Poll: Inventory layout

Gameplay
#1

As far as I know there was no topic yet on inventory function and design.

Do you like the classical gaming inventory that has squares with icons representing the items? Maybe a big item occupies more squares of the matrix. And there is the possibility to stack small Item to a certain amount.
+it could be good if there are a lot of different items
+developers have more time to focus on gameplay relevant tasks
-Iack of immersion. The bulky stuff disappears like magic

Or would you like another design. Like stuff spread out on the ground on a blanket. Saw this in a recent game.

Do you have your own thoughts how to manage it? like carrying carcasses visible on your back and use square matrix for other stuff.

Here are your choices:

  • plain classical design
  • classical design mixed with something else
  • a blanket with stuff shown in real size
  • none of the above

0 voters

Show results
#2

Stuff spread out on the ground on a blanket. For sure you have The Forest in your mind. It’s well loooking, fresh idea, but i really don’t find it so “wow” that i would demand in any other game. I would go with old school, i like it.

1 Like
#3

I like the simple “make everything the same size” thing. I thing it is more important that the amount of stuff you (can) carry is more or less reasonable. But I think this was discussed already in another thread.

#4

The problem with the blanket and stuff in “real size” (or at scale) is that if you have big items (like a longsword) and little items (like a ring) you’ll have a problem visualizing all of them right and you could miss something.
This is when you have to choose between realism and playability.
If you want realism, you could have a “little bag” inside the “big bag”. In that way, when you open the big bag (your inventory) you will see the big items and the little bag. Then, you can open the little bag to see smaller items, but I think it’s complicated and would be annoying (at best), so I’ll go with the classical design.

#5

The problem with a “fancy” inventory is that it can become tedious really soon. Something that is used that often like the inventory should be based on functionality first and (art) design only second.

It’s these quality of life issues than can make a difference whether you like a game or hate it in the long run. :wink:

2 Likes
#6

couldn’t agree more @LordCrash. simpler is always better. in KC:D though i do like the idea of having MULTIPLE, simple inventories. to account for the fact you have a horse which in theory should be able to have multiple saddlebags. perhaps something like a simple tab in the inventory where you can see/take things from your horse’s inventory, based on your proximity to the animal. if you’re a mile away, those items are lost until you call the horse to you.

on a related note inventory management is difficult to make enjoyable and at the same time, being a game, i don’t know how “real” i want the inventory. because truly, you won’t be able to carry jack shit, and you certainly won’t be carrying 200 brooms like you can in skyrim. (honestly i hated their inventory, if i can carry a bunch of random shit, and loads of it, just don’t even have an encumberance system at that point). striking a balance between “here’s a good amount of stuff to carry” and a realistic amount is a tough balance. i’d like to carry a sword, several daggers, bags of herbs, potions, extra clothing (since it gets dirty), a bow, probably 30 arrows or so
 at one time, in reality, this would be quite difficult, even with a pack of some kind. the horse makes all of that possible and so if the horse basically IS my inventory, and I can call the horse anytime, then that would make me very happy. and then, when you need to go away from your horse to an area the horse can’t go i.e. a dungeon, cave, throne room, etc i have to decide carefully what to take (ala Witcher series) then I think this could be a good balance between those kinds of inventory systems. always open to criticism and i do think this is one of those topics the team will be monitoring closely. LordCrash has it right, these subtle differences can really make or break a game’s longevity. i stopped playing Borderlands 2 because of it’s inventory/interface.

#7

there have been quite a few topics about the inventory system:



and some others


But a poll may be still a good Idea, although I think its not really siginificant
I dont like the “classic” system (although I’m not sure what exactly you mean by that) and I’m curious to test the Inventory system warhorse implemented already. I agree with the others that it may be hard to see small objects on a “blanket” it would look nice though; The inventory should be based on funcionality like @LordCrash said. It would be good if same Items would be stackable. I kinda like the “list system” like in Skyrim but should be much better organized than there

I like small pictures for every Item, you should have a maximum weight limit and should be able to increase the amount of things you’re able to carry by using different kinds of bags.

here’s a picture from the game “The Forest” that shows how it could look like with a blanket kind of inventory:

1 Like
#8

I like the classical design. As already mentioned in this thread - functionality first, design second - I agree with that statement.

I tend to find it annoying if a game makes my loot different sized. It means that I have to re-order the items all the time. Being forced to throw out stuff that I don’t have enough space for in my inventory can become tedious. With that I mean if I only can carry like two, three big things and five small.

Of course, a limit is acceptable but if it’s too limited I feel that the joy of gaming fades away.

