Feature Request Inventory Interface Cleanup

[Hotshot]

Here is the deal and why I truly believe it's important the inventory get's revamped (or at least cleaned up^^):

After buying several "enhancements" like scale, carpenter-, blade-tool,... and getting quite some crystals/idols and books, my inventory IS A MESS!

The main reason being: because I can't re-order (manually or automatically) the items, I always need to go 20-30 items to the right before I get to my bullets and powder which are for whatever reason located pretty much in the back (probably because all new items get transferred completely to the right and I ran out of ammo and when re-arming myself, it got transferred fully to the right).

And I need to do that a lot of times while running around on the isles to give my party ammo or better weapons! OR when I try to compare weapons for there stats and they are miles apart :-\

This is frustratingly annoying!!

Would it not be possible to mark those "not weapons" as... idk, (removable) quest-items, so they don't get displayed?

Oh, I have an even better idea: rename the "maps" page to "Extra" (or something like that) and move all the "not equip able" stuff there!
-> yeah, that would be a really good idea, because it would still be available at the vendor...

What do you think?
Maybe do a quick fix and I test it out for you and tell you how it goes?

And I don't know if it's possible engine/code-wise: but a sorting of items would be really helpful too (even if those before-mentioned items would be in their own tab)!

Like grouping every type:

• Ammo | Pouches | Armor | Pistols | Rifles | Swords | Axes | Knifes

Why ammo in front? Because it's fastest when giving to party members and there is only 4 items anyway.

Why pouches in front? At a vendor last night I nearly over-looked the much needed powderflask, just because it was positioned after the books! And there isn't a lot of them and they are quite rare.

Why armor in front? Because of the same reason: not a lot of armor-types available, that would clutter the inventory.

It's debatable if this sorting should be done automatically or via button, but adding a button to the UI is surely more work? (and I for instance would press it every time anyway)

Thanks for considering & cheers!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Interface updates are a true pain to do and I'm not very familiar with them.
So don't expect this to be done any time soon.

Several workarounds though:
- You can give items to your officers
- Weapons you don't personally need can go in the Weapons Locker in your ship cabin (they can be used by your boarding crew then)
- Skill items can be put in your ship chest (note that they still work even if they're in the chest)

 

[Grey Roger]

Here is the deal and why I truly believe it's important the inventory get's revamped (or at least cleaned up^^):

After buying several "enhancements" like scale, carpenter-, blade-tool,... and getting quite some crystals/idols and books, my inventory IS A MESS!

The main reason being: because I can't re-order (manually or automatically) the items, I always need to go 20-30 items to the right before I get to my bullets and powder which are for whatever reason located pretty much in the back (probably because all new items get transferred completely to the right and I ran out of ammo and when re-arming myself, it got transferred fully to the right).

And I need to do that a lot of times while running around on the isles to give my party ammo or better weapons! OR when I try to compare weapons for there stats and they are miles apart :-\

This is frustratingly annoying!!

Would it not be possible to mark those "not weapons" as... idk, (removable) quest-items, so they don't get displayed?

Non-weapons can indeed be marked as "Items". Medical supplies can be marked as "Medicaments". And indeed, in your own inventory, they are.

Unfortunately there's no similar distinction in the list of stuff being transferred between you and another character. Fortunately the scrolling when transferring stuff to another character is quick - don't put your cursor on the next item in the row, put it a few items to the right, and watch the list zip past at supersonic speed.

You can re-order your items. Find a treasure chest somewhere, preferably in a location that isn't about to disappear. Treasure chests in ships which you've boarded are not good. Treasure chests in towns, such as the one outside Kralendijk tavern, are good. Treasure chests in your own ship are good, especially the ones marked "Weapons Locker" and "Ship's Chest". Dump everything into a chest, then pick them back up in the order you prefer. But as you found, any new item you pick up later will be added to the end of the list, and ammo is always put to the end if you have a gunner who automatically re-arms you when you go to sea. That at least means it's easy to get to the ammo, you just use the trick of putting the cursor several items to the right and zip to the end of the list quickly - trying to find a specific weapon to give to an officer will still be slow, though.

 

[Hotshot]

Skill items can be put in your ship chest (note that they still work even if they're in the chest)

Wow, that's good to know! That's at least something

Thx, I'll try that cursor trick.

But I do hope that you'll at least consider these UI improvements for the next version, if it's at all possible to code them!

cheers!

 

[Grey Roger]

It's a good idea to put all your skill items into the ship's chest anyway. Quite apart from the display issue, there's a maximum limit to how many different items you can have in your inventory. You'll know you've reached it because you'll be unable to pick up anything new. This includes money, even though you have money already, for some reason - if you loot a dead body which still has gold on it and you can't pick up the gold, your inventory is full. Hand a few items to one of your officers as an immediate fix, then dump stuff into the ship's locker next chance you get.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

But I do hope that you'll at least consider these UI improvements for the next version, if it's at all possible to code them!

Is it possible? Technically yes. But the amount of effort makes it an unrealistic wish, I'm afraid.

At the moment I think it is only me doing general fixes and improvements to the code and I can guarantee that I'm not ever going to tackle this issue.
But if somebody else does, I'm going to be the last person to complain about it.

So I'll move this as a Feature Request to the Build 15 Wishlist, which are long-term requests.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Some info:

Some muskets can have a knife attached as a bayonet. And becomes a blade then.
It would be very confusing to have the knife, the blademusket and the standard musket
in different compartments.

In WoodesRogers there's a special ammobag and a belt for pistols. They really have to be
in the same place as the pistols so you can see what's happening when equipping/unequipping
one or another.

 

[Hotshot]

Yeah, not that easy... well, I hoped by defining some items in the (what is it called?) "items_init.txt" one could change the type/placement.
But the most important thing (skill based items) is solved with the chest anyway, so that will fix a big issue for me!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

What is easy: Changing certain items to be a different type so they show up under another tab.

Adding more tabs requires changing interface code, which is possible, but VERY annoying and I'm not going to spend my time on that.
It is doable though and I could point you towards the relevant code to try it.

Adding more item types to distinguish requires some tweaking of the code, but is relatively doable.