Game News Wasteland 2 Kickstarter Update #43: New UI, Grid Inventory!

[tuluse]

It's really a sad state of affairs that I can't point to any list inventory system designed by "professionals" that is even half as good as SkyUI.

If they wanted to make Excel, they would have went to work for Microsoft. It doesn't surprise me in the least that video game developers are not interested or very good at this.

 

[FeelTheRads]

More like

Grid Inventory: Open inventory, start mouse-overing all magic sword icons one by one trying to find the one you want

List Inventory: Open inventory, see Magical Sword of Poison +1,

Oh, right, and this. Would this really be a problem in a game like W2?
I didn't even have problems with finding items in Diablo-clones and those are all about items. OK, maybe in POE because that one encourages hoarding and when you have a stash full of shit it would be useful to have maybe search function to find an item that gives some bonus or another.
But it's pointless in a game like this. Supposedly there shouldn't be Shotgun, Shotgun +1, Shotgun + 2 etc and all looking the same. Unless they do what Fallout 3 did where you can mix shitty shotgun with crappy shotgun and get slightly less shitty shotgun or however the fuck that works.
But that is SHITTY and shouldn't be in a game in the first place.

 

[imweasel]

We all agree that the grid inventory is a huge improvement - except for those two guys who hate grids. Sorry Guys.

Anyway, the slots should be faceted, and not just simple gray squares.
The guns should only use one slot too, doesn't really make sense to have them take up two slots if the inventory is not volume limited.
The color coding on the tabs is not necessary.
The Inventory window should either a.) be resizable or b.) if the window has a static size, then make it slightly wider. I like to have my inventory a bit larger than shown in the mockup.

Those are my thoughts. That is all. @ Inxile for listening to us.

 

[Roguey]

But it isn't. The difference between an RPG inventory and a database, is that in an RPG inventory, in most cases, the user is very well aware of what he has. Pure random access is not a priority. Ease of recognizing and manipulating what you already know you have has precedence over searching and finding what you don't know you have, and for that, a visual icon-based design is superior.

An RPG inventory is a knapsack, not a database.

Lists can have icons!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Infinitron]

But it isn't. The difference between an RPG inventory and a database, is that in an RPG inventory, in most cases, the user is very well aware of what he has. Pure random access is not a priority. Ease of recognizing and manipulating what you already know you have has precedence over searching and finding what you don't know you have, and for that, a visual icon-based design is superior.

An RPG inventory is a knapsack, not a database.

Lists can have icons!!!!!!!!!!

They can, but if you're going to rely primarily on icons for item recognition, then why not put them in a two dimensional rather than one dimensional array?

Perhaps in theory the ultimate inventory would be a two-dimensional grid that ALSO has a ton of details written next to each item (without the need to mouseover), but I guess that's just too much information to fit on one screen.

 

[Apexeon]

This has incompetence and a complete lack of focus written all over it. Its like watching These 'fail' Videos on youtube only on a massive scale

Only on a 3.5 million scale.

 

[procrastinator]

Put a list on the left, grid on the right. Mouse-overing item in the list highlights it in the grid and vice versa. Applying filter grays out items that doesn't match.

Spoiler

 

[imweasel]

Put a list on the left, grid on the right. Mouse-overing item in the list highlights it in the grid and vice versa. Applying filter grays out items that doesn't match.

Spoiler

Or just a simple button to switch between the list based and grid based inventories. That would please the max. 5% who prefer list based inventories.

 

[Declinator]

The difference between an RPG inventory and a database, is that in an RPG inventory, in most cases, the user is very well aware of what he has. Pure random access is not a priority. Ease of recognizing and manipulating what you already know you have has precedence over searching and finding what you don't know you have, and for that, a visual icon-based design is superior.

For me, most of the time in inventory is spent checking what attributes items have. It's not that I don't know what I have, it's that I don't remember or have never seen the attributes in the first place and if I have to compare .223 pistol and plasma rifle then I'd rather do it in a way where I can see the attributes of both of them at the same time. A "compare" button in a grid system would be much less efficient.

if you're going to rely primarily on icons for item recognition, then why not put them in a two dimensional rather than one dimensional array?

Because you would lose all the benefits of the list. And icons aren't always faster to recognize than the name of the item either. Certainly, if I play Dark Souls I would see "Longsword" much faster than I'll decipher which one of the very similar looking swords is the one I'm looking for.

Perhaps in theory the ultimate inventory would be a two-dimensional grid that ALSO has a ton of details written next to each item (without the need to mouseover), but I guess that's just too much information to fit on one screen.

A bit of an experiment. Horribly ugly but an improvement over the original at least. Still, would rather take a list as that would give me all the info without having to look at that kind of a mess.

Or just a simple button to switch between the list based and grid based inventories. That would please the max. min. 5% who prefer list based inventories.

Noticed a little mistake there but otherwise I agree.

 

[Grotesque]

The name is just a much clearer representation of the item than some picture of it.

