them look more like function>beauty monstrosities with pipes sticking out of the hull rather than your average military airship. (which makes sense because that's what the struts do)