[Spaceships] High-End Spaceships

[Randover]

I am not sure if this helps. But I had run space opera setting based on "psionics" used as core technology. Most efficient jump drive was ability of pilot. Pilots that could move larger vessels were rare. Conventional FTL was also good but it was far from instant.
Energy shielding and large anti-capital weaponry was also mostly done by pilots. This time group of lesser pilots can operate larger ships if they were trained.
Fights were traumatising for pilots because when there shield was hit badly there brain could get fried. They were basicly one with the ship.
Ships had realy hard shells - armor, structural intergrity. It was common that the crew died because of plasma fires, atmoshere leaks, radiantion etc. leaving there dead ship floating in space. The hull of the ship remained almost intact, like empty shell. Some or all systems fried beyond repair.

The Psi-pilots were explanation for mecha. I've basicly adapted the mecha from Macros Frontier anime. So they had typical warrior / fighter modes. But I could see using it with only warrior or only fighter mode.

One issue in particular arised after about dozen of sessions. Not all players liked and thus were effective in there Psi-piloting. Weapon loadouts and managment was also difficult not everyone could costumize his gear and stay effective. It became increasingly difficult to protect niche / team role for players that lacked experience or time to prepare for game. I could say the game was data / numbers heavy.

On the other hand it was realy easy to create plots in this setting. And I am pretty sure that I will recycle / restart it.