You can get modded subs that have very intricate systems of operation, you need a crew just to make the sub move, I forgot what it's called, but someone made a pretty realistic sub.
#Realism and cruelty
obtuse harness
dark kelp
there's something to be said about a more in-depth manual control which has a higher skill ceiling and potential power
if you want some more realistic stuff, i recommend the Immersive -xx- mods
i think for most people that level of depth is just not fun
but i'm sure you'd like those mods
ofc
like with 90% of baro-ideas, it would be an awesome mod and fun to a lot of people, but probably shouldn't be in the base game for general appeal reasons
ivory heart
I feel like it's too late to try and make Barotrauma into a game focused primarily on maintenance, with complex and tedious mechanics surrounding it.
Because at the moment, Barotrauma is a combat-heavy game. And fighting a lot means the submarine's hull and its devices break very often. Having both a ton of combat encounters and making recovering from damage a lot more time-consuming can absolutely destroy the game's pacing.
Giving each device a slot for replaceable parts would be cool. Stuff like fuses in junction boxes. Parts which the device can function without, but which the crew is still incentivized to replace from time to time.
Not sure what could be done with welding. Making it slow would be painful. Making it require a welding mask is annoying too, I've experienced that before.
dark kelp
immersive sounds is just a sound pack :)
Mechtrauma seems to be abandonware and likely does not work on current barotrauma, but it seems right up your alley if it ever gets updated @lilac mango
actually it seems to work in current baro
here's the link
check it out
ivory heart
Yeah. In a game where the hull breaks slowly and you do your best to prevent it from breaking fully, complex welding mechanics would work well. Like, after a fight you swim outside and replace broken armor plates and whatnot.
But Barotrauma's combat is largely built around full hull breaches.
dark kelp
barotrauma is certainly a long-form game, but moment-to-moment it's fairly fast paced
like, if you recorded in freecam the submarine of a full hour-long mission
you could probably write an essay on the dynamics of the situation
even better, look at station servers
factions forming and dissolving, betrayal, deaths, etc.
it's very dynamic and impossible to keep track of second by second
the issue is that the more complexity you add, the more difficult and lengthy repair gets
ivory heart
Because then you're making a different game. 
dark kelp
i don't see a problem with making it a slightly more dynamic system which requires maybe something else to keep track of, but you can't really make it much more complex than it already is
for instance, i wouldn't mind a different kind of armor on the outside of the sub which must be fixed differently, but actually fixing a breach has to be a fast-paced thing
agree
sound design could use a little work
the game's soundtrack though is
mwa
chef's kiss
barren venture
You can get modded subs that have very intricate systems of operation, you need ...
Enjoy the bearing rate chart as your only sonar on this one https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3234779038&searchtext=
https://harryli0088.github.io/bearing-rate-graph/ You'll also need a ballast man and engine man at the very least, the buttons on the below screenshot pass orders but don't change buoyancy or speed.
highly recommend all of these 💯
Yeah it was targetted at your request for harder sub driving, but definitely too much for a normal baro experience; unfortunately haven't seen any mods which add complexity to the vanilla driving, but the captain's role is much more than just driving so always a fine line between complexity-increasing and annoying features I guess.
Have a play with it and you'll get the hang of things. And for the bearing rate graph look at the github didactic guide, it's really good. Bearing rate displays used in subs IRL but far more complex than shown due to the way sound travels.
obtuse harness
Debatable tbh, goddess tend to do at least not worse
minor galleon
I have an idea regarding your idea:
No
Please do not try to force your weird getting beat up kink on others thanks
dark kelp
weird thing to say to someone
i'd understand if you made it clear you're joking but that was very deadpan
don't do that i think
minor galleon
Ok I'll rephrase it
dear op
You may like having to micromanage your sub
And having to spend half an hour fixing a leak
But I , and probably the majority of the player base so not
Please don't try to force
Your minority preferences on the whole player base
Thank you
dark kelp
i don't think making a suggestion is forcing your playstyle on people
you seem to be imprinting some weird selfish intent onto some guy making a suggestion
minor galleon
Well he is saying he wants this in the main game
dark kelp
anyone can make suggestions, whether they are a good idea or not is something that isn't determined by them
dark kelp
Well he is saying he wants this in the main game
and that's okay
he's not breaking into regalis' house and shooting off a steam update that puts mechtrauma in vanilla
he's saying "i would like if the game was like this"
it's not a big deal
minor galleon
True