I've started to wonder about something.

How come the supposedly 'smaller', more advanced versions of certain functional ship components (most notably weapons) actually appear larger when you actually go to place them? I could understand if the things actually did more damage, but, for the most part, the weapons seem to get visually larger as the statistical size gets smaller and smaller. This does not compute.

I could understand if it's a brand new type of weapon. A first generation Plasma cannon should be larger than a fifth generation Laser cannon. But a fifth generation Laser cannon is described as being smaller than all the previous generation Laser cannons, and yet it's visually larger and more complicated, with arms coming out every which way.

Another thing is, why even bother? The 3D models for the weapons and such just sit there, anyway. The weapons fire doesn't even give a damn where you placed the weapons, far as I can tell. It's all asthetics, so why isn't it just optional?

The default ship designs don't even have models attached to the hull for some of their components. Why can't I do the same for some of my own designs? Perhaps I think that Mark V Laser looks goofy on my brand-new fighter. Just have it 'internalized' and not be a concern, asthetically-speaking.

I also tend to think that, near the end of the weapon tech trees, the fundamental differences between the damage types starts to break down and the distinction between 'Mass', 'Beam', and 'Missile' is artificial. At some point, the only real defence seems to be a form of gravitational force field that just doesn't exist in the game.