Before I start I'd just like to say that I'm using 'hull' and 'backwall' to mean the same thing, since there is no backwall in GSB!
When I was messing around with designing around hull repairing vehicles in game I realized their is something you can do when designing in GSBII (a game about designing modular spaceships) that isn't done in Airships, which is hull repair.
My suggestion is to eventually add a dedicated 'scrap bay' or an addition to the repair bay that allows for hull to be patched up!
The fact it isn't in from the start seemed odd to me because in Airships you can add repair bays to your vehicles to fix room damage but wall repair isn't possible (walls being your ships best/only defense other than moving a lot). I assume this because the idea of backwall repair could be overpowered when everything has limited resources, but GSB got around this because armour was a ship wide value that could sometimes be ignored.
We obviously can't have that so maybe backwall repair kits could only replace up to 25% of the destroyed backwall health rounded down and take a few seconds to set up by crewmen, an added wooden/metal patch texture would also be a nice addition.
I personally think hull repair is (not completely necessary but) something that would open up a lot of new design options and strategies I'd like to see/use in the game!
Some examples utilizing this suggestion alone could be ramming ships oriented around weak regenerative armour, or a massive stone wall building that majorly buffs it's best asset or even just to make smaller weak ships last longer in combat!
So, who's the unlucky sod who has to climb outside the airship/stand near a hole while the ship rocks around? Hull already gets repaired after every battle, presumably when the chances of getting shot/exploded/falling have gone down.
I guess you'd have to do the repairs from inside which means ignoring some of the damage, being able to repair just some of the hull during battle is the important part, though).
Or really battle hardened specialists trained in combat engineering could be used. (I sense a new room/heraldry function with this option!)
Perhaps when resources are added you could have an option to just patch up your ship in an attempt to heal it slightly whilst the repairs only taking half the time?
In a nutshell i am also suggesting that hull damage sticks with the ship after battle unless you repair said ship. Though it could automatically repair.
Also, how about dynamic hull graphics? In 'from the depths block' the texture of a block changes based upon the surrounding blocks position. Perhaps something similar could be added? This would make ships look flippin' awesome if added.
Made a conscious decision to make hull non-repairable to prevent situations where ships were able to endlessly "regenerate". Breaking this slightly and allowing a partial patch job could be interesting, though. Not sure how to balance it.
Hull texture does change based on adjacent hull HP BTW. :)
I know, but it would be nice if said hull would look difference depending on how many blocks are around it and for how far. So, if i were to build something four blocks high then a band of metal might appear across it, and perhaps a window.
Look at some old from the depths designs. The old wood texture was quite dynamic in this sense.
Even if traditional hull can't be repaired due to balancing, I think it would be a great edition to the large monsters (I personally would love seeing an airship like monster that is weak and regenerates quickly, coming at you in groups).
Now that boarding has been implemented, it stands to reason that you would want to patch the huge entryway vaused by that cannonball. Just some planks on it or something, but at least enough that the ennemy has to find another way in.
Isn't a wooden wall going to be scratched really quick? Well, I suppose it's the point, but if it gets torns up quicker than it's built, then there is no point in building it. That said, if it's a "natural" mechanic that happens without you having to build a specific module, then why not, but otherwise, creating a new module just for this seems a bit unnecessary.
Remember of the room that allows for small repairs? idk its name...
do another one that is for "patching" the walls, with wood. a destroyed steel armor wall will be replaced with a standard wood one.
repairing walls will cost planks, that are limited like ammo, tools, water, etc...
why not adding another version, with steel walls, but it is heavier and can repair less walls.
Wooden walls are pretty useless compared to metal ones, I think their perk is that they can be easily and quickly repaired, also, repairing hulls is not overpowered, you still need a lot of repair stations, if they get destroyed then it's game over for the poor ship that tought he could repair the hulls faster than the bullets can destroy them.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
Before I start I'd just like to say that I'm using 'hull' and 'backwall' to mean the same thing, since there is no backwall in GSB!
When I was messing around with designing around hull repairing vehicles in game I realized their is something you can do when designing in GSBII (a game about designing modular spaceships) that isn't done in Airships, which is hull repair.
