MERGED: changes to inventory system

[Filterfreaker 1]

First off, i really like this mod. It's got so much potential and is fun in a lot of diffrent aspects.

Devs, if you read this, let me suggest you work on the inventory system, it's very quirky and buggy. Aside from items simply being lost (instead of beeing dropped on the ground) due to lack of space in the inventory when moving them around it's also a pain to drop items from the backpack straight to the ground, you have to go via the normal inventory. This might not have been as annoying in the original ARMA II but given how rare some items are in this mod and how hard you work to get them, a better performing inventory system is something I greatly desire. For example, when i was switching from an AK-74 with 7 mags to an AKS-74 KOBRA the game decides to drop my 7 mags, and erase them without any trace. Stuff like that should not happen, three hours of work, blown away due to a buggy inventory system. :huh:

I'd also like to be able to carry two primary weapons, in addition to my gun.

[colosseum 2]

That's an Arma issue, not something the DayZ devs can fix.

[Filterfreaker 1]

I admit i know nothing about coding or how the ARMA II engine works but isn't it possible to improve the inventory system for the modders somehow or is the enginecode out of reach for modders to rework?

[WaxMan (DayZ) 0]

Yes some work on the inventory system would be nice, if it possible I doubt. I find my self wishing for 2 primary weapons a lot of the time, however I am sure that the hard choice of what weapon you choose adds a significant amount to the games feeling, it also promotes group play with a variety of weapons and greater chance to find specialist ammo.

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

Yes, inventory system is bugged but it's ArmA's fault, not mod's. It's been a problem for ages that if you put into a container of any sort something that doesn't fit said container this item disappears. Even in dayz we lost one sniper rifle and one AK to this bug.

@WaxMan

Er, two main weapons? And how do you plan to carry them? One on each shoulder? It's already possible to do this if you have bigger backpack, like ALICE pack. But besides that situation it would be really dumb. It's already ridiculous (try to put a rifle into a backpack, I wish you good luck)

[WaxMan (DayZ) 0]

@WaxMan

Er' date=' two main weapons? And how do you plan to carry them? One on each shoulder? It's already possible to do this if you have bigger backpack, like ALICE pack. But besides that situation it would be really dumb. It's already ridiculous (try to put a rifle into a backpack, I wish you good luck)

[/quote']

:huh: I did not even get to deal with the issue of carrying more than one primary, as I had already dismissed the option due to affecting immersion and game feel

[aopfin87 7]

ArmA2 inventory system is fine for tactical shooter but it lacks quite a bit when it comes to survival game.

Biggest issue is that it's entirely grid based and most items take one slot regardless of weight or size. For example 5 rounds of rifle ammo takes same amount of space as full AK-47 magazine. In reality 5 medium calibre rifle cartritges weight around 100-150g while full AK-47 mag weighs around 800g depending on material it was made from.

Here's a picture to illustrate what I mean:

I think best and most realistic inventory system would be the similar as in STALKER games. Here's a screen of STALKER:CoP inventory:

With some modifications that would be perfect for DayZ too. Here are the modifications I suggest:

1. Make better backbags increase the amount of slots and weight limit. However do this so that more you carry the slower you move regardless of what backbag you have so better backbag won't enable you to haul 50kgs without movement speed penalty.

2. Change the way ammo uses up slots. Like one slot can have 60 rounds of 5.56 NATO, 30 rounds of 7.62x39 or 20 rounds of 7.62x54R. Apply this to magazines too so you could have 2 STANAG mags in one slot, one AK-47 mag or 4 5 round stripper clips of 7.62x54R ammo.

3. Make different magazine types for same caliber, for example polymer and steel magazines for AK-47. Both take the same amount of inventory space but steel magazine weighs around 150g more.

I realize these suggestions are not possible when DayZ is ArmA2 mod but only in future after rocket has gotten licensing agreement for some engine.

[gloopy 6]

Lovely idea!

As you say it's not possible (or easy) with Arma 2 but it's something that should definitely be considered!

[skurcey 11]

what about dont bothering about "UI slots" but just putting a volume and a weight to every objects.

Volume would be backpack limit, while weight would affect the player.

Also, one other main weapon on back max. Some stuff (canteen, knife, pistol,..) could be attached to belt and some others (ammo on lootable ammobelt)

[aopfin87 7]

what about dont bothering about "UI slots" but just putting a volume and a weight to every objects.

Volume would be backpack limit' date=' while weight would affect the player.

Also, one other main weapon on back max. Some stuff (canteen, knife, pistol,..) could be attached to belt and some others (ammo on lootable ammobelt)

[/quote']

That would be neat but determining volume of each item would be a shitload of research for the dev so the slots could represent the approximate volume of the item.

