I was building my Imperial Cutter to have Fire Groups which sorta matched a Thargoid Interceptor, since I love their patterns and more specifically their lightning ability.
(Out-of-Character... got bored and wanted to build something fun)
I slapped on four Class 2 Efficient Thermal Shock Beam Lasers, It was supposed to look like Thargoid lightning, with Yellow Weapon Detailing... but then I realized I also needed some of my other hard points to have Orange Detailing... mimicking the Orange burst that an Interceptor would volley in combat. Then it hit me...
Why not have the option to apply color detail to individual hardpoints?
Creative Reason:
This change would allow CMDRs to compliment their Paint Job with custom combinations, further enabling creativity for those dedicated CMDRs who love Elite's aesthetic.
Thargoid advocates could mirror Interceptor colors, and Anti-xeno advocates could mirror Guardian colors. A mixture of dark blue and cyan blue would be perfect for those Commanders who are enticed by the Guardians. Goofy Commanders could have an assortment of colors as either inside jokes, or more strategic commanders could utilize the colors to communicate with their team during combat. For example, once the red hardpoints start coming out... that means ammo is low, requiring the group to prepare for retreat.
Profit Reasoning:
This change would incentivize dedicated Commanders to purchase new colors which they would have otherwise ignored, since this would enable them to combine and customize various combinations. The creative reasons above demonstrate how Individual Weapon Detailing could yield massive impact, since there are a wide variety of groups which could utilize this change.
New colors could even be introduced alongside the overhaul, which would increase profit probability significantly since nobody would have it to begin with.
Implementation:
When in the Livery menu, you have five many categories to select when customizing your ship.
The second category is where you can find Paint Jobs, Weapon Detailing, Engine Detailing & Vessel Voice Assistant.
Currently in-game, when you click Weapon Detailing, it immediately opens the color selection screen.
What if the "Weapons Detailing" button opened up the Hardpoints menu first? From that point, the Commander would select which hardpoint they would like to color.
In case anyone still wishes to color all their hardpoints at once, a new button could be introduced at the bottom of the hardpoints list which allows you to "apply color to all" so to speak.
I am not technically inclined, or familiar with how Elite Dangerous works under the hood, so I can't really say for certain how difficult this change would be to implement, but I strongly believe the positives would outweigh the negatives over time.