My suggestion is to eventually add a dedicated 'scrap bay' or an addition to the repair bay that allows for hull to be patched up!
The fact it isn't in from the start seemed odd to me because in Airships you can add repair bays to your vehicles to fix room damage but wall repair isn't possible (walls being your ships best/only defense other than moving a lot). I assume this because the idea of backwall repair could be overpowered when everything has limited resources, but GSB got around this because armour was a ship wide value that could sometimes be ignored.
We obviously can't have that so maybe backwall repair kits could only replace up to 25% of the destroyed backwall health rounded down and take a few seconds to set up by crewmen, an added wooden/metal patch texture would also be a nice addition.
I personally think hull repair is (not completely necessary but) something that would open up a lot of new design options and strategies I'd like to see/use in the game!
Some examples utilizing this suggestion alone could be ramming ships oriented around weak regenerative armour, or a massive stone wall building that majorly buffs it's best asset or even just to make smaller weak ships last longer in combat!
Commodore
So, who's the unlucky sod who has to climb outside the airship/stand near a hole while the ship rocks around? Hull already gets repaired after every battle, presumably when the chances of getting shot/exploded/falling have gone down.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
I guess you'd have to do the repairs from inside which means ignoring some of the damage, being able to repair just some of the hull during battle is the important part, though).
Or really battle hardened specialists trained in combat engineering could be used. (I sense a new room/heraldry function with this option!)
Air Admiral
Perhaps when resources are added you could have an option to just patch up your ship in an attempt to heal it slightly whilst the repairs only taking half the time? In a nutshell i am also suggesting that hull damage sticks with the ship after battle unless you repair said ship. Though it could automatically repair. Also, how about dynamic hull graphics? In 'from the depths block' the texture of a block changes based upon the surrounding blocks position. Perhaps something similar could be added? This would make ships look flippin' awesome if added.
Aerial Emperor
Made a conscious decision to make hull non-repairable to prevent situations where ships were able to endlessly "regenerate". Breaking this slightly and allowing a partial patch job could be interesting, though. Not sure how to balance it.
Hull texture does change based on adjacent hull HP BTW. :)
Air Admiral
I know, but it would be nice if said hull would look difference depending on how many blocks are around it and for how far. So, if i were to build something four blocks high then a band of metal might appear across it, and perhaps a window. Look at some old from the depths designs. The old wood texture was quite dynamic in this sense.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
Even if traditional hull can't be repaired due to balancing, I think it would be a great edition to the large monsters (I personally would love seeing an airship like monster that is weak and regenerates quickly, coming at you in groups).
Lieutenant
Now that boarding has been implemented, it stands to reason that you would want to patch the huge entryway vaused by that cannonball. Just some planks on it or something, but at least enough that the ennemy has to find another way in.
Commander
Maybe it could replace whatever armour was in the place where the breach used to be with wooden wall
Lieutenant
Isn't a wooden wall going to be scratched really quick? Well, I suppose it's the point, but if it gets torns up quicker than it's built, then there is no point in building it. That said, if it's a "natural" mechanic that happens without you having to build a specific module, then why not, but otherwise, creating a new module just for this seems a bit unnecessary.
Commander
I was just going to defend wood walls but then I remembered that they really are good for nothing.
Air Lord, Engineering Corps
Your missing the point of wood walls then, think about all of the economy/kamikaze ships you can use it for!
Commander
True but I built an under £200 brick airship so...
Lieutenant
Remember of the room that allows for small repairs? idk its name...
do another one that is for "patching" the walls, with wood. a destroyed steel armor wall will be replaced with a standard wood one.
repairing walls will cost planks, that are limited like ammo, tools, water, etc... why not adding another version, with steel walls, but it is heavier and can repair less walls.
Lieutenant
Wooden walls are pretty useless compared to metal ones, I think their perk is that they can be easily and quickly repaired, also, repairing hulls is not overpowered, you still need a lot of repair stations, if they get destroyed then it's game over for the poor ship that tought he could repair the hulls faster than the bullets can destroy them.