How to fix the hotbar and inventory!

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I know there are already a lot of posts about hotbar and inventory problems.  Developers, I hope you're getting the message.  It's BAD!  

I have been playing the release version "The Bugs Strike Back", relase 0.13.4 etc. on PC.

Grounded is a great game.  I love the concept and the story and the world design and the tech tree and the different behaviors of each bug.  It's just awesome!  

 

BUT... the inventory / hotbar / equipping system is just clunky and dysfunctional.

FOR EXAMPLE...

- My piece of ladybug armor, which has been upgraded to the max (cost: hours of gameplay) breaks during combat.  So sorry, your inventory was full so we just threw it on the ground.  No map marker or anything.  What, you didn't notice the tiny text message about that, or the little sound we played, in the midst of A BATTLE AGAINST A HORDE OF SPIDERS?   This is a SERIOUS PROBLEM as it wastes hours of the player's time.  It doesn't make the game more fun or challenging; it's just freaking irritating.

- Torches are a pain to carry because they take up an inventory slot, and they don't last very long.  So, I want to conserve torches as much as possible.  Well, day breaks or I exit a tunnel and I go to unequip a torch, BUT NO!  'There is not enough inventory space to unequip this item.'  So I can't put my torch out (unless I find a deep enough puddle to jump in) and I just have to let it burn all day until I get back to base.  Well that's just stupid.

- My inventory items are constantly being jumbled around as items are moved in and out by equipping and other operations.  This is a pain because NOTHING IS EVER WHERE I PUT IT!  This just slows everything down, and for no good reason.  For instance, I may have several chunks of food in various states of decay.  I'd like to keep them in order so I can use the most decayed one first, but no!  Every time I open the inventory I have to hunt around for them all, and guess what?  This is usually in the heat of battle when I need a quick health boost.  

- I go back to base and I want to change out my armor and weapons because I'm going to do some diving.  So I open the chest where I keep that stuff... BUT I CAN'T PUT MY OLD ARMOR AND WEAPONS AWAY BECAUSE I HAVEN'T UNEQUIPPED THEM!  So I have to close the chest, open my inventory, take off all my armor and unequip the weapons, then open the chest and swap contents, then close the chest, then open my inventory, then equip all the items.  It's a ludicrous number of extra steps to do something so simple, and it does nothing to make the game better.

So, the first thing to do, as other players have suggested, is to make your hotbar at least as functional as the one in Minecraft.  That's a starting point.  It's already been done and there's no need to reinvent the wheel.  Which is to say... the hotbar needs to be actual inventory slots, and not just links to items.  And then make it so that when you select a weapon or tool it gets equipped, and if you select a secondary item such as a torch or shield, it gets equipped to the secondary slot, and if you select a consumable, you have to hit the 'use' key.

THEN, after you make that simple change, fix it so that equipped items show up on the inventory when transferring contents to or from storage.  You already have this layout on the smithing station, where equipped items are shown across the bottom.  Just be consistent with that.  In fact, can you please be consistent with all interfaces? 

NOW, when equipment wears out and can no longer be used, DON'T THROW IT ON THE GROUND. Just keep it in it's equipped slot, but put a big flashing X over it so players see that it's not functional.  (Including an X on the 'status' area of the Sca.B that shows armor durability)

FINAL ITEM: I really do NOT LIKE that bugs with virus can knock weapons out of your hand.  THIS IS NOT COOL.  It doesn't make the game more fun or challenging; it's just super irritating!  Same as with above, this could be a tool that you've invested hours of playtime in obtaining and upgrading, and in the heat of battle you may not know where or when you dropped it!  Good luck finding it now, with no ping on the map or anything.

 

AND A COUPLE OF MINOR RELATED GLITCHES TO REPORT....

Try holding two canteens.  Go ahead... try it.  The system will report that they both have the same level of water.

Now try holding two shovels, one brand new and one almost used up.  Try to equip the one that is almost used up.  Go ahead... try it.  Because obviously a person would like to use up one shovel before starting to use the next one.  But they can't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iMiAMi2014]

As for completely broken weapons / armor - I agree. Ideally, they should stay equipped (but no bonuses). Or at least, there should be a clearly visible notification of its loss (but without a marker on the map - it's too easy).
As for the quick access panel in the form of real inventory slots - debatable. The existing panel in the form of links is quite logical.

As for floating items in the inventory - I agree, it would be very convenient to be able to assign a specific slot to a specific item. Or maybe add sorting options to the inventory interface by item type / tier / quality etc.
As for a bunch of body movements when changing weapons / armor from a chest - for this purpose the game has armor dummy and weapon wall mount  with a very convenient interface that allows you to reequip 'in one click'. It is reasonable to use the chest only for storing rarely used or archival items at all.

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I haven't messed with armor stands.  I'll have to check that out.

But I found another clunky issue.  I was holding an axe in one hand and my shield in the other (with a full inventory as usual) and I went to equip my bow.  NO CAN DO.  I can't equip the bow because it requires two hands and there's not enough space to put away my axe and my shield.  This is silliness.

ALSO really a pain is how, after an item has been upgraded, it's no longer the same item.  The hotbar link has to be reassigned.  Such a pain.

But a little more about the above.... It would save so much headache if we could act on items from the same screen that we transfer items between backpack and storage.  For instance, I just want to eat some food from a chest.  Well, first I have to open the chest and transfer the item, then close the chest.  Then open my backpack and select the item and use it.  Wow.  How about I just open the chest and eat it?

Another example.... I go to put something away (weapon/tool/armor) and I notice it needs repair.  Well then, I have to close the chest, open the inventory, select the item, repair it, close the inventory, open the chest, select the item, transfer it to the chest.  WHY???  Oh, I know.  Because in one context the 'R' key does the transfer and in the other, the 'R' key does the repair.  Again I say, why?  Fiddling with the inventory is not what makes the game fun. 

 

 

[iMiAMi2014]

About changing two one-handed items to one two-handed with a full inventory. Yes, it is not very convenient, but in general it is quite logical, since our inventory is of a fixed size. We want to put something in a backpack filled to the eyeballs - we have to throw something away. One solution to this problem would be to allocate two slots in the inventory for two-handed weapons. Аnd more clearly it would be the difference between two-handed and one-handed weapons.
The fact that the item is reassigned from the hotkey during the upgrade is a clear illogicality. Although not critical, it is not often required to do this.
As for using consumables and repairing equipment directly from / in the chest. Yes, the hotkey does not work, but the corresponding items are present in the context menu.

Edited August 23, 2022 by iMiAMi2014