Might not look like it, but this stuff means business.
I think this is the first game I don't care about the aestethics of my ship, because after a piece is destroyed for any given reason, it's hard to figure out what, to get that same thing back and to fix it.
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What advantages does the purchased version have? I don't see any restrictions on the free one.
Good shot, and while I do sympathize with the lack of aesthetics, I have to say, that isn't too extremely efficient. I'm sure it can deal some damage and all, but as soon as your shields go down literally everything vital is sitting out in the open to take fire. And power cores, don't take much to destroy. You're going to want to rely on heavy armor to keep off at least some of the damage while you try and back off enough to let your shields regenerate. Not to mention, it can't really hurt to have a bit of personal design taste as long as it doesn't get in the way.
For example...
My new ship, the Altemic (Still needs some minor detail), has hallways from stem to stern going along the shield/power cores, power storage, engines, all the up the forward cannons to the nose. The batteries are quite extensive and the shields can take a fair punch, while the weapons aren't something to scoff at, boasting a solid 10 long barreled cannons, and four target lock missiles. It is also covered with a number of relatively powerful if crappily designed turrets (The side turrets are having issues with appearing right), and all the essential chunks of the ship are covered in heavy armor to keep it protected (Undoing small refit to ensure this).
It is also slightly spacious inside, allowing for a fair sized crew and a number of aesthetics and neat views through various view ports.
It's not perfect, and it doesn't look amazing, but it is a pretty good support frigate over all. It's solidly well made, the systems are fairly spaced out so that one powerful burst shot doesn't rip through everything at once, and allows enough room that people walking around inside can make emergency repairs.
Again, this isn't just to take a dump on your ship, I sympathize with use over look, quite heavily. That's usually the first thing that comes to mind when I'm building a ship. But a little flare never hurts, as long as it doesn't get in the way.
Also, there isn't really an ADVANTAGE to having the bought version, other than it being extremely cheap right now, where as when the game comes out into full version it'll cost a fair bit more.
