Original post by PaulCesar Personaly I think there needs to be more limitations as to what you CAN carry, and then a much wider variety of items period. Everything that the opponent is carrying at the time, he should have on him. If he is killed of course, many of these items can be damaged and considered junk (discarded perhaps). The limits of weight should be enforced, with alternatives including carrying a cart and cooporation to get items to storage facilities. This increases coop, slows down looting, keeps items at a minimum, and makes the grind more strategic. Most people should not be able to fight while wearing a full plate mail and carrying another. Thus either carry a cart, or leave your original armor on the ground. Now if you make things difficult to identify as in nethack, your in for some new grounds.
The problem with this idea is that it would totally destory the fun of the game. I've seen way to many games become simulations (sports games for example) and just end up stupid. I have more fun playing NHL 97 then I do the most of the modern NHL games for that very reason. Too much realism is a BAD thing.
In a world with magic there are many possible reasons why a character can carry many suits of armour. the problem is that the games never do a good job of making this reason clear and everyone ends up thinking the game is not realistic.
Give everyone a small chest that links to a pocket plane or some kind of extra dimentional space. That is the best solution from what I can tell. People want to have fun they don't want a simulation. If you want a simulation then buy microsoft flight simulator lol . :)
Original post by 00Kevin Give everyone a small chest that links to a pocket plane or some kind of extra dimentional space. That is the best solution from what I can tell. People want to have fun they don't want a simulation. If you want a simulation then buy microsoft flight simulator lol . :)
It really depends on your target audience. I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing a more realistic take on encumberance and weight limits. Especially in a game like Oblivion. You can give people fantasy and still maintain some semblance of realism, you probably won't please the mainstream but some people would certainly thank you.
Sorry if this sounds a bit too much like a rant but I'm afraid I quite strongly disagree with the idea that having inventory limits like size and weight encumberance "adds to immersion and realism". What this does is makes the player have to spend a lot of time in the "inventory screen" looking at stats such as item weight which is arguably the biggest distraction from immersion you can have in a game.
"let's defeat the dark knight and save the prisoners!" "hold on, I'm working out the most efficient use of my backpack space and seperating items which I want to sell and keep"
Inventory management is not fun OR immersive if it obscures the player's interface with numbers and complex HUDs for long periods of time.
Unless your inventory interface is somehow fun to use it should be as fast and as automated as possible. I shouldn't be spending an average of 10 seconds looking at the inventory screen for every enemy I kill (I'm looking at you Neverwinter Nights). There's some great ideas in this thread about automating loot!
Inventory eats my lunch when you've got to be switching swords every eight minutes because these mutant octopus monsters keep dropping really handy gear. If you could kit out at home base, leave your other stuff there, and go on an adventure just the way you are, then that would be fine. Get your sword, your armor and your shield, strap them to your body, and go fight whatever it is that you're fighting. Having every orc and ghost be a lottery to get phat lewt is what ruins immersion. When I walk through a haunted graveyard filled with angry, undead souls, my primary concern shouldn't be what I'm going to do with a tractor trailer load of armor, weapons and potions that they somehow have hidden in their ethereal robes, and which they leave behind when they flee wailing to the netherworld.
It's crap, and we shouldn't spend our time trying to come up with a way to accomodate a lousy convention.
Original post by Iron Chef Carnage When I walk through a haunted graveyard filled with angry, undead souls, my primary concern shouldn't be what I'm going to do with a tractor trailer load of armor, weapons and potions that they somehow have hidden in their ethereal robes, and which they leave behind when they flee wailing to the netherworld.
QFE.
Equipment drops that are actually worth keeping shouldn't be so common that you have to run back and forth to town.
"Equipment drops that are actually worth keeping shouldn't be so common that you have to run back and forth to town."
I agree. But if monsters mostly drop junk for you to sell, what's the point of having it in the game at all? The whole concept of looting just seems pointless when you look at it like that. Just add some money to the player's inventory for every kill.
