[GUIDE] Gear/Inventory

[Tom212 52]

Gear

Note: This is a extract from my starter guide which I will post on the forum soon, quite in depth but it seemed like something that needed covering as so many new players have issues with it. Please rate this thread!

Now my pedigree chums orientating yourself and starting to move is all well and good, however I am sorry to tell you...You are not going to be leaving this place, this dirty and rather backward ex-soviet bloc country will be where you spend your final days. The sooner you come to terms to the fact you can no longer have bubble baths while listening to Abba the sooner we can all move along in this process.

Now as we will not be leaving this place you will need to gather and store supplies to keep alive yes? Well this is why we have our gear. Gear is the name for a menu that shows all the items carried on your player, everything from food to weapons (your inventory if you must). While I cannot argue the gear menu is a lovely little thing it is however quite complicated to a player who is new to ARMA and never played a game of the series, in addition it also has a few bugs and below you may find tips on using the gear to avoid falling victim to these.

Lets take a closer look...

The Layout:

Ok to view the Gear menu you need to press the "G" key by default, be aware when using the gear menu your character enters a animation which is him bending down and placing his hands on the floor as if picking something up.

Ok, please avert your gaze to the picture above. This picture shows you what you will see upon opening your gear menu. As you can see it is split into a number of panels, I have labelled some aspects with coloured circles. Note the thing to remember with the gear is that every slot is restricted to hold a specific type of item. (With exception to the backpacks.)

Ok lets start on the right side, the green circle shows the two slots in the top left and right. These slots will hold binoculars and night vision googles, nothing else.

Below that in the red circle you have two rectangular slots on the left side. The one with the M4 inside stores your current primary weapon. The slot below that holds a backpack as shown. Now to the right of that you have 12 magazine slots, in Day Z these slots will hold all your general goods such as food, some forms of medication, tents, flares etc, etc in addition to primary weapon magazines and grenades.

Below that in the yellow circle you have a medium sized slot in the top left with a pistol inside. This slot holds sidearms, in Day Z this includes flashlights. To the right of that you have 8 secondary magazine slots, these store secondary weapon magazines. In Day Z these slots also hold bandages as you can see in the picture. Below these you have 12 accessory slots, these hold items such as maps, compasses, watches, hunting knives and matchboxes.

Now on the far left you have the black circle. This tab here gives a overview of your gear, it lists all the items you have on your person and the numbers on the right indicate their quantity. There are no numbers on the left in this picture however in the coming pictures you will see some, numbers on the left indicate the quantity of a item in a container you are examining. If there is a item in the list with only numbers on the left and none on the right you currently have no items of this type on your person but they are in the container.

This covers all the gear you hold on your person however you spawn with a backpack and will find better quality backpacks as you travel around and these allow you to store even more goodies, yay...

Backpacks:

Opening your backpack? No zips here in ARMA land, to open your backpack select your backpack in the gear by left clicking the backpack slot highlighted in red in the picture above. Then simply click the open bag button highlighted in yellow.

Now that you have opened your back pack you see a very similar setup as you would if you were picking items up. On the top of the left tab, highlighted in red above, you can see the space/capacity of your backpack. The number on the left in this case 7 tells you how many free slots you have in your bag, the number on the right tells you the total number of slots in your bag.

Now to see what is in your backpack you just look at the numbers on the left (in the main left panel), remember the numbers on the right are what you have on your person. Highlighted in blue are some of these numbers showing my backpack has 2 cans of baked beans among a few other items.

Now moving stuff from your backpack to your active gear and vice versa is simple, lets say I want to move a can of baked beans from my active gear into my backpack. First thing you need to do is to select it, as it is in my active gear I can do this two ways 1 by selecting it in its slot by left clicking (highlighted in yellow). The second option is to select the baked beans item in the list on the left. When selected, using either method, the item name will be highlighted in the list on the left. Now all I need to do is to press the arrow on the left to move a quantity of 1 baked beans from my inventory (the right side) to the bag (the left side).

No matter whether you are putting items in your backpack from your active gear or vice versa, make sure your destination has space otherwise the item will be lost :( . Also note that backpacks can hold any type of item, even weapons, however keep in mind items such as weapons take up more than 1 slot of space.

