What is your solution to inventory management?

[RetroKevin]

Hi fellow devs,

I’m curious to hear how you’ve approached inventory management in your games. It’s such a crucial part of gameplay, and there’s a lot of room for creativity and innovation.

Whether you’ve built a classic grid-based system, something weight-based, or even a more unique take, I’d love to hear about your experiences. What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? Have you come up with any unique twists or solutions that you’re particularly proud of?

I’m also interested in any ideas that may not have made it into your final build but are worth sharing. Maybe it’s a concept you’re still tinkering with, or something you’ve seen in other games that inspired you.

[vilonis]

I’m making a roguelike dungeon crawler and I’m batting around number of different questions for my game, like if items should be sellable. That is, should the player have a reason to carry items they don’t intend to use.

If no, the inventory should limit their ability to carry assistive items like potions and scrolls, in addition to maybe an alternate weapon or some such.

If they can sell items, then of course they’ll want to carry everything to sell it. But I don’t really like inventory limits that feel arbitrary, and don’t like the gameplay of clearing out my inventory at a shop (sometimes I do, like in WoW because it gives a feeling of tidying up). So maybe I should just let the player convert the item to gold right then and there? Or have a part of their inventory that they can send items to, and it automatically keeps whatever is the most valuable and discards the rest? That feels finicky.

Enemies and chests need to drop items so then player can get upgrades, but items they don’t want, or no longer want, are presenting a real problem.

[darkfrei]

The best loot is money: easy to collect, easy to use. All other upgrades are in the near store.

[dusoft]

Hi fellow devs,

I’m curious to hear how you’ve approached inventory management in your games. It’s such a crucial part of gameplay, and there’s a lot of room for creativity and innovation.

Please, don't be creative too much for the sake of UX. On the contrary, inventory management has been standardized since the early 2000's, e.g. Baldur's Gate or Fallout series for RPGs. So it depends on the game type - RPGs have their own (the most complex), adventures have their own (medium complexity), arcade games have their own (usually (very) simple one). Anything non-standard will be an annoyance at the least or making game unplayable at the worst.

[MrFariator]

It ultimately comes down to how many items you are expected to juggle around with, and how the game is played (Exclusively mouse and keyboard? Controller support?). As such, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and you may have to adjust things according to your specific game's needs. Additionally, I find that unless your game is very much focused on juggling inventory management, or puts a more interesting spin on it (like maybe Resident Evil 4's attache case), inventory systems are approached in a more utilitarian manner. This is doubly true when pitching game projects, where inventory management might get a single sentence mention at most (if at all), unless it's core part of the game's design.

Usually a good starting point is to just to look at what kind of game you're aiming to make, and how popular games in that group tend to handle things amongst themselves. There can be a decent amount of variation even there, but it's usually because they might be focusing on different things.

[RNavega]

I don't have experience designing inventory systems, but I did like the realism that Halo 1's limited weapon slots added to the game. You were allowed to carry a main weapon and a secondary weapon, and that's it. Going through a level and finding that one weapon that's your favorite made it a satisfying experience, rather than having it with you all the time.
In something like the Doom series and many others, you'd be carrying half a ton of gear with all of those weapons + their munitions.

This same realism can be found in the Little Nightmares games. There is no inventory (or HUD for that matter). If the player needs some flashlight or tool or weapon, the level designers always find a way to have it in the scene, diegetic, and force the player to have to drag it out to the spot where they have to use it.

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In fact, I was disappointed to see in a trailer for the third installment (made by a different studio), that they're going to fall back to the "just stuff it in your pocket", with characters storing a huge umbrella that they use to glide between platforms right in their pockets. The animation makes the umbrella unrealistically disappear next to their backs, it looks silly in what's supposed to be the same ultra-immersive environments of the L.N. games.

[RetroKevin]

Thanks for all the great input, everyone! There are some really interesting perspectives here.

dusoft, you're absolutely right about the importance of sticking to industry standards, especially when it comes to UX. These established conventions, like those seen in Baldur's Gate or Fallout, have been refined over time and provide a familiar framework that players expect, which helps make games more accessible.

MrFariator, I also agree that the specifics of inventory management should be tailored to the game's needs, considering factors like the number of items and the input system. There's definitely no one-size-fits-all solution, and it's crucial to adjust things according to the gameplay.

RNavega, you bring up a fascinating point about how realism and limited inventory slots, like in Halo 1, can add a strategic layer to gameplay. And the diegetic approach in Little Nightmares shows how minimalism can maintain immersion and tension without relying on a traditional inventory system.

As indie developers, we have the unique freedom to explore both established standards and more unconventional approaches. While it’s important not to stray too far from what works, there's also room to experiment and create something new that enhances the player’s experience. Whether that means sticking with tried-and-true methods or introducing innovative elements, it’s all about finding the right balance for the game we’re creating.

What do you all think? Should indie games adhere more closely to established norms, or do we have more leeway to explore and push the boundaries?

[dusoft]

Push the boundaries, just keep it usable.