New ship designs with old modules

[Synicus]

Greetings...
Some new ships come with modules from the previous model. Some are just empty aside from the engine.
Is there a way to alter an old model to prevent the new model from having near all module slots empty?

 

[BeauNiddle]

If you research a new hull level you get an empty hull with just an engine.

You can copy previous designs but you wont be able to upgrade the hull on them.

So basically you need enough navy xp to rebuild your ship design every time you research a new hull for that class. Annoying but navy xp is usually easy to get.

Oh and when you do get a new hull - always make sure to copy it before working on the design.

 

[Synicus]

Why copy instead of recommission?
If you start with a 1922 DD hull with tier 1 mods, every new DD hull will start with the 1922 mods.
But many countries start with 'example' a 1922 DD with mods and in play, plus a 1936 empty hull, thus dooming all future DD hulls to be empty.

 

[brainiac1530]

The default designs "inherit" from a design of the previous hull. If you only have one of the default empty hulls, then it inherits those empty module slots. If you have an actual design, then the new hull has those modules instead. I've had some weird experiences with the cruiser hulls. I had some "real" 1936 hulls I was actually building, which were CLs, but when I researched the 1940 hull, it preferred some nonsense CA design I'd never used and inherited that instead. Even for the 1940 CA design I made later, it was still a really bad jumping off point, barely better than starting from an empty hull.