Dropping Items:

Dropping is simple, move to a clear space of ground with no items to avoid complications and press G to open gear. Then either double click the item in your active inventory you would like to drop or select it and hit the drop button at the bottom of the interface. Note you cannot drop items from your backpack directly to the ground, you must first take it from your bag to your active gear and then drop but make sure your bag is closed whenever you are dropping items.

Picking up items:

Now my friends the last thing to cover on this most interesting subject is the skillful art of picking items up. You must be both athletic and flexible if you are to succeed at this task but most are capable.

First step, you need to find something you want to pick up, such as these beans I have found (shown in the picture above). Now you have found what you want to examine/pickup you need to open the container's gear menu, this may not seem like much of a container since it's on the ground but a container is a term for a group of items and you must open their specific gear menu otherwise you will just be looking at the floor. To open the gear menu for these beans I must move towards the items and have the objects in the center of my screen, I will then receive a gear option in my action menu shown in the red circle and a icon will appear on my screen.

This may seem simple however be prepared for the occasional struggle as it can be quite suprisingly difficult to get the action for a specific group of items due to other game objects being nearby. If you are completely stuck always try going prone (lying down) to avoid objects blocking the target and move closer to get the action. But believe me there are times where even myself, wow I know right, has to move on and give up.

Now I have opened the gear menu for these beans and may now take the tasty beans! (Picture above) The numbers on the left of the left list tab show you what is on the floor, now I want to take the tin of baked beans. I simply select the baked beans item in the list and then click the right arrow to move it into my active inventory.

Now you do not necessarily have to take items from the ground into your active gear, if you wish you may put a item straight into your backpack if you have room. Its is the same method as opening your backpack normally, select it and click open. (Picture above) However there is a difference, when viewing containers if you open your backpack you get a overview of it on the right as you can see here. This gives a visual representation of the contents rather than the list. Simply move the items from the floor into you backpack as if it was your active gear.

Notes and tips on avoiding bugs!

Now you are experts in the fine arts of pocket management! Congratulations, you deserve a victory pint! Now just a few other things to note:

Beware of swimming, you may lose your gear. Yes, there is a chance gear will drop if you are swimming. This obviously brings the dihlema of filling your water bottle at inland sources where you must swim to get the action, personally I just check the area is clear or have a friend cover me and leave my gear near the water while I swim to be on the safe side.

Dropping gear, if you are dropping gear with the intent of picking it up again its defiently worth spending a few seconds finding a nice clear or flat spot to drop it. This avoids losing equipment in grass, some bugs which lose items in terrain and having other game objects such as some types of bush and grass blocking the action therefore stopping recovery. It is also worth dropping different types of gear in different spots, e.g. when I drop my gear to swim I find a flat spot and then drop my bag in one place and my weapons and ammo in another as I have had bugs due to grouping items with bags. Also be careful of dropping items in places like towers and some ground floors of buildings as items can appear under the floor sometimes.

Biggest mistake new players make! Make sure you have space in your backpack before moving items into it, same goes for taking items from your bag to your active inventory! This will usually delete the item as it just seems to disappear! Keep in mind some bigger items like parts and tents take up multiple slots so may not fit in your bag if you only have 1 slot. For similar reasons in addition to a few other bugs avoid using the "Take" action on items, e.g. do not select "Take M1911" but instead just use "gear" and pick it up that way, much safer. However some items cannot be taken through gear such as tents.

SWAPPING backpacks, the best method to swap a backpack is to drop your current pack. You can do this by selecting it in your active inventory and using the drop button like it was any other item. Be sure to make sure this is in a flat open space as covered above to avoid it bugging. Pick up the backpack you wish to swap for, then move over to your old backpack you dropped on the floor. You will get a option to open the backpack on the floor, this allows you to now empty the contents of your old bag directly into your new one without fiddling around.

Hmm I have more notes I meant to insert here but can't think of them now, keep an eye on this and I will update it!

Hope this was useful and remember to check out my entire guide when I release it!

[boneboys 7988]

Thanks, I've been struggling with my backpack since they were introduced into ArmA, this little tutorial will help me struggle a little more.

