Energy Shield Idea
The problem with energy shields in Space Engineers is that they take away form the armor deformation feature which is arguably one of the games biggest strengths.
I suggest a kind of energy shield that is projected a few meters away from the outer hull of the ship that gets deformed if it takes damage.
The amount of deformation depends on the damage blocked by the shield.
The distance of the shield could be adjustable with the tradeoff being that a shield with a bigger distance is softer (is easier to deform) and vice versa.
If the shield is deformed so much that the armor underneath is exposed the ship is damaged like normal in that spot.
A missile would be blocked by the shied but not the explosion, so if the shield is weak at one point and it gets hit by a missile the armor underneath can get damaged.
A shield like this would still keep armor as a vital part of any ship and would also use the armor deformation system in the shield itself.
The block that projects the shield should also be very large, very power hungry and very volatile (like a reactor or jump drive) and maybe even consume some sort of resource the operate.
I hope the idea can give you some inspiration!
I like this feedback
Armor deformation (or lack thereof) isn't "the problem" with shields.
The problem with shields is that they change the nature of the game by making combat about who's shield can last the longest. This, in turn, makes ship design 100% about power production (notably, this is also your suggested balancing feature). This means the ship with the most reactors wins. So ships tend become blocky (to minimize surface area and maximize reactor density).
This makes combat very boring, and ship designs very boring as well.
If you have ever played on a PvP server that uses shields, you will have noticed that most PvP ships (and all of the successful designs) are basically bricks, packed with reactors, thruster spam on the sides and back, and cannon spam on the front.
That is 99% of the problem with shields. Everything else is in the 1%.
Armor deformation (or lack thereof) isn't "the problem" with shields.
The problem with shields is that they change the nature of the game by making combat about who's shield can last the longest. This, in turn, makes ship design 100% about power production (notably, this is also your suggested balancing feature). This means the ship with the most reactors wins. So ships tend become blocky (to minimize surface area and maximize reactor density).
This makes combat very boring, and ship designs very boring as well.
If you have ever played on a PvP server that uses shields, you will have noticed that most PvP ships (and all of the successful designs) are basically bricks, packed with reactors, thruster spam on the sides and back, and cannon spam on the front.
That is 99% of the problem with shields. Everything else is in the 1%.
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