The limited size of the inventory is, was, and continues to be the most vexing and unpleasant aspect of the game; worse even than the stability issues and Steam's random deletion of saves. Even with the addition of the pocket dimension, and even if playing in debug mode so that the pocket dimension's countdown timer can be freely ignored, the game still reaches a point where inventory management takes up more time than actual play by around dungeon level five. The only real solution is to make the size of the inventory unlimited. If somebody picks something up when the inventory window is full, a new line of inventory and a scrollbar should appear. Or possibly a second inventory window if that's easier to code. (If this is implemented there could perhaps also be an option somewhere to turn it off to appease the radically anal-retentive purists who insist that inventory management is more fun than actually playing the game, and that games aren't supposed to be enjoyable anyway {And, BTW, to these extremist fundamentalist Roguelike fanatics I would also like to point out that the number of things you can carry in Dwarf Fortress is theoretically unlimited, movement penalties notwithstanding}). ----------------------------------------------- [Furthermore, I would also like to point out that the current inventory system doesn't even make very much sense from an in-game, (in-world, in-story, verisimilitudinous) perspective. Surely 41 different food items and potion bottles would realistically take up less room and weigh less than 300 baseballs, rather than taking up much more]
A full inventory is generally my prompt to take a break from DoD - I feel that removing the need for inventory management would improve the flow of most games. Althought, it does remove choices, which is never a good thing... and I've read the argument that since you keep a lot of resources in the inventory, limiting its size is a form of balance - which seems logical. Perhaps an altertantive would be to keep items which are strictly "reagents" directly in the crafting interface... again, it might mean massive rebalancing, since then you can't sell stuff as a non-crafter, but you might get more use out of items which give crafting levels, and I'm no longer sure what to think, to be honest. undefined
I was about to make a suggestion to this effect. Since Wizardlands inventory management has been a chore with absolutely no point aside from time-sinking. My solution is as follows - Maintain the current inventory size,. BUT whenever you pick up an item that exceeds the limit automatically transport said item to the pocket dimension. That would maintain the inventories limit on things you can do without wrecking a monster zoo, but also allow you not to waste time flipping into the p-dimension (heh... p-dimension...) just to dump a bunch of items for no reason. Similarly - you should probably be allowed to sell things from the p-dimension (hehehehe) directly to Brax assuming you are standing in a store.
That's so very close to my (oft-repeated) request to be able to drop items directly on the PD icon to send them there, auto-stacking if a suitable item is already in there. Perhaps combine the two... The PD/Zoo interaction is, for me, enough reason to keep the limited on-hand inventory and PD cooldown timer; enough that Zoo rewards should be seriously buffed to emphasise it.
To be honest, I think it's a bit of a gnarly (Dust... Wind... Dude...) idea. Let me explain. The inventory is there, essentially, in the early game to hold stuff for you to sell, and as you progress and develop, to hold the items you need to survive the floors. The Pocket Dimension did negate this somewhat by allowing - particularly craft-heavy builds - a place to store important items whilst freeing up, potentially, large chunks of the inventory bag. It has, as MrEntity suggested, made Inventory/PD management more of a chore than it ever was - especially if you're as anal as I am about organisation - but at the same time it did make aspects of the game, mostly crafting, easier to keep a handle on. If you make the inventory unlimited, then you negate the need for the Pocket Dimension, but you also unbalance the game. Almost every game with an inventory facility has a limit on it. Whether it's an MMO, a single-player RPG or an FPS, you can only (typically) carry so much, irrespective of whether it's overly-conservative for balance (XCOM) or potentially ridiculous (walking around in Dredmor with every inventory slot either armour or a weapon). It's there to stop the player exploiting various systems. As it currently stands, if you horde everything you come across, you should be fine with sensible management of your inventory and Pocket Dimension, with issues only ever really happening if you go most of a floor without encountering Brax. Boosting the size of the inventory - particularly to an 'unlimited' size - would just not benefit anyone at all. It would, after all, reduce the challenge of some aspects of the game, and also negate some features. Why have the Pocket Dimension - or even Brax - if you can just carry everything around?
