WTH: A big improvement to combat visuals and fun/immersion during combat.

Elite Dangerous is trying to be "realistic" in many areas.
Let's forget about sounds in vacuum or the need of speed limits ;)

In all space shooters I missed something that should be there: If I hit something it needs to "bleed" correctly.
Elite Dangerous brings space shooters ahead in some areas but that part is still missing.

Here what I suggest: (all of this is just about visuals, texture changes and effects)

1. Hitting with lasers/heat:
* When hitting shields I would like to have the laser scatter off without remaining focus (just a visual effect)
* When hitting hulls I would like to see melted streams of armor floating off explosively (depending on laser type). It could look great and should leave deep traces inside the hull until repaired.
* In the case of mirrored armor I want the ray to scatter off in a more focused beam and only after a while start melting the armor under the mirror surface (destroying the mirror area).
* After hitting an area with a laser I want it to emit redish light around the area for a while and getting cooler. A ship under permanent fire would glow red nearly everywhere from the hits.

2. Hitting with mechanical projectiles
* Small parts of armor should break off and scatter away (like after a ship explosion)
- depending on the caliber I would like to see the damage on the hull and different sorts of "ripping parts out"
* When hitting mirrored armor I want the mirror to get damaged at that area immediately, this area should not protect anymore from light weapons


In FPS we are used to see blood from a hit and many games included more gore effects (limbs). It's not because players are evil, it's because we want to see the "damage" we do, that's a lot more fun.
With space ships we are lucky, there is no moral issue and we can have much better effects. :)
Go ahead Frontier, that would make Elite Dangerous fights look a lot cooler.
We pilots could feel the damage we do and could "feel" the power of the weapons in more than a simple number that gets deducted until 0%.
 
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I'm not sure how important this is would be, since a considerable amount of battles are long distance. However, I'd really like to see better explosions when ships go down. They should rip apart, or explode more smoothly. Right now it's kind of just **poof**
 
* When hitting shields I would like to have the laser scatter off without remaining focus (just a visual effect)
* When hitting hulls I would like to see melted streams of armor floating off explosively (depending on laser type). It could look great and should leave deep traces inside the hull until repaired.
* In the case of mirrored armor I want the ray to scatter off in a more focused beam and only after a while start melting the armor under the mirror surface (destroying the mirror area).
* After hitting an area with a laser I want it to emit redish light around the area for a while and getting cooler. A ship under permanent fire would glow red nearly everywhere from the hits.
Most of this already kinda happens. Try to find a beginner criminal without shields, get very close to him, and fire your lasers: you'll see sparks ("melted streams of armor floating off"), and bright burns that eventually subside ("deep traces inside the hull" and "redish light around the area for a while and getting cooler"), as can be seen in those nice screenshots:

ScreenShot_2014-09-30_15-50-57.jpg


HighResScreenShot_2014-10-01_14-34-48.jpg


I agree with ballistic projectiles though, clouds of debris would be a nice addition:

icy_cobra_attack.jpg
 
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