Telltale Games

Alucard · 12/07/2004, 11:59 pm

I was wondering what thoughts people have on the issue of inventory in adventure games. For the most part inventory is almost limitless in size and also the size of things that you can put into your inventory seems pretty big too. I remember grabbing a ladder and a money and putting them into my inventory. I was thinking maybe there should be a limit to the stuff you can carry. (come to think of it maybe there was a limit in some games). Anyway... There is also an issue of how many items there should be available to the player at any given time. I've found in more recent games that the number of items per level/world/puzzle set seems to be smaller. Plus I've found that items often get stripped from your inventory later on in the game when they figure you don't need them anymore. I guess this is good in a way since I can remember being stuck and trying to use everything with everything in order to figure out where to go next. I'd be interested and maybe telltale too as to what you like, don't, would like to see or just general thoughts for an inventory system in a game.

12/08/2004, 12:33 am

I think inventory should be limitless. It's very annoying when you have to drop items in one room and come back to them later because you need room for other slightly more important items. Also there is the issue of getting stuck. If you have all the items you've found in you inventory (as opposed to having some of them left in a different room) then it is much easier to use them with all the other items in your inventory. I also feel that stripping away items that you no longer need is good to a certain extent. I remember in Monkey Island 2 when I got to the store I bought everything I could not knowing that most of it would just be useless. I went through the rest of the game thinking that there would be some puzzles involving those items when all they did was take up space.

jp-30 · 12/08/2004, 12:43 am

> I was thinking maybe there should be a limit to the stuff you can carry. (come to think of it maybe there was a limit in some games).

Wayyy back playing Zork, if you picked up a new item once you were holding 10 or so, some would automatically slip from your grasp.

Overall I don't have any strong preference as to inventory limits, or being able to hold unnecessary items. If it works for the game, so be it.

If pushed though I guess I prefer the LucasArts system whereby there's no limit to inventory, and you can carry the odd useless thing around. And you tend to lose items as they become unnecessary - either through using them in a way you can't retrieve them or somehow (logically) being stripped of them as you enter a new chapter.

What I hate is not being able to pick something up until your character has learned of a use for it (see Runaway). If this is necessary for the plot, then at least give a clue when you're denied picking it up that you may have a use for it in the future.

"You can't do that... YET!" (Hello, Scott Adams).

Alucard · 12/08/2004, 12:49 am

I think that carrying being able to carry everything would probably be for the best (except in some cases) I know sometimes it is frustrating being over an size or weight limit in rpgs... like NWN for example. One thing I think would be good though is multiple ways to solve puzzles and being able to pick up almost anything. well maybe not anything but at least having a lot more items and some of them may be useful and some may not. Also I think that sometimes when you combine items you should be able to undo them and maybe combine them with something else later.

12/08/2004, 04:40 am

Why not carry a ladder around, it brings comedic value to the game. Imagine someone asking, " Is it just me or do you have a ladder in your pants?" and you saying, "Yes. Yes I do." A inventory is a part of a adventure game, where the laws of science don't apply. That's why I believe the laws of science don't apply to the inventory. Otherwise it just wouldn't make any sense, which is exactly what we were looking for in the first place, besides it's irritating.

12/08/2004, 06:29 am

Apart from the classic "no limits" inventorys of the LucasArts classics, I remember a few games whose inventory interfaces were particularly good or bad.

Legend of Kyrandia/Fables & Fiends had a particularly limited inventory, which really wasn't good for the game, especially in the ever-so-trying cave exploration sequence. A great game in all other respects, though. Hand of Fate improved the inventory, there was still a limit but it wasn't hampering the game at times like in the first game.

On the good side, there's the Discworld games which really had great inventory interfaces. There was basically no limit to the amount of items you could carry around in the Luggage, but at times you couldn't bring the Luggage with you and then you had to choose a few items (four was the maximum I think) that Rincewind would take with him in his own inventory. Then there was Discworld 3 which had three different inventory interfaces IIRC. Each very useful and perfectly logical.

But of course, I still say that inventorys in adventure games should be limitless. Not so in RPGs where you really want some degree of realism when it comes to how many/large/heavy objects someone can carry, prefferably in a sensible relation to their other stats.

