Why are filler blocks worse than struts?

[Arldoon]

It seems logical to me that filler blocks would have the same stats as struts since they serve the same purpose. At the moment I often use struts where filler blocks would look better because I want to make my design as effective as possible.

Lets compare the stats:

Strut
cost: 3
weight: 2
hp: 40

1x1 Filler block
cost: 10
weight: 10
hp: 40
(also has armour)

The other filler shapes have similar stats to the 1x1 filler block.

Pressurised suspendium tanks have a large blast radius and need to be separated by 2 or 3 blocks to prevent a chain reaction, I need a lot of struts to separate them and it ends up looking very ugly, but using filler blocks is simply not an option with those stats. I'm guessing that mods can change this, but I don't want to design ships that will be useless in multiplayer.

I've noticed that the weight and hp is also inconsistent, for example the 2x1 slope weighs 10 and the 3x1 slope weighs 30. Stained glass windows cost and weigh more than corridors for a tiny increase in hp.

[Wenzel]

• Filler blocks are better for preventing structural adjacency maluses. If you surround a module with filler blocks, then you need to cover 50% of its (non-diagnoal) neighbouring tiles with filler-blocks in order to bring the module to its full HP. If you do it with struts, you need to cover 75% of the exterior tiles with struts. You can check it out if you enable the hitpoints overlay. The corresponding stat (mentioned in the actual files) is called "AdjacencyBonusStrength", which is not mentioned for blocks (--> default = 1), while it is mentioned as only 0.5 for struts.
  
• As you've related, filler blocks can be armored, so you'd need to add the armor's HP (and weight, of course) to the tile. This can be a major advantage over struts.
  
• Struts have a hardness of only 0.2 compared to 1 (=default) of blocks. This probably makes them deal much less damage (and more prone to destruction?) in collisions.
  
• Indeed, if you calculate HP per weight, you end up with some rather odd inconsistencies between the different kinds of shapes/fillers (generally speaking: the larger the module, the fewer HP provided per weight). The hitpoints provided per tile are pretty consistent though (most shapes provide 30HP per tile, the 1x1 block 40HP, the dome 35HP).
  
• An interesting observation is that fillers come in various shapes and sizes. If you use a bigger shape-module, it will have more hitpoints and stay longer "as a whole", especially if you put armor on it. Struts have fewer hitpoints and will thus get destroyed faster, but one by one. On the other hand, it's easier to surround a strut (single tile) with other modules than it is to do the same with a larger, oblong shape (2x1, 3x1). So the oblong shape is more likely to be open on one side, which means that once it reaches critical HP threshold, it will fall apart completely, compromising the HP of surrounding modules, eventually leading to the collapse of the whole ship.*

But yeah, I can see why struts are much better for many purposes. Especially on airships. But then most people don't seem to care about the game mechanics at all and just go for the looks, using lots of fillers (just take a look around in the workshop ;) ).

Your aesthetical problem (separating pressurized tanks from each other and the ship proper) could also be solved by using other modules:

• brass pipes (20 HP, hardness 0.2, AdjacencyBonusStrength of only 0.2!, weight 1, cost 1) - they will be destroyed by anything, but if you have many, they do a good job holding together your ship*
  
• decks - often an underestimated option - they offer full Adjacency Bonus Strength, are light and have decent HP. They can't be armored though and - their worst disadvantage - they can catch fire, which is probably why you want to use steel decks (50 HP, fire threshold 3), not wooden decks (40HP, fire threshold 10).

........................
* Remember that a module will not get fully destroyed/fall apart even when its HP are below the critical threshold ( - 40% of max. HP?) if it is still fully (non-diagonally?) surrounded by other modules/tiles. The module will be disfunctional (displayed in black/dark), but it stays.

By contrast, if the module is "open" when it reaches the critical threshold, it will fall apart/dissolve in a small explosion. I think that this explosion does not deal any damage per se, but with their neighbouring tiles/module now gone, formerly adjacent modules might now suffer from adjacency maluses and be considered open, so that they might fall apart too.

[cataclysm]

the comment by mowgli says it all, though i do want to add to decks, as they are "external" modules, boarders can enter though those types of modules as they can with modules that lost armour.

[Quasicide]

Agree with J and M! Those filler blocks need a balance pass. They look cool but weigh too much compared to struts, decks, pipes and corridors.

Specifically, they generally weigh too much. a 3x1 filler weighs 30, but you can buy a 3x1 ladder corridor for the same price that only weighs 12.

Or how a 1x1 filler weighs between 10 and 5, compared to a corridor that weighs 3, cost $1 to $4 less.

[Quasicide]

1x1 Block Filler: $10, weigh 10, hit points 40
1x1 Slope Filler: $7, weigh 5, hit points 30
1x3 Slope Filler: $21, weigh 30, hit points 90

Shouldn't the 1x3 Slope Filler weigh only 15?

And the 1x1 block filler is just too expensive and too heavy.
Perhaps if it offered more hit points?

[cataclysm]

i guess the 1*3 should be that wieght...
though filler blocks are alot more beefy ya know, besides the hp, protection from boarders and amour, they also have fire immunity and as such don't allow it to spread, and at that point you may need to compaire fire doors too.

[Arldoon]

I didn't realise all the advantages that filler blocks have over struts. They're not as bad as I initially thought. Although I'd still say the advantages are rarely enough for the extra weight and cost.

It's nice to have a block that offers all the advantages of a filler block. On the other hand, I imagine most people (myself included) use or want to use filler blocks for decorative purposes. I doubt many people even know about it's hidden advantages.

most people don't seem to care about the game mechanics at all and just go for the looks, using lots of fillers (just take a look around in the workshop ;) ).

AI ships also use a lot of filler blocks aesthetically.

I'm not necessarily suggesting that the existing filler block stats be changed to be identical to struts. What would work better though imo is if they added hp to the rest of the ships modules in the same way that bows do. That would allow you to build out from the rest of your ship to make tail fins and whatnot while providing at least some meaningful advantage.

[Quasicide]

The duality of the filler blocks purpose seems to be the problem.

Perhaps there needs to be a set of light weight lower HP blocks just for looks. And then a set of heavier and sturdier blocks added to structure to offer advantages of fire blocking, etc.