Is this a fuckin joke? If it is, its not even remotely funny.

 

[Seerix]

The name is just a much clearer representation of the item than some picture of it.

Is this a fuckin joke? If it is, its not even remotely funny.

Sorry, I never said that. You should be more careful when making manual quotes.

 

[sea]

We all agree that the grid inventory is a huge improvement - except for those two guys who hate grids. Sorry Guys.

Anyway, the slots should be faceted, and not just simple gray squares.
The guns should only use one slot too, doesn't really make sense to have them take up two slots if the inventory is not volume limited.
The color coding on the tabs is not necessary.
The Inventory window should either a.) be resizable or b.) if the window has a static size, then make it slightly wider. I like to have my inventory a bit larger than shown in the mockup.

I agree with most of these, I like the concept but I still think visually it needs a bit of tweaking. I for one prefer more "solid" grids, like actual physical slots you fit stuff into rather than "implied" spaces. Sound effects may also help sell it, too. Not sure I care for resizing though, pages are actually a nice way of organizing things. I also don't mind the two-space items, if only because I think you'd be hard pressed to fit some of those icons into a single grid space (like the rifle).

 

[Diggfinger]

When there is no space limit - there is no Tetris.

Negates the entire point of going with a limitless grid.

That sniper rifle reminds me of Fallout 2's

THis game is looking cooler and cooler, might actually end up buying it…

 

[FeelTheRads]

Certainly, if I play Dark Souls I would see "Longsword" much faster than I'll decipher which one of the very similar looking swords is the one I'm looking for.

I don't really know Dark Souls, but what if there are a lot of items that all start with Sword. Or Long. Or, you get it. How easy is it to find what you want then?

Of course, I get it, you could sort and get the most powerful one at the top and shit like that, but I really don't see this as the game where you would need it. A thousand variations of the same item is shit anyway.
And comparing between two items (233 and plasma from your example) can be implemented by showing a comparison between the equipped item and the item under the cursor.
Although how fucking difficult is to move the mouse from one to the other? How would you compare these two items in a list anyway? So, you sort by weapons... and then what? How do you make them be one right under the other if you have a lot of items in the list already? Anything that comes to mind seems more complicated than just moving the mouse from one to the other.

 

[Gondolin]

That sniper rifle reminds me of Fallout 2's

You might want to look up something called Barrett M82. It's the current "iconic" thingie and, therefore, used in a shitload of games.

 

[Cholo]

Kind of funny, it looks like they taped a laser pointer on the muzzle of that rifle, which wouldn't be a very good idea in real life.



I thought Sawyer knew his small arms better than that?!

 

[hiver]

The guns should only use one slot too, doesn't really make sense to have them take up two slots if the inventory is not volume limited.

No. It makes sense if you want to clearly see them.

What DOES NOT make ANY sense at all is having all items use one slot in a grid without limits.

I would suggest making armors take more space too.[/quote]

 

[undecaf]

That sniper rifle reminds me of Fallout 2's

At first glance I thought it was some sort of minesweeper; then I bothered to look more closely.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Kwan duck hunting?

 

[Zed]

The inventory icons do look rather Fallout-y. The best part about those screenshots for sure.

 

[Broseph]

That inventory is kinda lame. I mean, what's with those plain gray boxes?

Actual good looking grid inventories that don't make my eyes bleed:

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

I think it's best to start accepting the fact that this game will be the visual equivalent of the result of an overdose of Ex-Lax after a very lengthy episode of creative constipation. Diarrhea just doesn't look good at any resolution.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

Can't help but wonder how many resources they could have saved, if they fired the UI artist earlier.
If they even have a dedicated UI artist.
Oh well, if the rest is good..

 

[Topher]

It looks serviceable but doesn't appeal to me at all. The clothing and armor sections seem like boring generic slots, I much prefer a paper-doll, and the weapon slots seem bog standard as well, where's the incentive to carry a sidearm when I can carry any two weapons in the game at my finger tips. It's just, mechanically, less interesting to me.

Granted it's only an inventory system but that doesn't mean it can't drive my interest. The system from JA 1.13 still get's me fired-up and excited about inventory management, just looking at a screenshot get's me interested in loading up an old save, and Wasteland would be best served by a system that rewards smart choices, limits space to reinforce scavenging mechanics and, most importantly is integral to tactical gameplay; JA 1.13 does all of the above. Why not just copy that?

JA 1.13 encourages me to carry a sidearm not just because of combat mechanics but as a function of the inventory space, it's handles ammo and extra items excellently and allows for customized slots so that I can shape an NPC's inventory to fit their role in my party. The inventory become a game itself full of interesting choices that directly affect gameplay. Such a shame that it stands alone.

Also, I'll agree that it lacks any sense of charm or strong theming, just look at the font.

 

[WetWorks]

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Hmmm, that color scheme is far too Shadowrun returns for me and it contrasts awkwardly with colors and style of the game. Hopefully its not final.