[Banano (DayZ) 0]

+1

[Bill Cosby 0]

Lovely idea!

As you say it's not possible (or easy) with Arma 2 but it's something that should definitely be considered!

The ACE mod has a weight system that even effects your stamina.

It most certainly could be implemented into DayZ, and as for ArmA 3 you all must have missed the part where its going to support java :) Huge modding potential there.

[jetlinerx 2]

Not a fan of the weight part... that means I cant haul ass for as long as I want until I find a building to kill zeds in! XD

[enduin 4]

Why not just factor in the weight to the size of the object so people just need to worry about fitting stuff in their inventory and not also weight management. This being an online game you don't want to be stuck in your backpack fiddling with inventory.

[Land Squid 22]

That would be neat but determining volume of each item would be a shitload of research for the dev so the slots could represent the approximate volume of the item.

I, for one, would be more than happy to assist the game developers in this regard. It would just be a matter of me walking 30 feet from my computer, opening a weapons locker and pulling a variety of items out for measurement and scale pictures (being ex-Mil and a trained gunsmith does tend to help in this regard as well :cool: ).

[Nekosan 20]

IMO inventory management needs priority over anything that doesn't involve stability or bug fixes since basically the inventory is one big bug, I know that's a hang over from the base game but fixing it would go a long way to alleviating people basic frustrations.

A reliable bag-viewing system would be fantastic and I know i can't be the only one who's sick of losing items when trying to swap a weapon out of my backpack on short notice, also nice would be the ability to select and use food/drink from your pack in the action menu (perhaps have it take twice as long to use), juggling free inventory space to scavenge with keeping emergency items at hand is rather annoying and there's no reason why unzipping your pack for a tylenol should take 30 minutes of slight-of-hand.

For a quickfix it would be nice if you could make dropping a weapon or moving it to a backpack only move the weapon itself, currently moving a weapon takes all the ammo too and this regularly results in deleted ammunition (sucks bigtime if you have a scarce weapon).

[That Lamer 0]

Direct complaints about the user interface to bohemia interactive, as it's their problem. They've reused the same hud and backpack interface since operation flashpoint.

[maxovitsj@gmail.com 4]

This is a problem in ARMA it self.

[HannesFury 0]

If forum server overload crashes hadn't eaten up my post, this would have been an elaborate reply on the type of attitude seen in above posts and why it is detramental to development of a mod, along with some thoughts on the actual issue related to the actual topic, but this will have to do:

I agree with OP. Stop being pessimistic, just look what they've done so far with Day Z and where we are heading. A mod is for modding game mechanics, and this is one of those things that need changing into something much more intuitive and visibly manageable. Moreover, there's no doubt in my mind that our fellow dev's will deal with this issue eventually.

[naizarak 41]

it's a hassle but it does work in the end. i wouldn't say that fixing it is a priority, but an updated system would be nice.

[Jugg 33]

Honestly I've had no issues with the inventory system. Once you figure out what's what and how it works its pretty straight forward. Kind of like good old DOS. Oh memories of blue and white.

Any-ways, the only aspect i would like to see implemented (if possible,others doesn't matter all that much) is to be able to see our visual backpack inventory open next to our visual 'on person' inventory with a drag+drop feature. This would make moving things around extremely easy but again, I'm not sure how possible this is in the engine.

[MR DELICIOUS 297]

Haha the inventory system is perhaps the most unintuitive thing in the entire game. It really is a pile of crap. Can you imagine someone kneeling down and trying to work out if they've taken something from the ground, if it's in their backpack, if it's in their pocket, and then having to move it around a bit so they can remember whether or not it's still in the backpack, or if when they were putting it in, the painkillers fell out, and then what "1" means, and whether or not that "1" relates to backpack, the ground, the dead zombie or their pockets.

They really need to find a better model. Hell, I'd prefer the WoW model. Have a slot for chest backs, slot for leg packs, slot for backpack, slot to represent your vanilla clothing pockets, and then character slots for equipment and binocs and what have you.

In any case, a million games have done it better.

That said, it's up to Bohemia to fix this, not DayZ.

[GenesisDju 0]

Mr delicious... I love you dude. You always have the good words and the good appreciation of the situation.

By the way, this is the sort of system who is in the core of the game's code. It will be a pain in the ass to recoding that piece of poo.

[Einherj 6]

The inner workings of the inventory (gear) dialog are indeed handled by the engine itself and cannot be modded, apart from a couple of visual things like colors and such.

[Einherj 6]

Like said, modding the inventory system is currently impossible as it is handled by the engine internally, apart from a couple of visual things.

ArmA 2 also handles inventories as one dimensional arrays instead of two dimensional grids which throws some people off since the inventory (gear) dialog is set up like a grid on the player's part.

Weight system can and has been done before.