Do you consider it exploiting to hide thrusters inside ships?

[jcewazhere]

I'm trying to be "realistic" with my Fenris and place thrusters where they should go. But I everywhere I try to place them looks derpy. So I'm considering just hiding them inside the ship, there's tons of room even with thruster damage on.

Backside:
http://i.imgur.com/X4gI1Sx.png

Front:
http://i.imgur.com/Edwfdr9.png

I think I'll stick the lateral thrusters on the rear compartment embedded in the side and the vertical ones in the narrow points between the sections. I had considered a gravity drive to slow the ship down, but then I looked at the screenshots of what happens when they go wrong, also gravity drives may be patched out eventually.

On topic: I don't like having the engines hidden, it's similar to blowing your own sail except worse since it's an "airtight" environment.

[Gekkibi]

In real life any thruster in any enclosed space is deemed to fail.

Originally posted by jcewazhere:

...On topic: I don't like having the engines hidden, it's similar to blowing your own sail except worse since it's an "airtight" environment.

You already mentioned this in your post, so you already answered your own question. If you value realism then yes, it's an exploit.

[ShadowFlux]

Personally I compromise. I stick with realism up to the point where I can't get my creation to function as desired. If my ship needs 4 sideways thrusters but looks terrible with more than 2... then the rest get hidden. I am content with the fact that some of them are visible; so from an engineering standpoint it is built correctly and functional.

Hell, if it really bothers you; line up the hidden ones behind the visible ones and call them forced induction boosters :)

[Hand]

Well the whole point of engineering is to make something function by using the tools you have available, if one of those tools just happens to be that thrusters still work even when enclosed then i dont see it as an exploit i call it clever engineering.

[=M$= Oroberus]

For me it matters what is considered as "hiding". Do I put them inside but without leaving a straight way in front of them? No.

Do I put them inside and surround them based on security and beauty thoughts while they still have a clear directional path the force is going? Absolutely.

I think It's a matter of how you put it, I don't think that material next to a stream suffers real damage, sure, it is more challenged then other material but not in a way that space engineering could not hold against it. Otherwise NASA and ESA could never have build stationary launchpads, those are even taking direct impacts without randomly exploding (except someone messes up to consider cm are not inches :>). The Thrusters are not working like our thrusters today but as we have found a way to deal with the drawbacks today, we will find a way to deal with them in future.

So putting thrusters inside but giving them a clear path in throttle direction should not be considered exploiting as long as the devs are not doing anything against it, what I hardly doubt, if they would consider it exploiting, they already would have changed the way thruster damage is applied.

EDIT: If someone don't get the meaning, I'm too lazy for screenshots, here's a "drawing"
B = Block
T = Thruster
-> = Direction of force
No:

BBBB
BTTB ->>
BBBB


Yes:

BBBB
BTT ->>
BBBB

[kymsheba]

Build a hub around your exposed thrusters this way they look like nodules and actually give the ship nice lines instead of just big flat slabs of metal a few nodules look great and can change the look of a ship completely.

that way your not exploiting and your ship looks interesting and menacing in some cases.

[jcewazhere]

Yep, I've done it like a few of you said with none inside the ship. All the engines have cowlings making them look nice. I will just live with the less than stellar starting and stopping.

http://i.imgur.com/meYxhhW.png

It looks very nice though.

[[NOPE] Sigvar]

Ore you could play EvE! I understand they have Fenris! :P

[Arcamean]

I hide thrusters not for any sense of realism but because I don't want htem getting knocked off or damaged.

[CrixusAegis]

If you wanted to do it for a realism aspect then you could just use the vertical windows, that way the thrusters are enclosed, and it just looks like small vents that the thrusters discharge heat from, that's what I did for the rescue ship me and my buddy refitted, and it looked pretty good.