Inventory system

What I liked about the BG inventory system was that I could effectively use my party members as a means of sorting my inventory, though the weight limits based on their strength weren't ideal in that respect. PC carries anything I want easy access to, the mage has scrolls and potions, bard's got anything still unidentified, fighter has stuff I'm going to sell, etc. I wouldn't mind if there was one inventory shared among everyone, but where you could have a bunch of user-defined tabs to sort all your items into.

 

I did that too. Someone mentioned elsewhere that being able to have all party member inventories open at the same time would be helpful too, especially if we've stuffed different things in different places (the multiple multiple scroll boxes were useful but also so easy to lose things within).

The easiest way to manage it is having a paper doll for equiped items - I think that's pretty well a standard thing.

 

Regular slots are also still fairly normal for games which isn't so hard, just account for weight, and have a separate space in the inventory for secondary items (much like the alchemist bag in the Witcher, scroll cases in BG 2 etc). It's not something that's particularly worrisome. With the player having a house and other resources (hell anybody else stash things in Inn rooms in BG1? lol) it's not so bad - especially if they give us pack animals or early access to a base type area.

 

The main thing is just not to try and get freaky with the inventory system and end up with something that's really overburdened and confusing (like Mass Effect 1).

As long as it has enough space to carry worthwhile items (for us gatherers) tbh. In diablo for example I always hated having to pawn off gear sets because I lacked space. Space is usually one of the first mods to any RPG game to come out, it would suit obsidian to keep the honor to their own and bring us enough bag space at least.

 

references just off the top of my head:

diablo2: plugy -> millions of item spaces

skyrim: carry mods

torchlight 1 & 2 inventory expansion mods

BG style works fine for me, but it would be nice to be able to have different character's inventories open at the same time.

BG style works fine for me, but it would be nice to be able to have different character's inventories open at the same time.

 

NWN1 was nice that way; swapping inventory between your PC and a companion or between two companions was simple and efficient.

Personally, i would like to have separate bags/belts/pockets for different purpose. Each compartment can have different mechanics. I'm taking some inspiration from the Witcher 1, Infinity engine and Arcanum.

 

 

 

It does not have to follow this exact configuration, this is just an example

• an ingredients bag, which would be unlimited in volume.
  
• A pouch for gems and gold, unlimited as well.
  
• Scroll case for various papers
  
• potions / quick items belt. With a fixed number of slots. (Quick items from Baldur's Gate)
  
• A limited number of weapon slots (quick weapons from Baldur's gate)
  
  • It would be determined by where you would actually carry the said weapons on your character(Witcher)
    
    • For example, you can have 1 weapon at your waist, 2 carried on your back, plus a light weapon hidden in a boot , that is 3 normal slots and 1 small weapon slot.
      

    [*]Shields and grimoires could go in those slots too.

    [*]Any other weapon would not be accessible during fight, or not easily at least.

  [*]The rest of the equipment (armor, rings, cloak...) each have specific slots (like in every RPG)

  [*]A Backpack for general purpose storage, you can put anything in here.

  • This one could be a grid based system (Arcanum), with limited volume.
    
  • Not accessible during a fight, or with some constraints, to join the idea of Domigorgon in this thread.
    

 

All of the items regardless of their location would count toward the weight limit.

I would love to see hand-drawn items in my inventory screen, bg style. When you open description of an item, you see a nice picture drawn by an artist. Would be perfect.

well, smthng like nwn2 had(don't remember if it's different from nwn1) - inventory with tabs + bags that can auto-gather 'small' stuff (something D&D online has) - one bag that collects all my gems, all my crafting stuff etc

or maybe some user defined tabs in inventory (or both)- love when all my potions go under 1 tab, all my weapons go into other etc - I like when I can organize things in my inventory.

oh, and i would prefer 1 combined inventory for all my characters. (if there will be weight limitations then just sum all the weight my party can carry)

Edited October 26, 2012 by Zeer

I would like to see a single bag of holding (IE an expensive or unique piece of loot) just so you can carry a few mor pieces of equipment thru vendor sparse areas like the Underdark.

I really liked the BG system.

 

The only thing that really needs to be improved about it is moving items between characters (maybe right-click, give to character x... ?).

 

It could do with somewhat higher stacking, so long as that doesn't allow you to just endlessly chug potions and cast spell scrolls, because they're too easy to bring.

