PREFACE: I'm an amateur modder. I've modded several games, including SE1. All of these concepts are things I am going to take a stab at myself. If you're just gonna call me a stupid skid for bringing attention to these neglected mod ideas, my response will be simple: "If you're so much better than me at modding, you do it."

Anyway, let's begin. Not like the title can get any more concise than it already is.

SE1 and SE2 both have amazing potential as the best "Science Fiction Sandboxes" of all time, but the modding community doesn't seem as hungry for this game's Trek-ification as I am. The whole "NASA-core" thing that Keen is going for is cool and all, but it kinda feels like very few modders are thinking beyond that mindset. Hell, very few DEVS seem to be thinking beyond that mindset. We're getting more NASA space sims than Star Trek space sims these days, and that can't really be allowed to continue unimpeded lol.

This is a category-sorted list of mod ideas I feel should exist/need to exist but currently don't. The goal of this list is to create an experience that is comparable to "Bridge Commander with Elite Force 2 slapped on top". Easy, casual starship combat with no consequences and a generally relaxed, unserious, borderline comedic slant. I am not interested in "close enough", so please don't suggest mods that do the barest minimum to get away with saying they're what I'm looking for.

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::CATEGORY - SPACESUIT/PLAYER CHAR MODS::
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-Suit Weapons (think "Iron Man"; shoulder mounted cluster rocket launchers, arm-mounted plasma beam emitters, horizontal suit flight, cool targeting HUD, maybe a way to use the front thrusters as a unibeam type weapon. I'd also accept a borg player weapon mod that lets me use the assimilation tubules to hijack ships and kill players)

-Suit Thruster Damage (Exactly what it sounds like. Suit flames should damage blocks and other players (NOT YOURSELF). Because being a human cutting torch is hilarious.)

-Localized Artificial Gravity Generator (Self explanatory. Sometimes you just wanna crush your own spine and also see if you can tilt a ship .4 degrees by jumping onto it, you know?)

-Localized Sound Block (Again, self explanatory. Why doesn't my suit have the ability to play Jean Hollywood audio at 120+db in a radius of 75,000km? Only half joking, but seriously, think of the YouTube shenanigans.)

-Faction-based Adaptive Shielding/Adaptive Armor (Think like borg body shields - you can use the same weapon at the same setting 4, maybe 5 times before that specific combo of weapon and settings doesn't affect that faction's players anymore)

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::CATEGORY - STARSHIP MODS::
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-Faction-based Adaptive Shielding/Adaptive Armor, but for ships.

-OmniThruster (A thruster with excellent thrust capacity and next to no power usage, regardless of environment (atmo, space, underwater, inside a voxel, etc)

-Cinematic Damage/Star Trek Damage (Whitelist certain blocks from being destroyed while still allowing deformation and integrity dropping. Should also add a less stiff/more organic camera shake, add lights flickering/dipping in brightness when hit, and make functional blocks "explode" into a damaged state instead of just disappearing.)

-Subsystem Management/Power Allocation. (This might just be me griping about the SE interface, but would it kill either devs or modders to add some basic power allocation? Weapons, sublight, FTL, life support, production/manufacturing, etc. Having nothing but an on/off switch feels too stiff.)

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::CATEGORY - QOL/GAME MODS::
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-Better terminal/system UI. (I realize this is probably impossible because UI API hooks are virtually nonexistent, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, hitting "K" is just awful all around. Bridge Commander's interface always left some space in the center. The edges of the screen are there for a reason, devs. I don't want or need an oversized window taking up my ENTIRE screen, just to access and trigger an obscure timer block deep in the bowels of my ship.)

-Session Adjustments (Dynamically adjust session settings/Sandbox.sbc during runtime without reloading the world.)

-Just Build (Easy Survival mod that lets you weld through build stages without needing the components in your inventory. Nothing kills the fun for me like having to mentally plan out how I'm gonna make 6 dozen trips between the miner, the refinery/cargo bay/connector/ore entry point, the assembler, the block I'm building, and then back to the miner again)

-Equip Item (why can I not carry H2/02 tanks, computers, and sheets of metal in my hands visibly? Even MINECRAFT does this right.)

-Grab/Throw (Yes, a mod exists for this. No, I haven't been able to get it to actually WORK. User error? Probably. Still goes on the list til I'm able to chuck a cryopod at you though.)

-Gravity Gun/Physics Gun (Have NONE of you played garry's mod? Even TEARDOWN has this. Come on. Physics Engine 101: Always add a physics gun.)

-Lerp Light/Fade Light (All light properties should be able to lerp/fade between at least two values. No, scripts on programmable blocks are not an acceptable fix for this oversight.)

-Alcohol/Dwugz (yes, it's purely roleplay filler. yes, it's 'mature content'. no, those are not valid reason to not create this mod. I currently can't spark a fatty in my quarters while giving the order to drop thermonukes on a small city, and that is utterly tragic. Heartwrenching. I mean truly, a legitimate kick to the teeth.)

-Better collision, damage, and destruction sound(s). Why does destroying a block sound like throwing a cotton pillow onto another cotton pillow? It is the Year of Our Lord 2025 and we deserve better destruction sounds than "phifff" and "phofff". The resonant metallic screeching when your vessel is settling is pretty awesome, but like... More of those? At least 10 more? PLEASE?

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm starting to dabble in modding, so hopefully I can bring at least a few of these to life and make Space Engineers a little less tedious. I've already released a mod that enables Infinite Ammo in survival, and it kinda seems like I'm the only active SE person who wants to make the game easier instead of harder. But hey, even if I'm the only one who ever uses them, at least we'll be able to say that these things exist, that the choices are there, and that you have the freedom to change it up. Individual player choice/autonomy is paramount, and it gets neglected way more often than it gets respected these days.