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Buying Inventories - rpg
Author
What would you think if you started an rpg and you had no inventory. All you have is a small pouch to place your cash. Then you realise that you''ve got to buy a bag or backpack to store your items. Then you find out that not every pack is the same. Some hold more weight but less space and vice versa. Backpacks were just as valuable an item as guns and arrows. I don''t see any problems with it but i thought some of you people might?!
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
It could work fine...
You could even keep it kinda simple - each backpack holds a certain volume/number of items, but different backpacks have different weights or encumbrance values.
So lugging around that monster Hiker''s Backpack will slow you down, but allow you to carry the whole household, while the little belt pouch won''t obstruct you at all, but you can take about three pebbles on your adventure.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
You could even keep it kinda simple - each backpack holds a certain volume/number of items, but different backpacks have different weights or encumbrance values.
So lugging around that monster Hiker''s Backpack will slow you down, but allow you to carry the whole household, while the little belt pouch won''t obstruct you at all, but you can take about three pebbles on your adventure.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
Author
Yeah, here comes the fun bit. Now i''ve got to work out all of the different charactistics of a bag then work out which one''s can be coded appropriately and out of those which one''s would be best for the game.... and THEN, i can make a proposal for this idea 
soggy bags, ridged bags, large, small, heavy.... we get the picture right. But how will such idea''s convert to a gui... maybe don''t have one?! maybe use the halflife weapons system?! other something else. hmmm
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
soggy bags, ridged bags, large, small, heavy.... we get the picture right. But how will such idea''s convert to a gui... maybe don''t have one?! maybe use the halflife weapons system?! other something else. hmmm
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
quote: Original post by Paul Cunningham
soggy bags, ridged bags, large, small, heavy.... we get the picture right. But how will such idea''s convert to a gui... maybe don''t have one?! maybe use the halflife weapons system?! other something else. hmmm
Just display an image of the backpack, bag or whatever on the screen, similar to Ultima 8 (and U9?), with the items in (drawn on) it. If you use a "slot" system, just draw the slots inside the bag. You can immediately see what type of container it is, and it looks nice.
-Jussi
Start simple, paul... don''t go overboard. You want to differentiate different kinds of backpacks, start by differentiating them at one or two points only.
For instance, contents as the single point where backpacks differ. Some backpacks will hold more than others, and they might be harder to find.
A two-point differentiation would be as I suggested in my previous message, or adding price to my example in this message - bigger backpacks will cost more.
Then, if that works, you could add a third, like shape, or encumbrance, or something.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
For instance, contents as the single point where backpacks differ. Some backpacks will hold more than others, and they might be harder to find.
A two-point differentiation would be as I suggested in my previous message, or adding price to my example in this message - bigger backpacks will cost more.
Then, if that works, you could add a third, like shape, or encumbrance, or something.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
Author
Unfortunately i haven't played any of the ultimas if you can believe it or not. I'll have to check it out now unless someone would care to elaborate for this uneducated galoot
Oops, i missed madkeithv's reply:
Yeah, i've just realised the difficulties with the gui. I don't quite get what you're saying. Let me think about it and i'll re-edit or separate reply later this evening.
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
Edited by - Paul Cunningham on September 22, 2000 6:08:44 AM
Oops, i missed madkeithv's reply:
Yeah, i've just realised the difficulties with the gui. I don't quite get what you're saying. Let me think about it and i'll re-edit or separate reply later this evening.
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
Edited by - Paul Cunningham on September 22, 2000 6:08:44 AM
The Back Slot
Well here''s how it works...
If you find/buy a sack/backpack and put it in the Back slot then that sack/backpack defines how large your ''i'' (inventory) is ... These sacks/backpacks can also be special ... Like reducing the weight of the items inside, provide resistances, no stat bonuses though ... If the sack/backpack provides resistance it ONLY provide resistance for the items carried inside of the sack/backpack (this is to not disturb balance)...
Eg. Fire resistance protects slots etc.
There should always be a 1 in 500 chance that the sack/backpack breaks if damaging spells are cast upon the player ... (bolt & balls) (sacks would have a 1 in 250 chance of breaking)
Ok.. here''s the deal.. to balance things I haven''t allowed containers in containers.. or containers in the belt-slot (I''m really unsure of this one)... In the discussions on r.g.r.a about Containers in the inventory none has come up with a good way of dealing with it right now, that''s why it''s forbidden in my idea also but my idea works with both ways..
So.. If you buy/find a Large sack you can have 13 items in your Inventory We don''t need to change the inventory system much at all.. you just define the value that is now 23 to whatever the sack/backpack is defined to contain.. if you drop a backpack all items spill out on the ground around you along with the backpack..
Well here''s how it works...