 

I also feel like it should be possible to equip an item by simply dropping it onto the paper doll, and the game automatically places the item in the right equipment slot, and arrows carried in the inventory automatically being equipped when the arrow slot becomes empty... the kind of small changes that makes the micro-management aspect of the inventory so much more bearable. Apart from that, there's little that needs fixing about the BG inventory system.

 

BGs inventory system remains one of the strongest ones I've ever seen. In my opinion, a simple case of "don't fix what isn't broken".

 

And hand drawn items... <3

Edited November 1, 2012 by mstark

I really like the idea of pockets and packs allowing for different inventory sets. I think we all can agree that inventor space should not be unlimited, but allowing for more "cases and bags" to be utilized would be good. Perhaps you can purchase more packs or pockets so as to add items to it.

 

I don't think that we should allow unlimited ammunition in packs however. Perhaps 90 (Baldur's Gate) was too little, but adjusting th ammo packs and not letting them be infinite should be possible. Also in BG2, they allowed for potion cases and scroll cases, I think these should be found in game and used. Key rings. These things were all very important.

 

You might not want to start with every pocket unlocked either. Maybe you have to purchase key rings, scroll cases, and potion cases.

 

The final thing I wanted to mention was that I really hated the case inventory screens for BG/BG2. I think if you tried to open up your scroll case, you should have the same type of inventory screen that you would for your character. I like being able to see all my items at once and being able to find items quickly without having to scroll forever.

 

Inventory is the one place where I want to minimize my time spent playing the game. Please think of innovative design mechanisms fo ra strong inventory system. I'm begging you Obsidian.

Just want to add I really hope we won't see any inventory micromanagement added to the game.

 

Example:

Grimoire (or any other equipment) swapping. It's not fun having to constantly jump in and out of your inventory to manage your party's effectiveness. This is one of the main reasons I'm opposed to the grimoire idea, assuming it will be an equip-able item.

 

Handling the inventory, and switching out equipment, should be fun. And it is, if it's kept to sessions (much like the IE games does it, for the most part), and not something you have to constantly access.

 

Another tip for improving the annoyances of the IE inventory management system:

Make it possible to send looted items immediately to another party member instead of first having to pick it up, then move it to another character (again, right click - give to party member x).

Edited November 2, 2012 by mstark

I mostly liked BG's Inventory apart from 3 things:

 

1.) Volume:

Most Inventories don't take the Volume of an Item into account. I liked Diablo(2)'s Inventory in that regard. Just make Armors, and other large objects use multiple squares in the invesntory. This is asuming that the player shouldn't "loot" every crap armor that enemies "drop". I would even go so far as to implement time penalties when someone wants to change/loot armors.

 

2.) Armor Pieces:

"Armor" shouln't be a one-piece thing. The should be multiple Armor-pieces, like in Drakensang, or Morrowind. Curiass (Breastplate), Pauldrons (Shoulders), Greaves (Pants), Boots, Gloves, Helmets.

 

3.) Backpacks:

Please give me backpacks. If there is an actual encumberance system implemented, there should be backpacks. To be dropped before battle. Soldiers carry HUGE backpacks, and march with them long distances, but the don't fight with them.

 

Another note:

I know the "Ring" and "Amulet" Slots are limited for balance, but can we have more of these for "mundane" Rings (which perhaps have very minor effects on Reputation).

A woman in a noble dress and fine jewelery is likely treated differently than the same woman in a potato-sack (same applies to men)

Edited November 6, 2012 by steelshark

Don't want want GUI and inventory to be tedious. I vouch for:

 

Party inventory rather than individual inventory.

Individual quick slots

No access to inventory while in battle (skyrim potion spam ugh)

Don't want want GUI and inventory to be tedious. I vouch for:

 

Party inventory rather than individual inventory.

Individual quick slots

No access to inventory while in battle (skyrim potion spam ugh)

 

prety much this.

 

except that i wouldn't restrict inventory access, i'd just unpause the game when searching through it (the way bg1 did).

Would it make sense to have a single "party" inventory for loot?

 

It can be a bit tiresome to go into a dungeon, and fill up all the inventory slots of all the characters, and then have to go through each character when visiting a store to sell the loot.

 

The "party" inventory would automatically get all the items you pick up - no need to worry about who actually carries which item, unless it gets assigned to a particular character. Then we would have a "personal" inventory that would be much smaller - limited to wielded/worn items, and a (very limited) number of items that would actually be accessible in combat.

 

Just an idea ... nothing more.

