It would be great to separate the flooring from the outer hull as a different layer. This would allow the player to change the aesthetics of the ship without needing to vent the ship. It would also allow the user to add the bin flooring. on the fly again without venting the ship. Electrics and future plumbing could still be placed on the hull, but would be neatly hidden under the flooring.
#Separate flooring from Hull.
sharp blaze
low inlet
I think what you're asking for would require that they create a 3D map for the game, which isn't how it currently works.
However, it could be mimicked more easily by writing code to hot-swap parts, like choose to install something without first having to uninstall something else. That'd be the only feasible way the current 2D game system might make that work.
The "hidden under flooring" thing might also be mimicked by having a sort of 'hide helmet' effect available for certain parts.
devout gust
I might be wrong, but I have read somewhere that the game treats ships as 3D, in terms of layers
foggy silo
i could imagine we make another like "carpet" layer that's just above the floor and requires floor to be present to be placed on, but doesnt disrupt item/machine placement
sharp blaze
I could see a scenario where the "carpet" lives above the utilities so that you have a space/location for wiring and plumbing that is out of the way. Also, flooring, especially carpets, would need cleaning and repairing, which might give rise to new items like vacuums or Roombas or both. Flooring could have a cleaning stat that if the floor is too dirty, the durability decays and requires repairs.
Going through all that effort might allow the player to walk around barefoot to increase comfort and warmth. on top of the monetary value. that it adds to a ship.
You could also have rugs in the game that can be placed under beds/chairs that have a similar modifier but are much cheaper to maintain than dedicated flooring.
Maybe there could even be certain styles of flooring that are less liked by a certain meat product but would cause other penalties if kept on a ship, so that it wouldn't be too overpowered.
low inlet
There are a lot of possible new items IF a new floor layer meant for aesthetics is created, but atm, I wonder if a hot-swap mechanic would answer the request without need of new items and layers? Something that lets a player just select "Swap floor/wall/object", preventing the loss of atmo/pressure and removing the need to uninstall one thing first before installing another.
mortal prawn
Just put a loose rack under your character and repair it.
Half of your character will 'phase' through the rack when repairing it.
The game is essentially 3D, just that everything works as if it is 2D.
molten spruce
You could say that 😎
sharp blaze
Another cool thing that could be added if a there is an additional layer or gap between the hull and floor would be contraband containers. You could hide your drugs or loot from the police/ pirates. For the player, there could be a hidden viz filter or some tool to discover these compartments without ripping up the whole ship.
you could also find a nasty meat surprise that pops up when opened and/ or a more interesting way to find bodies on a ship