I understand that this might be technically difficult, but I think the feature is much needed.

For anyone unfamiliar with the race, you generally want to have anchored Arks to have maximum of "All must..." modules, usually the Essence ones; Arks that are not yet anchored should have either a combat configuration if you're fighting with them or maximum movement modules so they can quickly get where you need them. Just from that, we're looking at minimum of 3 different designs, with pretty common 4th for "All must study" when you want to go for scientific victory. The problem is, you are allowed only one Ark design, which means every time you want to reconfigure your Ark from anchored to combat to travel and back and forth you have to manually edit the design. Might not look like a big problem at the start, but when you're looking at managing 15 lvl3 Arks, all the clicking becomes outright mind-numbing, as if managing a big empire is not tedious already.
Could we please, please, please get this? Arks is a race-exclusive mechanic, and it feels terrible since optimal management of it plays like total arse.

It never really felt that way to me. And you really should not be using your Arks as forward combat ships. You should be defending them instead with them providing support fire. That's part of the reason they got nerfed at lower levels in the first place.

Yes... i agree whit you, dopella. As vodianny i see myself many times retrofitting my ships (mostly my arks) to fit for different playstiles. As it is simply much more viable to stack essence modules on arks instead of utilizing those science, dust, or even industry modules (because if you can stack many essence modules in the same ark, and the amount of essence given by each module is very significant and that resource is extremely important for vodianny in all senses) that means people will just tend to stack essence modules on those arks and feel op whit that. 

But then we have a problem: Whenever my ark is not being attacked and is sitting in a system, i want it to be FILLED whit essence modules and 0 movement speed modules for my ark. that means: More resource income, and less movement speed. but as there is no enemy nearby threatening my ark well... why would i need it? 

Then i keep changing my modules constantily: Create a ark, fill it whit movement speed. Attach the ark, fill it whit essence modules... and so on. Not to mention the fact i could want to change the weapons of my ark too. So i keep constantily retrofitting my ship here and there and... Well, maybe two ark designs could solve this problem? 

But yet for some reason i've saw some people make a idea similar to what you ask, and the devs already answered to that idea. they said it would be "Too much micromanagement" Or something. But isn't the way we currently utilize vodianny in order to maximize its potential too much micromanagement already? 

Im not a professional in game, i've played it only for quite a bit... but i do believe that if there was a way to make a fixed amount of essence for vodianny to get for one essence module  and make it possible to equip one module of each type in every ark we have, i believe this issue could also be solved, because we wont be really retrofitting the ship that much we currently do, and it would also be possible to consider researching techs that upgrades the research, dust, and industry outcome in Arks. Because currently, many people don't even bother whit such... or at least, me and some other people... Maybe limiting the amount of essence modules a vodianny ark could have would help whit this issue? 

Just something i thought up here...

The only sensible way to handle Arks is like hero ships, rather than design templates.

It would also make more sense that you make an empty Ark and then add modules, too.

Arks don't need to be handled any differently.

I'd like to see Ship Design with Modules simply be like building any ship, and then have System Specializations take the place of the All Shall Modules, that would be transferred over.

I detail ideas here.

Dragar wrote:

The only sensible way to handle Arks is like hero ships, rather than design templates.

That could work too, although design templates are still required. You surely don't want to insert all 20 modules by hand every 3-4 turns, do you?

The simplest way is just having Ark templates available in the shipbuilder. Then you decide which one to build when you've got the essence. Forgive me if I'm being very ignorant but I don't think that is technically that difficult.

What if retrofiting would allow you to change into any design with same hull type. This way there would be less messing with designs overall. 

Tanel88 wrote:

What if retrofiting would allow you to change into any design with same hull type. This way there would be less messing with designs overall. 

This would be a big improvement for all hull types. It would make it a lot easier to make different styles of ships and retrofit your flet according to the situation, as well as fix the Ark issue

Just played a Vodyanoi game, refitted my Arks 50+ times.

My Arks fell into five distinct categories:

1. Industry generators
2. Essence generators (cornered start and galaxy was riddled with small systems, and I sat essence arks on them)
3. Dust gens
4. Carrier Ark, before you get 3CP and 6CP hulls, these things can hold two squadrons and a gazillion squadron boosters.
5. Battle Ark, later game most/all systems are developed and spare essence give you what are essentially free 4CP high DPS ships, slap a few jammers on them and these things are amazing.

If anyone played Alpha Centauri (old 4x game), you could upgrade your schematics to anything they would be compatible with (hull type), and it was a pretty good system. The system also suggested a "preffered" refit with the new schematic that was upgraded from your old schematic. Not being able to do this forces you to hold on to old designs in case you want to make them relevant later, cluttering your build menus.

+1 to Tanel88's idea, retrofitting should allow you to upgrade anything of the same hull type.