Party inventory is an awesome idea. Just have half of the inventory screen as a character's paperdoll with a few quickslots available. The other vertical half should be a "party inventory," As your party increases in size, the number of squares for the inventory increases. Say each character adds 80 or so squares to the party inventory. Then you can have backpacks and cases in that party inventory as well. I guess the only issue with this is that finding certain items becomes a chore, because a lot of times I used certain party members to carry certain items (one member always carried scrolls, one always carried potions, one always carried weapons, etc).

 

The other issue is how to implement weight restrictions. If there is a party inventory, then whose strength is used to calculate the amount of weight you can carry? Do you just add them all up? A lot of times, you'd have the really strong one carry as much armor as he could, but you'd run out of space before reaching the weight limit. If you make a party inventory now that weight limit can be shared among different members and seems a little "broken."

Maybe a different size of inventory screen for individual characters? Depending on each stats or perhaps even class and gender.

 

I like loot so I hope there are lots of bags of holding and boots to counter the encumbered status. :D

Ugh... please no magical "just carry everything you find"-inventory ala mass effect. It's ridiculous.

Killing bandits, looting their Leather Armors, and swords should not be your primary money-source.

It should either be high-value/low-weight items (jewelery, magic-stuff), or straight out monetary rewards for quests.

 

With backpacks, you could also have "money-pouches" which act as backpacks for very small items > rings, amulets, gems, etc.

And of course bags of holding of various sizes/shapes become instantly possible.

example:

bag of holding the size of a very small pouch. Yes it can hold very large quantities (infinite?), but the opening is still to small to carry say a fullplate. So what you would get would be an infinitely long bar of 1x1 inventory slots, while armor should be at least 3x4.

Party inventory is an awesome idea. Just have half of the inventory screen as a character's paperdoll with a few quickslots available. The other vertical half should be a "party inventory," As your party increases in size, the number of squares for the inventory increases. Say each character adds 80 or so squares to the party inventory. Then you can have backpacks and cases in that party inventory as well. I guess the only issue with this is that finding certain items becomes a chore, because a lot of times I used certain party members to carry certain items (one member always carried scrolls, one always carried potions, one always carried weapons, etc).

 

The other issue is how to implement weight restrictions. If there is a party inventory, then whose strength is used to calculate the amount of weight you can carry? Do you just add them all up? A lot of times, you'd have the really strong one carry as much armor as he could, but you'd run out of space before reaching the weight limit. If you make a party inventory now that weight limit can be shared among different members and seems a little "broken."

A shared swag bag would be okay, just as long as there is a combat penalty for accessing it. That inventory can represent the bags of goods that get dropped at the start of combat, so they wouldn't count against the weight restrictions for combat movement.

Edited November 6, 2012 by rjshae

Other than combat movement, you also have world movement too. Getting across the map in the IE games would slow down some party members more than others depending on their weight limits. I remember having 2 boots of speed and always having my two tanks at any particular location (outside of combat) before anyone else.

I rather not havine one combined inventory, much for the reasons listed. Also it just doesn't "feel" right to lump it up together so instead of making individuals, well, individuals. It's leaning awefully close to sucky system like carry-all-lists.

 

And I rather not add inventory tetris. For one char (Deus Ex, Diablo) okay, but an entire team? Way too much pain in the ass to be good.

Is it perhaps too much to ask for 2+ inventory-modes?

advanced > inventory tetris+backpacks

normal > bg-style

I'm not sure I'd like a universal inventory in PE, though I did enjoy it in DA:O (one of the few things I did like )---just allowing all individual party inventories to be open at the same time would go a very long way in usability. With support for higher base screen resolutions on the PC platform, I think Obsidian can definitely do more with the inventory/paperdoll UI.

 

That said, I wouldn't mind a small conceptually shared bag/"slot bar" under the premise that you'd be constantly splitting stacks anyway, with whatever reasonable penalties or something. But that's really not a big deal to me when we have manual pause and autopause and, hopefully, all-individual-bags-open option. If there wasn't a way to open all individual bags at the same time on the screen, then I would place more preference on the addition of a small, shared inventory alongside regular individual inventory.

 

Someone mentioned something about accessing inventory in combat... I haven't played a game where that's impossible; if such a thing were to be implemented, though, I think it'd be reasonable to have a shared inventory bag that is usable in combat, along with the usual convenience slot UI. Actually, that sounds like something more appropriate for a difficulty setting, really.

Some more thoughts on armor and inventory:

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/62147-some-thoughts-about-armor-and-clothing/