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[Eadow]

So lately I have been making a small but complicated RPG and in the process I have taken a liking of analyzing inventory systems in games. In the past, they were an exclusivity of RPGs and adventure games, but today almost every game has some kind of inventory.

So I want to know from you, what are the best inventory systems out there and what can be improved in today's inventories??

What are some of the most original inventory ideas and what makes them unique?? Do you prefer the ones that have an invisible storage or the ones that the character needs to hold the items in his pockets and bags?? Make the player control the weight of their items(The Elder Scrolls) or try to organize things so more items fit(Resident Evil 4)??

Let me give you an example: I love the Morrowind inventory, because to use, equip or drop items, you need to pick up the item with your mouse and them place it in your character or outside the inventory window to drop it. This kind of interaction makes the player feel like he's actually interacting with a physical item, even though the game utilizes the simple invisible inventory system.

That's it, I'm eager to see your opinions on this matter. 

[beeglebug]

I know it's not a popular system any more, but I really liked the old Ultima Online inventory system where you had a graphic of an open bag, and dragged around correctly scaled items (weight was the limiting factor).

Because other players could look in your inventory and see it exactly as you left it (and if they failed a skill check you were notified) a whole system of player behaviour evolved around manipulating the inventory to stop malicious activity.

I have fond memories of making sure my valuables were always in several nested levels of bags to stop snooping/pickpocketing (more skill checks needed = more chances they fail and I get notified), and of covering up items with other larger items to stop prying eyes when I went into 'dodgy' areas.

Of course the counterbalance was the occasionally frustrating need to drag around tiny individual gold coins / magical ingredients, and having to spend 5 minutes looking under and behind things to find the diamond I know I have here somewhere...

[Eadow]

Oh wow, a system that makes you organize your inventory so that other players don't steal from you?? That creates a whole other level of blending the inventory and gameplay. I wonder if more games do something similar. It's something we don't see a lot actually, inventories are normally something that feels completely separate from the rest of the gameplay.

[Vallar]

A similar example of what beeglebug has mentioned is what is implemented in Mortal Online.

While it isn't the exact thing, but players can steal from you and access you inventory any time, so you have to have certain items placed in stacks if you don't want them to be stolen (for example gold or silver in a stack of 50+ can't be stolen, anything else can). The limit being the weight too.

For me the inventory system implemented in Anarchy Online was really cool. It was a whole game of itself within the game. While the inventory was unrealistic by all means, it was actually sometimes fun (and others quite frustrating) to deal with.

You had your inventory a list of 22 squares (if I recall correctly) and each square could house a bag, each bag could had anything between 12-22 squares themselves.
Couple that with the ability to stack certain items (almost any item that isn't armor, quest item, weapon or special item)... it was really cool to see how different players managed their inventory. It also implemented the drag and drop to character window (as well as quick wear by use of right click).

Another simplified version and works REALLY well for the game is how Risk of Rain handles inventory. You don't have an inventory by the literal sense... but any items you pick up are divided into 2 types. Useable or passive. If it is a useable then you only have 1 slot (so you had to choose which one to pick up and which one to leave behind), as each item gives you a certain skill.
Passive items are items that gives you passive buffs and it was listed horizontally at the bottom of the screen.

One other example is how some mobile games handle inventory. It is basically a square based list with all items picked up, but you have the ability to sell these items right inside the inventory and turn them into cash. That also works the other way around; your inventory has a little store button that allows you to buy items and upgrade items as well.

[Eadow]

Yes, I also like simple simplistic inventories that give you only what you really need and nothing more.

One inventory that I like is the Harvest Moon one. You need to buy bigger bags so you can carry more things, and to carry and store your produce you need to buy a basket, fridge, shelf, chests and other things. So you need to get money so you can buy storage space that will get you more money.

Anyone got more interesting inventories in games or inventory ideas?? Has anyone here released games with an inventory system who can break it down for us??

[SirNiko]

Mortal Online was made by several of the guys that produced Ultima Online. The similarities are intentional.

I kind of hate inventory management. I'm happiest when I have to fiddle with it the least. At a minimum, I'd rather not have to think very hard about how often I return to drop off loot at basecamp.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star had a kind of fun inventory thing where you collected stickers in a book. When you wanted to use a sticker, often you had to manually use the control stick to stick down the edges, which was a bit fun. There was also a museum where you collected all the stickers and stuck them on the walls in the correct rooms to get the full set. The stickers ran the entire combat system, since it was only possible to attack by using stickers and it was possible for a poor player to be inefficient and run out of stickers or have useless ones for the monster they're fighting.

That was actually fun for me because collecting the stickers was the entire game, and the strategy revolved around making use of stickers so they didn't clutter up your sticker book, but you had enough to fight off the monsters you'd meet. I'd love to see more inventory based combat systems like that, since Sticker Star fell apart near the end when it was easy to stock up on elemental stickers to end battles in a single turn.

Sometimes you had to use generic stickers from your inventory for various reasons, like one level where you were lost in the woods and you could stick stickers on the signposts to remember your way. The signs would accept any sticker, so it was up to you to decide what to stick there to remember the correct path.

http://jayisgames.com/archives/2011/05/help_the_hero.php

Help the Hero was a whole game about managing a hero's inventory to try and keep him outfitted for every fight while under pressure of time to figure out how to make it fit, or what to discard. I like the idea of making the inventory aspect front and center rather than an overlapping mechanic to deal with while exploring.

[GameRoom]

The best inventory is the one you have to deal with the least. Search, auto-sort tools, plenty of space, etc.

[Kytin]

My own philosophy when it comes to inventories is "Getting lots of stuff is fun. HAVING lots of stuff can be a pain.". As such, I prefer sharply limited (or non-interactable) inventories.

[7Soul]

I love the Diablo 2 inventory. It creates this meta-game of figuring out what's worth picking up, instead of just hoarding everything you find.
Only problem is that it was too small when it comes to storing, forcing you to creating other characters to hold all the loot. It would be even better with more inventory space, and maybe other ways of storing it away.



Path of Exile does a good job with its tabbed stash, being able to possibly store thousands of items.



Both games could use some kind of auto-sorting system though. Organizing everything still takes may hours...

[Glyph]

The best inventory is the one you have to deal with the least. Search, auto-sort tools, plenty of space, etc.

That's basically my sentiment. I'd like to also add that I hate having an arbitrary limit on inventory. There's no feeling worse to me than sifting through my items and discarding the least useful ones to make room for such-and-such. Weight systems add another level of annoyance in my eyes, since weight and value generally don't correlate so you have to take that almost-always completely meaningless variable into account.

Another thing I'd like to mention is how the inventory feels. There's a difference between the menu just appearing and the menu sliding in with a quick 'click' sound. Audial/Visual feedback makes inventories feel a lot better to navigate, but the amount of interaction with them should still be kept to a minimum so it doesn't get stale.