how many polys would a ship like that take up? and i think it may drive modelers insane if they have to make hundereds of separate objects into one, not to mention getting them to fit together perfectly.
another idea i just thought up is if we had 2 or more versions of every texture, first one is the normal one, second sort of ripped open third wide open and any after that completley decimated. as a ship is hit more, more textures are replaced/added and the ship is in effect, torn into.
this might be a bit wierd for large polys, you shoot the corner and the centre is damaged, plus it may be a bit hard for uv maps to be done plausably. it would probably look good on smaller polys. the damage textures wouldn't even have to be that detailed. just blur a debris texture or somin onto a copy of the original.
hmmm, is this what a damage decal is, or is a decal stuck where a weapon hits? i dunno.