Predicting Future Space Combat

[resistterra]

after rereading this post, i believe it came off as highly arrogant and needlessly skeptical.

doesn't feel right for me, who barely knows anything about space ships or weapons in general to question the design choices of people who are clearly passionate and informed about this, and who go through so much effort and detail to give us a simulation of their vision of the future of space warfare.

the weapons and spaceship designs in game are probably the optimal and realistic choice and i should study and invest time into learning more about these designs and concepts before critiquing others, rather than giving unsolicited opinions based on nothing but my imagination and gut feeling. for the ignorant to question people who put in the time and effort to acquire the knowledge and expertise doesn't sit right with me, and i fell short of that myself this time.

i apologize for any negative emotions this post has caused. ill believe in your vision of the future of space warfare and alien resistance. and if i have any doubts in the future, ill put in the time and effort learning about it first before expressing those doubts.

I'm still unsure about the role titans and higher tier shipyards have gameplay wise, but I'm not an expert at this game either. until i reach a high level of competence and gameplay optimization there is no point complaining about them.

[resistterra]

see above

[StrykeSlammerII]

I saw your original post, but any rebuttal from me felt like one person saying "But what about these other design ideas?" and the second person saying "That's not the game we have here" with very little to back up either position

I appreciate that you took the time to consider your post and revise your stance!

You didn't mention this (and I don't think the game itself says it) but if anyone wants a research shortcut: the devs have said that they based a lot of the space game from the site Atomic Rockets (https://www.projectrho.com). There may be other visions of space vehicle engineering--and there will always be unexpected difficulties when we start doing the thing IRL--but as you noticed, a lot of people have given a lot of thought to the overall design that TI is borrowing.

I want to call out one specific thing you said:

the weapons and spaceship designs in game are probably the optimal and realistic choice

Considering that the 0.4 preview patch notes have a lot of changes to weapons, armor, and how weapon techs work, I think the devs have shown they're starting to make a lot of detail changes in the interest of "fun" and "playability". (0.3 has had a lot of tweaks to engines as well.)
I'm probably focusing too much on the details and your statement was meant in the big-picture sense, but IMO a willingness to change means the devs haven't found their exact "optimal" yet

If you have doubts, please continue to share them!
Doing your own research is good, but answering questions is also good. Sometimes just knowing the correct term to search for will help direct your research.
Also, if someone new has a similar question, they might find your Q&A more easily.

One last note:
Your original post had a question that I would also like a proper answer to. I haven't read enough in Atomic Rockets to know if it is answered there: "Why are ships cylinders, why isn't the front end a cone for more surface area to expose weapon ports?"
If you find an answer, I would love to hear it!