Limited Carry / Inventory Cache concept

[Kain Nobel]

Hello! I had this concept in my mind for awhile, and how I could apply it "strategically" to my project. Considering that this could be one of those core systems that could make or break a good game, and perhaps a pain in the butt to implement, let me explain how it works in my mind. Afterwards, feel free to tell me what you think or what you would do differently.

Party Members are Limited

First off, the 'global' item/armor/weapon pool would be done away with (sort of, but more on that later), and party members would only be able to carry a limited load individually (either X number of items, or items based on weight.) The quantity of goods an actor can carry most likely would be Strength-based, perhaps with an accessory that increases how much one can hold. On that note, currently equipped goods would not be counted as extra weight in a party member's inventory.

Item Cache



Special drop boxes would be placed in locations such as your HQ and sparsely placed around dungeons. The great thing about these is they can hold a heavy/unlimited load of goods while serving as the 'global' inventory pool for your party to trade from. With members limited with how much they carry, the player would have to keep a mental note of where their closest cache is when they need to trade their equipment, grab some consumables or drop off loot.

Item Looting 1 : Take, Trade or Leave?

Early in the game, being able to just breeze through a dungeon and loot it for all its worth could be a challenge with your party members only being able to carry the bare essentials. In this stage, the player would be stuck deciding what to drop in place of the new items they find, example would be leaving behind an HP potion for a new piece of equipment or a rare relic. The upside is that the old item being replaced would not be discarded, you can come back and get it when you free up a hero's item slot.

Item Looting 2 : Take, Trade or Mark [for Pickup]?

As you accumulate more allies throughout your adventure, you'll have friends that aren't in your immediate party (presumably watching over your cache goods or whatever benched members do.) At this point in the game, the Leave option will be replaced with Mark [for pickup], meaning you'll be able to use a tracking device to map locations of treasures. No longer will you have to back track for loot you couldn't carry, your benched allies will find the goods you've marked and put them in your cache when the dungeon has been completed.

Securing Your Cache

Assuming the "Item Cache" mentioned earlier isn't many drop boxes that lead to the same inventory pool, but rather an actual object (a caravan or such) that is placed in a certain spot in different locales you visit. It is an inconvenience to have gotten deep into a dungeon to stock up on loot but used all your medicine, only to have to backtrack all the way outside to where your storage is sitting. The solution?

In an example scenario, team A is the actors infiltrating the dungeon, team B is the benched members sitting outside with all of your goods. Once team A is halfway through the dungeon, team B calls up and notifies team A that they can drop their cache at this checkpoint if you can unlock the trap door from the inside.

Conclusion

These aren't new concepts, I've played many games similar to this which I found enjoyable (Resident Evil, Shining Force, Diablo, etc). In general, do you think this would be a challenging and beneficial system, or is it too much of a headache to micro manage the individuals in your party with what they carry? Would it even be worth the effort on the developer's end, or should I keep it simple and go with the FF style of huge global inventory everyone has access to? It seems like it could be a daunting task on both sides of the developer/player spectrum, but I'd like to hear what you think.

[Kain Nobel]

I think between the no comments and the 1 vote speak strongly against this idea, which I'm fine with :D

I do have to say, micro-managing your inventory could be good exercise for the brain, but I'm sure people have too much other shit to deal with and would rather just enjoy a game where you don't have to worry about who is carrying what. Developer-wise, I know I'll always have other stuff to keep me busy with the project, this system would be nothing more than a "feature creep" to slow down progress.

Even with no comments, thank you Pherione for the 1 vote against this idea, it tells me this is an unnecessary feature that isn't necessarily wanted. If others want to vote or discuss this, go for it, but I've made my decision to not make or implement this system.

[Samven]

While I like the idea of limited inventory spaces, as RPG's like Golden Sun and other games like Resident Evil 4 have used it to great effect, I personally would never remember to go back to any cache boxes in dungeons as I don't like to backtrack and have a habit of trying to blitz through maps. I'd probably just dump what I didn't need, which would result in the feature going unused.

[DerVVulfman]

:cheery: Glad I made that 'container' script so I can make caches and reuse treasure chests. One of these days, I'll make wearable storage thingies like backpacks or sacks or belt pouches.

[yamina-chan]

Personally, I am not againgst such a system even tough it would often frustrate me as a player. (I'm that type of person who keeps collecting things and things and wants to own at least one of each item at the end of the game so having a limited amount space often got in the way with that XD)
If however there are these storrage boxes - and more then one, so you can access then from various places like inns for example, I'm perfectly fine with this and actually find it quite belivable.
One of my favourite RPGs, Grandia, had the best system in this area that I know of, where each character could only carry 12 items and two herbs for example would each take one slot of these 12. Also, in a fight the characters could only use the items they were holding but they could chose who to give it to. There were those "storage boxes" as well and there were enough of them around to count on them and use them well, but not so much that you could ignore the fact that you had a limited amount of items with you.
Basically, it was verry logical but not to an extend where it'd loose the typical JRPG feeling.
I'm sure there are many other games out there with a similar set up and I've seen some RPG Makger games with limited items and storrage chests as well but rarly they've been used well.
In short: if handled wisely this is a good addition =)

[Pherione]

On the other hand, in Grandia I'd just use the best axe, sword and mace (in the case of the main character) so there wasn't really a necessity to hoard all the swords and so you encountered. (In fact I only found out about storages on second playthrough (damn you french version!)) If you'd make a game however, where there were a lot of varieties in weaponry, I do recommend (I too love having everything like Yamina-chan) to have an infinite or large backpack.