Inventory Overhaul: News/Ideas?

[hatfieldcw 184]

I'm bad at searching, I guess. I gave it my best, and didn't find anything that scratched my itch, so I'm starting a new thread about the ideal inventory system for DayZ.

I'm looking for links to official statements about how inventory will work, and also your ideas for what would be awesome. I'm going to describe mine, probably at some length, below, but you don't need to read my idea, you can just post your own. I'm not looking for an in-depth discussion of my suggestion, although I'd certainly appreciate feedback. Let's talk about how we should be managing our stuff in the zombie apocalypse.

Stop reading now unless you're interested in what would have been my reply if I'd successfully found a thread like this one:

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My idea: Modular inventory, hardcore stuff management, performance influenced by amount of gear stored and the way in which it is stored.

What I mean by modular: I want equipable articles of clothing, things like cargo pants with extra pockets or holsters that hold pistols, to be worn on your character that will offer different types and amounts of storage space. Just like we have a main inventory for primary magazines, food, drink, flares, etc. and a secondary inventory for bandages/pistol ammo/M203 rounds and a toolbelt for knives/maps/entrenching tools and slots for primary/secondary weapons, binoculars/rangefinders and NVG, I want to broaden and deepen that to include sheaths for knives, holsters for pistols, slings for long guns and many other things.

Hardcore stuff management: Gear should be rated in terms of mass, volume and--in some cases--type. A bag that holds a cubic foot of gear shouldn't be able to hold a cubic foot of gold, because you'd be crushed under it. Similarly, you can't put a windbreaker into your shirt pocket, even though the weight wouldn't be a problem. No more should a heat pack and a ghillie suit be identical in the inventory.

Ammo management: I want every bullet to be accounted for, in some way. If I have a STANAG magazine with 12 in it and one with 24 in it, I want to be able to make a 30-rounder and a 6-rounder with a simple right-click. Ideally, I'd also like to be able to make two 18-round mags so I can give one to a buddy without one of us getting hosed.

Performance effects: Carrying more would effect stealth, running speed and endurance. Also, certain slots should be reserved (or at least optimized) for certain items. A tactical vest has magazine pouches on it. Yeah, you can put a box of matches and a flashlight in one of those, but if your magazines are stored in them, you should get a bonus to reload speed when you're loading that mag. Plus, environmental effects like cold, heat or damage would be influenced by what you're wearing. A nice warm hat and gloves will boost your resistance to cold, but at the expense of some performance, like earflaps muffling sound or gloves slowing down ammunition transfer to combine magazines.

The character inventory map would start looking like something out of Diablo, with each equipped article of clothing offering a certain amount of storage. I'd say make three main storage garments:

Clothing: This is just your shirt and pants. Little to no encumbrance, this also decides a lot of your character's appearance. Suits that can be changed into would include things like the ghillies and the uniforms and such, and also include things like photographer's vests and weather gear. A sweet cowboy duster or a poncho or a trenchcoat would keep you warmer and drier in the rain, but would be too hot other times.

Backpack: This would require little change. Varying capacity, maybe some kind of CamelBak hydration system in a couple of them, frames for additional load at the expense of maneuverability, etc. You could go fast and lean with just a day pack, or you could get a big ezpedition pack and carry your house on your shoulders. It would often be appropriate to put this down during certain types of work, depending on the model and your needs.

Utility gear: This starts out as your belt, which will have slots on it for other stuff. When you quip a pistol it'll go in a holster on your belt. Hatchet goes on the belt. Knife sheath on the belt. Yeah, you can put two holsters on the belt and have two pistols. Three? Sure. The only restriction is the awkward weight and of course your circumference. In addition to the belt, I'd include bandoliers for some types of ammo so you can look like Chewbacca or Animal Mother as you tromp around.

Primary weapons don't fit into backpacks, so it's appropriate to have them slung. I'd say allow three slots for wearing stuff on your back: Left shoulder, right shoulder and center. Obviously, your backpack will almost always take that center spot, but it should be possible to sling as many as three primary weapons at a time, at the expense of storage space.

Finally, your hands themselves should constitute storage units, so I can holster my sidearm, sling my rifle and pick up another primary weapon or an ax or whatever, then just drop it when I'm done with it without having to have enough storage space to keep it. If you play any Dwarf Fortress, you'll have an idea what I'm talking about here, where it sometimes is appropriate to let go of an elf's throat so you can pull your ax out of his thigh and polish him off.

I like the idea of leaning my gun in the corner of the room while I barricade a door or eat my beans, then grabbing my gun and moving on.

[TheDesigner 1197]

I have no problems with inventory management, it's not rocket science. I don't understand all these people whining about it (not you, others). The game will most likely have similar GUI with more options, but I don't have any problems with the current GUI.

[L0G!N (DayZ) 149]

Check out the mockup that is in the thread linked in my signature, i think you will find pretty much all the things you suggest integrated in that mock-up ... and sorry i didn't yet make a thread to put it in, but seeing you now made it, i won't have to :) ...

ps. there are also some other threads related to inventory in the thread linked in my signature, feel free to read them and comment :)

[TheDesigner 1197]

I don't need anything, though. The current GUI is fine.