Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Inventory size?
ajmstilt
Member Posts: 30
A lone wanderer crests a hill in the Eastern wastelands. A rifle strapped to his back and a pair of 6 shooters on his hip. He kneels down to check his pack..
"hmm, 8000 units of steel, 4 rav 6s, 24k rounds of ammo, 3 houses, 1 horse., kitchen sink..."
Okay so i've allways had an issue with inventory, i mean in SWG for example i could carry animals and houses, and spaceship engines. I understand the need for a limit, but i feel in order to carry that post apoc feel inventory needs to be a choice of what to carry. And if i have to carry more it should come with some drawback. Either slower movement speed, or i need a cart and have to travel roads, or i need to spend 6 months researching a vehicle.
Likewise the larger towns need caravan routes between then so that i can send supplies ahead of me. IT should be an important milestown for a settlemt to get a caravan route. It means the town has "made it" and wiuth the arrival of caravan route comes more travellers, money, and problems.
So um yeah small inventories. Perhaps a larger inventory, but a large portion of it will be lootable upon death. While only a very small portion should remain secure. If i need more room i must settle in a house and join a community, or somehow acquire a cart/car/sidekick.
.....rambling
~Obic/Gulgoth~ Member of the 10th proffession
Comments
Id like to see a slot/grid type inventory system similar to those found in games such as diablo and other similar titles.
You have your backpack which you could load anything into, which was divided into a grid, the size of the objects taking up more space than small objects.
Then your put guns and armor on appropriate body slots along with clothes etc.
I'm all for a grid type inventory system. Fallout, Deus Ex, Diablo... all these games had an inventory system like that and it works very well. Inventory space should be a fairly important part of the game in my opinion, to reflect the post-apocalyptic feel. The ability to carry just about everything with you like WoW or EQ makes the game safer and require less thought. We should have enough space for the essentials and a little extra to bring back loot, but not a ton more without adding some heavy backpacks and such.
So maybe a grid system and also a weight system? That way, even if you have a ton of bags and a backpack, you can't carry all kinds of heavy stuff without affecting your movement speed.
http://www.fallenearth.se - Your source for Fallen Earth information
For the weight system, Neocron would make a reasonable example. In that game, carrying lots of stuff will slow you down and also reduce your jump height. That can make it impossible to get over an obstacle. I think that system works pretty well (yes I play NC).
Of course, one can debate how much total weight should be allowed. I think carrying your own weight should slow you down to a trot and exhaust you pretty fast, forcing your speed down to a walk. Those who have tried using the fireman's carry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireman%27s_carry
should know what I'm talking about. As an absolute weight limit, I would suggest 100kg for an average char and walk only at that load, no more jumping.
Fallout had a weight based system, not grid based. And I'd have to say I agree with that. Grid based inventory is too imprecise when it comes to smaller items. A little toy you might find would take up an entire slot, when realistically you could fit hundreds of them into your backpack.
___________________
Hopefully vehicles with their big inventories will play a major part in hauling items from place to place. If you and your fellas find some abandoned bunker with lots of loot, it would make sense to haul it back to the surface and to your waiting car.
let's say a character can carry 80-120 "units" in their inventory, a vehicle (depending of size ofcourse) cold perhaps take 1500-3500 "units", and thus giveing looting and caravans a major role in the game, since noone wants to leave loot behind
Well, the inventory system might work well with a combination of weight and grid based systems. But as far as the grid goes, it should be a 3d grid. That way, people have to really put thought into how they're going to pack their stuff. You'll have to make sure you store important stuff near the top so you can reach it if you need to in the heat of battle, or while running. And you could pack certain items in the middle or the bottom so that thieves (if they're going to be in the game, I sooo hope) cannot get to them. As far as the weight one can carry is concerned, that number should be decided by that player's stats. If your having you character carry really heavey stuff everywhere all the time, he should eventually be able to carry those amounts much easier.
I have the whole grid thing down in my head, and I wouldn't dare give out details. But, I think the general idea should be thrown out there into the open, in the interest of the entire MMO industry. We need someone to do it right for this day and age.
I agree.
If you look at the worm video, you'll notice that the gas man has two rifles on his back, which to me seems kind of ridiculous. Realistically, I can see someone carrying one rifle or shotgun, a few handguns, a knife, and maybe some sort of secondary melee weapon (a sword would be nice). Anything else would probably weigh you down. I think it's smart to have players choose their weapons wisely, taking into consideration where they're going and what they might be going up against. That's what a cautious adventurer would do in real life.
As for assorted inventory, why not have it determined by both size AND weight? A cardbox box doesn't weigh much, but it's not reasonable for someone to pick it up and watch it disappear like they would in other games. I'd like to see players have to think about how they're getting that 30 pound piece of valuable technology out of the ruins and back to their camp. Why not have them carry it? Put it in a bag and sling it over their shoulders? Or ideally, find a vehicle and put it there? Bring someone along to protect them while they do the heavy lifting (I personally work alone and would have to be craftier than this)? These concepts seem unheard of in MMO's, but I think that they're a step in the right direction, one that this industry needs to take. Things like this are realistic and make players think ahead instead of just running in, killing everything they see, looting their opponents, grabbing 400 pounds worth of technology and then running back to camp.
