I was wondering if there was a workaround to preventing a number from being added to my custom ship designs after editing them. The same thing occurred in Endless Legend as well, but it'd be more enjoyable to me personally to get attached to individual ships with custom names without seeing a giant number slapped onto the end of the name. The current process to which I upgrade existing ships with custom names is to sell the ship and recreate the design with the upgraded modules. Understandably this becomes very tedious so hopefully there is either a workaround or the devs make the numbers optional.

Tazilon wrote:

The workaround is don't edit your ship designs if you don't want the name to change.  Give them a design number to begin with, then each edit, create a new design with an updated name.

For example, you create a battleship class.  Instead of naming it "Tarn", call it "Tarn Mk 1".  Then when you update it,  create a new design with the desired changes called "Tarn Mk 2".  This gives you the added advantage of still being able to build the Tarn Mk1, if perhaps you run out of the new resources needed to produce the Tarn Mk2.

I wouldn't mind this workaround if you can update your previous ship to the newest one that using same hull. The game won't allow that and you are force to scrap/sell those ship along with their manpower.