If you want a bit more realism then for every kill you could gain a certain amount of "bounty points" which can be traded for money at towns. It basically just replaces all the vendor junk you pick up with one collective value, much like the above poster's "Bag of Selling" idea.
How about an RPG with no looting, where the monsters don't drop things at all? I'd love that personally. The whole concept of killing things to win items and powerups in RPGs goes against immersion for me. I'd like my motive for killing the bad guys to be more relevant to the plot or quest.
"Should we save the princess?" "No the loot for that quest sucks"
RanmaruX: Did you ever play Morrowind? You can't honestly tell me you looted everything off of every thing you killed. The ability to take everything off of a kill doesn't mean it is smart to.
Inventory sorting is a must, I have never played an RPG with a usefull sorting mechanism, so I spend quite a bit of time categorizing my gear [smile]
I am also for limits on gear carried, although not really tight limits. For instance, once I have a good equipment setup that I like, I need to be able to try out a new sword while still being able to carry my old one, in case it doesn't work out.
As far as reducing looting, I am always think it a bit silly to go around killing twenty goblins and bringing their armour to the store, who in hell (other than more goblins) would buy goblin armour anyway? It isn't any good (or they would be selling mine[grin]), and it shouldn't fit a human anyway.
Straight gold for kills (ala Warcraft III) or bounty points would IMHO be a great improvement. (Although those Selling/Buying/Trading bags sound really fun)
For Bloodspear, I plan on a paper-doll and grid based system, with weight limitation.
I like grid-based systems because they're a fast, easy representation of physical size, and when coupled with a weight limit they work well to limit the amount of stuff a player can carry.
I do however have a number of interesting slants on the system, particularly with regards to rapidly equipping items.
The paperdoll is basically a collection of attachment points, each specifying an item type that can be attached.
An attachment point has a cell size and list of allowable item types. The larger the cell size, the larger the 'biggest' item that can be placed on that attachment point.
A container has a cell size, and grid size. The larger the cell size, the larger the 'biggest' item that can fit in the container.
Some items can be placed on the paperdoll to gain additional attachment points.
Paperdoll-held (worn) containers in certain locations can be accessed implicitly or through a quick item list. These include things like sheaths and pouches.
This allows a mage-type character to place their ingredients in a pouch tied to a belt and have ready access to them - or for a fighter type to have daggers or a sword in a sheath while using another weapon - like a spear.
This is used for all item interaction - including trading - to spend money you have to have it to hand, or you're left with the hassle of rummaging through your inventory to complete a trade.
Attached items are visible to others - a thief could attempt to steal your purse from your belt with more ease than a single item from inside it. Of course, only a *good* thief wouldn't get caught.
We also use this system for our armour system, which is based around a harness, which provides attachment points for arms and legs which can be mixed and matched.
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I have to agree that the inventory tetris that you had to muck about with in games like NWN was pretty irritating, and just plain doesn't make sense. It's annoying to run out of space in your inventory (but still be way under your weight limit) because some nitwit decided to make take something ridiculously small and light and give it an enormous icon. NWN is one of the worst offenders to spring to mind here - apparently a single sheet of paper can take up 2/3 of the space taken up by a suit of fullplate armour. WTF?
I want:
No arbitrary limit on the number of items I can carry. Weight limits (and if implemented, volume limits) should be sensible, as should the weights and volumes of the objects I'm carrying.
Quick slots as well as 'pack' slots. Pack slots can contain all the random junk that I've collected from quests as well as loot and other bits and bobs. Quick slots contain weapons and other items which are not in the pack, but sheathed or otherwise attached to the character in an easily accessible place. These quick slots could be part of the paper doll, or they could be seperate.
A sortable and/or filterable pack. I don't want to have to sift through a random jumble of rubbish in whatever order it appeared in my inventory to find what I'm looking for. Maybe I just want to look at my weapons, or just look at clothing?
