(not sure if this is tagged right, but its to do with shapes)
These are some simple mistakes and improvements:
1: You're using too many reactors. 1 reactor and 2 storages is so much better than 3 reactors. Also, storages in the extremities keep the ship from exploding if part is compromised. This is often the biggest problem in ships, because of chained reactions
2: Armor. Its okay, expensive, and hard to move. It can slow down your ships, and provide little defense. In my opinion, internal armor is vastly better, because it is better for center of mass, and doesn't waste precious external space, which could be put to better use with cannons, or laser blasters.
3: Walls are better than squares. In almost all 1v1 battles, a "wall" ship, a long straight ship with only one fighting side beats an all rounder, because it can focus all of its cost on one side, meaning more cannons, more laser blasters. This, although mostly applies for big ships, can be kept in mind in smaller ships, and help them beat their attackers.
4: Shields are great. Use them, they can protect 4 spaces either side, and still let your shots through. Their only weakness is the electro-bolt, so I usually double up on big ships, and keep a battery storage nearby to make sure they keep their energy.
5: Don't rely on your crew. They have bad intelligence, and you can't control them. This means you have 3 options:
1: Accept it, and suffer the consequences. This mean your crew often can't keep up, and systems often go offline.
2: Compartmentalize. Split up your ship into many parts, and keep them separate. This means crew are trapped in their section, keeping them focused.
3: Make loads of crew. This is an expensive option, but it works, and is a good option if you want to fix a ship retroactively. It means your crew are mostly bored, but when needed most they are there.(edited)
6: Think outside the box: diagonal! The diagonal ships can be even better than regular ships, because you can attack or defend with two sides at once.
7: Keep the center of mass in mind. That is, the middle of the weight of the ship. A thruster near the edge is better at turning, and worse at going straight. A thruster near the center is better at going straight, and worse at turning the ship. And since we are on thrusters:
8: Make sure you remember all directions of thruster. Left, right, down and up are all important, so make sure you add them all. Forwards and backwards are the most important, then left and right.
9: Keep order in mind, in relation to consuming parts, ie: guns, laser blasters and shields; Generator, Storage, Consumer. This means the storages are filled, and then the consumers. If you did Storage, Generator, Consumer, the generator would have to fill both the consumer and the storage, and the storage can be neglected over the generator. The other way, it only fills the storage, and the storage fills the consumer. This can help with crew management, like in point 5.
10: Decoration isn’t important, but it makes it look nice. First, shape. This is a good way to add protection, if you are going to add armor, and pick a shape! Spiky, smooth, bubbly, stretched? If you want to save weight and money, use structure to add shape. It’s less definitive, but keeps costs down. Second, paint. I always try to find an original color, and back it up with striking complimentary colors, in stripes. I personally dislike the fade, to me, it disperses the color, and the different symbols are too small to be feasible, but that’s my personal opinion. If you want, you can mod in certain new symbols, but that can be a bit excessive.