If you find/buy a sack/backpack and put it in the Back slot then that sack/backpack defines how large your ''i'' (inventory) is ... These sacks/backpacks can also be special ... Like reducing the weight of the items inside, provide resistances, no stat bonuses though ... If the sack/backpack provides resistance it ONLY provide resistance for the items carried inside of the sack/backpack (this is to not disturb balance)...
Eg. Fire resistance protects slots etc.
There should always be a 1 in 500 chance that the sack/backpack breaks if damaging spells are cast upon the player ... (bolt & balls) (sacks would have a 1 in 250 chance of breaking)
Name Number of Items Can Hold Purse 2 Not weapons/armourSmall Sack 4 AllSack 8 AllLarge Sack 13 AllSmall Backpack 8 AllBackpack 15 AllLarge Backpack 23 AllAnd if the Belt is included... Name Number of ArrowsSmall Quiver 15Quiver 30Large Quiver 50Quiver of Holding 75 Ok.. here''s the deal.. to balance things I haven''t allowed containers in containers.. or containers in the belt-slot (I''m really unsure of this one)... In the discussions on r.g.r.a about Containers in the inventory none has come up with a good way of dealing with it right now, that''s why it''s forbidden in my idea also but my idea works with both ways..
So.. If you buy/find a Large sack you can have 13 items in your Inventory We don''t need to change the inventory system much at all.. you just define the value that is now 23 to whatever the sack/backpack is defined to contain.. if you drop a backpack all items spill out on the ground around you along with the backpack..
Author
I guess that there wouldn''t be too much difficulty if the inventory gui simply showed items like fallout. Then the player can work out what the differences are between backpack (you''ve got to leave some mystery in there for''em). Hmmm, i just had a really neat idea for a gui.
Taking the diablo style where it''s gridded BUT instead of it all being viewable, it scrolls off the screen (downward). The distance that it scrolls off depends on the size of the backpack. A diablo/fallout inventory gui.
RE:morfe
Yeah, i can''t see any gameplay improvment reasons why you would want to put holders inside holders unless for transfering items from one to another. I also can''t see how it would unbalance things if you could put containers inside other containers?
RE:MadkeithV
I understand what you''re saying now. All i had to do is read the first 6 words of your last post, the rest is example. I agree, there''s no need to have this element of the game hogging up too much thought of the player otherwise it will just become frustrating. But what i was saying before is that i just wanted to work out the best element (or 2) about backpacks that would make this part of the game "most fun". I think we got a little confused and you thought i was talking about having a quadrillion backpack elements?!
----------------
This seems too simple now, why do i get the feeling that someones head almost exploded when reading this. Did i miss you''re points completely?
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
Taking the diablo style where it''s gridded BUT instead of it all being viewable, it scrolls off the screen (downward). The distance that it scrolls off depends on the size of the backpack. A diablo/fallout inventory gui.
RE:morfe
Yeah, i can''t see any gameplay improvment reasons why you would want to put holders inside holders unless for transfering items from one to another. I also can''t see how it would unbalance things if you could put containers inside other containers?
RE:MadkeithV
I understand what you''re saying now. All i had to do is read the first 6 words of your last post, the rest is example. I agree, there''s no need to have this element of the game hogging up too much thought of the player otherwise it will just become frustrating. But what i was saying before is that i just wanted to work out the best element (or 2) about backpacks that would make this part of the game "most fun". I think we got a little confused and you thought i was talking about having a quadrillion backpack elements?! ----------------
This seems too simple now, why do i get the feeling that someones head almost exploded when reading this. Did i miss you''re points completely?
I love Game Design and it loves me back.
Our Goal is "Fun"!
quote:
RE:morfe
Yeah, i can''t see any gameplay improvment reasons why you would want to put holders inside holders unless for transfering items from one to another. I also can''t see how it would unbalance things if you could put containers inside other containers?
Um, infinite storage space ... ? One container which can hold 10 items, can hold ten containers, each of which can hold 10 items, which if you filled with containers ...
Yep paul, I misunderstood you, I thought you were going to try to add a lot of mechanics for supporting floppy bags, different shapes of items, etc...
I didn''t realise you were just talking about user interface!
As to containers-within-containers. There''s a very simple solution for that - everything put in a container-in-a-container counts towards the maximum of the parent container as well. That way, putting containers inside containers will only improve your organisation, but not your amount of storage.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
I didn''t realise you were just talking about user interface!
As to containers-within-containers. There''s a very simple solution for that - everything put in a container-in-a-container counts towards the maximum of the parent container as well. That way, putting containers inside containers will only improve your organisation, but not your amount of storage.
People might not remember what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
~ (V)^|) |<é!t|-| ~
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