-----------------------------------
Go you must.
No guest shall stay
in one place for ever.
Love will be lost
if you sit too long
at a friend's fire.
-- The Havamal
Cool ideas there, Edgtho. Yeah, it'd be neat if the devs were to implement some interesting uses of the advanced physics. One thing I was thinking of was that you could have a rope, attach it to a heavy but technically movable object, and be able to pull it along.. or even have a few people attach ropes and pull it along even more efficiently. Similarly, you could get behind the object and push, this wouldn't require a rope. It'd be funny to see a guy run out of gas in his car, and be pushing it through the desert to the nearest town
edit: Or be able to attach ropes from one object to another! You could acquire a really powerful vehicle, and start a towtruck business!
___________________
I agree, the grid system, while makes sense, is a pain trying to move things around to make it all fit right. The weight system is much better for on-line gaming IMHO. However, I do agree with the redicuous means to carrying 30 rifles or something liek that. One thing FE has that I have not seen elsewhere is the ability to CARRY weapons holstered and on your body. is: Sidearm in a holster, knife on the leg, shotgun strapped across the back. Thus allowing you to have a more realistic feel to what your carrying on you and what item is being used.
I would say while I understand the need to have cars "rare" or a long time in the making, they would be a good way to balance out not carrying a ton ON YOU, but rather WITH YOU.
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com DC Main Page
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/apocalypse Sci-Fi / Apoc Theme Forums
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/citadel DnD Style Theme forums (coming soon)
If they decide to go on a grid based system, one of the important features to include is having items of negligable size stack on each other. If a canteen takes up a single slot, then a rare herb or a piece of jerky should be stackable so that many of those items can sit in a single slot. Each item could have separate stack numbers and be displayed thusly: canteen, meat jerky 3/10, poppy flower 7/20. This would mean that the canteen is only one per slot but that the meat jerky slot currently has 3 pieces out of a maximum of 10 in one slot and the poppy flower slot could hold 13 more flowers before that slot is full.
I must say though that I also support the weight option rather than the grid option. The weight option has its own drawbacks though. Like the grid system, it only allows for a minimum weight unit. I don't want to pick up a photograph, put in my pack and find that I'm over my weight allowance.
I like Edgtho's idea of taking volume and weight into account. I have to ask though, at what point do you sacrifice realism for fun? And then how much do you sacrifice?
I agree that the folks at Icarus are breaking alot of new ground. I'm interested to see how they handle this topic.
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com DC Main Page
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/apocalypse Sci-Fi / Apoc Theme Forums
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/citadel DnD Style Theme forums (coming soon)
I like the idea, particularly for a size-limited inventory system. But it also could be fitted into a weight-limited system, where a few kinds of large items simply won't fit into the backpack.
In both cases, the char could carry one oversized item over the shoulder. There would be one special "carry" slot on the char, and the item there would not count against the space in the backpack. It could also be visible on the char.
Of course, using the special "carry" slot shoult have some drawback. Something like reduced agility and the inability to use two-handed weapons. After all, you need one hand to hold the item.
The main problem that I can see is speed - still, you won't exactly feel your character carrying the bag, you'll just see it. I don't think it's necessary to have players move at a crawl (though certainly not as fast as normally, and without the ability to sprint) while carrying heavy items. I think the main drawback would be the inability to fight effectively while carrying it, and a heavy drag on endurance (if such a thing exists).
-----------------------------------
Go you must.
No guest shall stay
in one place for ever.
Love will be lost
if you sit too long
at a friend's fire.
-- The Havamal
I think it is a great idea to have items visually placed on a character. During SWG I was able to walk around overt with my tag showing me as a master engineer. I could actually "lure" people into attacking me.. they would believe it would be an easy fight because I wasnt a combat skill. then using a macro i could instantly throw on my combat body armor and switch to my best weapon and slaughter them....
Seeing someone from a distance would give you a good idea of what you are up against. If you see someone with nothing on you dont really need to feel the threat if they walk into your town. If you see someone walking in with two pistols, a sub machine gun, and a rifle strapped on his back.. there is a good chance hes bringing trouble with him. I think it adds a bit more visual depth needed for this kind of theme where all the rules go out the window and you have to rely on what you see to survive and make the right decisions.
As far as transporting, i agree with having a caravan system.. or at least a kind of "pack mule" animal which can cart or carry large items. I want the game to be fun, but also, it promotes teamwork and encourages people to band together. if you are transporting a large cache of weapons to your town, you dont want to go by yourself for fear of being robbed and killed.. so you would require help to fend off would-be attackers and keep your stuff secure.
As far as inventory, I think a reasonable amount should be allowed, except what common sense would negate. anything too big to fit in a backpack, or strapped to your body should require some form of storage. A persons house can serve as a stronghold with lockers or trunks to store items and serve as warehouses and manufacturing plants. I dissagree with being able to carry things larger and heavier than yourself. While I am in it for fun, I do enjoy the common sense of it. One man cannot hope to carry a cache of 20 rifles and 4000 rounds of ammo. hence the need for transportation of some kind.. and teamwork to secure your valuables.