I guess there are just a couple of things you can vary, but I''d like to discuss them a bit anyhow. Oh, and this is considering a single player RPG, but in this case I don''t think there is such a big difference between SP and MMORPG so it''s not that important. 1. Item weight. I don''t think there is an RPG out there that DOESN''T have a weight attribute for an item (except small rouge/nethack-clones), and I think it''s a must (unless the RPG is non-ordinary and puts you in the position as SuperMan or something like that. Hmm, wait, does Diablo have it? ) If they weigh, your character should have a carry limit (for example 100 pounds). Do you think that A) You should NOT be able to carry more than your carry limit, or B) Have some kind of encumbrance if the character carries more? C) I have another idea! My thoughts: B, because it''s more realistic and it''s not really that hard to implement. 2. Item size Most RPGs today feature some kind of two-dimensional system, where items take up an NxM part of an "inventory matrix". This is a good idea basically, but it usually means the player has to reorganize in there every so often which isn''t really much fun any way you look at it. Arcanum had an "organize-button", but it didn''t work as nicely as it could have, sadly. Do you think that A) The inventory matrix system is a good one? B) Item size is an unnecessary factor. It tries to be realistic but on the other hand it''s not really that much fun. C) I have another idea! My thoughts: C. In my RPG (anything is subject to change ), an item is either Small (anything from a chewing gum), Medium (handheld computer to a UZI) or Large (rifle or laptop computer). I don''t have the exact numbers, but the character have maybe one or two Large "pockets", three to six Medium and maybe ten Small pockets, where pocket = inventory slot. Each Medium pocket can hold 6 small items, and each Large can hold 3 Medium items. Easy as hell to organize, plus it''s basically a very simple system (so it removes a lot of unnecessary micromanagement for the player), but still in a way more realistic than A). 3. Item storage Most RPGs today says "carry your stuff with you, because if you drop it on the ground it probably won''t be there when you get back and there aint nowhere to store it". In some RPGs, you can get a place to store whatever you want, but seriously, how often do you return to this place? (exception: the stash in Diablo II, but then calling D2 an RPG is a stretch ) Do you think that A) Yeah the character should be able to carry everything with him. B) In each city, he should be able to stash stuff and return later to get it. C) Same as B, but the stash is the same in every place (so if you store something in stash A, then go to another town and locate stash B, you''ll find the thing you put in A. D) Give the character somewhere portable to store stuff, like a horse or a car, or even a big bag or suitcase! E) I have another idea! My thoughts: Hmm. D. In my RPG, the character will most likely be able to stash stuff in a sports bag or something, with space for three or four large items. That should be enough for anyone. This is also a better solution in combination with the S/M/L-system, since it won''t be necessary to organize them (like you had to in D2) all the time. Any other Inventory concepts I''ve forgotten or am not aware of? What are your thoughts? "Kaka e gott" - Me

The last inventory system I worked on used linked lists, along with each item having a weight and other properties. Although it is a little bit tricky.

In one of my favorite RPGs you can drop stuff practically anywhere and can go pick it up later when you need it. I ended up making storage rooms on every other level of the dungeon.

I suggest that you have an encuberance system where your character won''t perform as well when carrying too much, along with places to store stuff.

Depending on the progression of the RPG, you could allocate space for the inventory accordingly, forcing the player to make choices. Then as the game continues, give more space and free up the player''s mind. Using the matrix style of inventory, you can do this a couple of ways. One that comes to mind is weighting each slot and then each item''s weight is a divisor of the slot''s weight. What that means is that for each item, only so many can fit into a slot. So lets say the inventory has 8 slots in it initially. We can weight the standard cure potion at 10 per slot, so that the player can carry, at most, 80 potions. Then, the broadsword they pick up is weighted at 1 per slot, meaning the player can only carry 70 potions and a broadsword.

That idea sucks. An alternative, is to rank the inventory in weights and rank each item in weight. Add an auto-sort option, and a stacked-view of multiple items and we have one better. Depending on the type of RPG, weighting and slotting are of different need. A story RPG with more travelling involved would suit best with just an unrestricted inventory. Or, we could have an unrestricted inventory, but still have weights and stuff, so when a character is equipped, the weight of the items works against him.

Theres probably a dozen different ways to think about this, so it all probably comes down to need versus difficulty.

I think part of the problem is that alot of players are pack rats they carry thing they every found around with them including the kitchen sink.

To solve this limit what they can carry eithr by wieght, slots or both. But also give them the ability to store important things for later, for instance if you find a barrel with pipe in it why not allow the player to put stuff in that barrel?

Yeah, well the problem with the barrel thing is that how often do you just happen to find a barrel in real life (even if you were to live in a fantasy/tolkien world)?
And what are the chanses that a perfectly functional barrel doesn''t belong to someone.

