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Incline Icon-based inventory vs List-based inventory

?

  • List-based

  • Icon-based

  • Other(please specify)


Results are only viewable after voting.

DraQ

Arcane
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Realistic inventories would be nice though.
JA2 1.13 and its pouch management (tm) comes to mind. Hard weight limits. Separate big sack inventory. Mules. Actual ones.
"Hard points" for certain big items.
No inventory space as such. Only equippable items targetting a number of slots. Some of those items may function as containers no mater if they also provide other functions (backpack, pockets in worn clothes, dagger with hollowed out hilt, etc.), providing tetris-y inventory grid smaller than their size (where you can put other items - including containers).

Game builds and displays convenient tree menu for navigating those containers.

So, for example, if you are naked your inventory is limited to what you can hold in your hands (and then it occupies them), but you have slots on your body for worn stuff. If you put stuff on your body (like clothes, wearable containers, etc.) you start having actual inventory space to work with.
A cool thing about such system would be easy discarding, picking up and transfer of inventory, for example you could drop your backpack to not be encumbered in combat (or while fleing), take it off and stash it somewhere before swimming through the moat, maybe entrusting it to another character to get it to the infiltrated place via other channels.
 
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Ultima VII is by far the best. The only things missing were quality of life features such as auto-sort, auto-loot with options (e.g. food items -> Shamino's bag), auto-consumption of food items, etc. The game is seriously dated in this regard, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved, just like RTS have improved since Dune. I don't get why no one tried the ame system again. Tetris inventory is still the best alternative, but it's not quite the same thing

Some degenerates who probably don't clean their room like Jordan Peterson told them to don't want to spend time organizing their inventory, but to me that's the biggest part of adventuring. If you go camping, you'll spend some time organizing your things, no? Most games basically have you throwing all your belongings in a bag, which is just awful.
 

Bony Hands

Literate
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Aug 20, 2020
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Icon based is better for games with that don't have too much items and equipment as you don't have to worry about ten different items sharing the same icon and can tell what you're carrying at a glance. Lists are better with games with much more items and items can can have lots of modifiers. You want to be able to tell about your vial of goblin blood from your potion of healing, or your Leather Armor of +3 Speed from your Cursed Leather Armor of Weakness, for example.
 

Darth Canoli

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Joking aside good icon based system with possible inventory Tetris is the more pleasing option.
Games that have succeeded in this are:
Might & Magic 6-8
NEO Scavenger
Jagged Alliance 2

Inventory Tetris, for sure, but only when it's perfectly handled like in Might & Magic VI:

mightandmagicvi_3.jpg


And i don't mean just visually, fast and easy to use too.
It's just unmatched.
 

DraQ

Arcane
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Inventory Tetris, for sure, but only when it's perfectly handled like in Might & Magic VI
It's not perfectly handled if you can't stuff a weapon in there sideways.

Anyway, inventory tetris is an icon based inventory, just with non-uniform icon sizes and spatial constraints (there are uniform icon based inventories with spatial constraints - see IE games - but those are invariably retarded).
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
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Icon grids.

Ultima 7 system can be tough but it's a simulationist thing - it's up to you to organise the pack properly using multiple containers and putting items in the right places.

Inventory tetris is good if the inventory isn't too big and it's not an item heavy game. If it is, just go to a normal uniform icon grid instead.

Icon systems are only bad if the icons are drawn badly. Lists are almost always a problem because of the constant scrolling back and forth.
 

Harthwain

Magister
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Dec 13, 2019
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I like how NEO Scavenger handled inventory tetris - it offers a lot of options in terms of expanding your carrying capacity (extra pockets, hand-held bags, trolleys, backpacks, etc.), while still maintaining limits.
 

Bad Sector

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Why is it not possible to have both options, unless inventory tetris is part of the game? Display items as big, medium, or small icons. Or display them as a list. Then sort them by name, type, size, date... Oh, wait. That's Microsoft Windows.

g1SgUHu.png
 

Q

Augur
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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Torment: Tides of Numenera Divinity: Original Sin 2
I like Inventory Tetris cause it makes a good distinction between different types of items.
But Lists can be superior if organised well. Caves of Qud is nice example, but i'd want even more rows with items data. And can we have nice icons too.

Escape from Tarkov have nice realistic modern shooter tetris-inventory with all those add-in pockets. But stash inventory is kinda mess.
Tarkov.jpg
 
Last edited:
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Codex Year of the Donut
This wasn't a poll btw, it was a test.
26.3% of you passed. The correct answer was list-based.
 

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