I think that time will fix the invisible wall problem with the maps- adding some sort of visible border wouldn't be aesthetically pleasing.
Well, I find ramming into the invisible walls also not much pleasing. Of course not in an aesthetic way. More like in the gameplay way. And IMHO gameplay is more important than aesthetic ^^.
That's why I see it as an option in the menu for those who want it or at least the newbies. I mean the game has tutorial advices above the crosshair in size of 1/4 of screen height that are not also aesthetically pleasing but can be turned off
.
Furthermore, I don't want the borders to be visible all the time. I like the taste (or maybe rather the illusion) of freedom when flying and don't want to see myself trapped inside a box. I just thought that the part of the wall (like only a 10 meter radius circle) could become visible only when I'm 10 meters from the wall or closer. The rest of the time the wall could stay invisible. I can illustrate what I mean if You want ^^.
And what about the Battlefield approach where leaving the area gives you some time to come back? I think it's the solution that reduces the player's freedom in the most subtle way.
Likewise, experience lets people know where to stand to hit the engines. However, an engine should be whack-able as long as the person is within distance, so that might be a worthy thing to look at.
But it's more like a bug (well shouldn't I be rather be writing about it in the "bugs section" of this forum? :/) because it happens only sometimes that my character penetrates the engine. I think that the tactic when something is destroyed looks usually like this:
1. Notice that an essential part of the ship is damaged
2. Run like hell towards it until you collide with it
3. Start smashing it with your mallet or what else you have.
OK, maybe it's just my dumb tactic but it's just annoying when my character just penetrates the broken equipment. I mean why not expand the area from where you can repair just inside the damaged equipment so that even if run inside it I can still repair it, even though technically it may look strange seen from side.
While I do agree that having a popup for destroyed parts, I like having less on a HUD than more, and the stream of information at the top left is enough for me.
This is a matter of aesthetic that's an individual thing ^^. I have nothing against complex HUDs ^^. I'm sure some people will agree with me and some won't. Probably the only solution to satisfy all would be making the HUD totally customizable but that would be probably to much xD.