Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General Ideas about Inventory

Hello folks,

Inventory is such a dreadful topic in most games which include loot, which is in many games the case.
Even I am sure Larian is aware of the issue I thought it might be a good idea to bring up a few thoughts about it, just in case

- Some color coding system of item names might be useful, e.g. if the item is useful in any in-game system like crafting, cooking, magic use, skill boost.

- Sorting button(s) which allow to sort items in the bags by size, category and/or value.

- Maybe different kind of loot 'containers' which can protect its content against elements like fireball tossing partners or unplanned diving excurses to the bottom of a lake.
For people who like it vanilla that could be turned off as option that carried loot gets not affected even the person dances through a camp fire.

- The possibility to establish maybe small stashes in the world to turn players into squirrels to stash stuff for bad times in case they loose what they carry, presuming they not forget where they stashed it


Ok, those are just some ideas to bring out other ideas and thoughts. Anything which helps to keep some order in bags is welcome as I know enough games where the message 'Your inventory is full' was giving you stomach cramps

In Divine Divinity you could move chests around and stash stuff wherever you wished, so I would think that should be possible in D:OS, as well.

There will be a couple chests in the Homestead on the Shelter Plane at the End of Time.

So your idea is that by default, items in your inventory will get damaged by fire and water and such. I can't ever see that being a good idea to implement in a game. I don't care if it's "realistic", it would not be fun in any way at all.

*chuckles*
Oh, good old Grumpy.
I think you lay words way too much on the gold scale
My postings are just some general brainstorming to hopefully stimulate some from others as well. Just because I bring up points doesn't mean that I do favor them personal or not but what is possible to do
I am very aware that TOO much realism can be counter productive in a movie or a game. On the other side do people enjoy different kind of challenges. Some just like to fight enemies, others like to explore. Others like to face challenges of the environment or to survive as games get with the years on the other side SO vanilla to please the more and more casual players that it can be also TOO smooth and comfy. But I see that not a problem as long a game allows such extra options optional.

I have to admit that I am for example a fan of hardcore play as the challenge makes certain games more interesting. Of course playing just with one life is not always desirable but it also makes every victory more to be proud of as the consequences of facing danger can give a thrill a soft core game can't. But as long hard core is just optional and not mandatory I find it a good idea as it is of course not for everybody.
Actually, I would probably pick personally a 'fireproof' option for bags. Others might pick soft core mode but would enjoy bags which can be harmed.
The only point of the posting is that it could be a possible option which some like to make their game a bit more interesting by adding it

I would love to hear some input from you what you might like to see or if you have another interesting idea about inventory to make it more interesting or at least more comfortable as I am sure you do have some ideas or wishes yourself.

1] Nice! It was sometimes annoying to search through a chest full of loot to find the apples, oranges, fruit, tomatoes, and other small parts behind big loot items in my inventory in DD ... so why not an option/button for sorting items by size and or category

2] I like your viewpoint to share your ideas, how bizare or strange they can be ... the most brillant ideas can be born out of randomly brainstorming !!
It can work like an avalanche: one idea plop up in someones mind ...
And afterwards it bring up many more ideas ...
Who knows one moment/day/week/month/year ... later one Idea starts to Shine brighter than the sun ... !!

Oh shush...for an old dragon you know how to smear honey around the beard of an old Dwarf.
Now you know why Dwarves have such big beards to hide the blushing cheeks ;p

I wish I could be a writer but my English is just too modest for that. But well, we all have our skills and perks when our character sheets got rolled by our parents ;p

Actually, the inventory sorting button was in some game long time ago, I forgot which one it was as I saw so many. I think it was the old game 'Sacred Gold' which I can also highly recommend btw
I was ever surprised that this idea was actually not copied since then from other loot heavy games like MMO's for example as bag management is one of the most annoying (maybe THE most annoying:)) aspects in loot heavy games.

Of course meanwhile other games started to tackle ideas how to bring some order in the chaos.
I like in WoW how items which are not good for anything (cooking, crafting, healing, etc. are color coded as trash loot you can easily sell without the nasty surprise later that they were worth/good for something.

Another feature which should be standard but still isn't in some old games that quest related items are marked as such and then later get automatically removed when the quest is done and/or you traveled out of level/range from the quest to not steal your time torturing your head what that odd item was for.


Of course I can come sometimes up with ideas which were maybe before in other Larian games or were mentioned before in the forum. But Ia m way too busy to keep an eye on all postings.
Cross references to similar postings are always welcome from those who do have the time and overview

I don't really have a lot of new ideas for inventory management. The good ones have generally been done before: sorting, separate tab for quest items, different categories for items like in Divine Divinity (weapons, equipment, potions, magic items etc.).

Maybe yes ...
I only hope the inventory system is better than in DD because of the tab "Misc" in DD start to become a "mess" most of the time

Who knows what can be found under the skulls of members with brand new brilliant ideas !? Tell me that.
I don't have a crystal ball to look into the future ... !
Do You have one ?

A more interactive inventory would be neat, like say naming containers either fully or generically so when you hover over container it would say "Such n such's food bag" or "My armor vault" instead of "bag"

In the Ultima games from 6+ I really wish that was a feature. Trying to find anything in your inventory, especially with the "container in container" option across however many characters were in your party was a nightmare. "Now just where did I put that key" Well it was on your third party members inventory three bags down hidden under some bread, lol.

We'll just have to find Sport Billy's bag in the game and every thing is solved.

I think that 'container in container' was one of D&D's crazy ideas. I had no clue that someone actually adapted that insanity into a computer game

Naming bags sounds good when you plan to presort your stuff through labeled bags. I think EQ2 has now such a system.
A search function might be also nice as EQ2 bags offer that feature. It tells you then item X is in bag 3, slot 12.

That brings up another idea. It would be neat if you could preset if you don't want to loot certain kind of loot categories like herbs, trash loot, etc. in case you just don't wnat to deal with certain kind of stuff. Instead of modifying the loot options could that be also approached through a filter system for the bags to not just accept certain things.
Would be up to a programmer to decide which approach would be easier.

That reminds me how I had my survivor in DD keep getting into trouble as she picked more then once accidentally an apple up in the crowded market and got into trouble with the guards for that. But at least that way I was able to got my jaw dropped for the offer from the guard. That line remidned you that the game was not made in the US and I loved it that they put it in anyway