Good work,, now where did I hide my gawd darn green glasses...lol.

Thanks, for a much needed post.

[Grey2ham 1]

Have some rep for a well thought out, helpful and constructive post

[Tom212 52]

Thanks for the feedback and the rep guys, I am glad it helped. I actually enjoyed making this guide, I have a feeling I may have missed a thing or two so please, if you have a question about gear that you think I have not answered or are having trouble with a bug, ask and I will not only answer but add it to the guide to help other players with the same issue.

Would also be nice if this could be stickied so it isn't lost under the huge haypile that is this forum.

[Malarky (DayZ) 0]

Wow, thank you so much!

I was so confused about the inventory, was slowly learning, and this just made everything snap into place.

If i run into you in game, I'll give you a can of beans.

[Tom212 52]

Bump, please can this be stickied so new players can find it? Thanks.

[kinex 1]

lloll

[HannesFury 0]

This was great, extremely educative and clear.

Sticky, sticky, sticky. Sticky it please!

[Freeborne (DayZ) 7]

LOL. You use the name 'thatniceguy' as obviously a joke? ArmA has always had a steep learning curve, and DayZ should be highly commended for bringing in so many new players (hell, look at the top selling games on Steam the past 2 weeks!). This tutorial is brilliant and well illustrated, and needed to help out all the newbies. If you don't want them all going over to Diablo3 in a few weeks, you need to get them past the steep learning curve so they can really enjoy ArmA and stick around.

There's a few pointers you really need to include, as they are basically mistakes to not include them.

General rule of thumb for me. If I want to transfer items between backpack and gear, I look at empty spot on the ground. If I want to trade anything between the ground and my gear or backpack, I look at items on the ground (this includes dropping items).

You advised the opposite. I strongly disagree that you should NEVER look at empty spot on ground if you want to drop something. It won't always drop where you expect, and often gets clipped in some area that it's hard to point at later to pick back up.

So what you do when dropping things (like Tires), is look for some tins, and then open your gear when you see the Gear icon over the tins. Then anything you drop will be grouped with the tins, making it easier to pick up later. Otherwise you end up with several 'groups' of Gear all within 1m of each other, and are forever walking around trying to point at a specific item while the others get in the way.

Also, if you look at items on the ground, open Gear, and then Open Backpack, you get a graphical layout of your Backpack, which is much easier to use.

[Grey2ham 1]

I test drop something of low value like beans on the ground and then, if i can see it, use the gear function to place things from back pack onto the beans and then into inventory.

Useful if you're in the middle of nowhere.

[boneboys 7988]

Something that I no longer do is hit the "enter key" to pick up/swop...

The original (pistol or whatever) is lost for good, correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks.

[Freeborne (DayZ) 7]

When trading weapons, don't double-click the gun on ground to auto-swap it for whatever you have (you end up losing the original weapon). First drop your gun and pick up the other. You can do this all while looking at the gun on ground

[Tom212 52]

General rule of thumb for me. If I want to transfer items between backpack and gear' date=' I look at empty spot on the ground. If I want to trade anything between the ground and my gear or backpack, I look at items on the ground (this includes dropping items).

You advised the opposite. I strongly disagree that you should NEVER look at empty spot on ground if you want to drop something. It won't always drop where you expect, and often gets clipped in some area that it's hard to point at later to pick back up. [/quote']

This avoids losing equipment in grass' date=' some bugs which lose items in terrain and having other game objects such as some types of bush and grass blocking the action therefore stopping recovery.[/quote']

I will make this clearer in the guide but I was not intending to come across as advising against dropping gear with other gear but advising simply if you are going to drop gear somewhere new (without a gear container already present) you should keep it away from objects as in game objects like trees and another other misc items that are part of the map as these can force the new gear container away. I will add a mention about being able to add to existing gear containers as a easier way to drop gear however.

I would still stand by the fact you are completely fine to drop kit in a empty spot on the ground as long as it is clear like I stated. The only time bugs occur are when there are other nearby objects or excessively uneven terrain. Yes in a perfect world we wouldn't do it at all but you can't be scared of bugs all the time and there is not always a collection of loot for you to drop your kit in if you are in the woods, for example. As long as you give a little bit of thought about where you place things you should be absolutely fine :), if you are still scared you can always do...