Still, if you ignore the realism (or just have the Mayor of the city give him a Storage Barrel for finding out who the thief was or whatever), you still have the problem of leaving the city.
Does the barrel automatically transfer there, or (the more realistic approach), can the player hire a wagon or travel with some caravan and bring his barrel that way, or....

It''s a hard design question, really.

I guess one way to do it, that I just thought of, was to allow the character to have an unlimited inventory while traveling in cities (maybe for a cost/item), because you can assume that he can find somewhere to store the stuff and you can also assume that "whenever the character wants to sell this item that is in his stash across the city, he''ll go there and back and sell it automatically".

But of course, when he finds himself in a combat situation, or locked inside a prison, or is illegally visiting another building, then he can only access his "normal" inventory.


Hmm, not really a bad idea, unless you have a lot of missions/quests that say "you have to kill him at exactly this time of day", because then you might want to use a realistic time-table for all actions. And since it might take the character 10 minutes to actually get the stuff from the stash - but the player doesn''t notice it at all - that could cause some really irritating annoyances.

Well, despite Diablo II having the all anoying aspect of not being an RPG to my mind at least, it still did something right with its Inventory Chest. If you look at it, the chest has come wherever your character comes as a sort of "travel chest". You can''t realistically take it with you to your destinations, because that would be slow and laborious. However, when you finish that stage you travel elsewhere (usually by a caravan of wagons) so the chest ideal holds up. Only when you start portal hopping does it start to get a little shaken.

When I first went to Hell in Diablo II I actually took all the items of worth to me and jumped through the portal. Then Piled them back into the chest which was still there, with all the stuff I left behind.

On another note, Baldurs Gate II and Never Winter Nights have a system by which items do not mysteriously disappear. They remain where you left them. Although this is not entirely believable (I am sure their are theives and bums enough anywhere to want to make a buck out of stuff you couldn''t care about taking with you) it does solve a lot of problems.

In Morrowind, because you are travelling around the towns and cities you are quite likely to find random barrels, which are not only great to loot from, but are also great to store stuff in. The lack of realism here is that people do not also loot from your barrels, and you are not likely to get yourself caught ever for stealing from any of these merchants barrels.

-Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft - The future of RPGs GPA Thanks to all the goblins in the GDCorner niche

Hmm, about leaving stuff on the ground and then finding them there 1000 years later, yeah it does solve a few problems, and one way to make it SLIGHTLY more realistic is to have a Lost and Found-place in every city, where you could reclaim everyhing lost for a cheap price.

This would also remove the "now WHERE did I drop that Important Quest Item I thought I wouldn''t be needing for a while?" problem

In my game the player can buy a house and store there things there. The main thing is that you need to be able travel quickly back to your home base when you need your extra stuff.

The other option is why not allow the player to bury a locked chest wherever they want. Which can allow them to store items safely unit you need them. Useful if your a thief character, that way if your arrest you arrested and escape you dig up a stash of items to help escape from the city before the guards arrest you.

The idea of luggage just occured to me, why not allow the charcter to own a large trunk where they can store everything. Then when they travel to an other town the simple have the trunk shipped to the next town. If they take a train it could travel with them and then when they check into a hotel, the bell hop would run down to the train station and pick up the trunk for the character.

[edited by - TechnoGoth on July 17, 2003 8:08:51 PM]

Theres always the Big-Chocobo way of doing it.

First, you invent a character appropriate to the fantasy or modern setting whose task it is to hold items for the player. Maybe there can be a service charge, or maybe it can just cost a chocobo carrot, whatever. Then, theres an inventory of infinite size (or at least the item matrix, 512 bytes: 256 list, 256 quantity), and we can have a smaller inventory for the player. Then you just have a couple of interesting ways of contacting that item-whore, maybe at save points or something, and viola~.

Weight. Encumberance is good. Whether it''s a weight limit or a weight-encumberance curve, up to you.

Size. Pockets and the s/m/l system are good. You should also give items a crushability factor. Don''t put the glass pendant in the large bag if there''s a lot of stuff already in there. That could lead to sub-pockets. If the small item is in a sub-pocket of a large pocket, it''s protected. If there is nothing in the sub-pocket, your space isn''t diminished cause an empty pocket takes up so little room. Make sure that the cost of luggage is appropriate given its features.

Storage. Whatever works for the game. You might be able to get things from an overall stash by teleporation. Like wiring money, there could be different chains of stores. Maybe if you travel to certain lands you can''t find a branch of your usual chain, etc. If you do drop stuff on the ground it should be less likely to be found the longer it is left there, like in real life. Hyah mule!

Anyway, whatever works for the game.