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12/07/2004, 11:59 pm	#1
Alucard Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 482	I was wondering what thoughts people have on the issue of inventory in adventure games. For the most part inventory is almost limitless in size and also the size of things that you can put into your inventory seems pretty big too. I remember grabbing a ladder and a money and putting them into my inventory. I was thinking maybe there should be a limit to the stuff you can carry. (come to think of it maybe there was a limit in some games). Anyway... There is also an issue of how many items there should be available to the player at any given time. I've found in more recent games that the number of items per level/world/puzzle set seems to be smaller. Plus I've found that items often get stripped from your inventory later on in the game when they figure you don't need them anymore. I guess this is good in a way since I can remember being stuck and trying to use everything with everything in order to figure out where to go next. I'd be interested and maybe telltale too as to what you like, don't, would like to see or just general thoughts for an inventory system in a game.

12/08/2004, 12:33 am	#2
ThreeHeadedMonkey Guest Posts: n/a	I think inventory should be limitless. It's very annoying when you have to drop items in one room and come back to them later because you need room for other slightly more important items. Also there is the issue of getting stuck. If you have all the items you've found in you inventory (as opposed to having some of them left in a different room) then it is much easier to use them with all the other items in your inventory. I also feel that stripping away items that you no longer need is good to a certain extent. I remember in Monkey Island 2 when I got to the store I bought everything I could not knowing that most of it would just be useless. I went through the rest of the game thinking that there would be some puzzles involving those items when all they did was take up space.

12/08/2004, 12:43 am	#3
jp-30 Lint Miner Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Zealand. Posts: 2,735	> I was thinking maybe there should be a limit to the stuff you can carry. (come to think of it maybe there was a limit in some games). Wayyy back playing Zork, if you picked up a new item once you were holding 10 or so, some would automatically slip from your grasp. Overall I don't have any strong preference as to inventory limits, or being able to hold unnecessary items. If it works for the game, so be it. If pushed though I guess I prefer the LucasArts system whereby there's no limit to inventory, and you can carry the odd useless thing around. And you tend to lose items as they become unnecessary - either through using them in a way you can't retrieve them or somehow (logically) being stripped of them as you enter a new chapter. What I hate is not being able to pick something up until your character has learned of a use for it (see Runaway). If this is necessary for the plot, then at least give a clue when you're denied picking it up that you may have a use for it in the future. "You can't do that... YET!" (Hello, Scott Adams).

12/08/2004, 12:49 am	#4
Alucard Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 482	I think that carrying being able to carry everything would probably be for the best (except in some cases) I know sometimes it is frustrating being over an size or weight limit in rpgs... like NWN for example. One thing I think would be good though is multiple ways to solve puzzles and being able to pick up almost anything. well maybe not anything but at least having a lot more items and some of them may be useful and some may not. Also I think that sometimes when you combine items you should be able to undo them and maybe combine them with something else later.

12/08/2004, 04:40 am	#5
Burn Guest Posts: n/a	Why not carry a ladder around, it brings comedic value to the game. Imagine someone asking, " Is it just me or do you have a ladder in your pants?" and you saying, "Yes. Yes I do." A inventory is a part of a adventure game, where the laws of science don't apply. That's why I believe the laws of science don't apply to the inventory. Otherwise it just wouldn't make any sense, which is exactly what we were looking for in the first place, besides it's irritating.

12/08/2004, 06:29 am	#6
cappuchok Guest Posts: n/a	Apart from the classic "no limits" inventorys of the LucasArts classics, I remember a few games whose inventory interfaces were particularly good or bad. Legend of Kyrandia/Fables & Fiends had a particularly limited inventory, which really wasn't good for the game, especially in the ever-so-trying cave exploration sequence. A great game in all other respects, though. Hand of Fate improved the inventory, there was still a limit but it wasn't hampering the game at times like in the first game. On the good side, there's the Discworld games which really had great inventory interfaces. There was basically no limit to the amount of items you could carry around in the Luggage, but at times you couldn't bring the Luggage with you and then you had to choose a few items (four was the maximum I think) that Rincewind would take with him in his own inventory. Then there was Discworld 3 which had three different inventory interfaces IIRC. Each very useful and perfectly logical. But of course, I still say that inventorys in adventure games should be limitless. Not so in RPGs where you really want some degree of realism when it comes to how many/large/heavy objects someone can carry, prefferably in a sensible relation to their other stats.