I test drop something of low value like beans on the ground and then' date=' if i can see it, use the gear function to place things from back pack onto the beans and then into inventory.

Useful if you're in the middle of nowhere.

[/quote']

Also' date=' if you look at items on the ground, open Gear, and then Open Backpack, you get a graphical layout of your Backpack, which is much easier to use.

[/quote']

I also mentioned this and included a diagram of this graphical layout. By "much easier to use" I am not sure what you mean as you cannot use any alternative when it comes to putting equipment from the ground straight into your backpack. And there is no way to use this interface while putting something that is already in your active gear into your backpack.

When trading weapons' date=' don't double-click the gun on ground to auto-swap it for whatever you have (you end up losing the original weapon). First drop your gun and pick up the other. You can do this all while looking at the gun on ground

[/quote']

Yep I will be sure to add a little more detail about this problem on the guide, I already touched on using the "take" action which is doing the same thing in practicality.

Thanks for all your feedback guys and over the moon to see it helped you all!

[rverdi12@gmail.com 5]

casuals

[AlfalphaCat 66]

How about a tip on picking up a different backpack than the one you currently have? Has been tricky at times. Not entirely sure about the mechanics of it.

[BlackAlpha 12]

If there's an item close to the backpack, you might not get the option to pick up the backpack. You'll need to pick up the items first (basically, reposition the items) and then you'll get the action to pick up the backpack.

[Bremerton 1]

Excellent gear post, sir. Rep points for you!

[Reklin 56]

How about a tip on picking up a different backpack than the one you currently have? Has been tricky at times. Not entirely sure about the mechanics of it.

Scroll wheel, Open the backpack.

Open your backpack.

Swap the items from your backpack into the backpack on the floor using the < > arrow keys in the inventory window.

Pick up backpack.

Voila!

[Dess (DayZ) 0]

When I kill someone I can loot their pack but can't figure out how to take their weapon. Anyone know how?

[Tom212 52]

How about a tip on picking up a different backpack than the one you currently have? Has been tricky at times. Not entirely sure about the mechanics of it.

Added' date=' thanks for the feedback! Check the bottom of the tips if you are still having trouble with it. :)

When I kill someone I can loot their pack but can't figure out how to take their weapon. Anyone know how?

To take weapons from a dead player you need to look at their body until you get the "gear" option, from here you can see their active gear. To then take a weapon you may take it like any other item, by double clicking the weapon to move it into your active gear (this will auto equip it and swap it for any weapon you currently have in this slot placing the old weapon on the dead person). You can also put weapons into backpacks but beware they take more than 1 slot.

[FragMonkey 1]

To take weapons from a dead player you need to look at their body until you get the "gear" option, from here you can see their active gear. To then take a weapon you may take it like any other item, by double clicking the weapon to move it into your active gear (this will auto equip it and swap it for any weapon you currently have in this slot placing the old weapon on the dead person). You can also put weapons into backpacks but beware they take more than 1 slot.

How do I get the gear icon? I only seem to see the option to loot their backack

[ErwinRumble 33]

My backpacks always delete themselves whenever I drop them. I tried to get an alice bag, but when I dropped my coyote bag, both disappeared.

This game is fun, but hard to actually enjoy if bugs keep screwing me over.

[Tom212 52]

How do I get the gear icon? I only seem to see the option to loot their backack

I am afraid the ARMA engine can be buggy regarding accessing the gear of other entities. You will have to move around, try using freelook to get the option. My last attempt is always to go prone and move in close to the object as this often gets you past any objects blocking the action. You can also try simply pressing G, but you should be getting the option.

[RPlasticPirate (RP) 4]

Thanks for a neat guide - hope they fix some of the worst bugs soon.

Being such a central thing to this mod I'm guessing in the long run Flashpoint/ARMA's issues in this area since birth may finally be fixed. Will be interesting to see if ARMA3 still has these issues.

[Wolfhound (DayZ) 0]

Thanks, really helpful especially about losing gear to bugs.