#9

I like the idea of being forced to choose just the necessary equipment for the mision / day. If the inventory is designed well it should not become tedious to choose e.g. one or two weapons you are in fact able to pack (not the whole armory) and few other parts of equipment. It would force you to plan your actions beforehand and that is a good thing, immersive and I suppose interesting. (In case there are choices to be made and not just a daily routine to be completed.)

2 Likes
#10

I understand what you mean tunak and respect your opinion.
It’s interesting to read all the different views.

#11

I think how much you can load up on your character before it reaches max carry capacity,
should depend on several things
Iike strength,your health/condition,the type of armor you wear,

when taking realism into account I think it would make sense when a heavy plate using character can carry less extra too.Unless his strenght can compensate it perhaps?
I voted none of the above
But now I think of it I wouldn’t mind something like my favorite game ‘Quest for Glory V:dragon fire’

The vertical green bar is to indicate the carry capacity.As good as empty as you can see
But I think the armor you wear counts too
the max carry capacity in the game could be influenced by certain conditions,you could increase it by increasing strength if I remember correctly

#12

This is what I like also, I also like the presentation of your items being present before you.

People talk about realism and immersion but still want to be drawn out of the first person experience into UI chart with list items stats and images.

I understand allot of people would get annoyed with their character having to stop and unpack their belongings (to some extent) to retrieve an item they want I don’t want that either but a quick transition and backpack sound like in the forest would suffice while maintain realism and immersion.

BUT WAIT ITS AN RPG! what about my leveling screen and character stats? I liked the old journal system Oblivion had and it could be implemented really well in cry-engine( actual pages folding).

Im also Partial to the Map system in FarCry2.

1 Like
#13

I remember that Dan also mentioned several times how he doesn’t like the idea of using menus in the game and how he would like to avoid them in KCD. The current inventory looks pretty much like a menu which makes me think it might be also just a placeholder, before they implement something else.

A possibly interesting choice which could also partially solve that problem with some people wanting to be able to view the character in 3rd person (oh, I hear the screams already
) could be a kind of a stationary in-game “inventory view”.
This would, on hitting the inventory button, switch to an outside view of Henry that would be able to rotate around him (where he is actually standing in-game, not on an independent menu screen) while enabling you to jump between individual items he has equipped with the wsad buttons, or with mouse, as well as to zoom in/out with the camera.

Henry could be either on the right side of the screen like he is now with the individual selected items showing up miniaturized in the upper center of the screen (unless you zoom to them). Or Henry would be in the center of the screen and the individual items (and their contents, in the case of pouches and bags) would be viewed on the right side. The left side of the screen would be left for character statistics, item descriptions, etc


This could also work together with some looting/gathering mechanics - the view could possibly enable you to interact with items in Henry’s closest vicinity. For example if you encounter some more complex lootable object that can contain a larger number of items (a chest, or a body), you would also switch to this kind of “inspection” view (Henry kneeling next to the body of a dead soldier) and go ahead searching the body and taking items. Which Henry would be actively doing based on what you click on and what action you decide to take with it (grab, take, return, put on the ground
).

If connected with the inventory view, you could also have Henry to directly put on and wear some of the dead soldier’s equipment which he probably wouldn’t be able to just carry all away in his hands (because there wouldn’t be the slot menu where you can just carry around 50 swords and 50 armors at the same time).
What you can wear is what you can have. So get yourself a bag for anything extra


#14

I haven’t tried it yet in the alpha but is there an option to select an item in your inventory and then see the item in detail? You know, only the item in a background, zoom in and out, rotate, that kind of stuff like in Skyrim for example.

#15

I recognized that you can press Y to show “Item Info” but when I press it nothing shows up


#16

Try press “Z” :wink:

#17

Yes but do it better as the ugly game “The Forest” roll eyes

#18

You know, now that I think about it
 who the hell packs out all his belongings out to a sheet nicely arranged, when all he wanted to do is to take his car keys out of his pocket? :smile:
So i’m perfectly fine with the “old” inventory. It should act like reality, but doesn’t have to look like reality, since I don’t control reality with a keyboard and mouse anyways.

2 Likes
#19

Personally I really like the morrowind inventory system. It pretty much works like a modified version of windows explorer, which is familiar to every pc user and it has a very minimalistic design. All windows are scalable, which makes it easy to manage a lot of items simply by resizing your window. It is possible to pin each window so that it is visible during gameplay, for example you can pin the map so that you won’t have to go to the menu each time you want to see the map. http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/26818-the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-windows-screenshot-inventory.jpg.

1 Like
#20

something like stalker call of pripiats layout i loved that.

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