That's why my suggestion involved the phrase 'maintain inventory size'. It is there so you don't have every single item you could ever need for every contingency. However, once it is full things should just go directly to the PD. I auto-loot everything until about level 7 when I just get annoyed and stop picking up pretty much everything that isn't food or a much better item. As it stands my belt is usually full of my best bolts, then my inventory is half-full of heals and potions. I do this because I don't want to walk into a MZ unprepared and get screwed out of the reward because I have to run to get shit. I generally only have 3 rows of stuff I can pick up before I have to make YET ANOTHER trip to the PD because of this. Its just annoying without purpose. Once they added the PD they basically just said "yeah, you can have everything you want. We're just making it a hassle for no reason."
So you're walking around with four or so rows of your inventory full? Full of what? You must be carrying around a lot of stuff you genuinely don't need, or could store in your WL until later. I'm not suggesting you need to Lrn2P N00b, I'm suggesting that maybe your inventory management is inefficient and could possibly be adjusted to negate this issue somewhat. But you would have had this issue pre-PD, no? But I don't agree everything should go to the PD once your inventory is full, unless it was a toggle option. Why? Some of us use the Pocket Dimension to store a whole range of items, and I do so in a very organised manner. Don't believe me? Well... What that would do is completely ruin my system. And what I'd have to do, most likely, is go through it all and sell all of it anyway. So nothing would change at all.
Not Dwarf Fortress though. You can carry as much crap as you want in DF; it just imposes an escalating movement penalty.
That's fair enough. Numerous games include such a system alongside a limit - e.g. Skyrim's weight limit. You go beyond that, you walk. You go too far beyond that, you can't move. Such a system wouldn't - I believe - work too well within Dredmor.
A nimbleness penalty would work though. Like -1 Nimbleness for every 48 slots. That said, I'm still gunning for a freely unlimited inventory. ----------------------------------------------- BTW, on a different note It also has to be said that the limited inventory size hurts compatibility with mods. Every mod that adds new food or drink items effectively decreases the amount of food or drink you can carry, as the new foods and drinks don't stack with the old ones.
I think it would need to be more severe than that to balance out. It might affect you on, say, the first floors but the chances of you ever really having a full inventory of useful items are pretty slim, if not outright zilch in practical terms. Irrelevant point as it's about mods, not about core gameplay. IMHO, at least.
Moddability is a key part of the game! -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDIT: Also, on an unrelated note, I would like to point out that since this is a GAME, and a single player game at that, fun is more important than balance. Maybe an expanded inventory would unbalance the game - although personally I still don't believe that it would - that DOESN"T MATTER, because it would still make the game more fun to play. Also, I would like to reiterate the portion of my first post where I suggested that the scrolling inventory (or however they expand it if they take this suggestion) be able to be deactivated via tweak.xml; That way people to whom game balance is more important than the game being enjoyable can still play the game without having to worry about accidentally having fun.
"Fun" and "challenging" aren't mutually exclusive. (When there's no obstacles to victory bar time, the gateway to boredom opens.)
Personally I think that the traps and the monsters should be the main obstacle to victory. It is only when we are forced to manage the inventory that time becomes a significant obstacle.
The point is that learning to manage an inventory efficiently is NOT FUN and has no right to play any part in a product sold for the purpose of entertainment (unless maybe if its some sort of satirical program that simulates having a horrible job) ------------------------------------------------------------- EDIT: Also, personally I usually find myself walking around with my entire inventory filled except for one or two slots. Mr.Entity plays conservatively.
An unlimited inventory is not going to happen. The game is simply not designed or coded that way and anything requiring a change that major won't be done while Clockwork Empires is in development.
If any improvements were to be made to things like this, usability, etc. Gaslamp wouldn't make it a thing that costs money.
auto send to pocket dimension would be tricky, but a button to toggle "send to pocket dimension" would be fantastic. mostly for those items you just want to stash to sell later.
