Let's Talk Inventory Systems

[Uber]

I was just thinking about the best way to develop an inventory system and I thought this might make an interesting discussion.

So what style of inventory system do you prefer and why?

• All-in-one sortable inventories (as in all items drop into the same location, but are sortable based on item type).
  
• Inventory split into sections for each item type.
  

Do you prefer unlimited inventories or limited Inventories? For limited inventories do you prefer..

• Weight limits
  
• Space limits
  
• or Amount limits
  

Or perhaps you have other preferences. Please share.

 

[Dinocanid]

I prefer both "all-in-one" and "folder" inventories. You can also do both at the same time, with a "show all" folder and have the remaining categories.

Limited inventories are good for strategy and server performance. You should always have amount limits in my opinion, since things can get kind of game-breaking if a user somehow gets 9999 of an item, you know? Space limits with buyable expansions are good money sinks for your game's economy, but I'm not sure about weight limits for a browser game. It kind of makes me think of if neopets had a skyrim-style carry weight system. It seems weird to me, but I guess it can be done if you're creative enough with it.

 

[Boltgreywing]

I was just thinking about the best way to develop an inventory system and I thought this might make an interesting discussion.

So what style of inventory system do you prefer and why?

• All-in-one sortable inventories (as in all items drop into the same location, but are sortable based on item type).
  
• Inventory split into sections for each item type.
  

Do you prefer unlimited inventories or limited Inventories? For limited inventories do you prefer..

• Weight limits
  
• Space limits
  
• or Amount limits
  

Or perhaps you have other preferences. Please share.

@Uber: It depends on  what you are going for. Pokemon generation 1 lumped all items into the same box. However with gen 2 key items and other items had their own folder. This made things a lot easier to manage. One other thing to plan on is how to handle how many uses a certain item has in your inventory. If you allow each item with different sizes to be in its own class you waste a lot of inventory space. If you don't allow too few different sizes then an item with 30% uses left could become a 100% use left item. It is important to find the right balance of things.

I prefer both "all-in-one" and "folder" inventories. You can also do both at the same time, with a "show all" folder and have the remaining categories.

Limited inventories are good for strategy and server performance. You should always have amount limits in my opinion, since things can get kind of game-breaking if a user somehow gets 9999 of an item, you know? Space limits with buyable expansions are good money sinks for your game's economy, but I'm not sure about weight limits for a browser game. It kind of makes me think of if neopets had a skyrim-style carry weight system. It seems weird to me, but I guess it can be done if you're creative enough with it.

@Dinocanid Actually you are kind of forgetting Baulder's gate  had a similiar sort of system with weight. The more something weighed the less you could have. In Baulder's gate for the gamecube you were limited to how much weight you could physically carry and if you reached the limit you couldn't pick up any more items.

 

[mariell]

Assuming we're talking about a browser game:

I think an inventory split into multiple categories would be better than an all-in-one inventory. It makes items easier to find (UX wise) plus I don't imagine it would take too long to implement as long as items are tagged with an item type. It would probably have more to do with how things are displayed on the page.

I definitely think an amount limit is necessary for any inventory system (I mean, integer overflow, right?) but I wouldn't know how to feel about weight limits. It can get a little hilarious when you have a hundred potions then couldn't pick up a, say, flower from a forest because of the weight limit.

Space limits with buyable expansions are good money sinks for your game's economy

I definitely agree with this, but I'm unsure how expansions should work with split inventories. I'm assuming by 'space', you mean slots, am I correct? You could have a limit as to the total number of item slots an account can have and allow the user to allocate their slots as they please, or you can have individual limits per item category, depending on how you want things to go. 

 

[Dinocanid]

@Uber: It depends on  what you are going for. Pokemon generation 1 lumped all items into the same box. However with gen 2 key items and other items had their own folder. This made things a lot easier to manage. One other thing to plan on is how to handle how many uses a certain item has in your inventory. If you allow each item with different sizes to be in its own class you waste a lot of inventory space. If you don't allow too few different sizes then an item with 30% uses left could become a 100% use left item. It is important to find the right balance of things.

@Dinocanid Actually you are kind of forgetting Baulder's gate  had a similiar sort of system with weight. The more something weighed the less you could have. In Baulder's gate for the gamecube you were limited to how much weight you could physically carry and if you reached the limit you couldn't pick up any more items.

That's what I said I was imagining ^^;

The difference here is that was a 3D rpg adventure game, and this is for a browser pet/sim game I'm assuming. Idk, it just seems weird to me. (I've never heard of bauldur's gate btw)

Also @mariell , yeah, by space I mean slots.

 

[Uber]

That's a good example with Pokemon. However, I think having all items can also work well~ if you are familiar with Rune Factory games, items are all stashed in one location, but still offer a sort option (organize items, list by alphabetical or item type, etc.)

@mariell with weight limits, it may be true, however making it so users can only hold a specific weight or even number of items can force them become more creative with what items they choose to carry. Sure you could carry 100 potions, but realistically do you need to?

 

[mariell]

That's a good example with Pokemon. However, I think having all items can also work well~ if you are familiar with Rune Factory games, items are all stashed in one location, but still offer a sort option (organize items, list by alphabetical or item type, etc.)

@mariell with weight limits, it may be true, however making it so users can only hold a specific weight or even number of items can force them become more creative with what items they choose to carry. Sure you could carry 100 potions, but realistically do you need to?

With regards to the all-item inventory, perhaps a filter option would be a good addition as well?

As for weight limits I think it really could depend; you'd have to really think about how your users intend to use items and how item weights could be determined. For example, in a game where you'd have to catch pets, would the users have to bring nets around? Tranquilizers? Tranquilizer guns? How do you balance weight limits per account so that it doesn't favor some players over others (players who delve into adventure/battle systems vs players who only like bringing small food items to NPC's)?

 

[Uber]

Again, I feel sometimes it might be best to let the player use their creativity to balance game limits. Be it item amount limits or weight limits. A wise player would carry only the necessities (armour, tools and select foods, potions, etc.) Where carrying only bulky items might leave a player little room to carry other items.. It really does add a touch of realism, I feel. But it's also dependant on how the player actually likes to play the game too. There are some that do battle and others that might be more into collecting/ skill training, etc. and therefore, yeah, probably can carry a lot more items. 

I wonder if that could be further balanced by combining weight, space and amount limits?

I usually favour amount limits over weight limits, but adding weight limits is actually intriguing me now..

With pet/animal companion based games theres also the idea to increase weight limit with the strength of your "pets" adding to the total weight you can carry.

 

[mariell]

Hmm, the strength idea might actually be a cool thing to see in a pet sim; I haven't seen that done before and I can imagine it being totally fun to implement.