My only question is with the new Class Template system is can we basically design a Prototype "Advanced Tech" Ship, and then be able to use that to "create" a "tech path" to be able to obtain that "futuristic" ship?
With Commercial Ships I tend to just make a "base template" ship already, and then as improvements happen, just take advantage of the improvements without changing anything else. So if I were to design a base 150,000 ton Freighter, using 10 Size 100 .5 Engines at Tech level 2, then as the game goes on, I simply replace the engines, sensors, CIWS, etc with Tech Level 3, 4, 5, etc. without changing anything else (size specifically) so the "benefits" are "real" as "realized". The Freighter which plods along at 275 kps gets up to 12000 kps for example, with it's load capacity remaining the same, weight going down due to armour improvements, which is additive for velocity.
With Military Ships it is much more often trying to cram as much in as possible all the time, but yet generally sticking to the same "doctrine" so getting better/smaller advances freeing up room for either more capabilities or all new capabilities added to the design. Having the ability to have that path "focused" would save quite a bit of micro, and memory strain, especially if one pauses for a few days for real life and if one has not updated notes/spreadsheets properly, fairly easy to get lost in what the plan originally was...