作者：Robert DellaFave

是时候在一个世界案例中使用我在之前的文章中提到的设计技巧和指南，我将在这里使用自己推荐的过程去为一款科幻且怀旧的RPG游戏《Echoes of Eternea》设计一个存储系统。

在此提醒，在之前的部分中，我们讨论了最广泛使用的RPG存储系统，着眼于它们可感知的优势与劣势。然后我们将视线转向了设计，在递交任何一个范例前你应该问自己的一些先决问题。通过花时间去评估哪个存储系统能够最有效地运行于你的RPG中，你将拥有一个更明确的发展方向。最后，我谈论了作为设计师的你将如何纠正自己选择的模式所具有的内在缺陷。

扼要重述

4种最常使用的PRG存储储存系统是：

“99规则”：这是一个围绕着有限的理想数字的文本系统。用户可以在他们的库存中储存一定量的每种道具（最理想的是99），但不能再多了。

加权：每个存储道具都分配了一个加权值。运行超过一个制定的加权数量将产生不良作用，如疲软或超负荷。

虚拟网格：从视觉上来看存储被呈现于一个矩形网格上。网格空间的数量被一个有关其感知规格的道具所占据了。

现实：任何之前提到的存储系统都能够作为现实系统的基础，现实世界的限制因素附加于玩家角色可能携带的道具数量上。道具不足是必须的。

也存在其它存储系统：无限系统和存储将使用补充储存机制，就像银行那样。但是为了达到我们的目的，上述提到的存储系统将提供给我们足够的可选方案，特别是因为它们都是可以基于设计期待进行调整或结合。

牢记着这些，为了帮助你进一步了解哪个存储系统（或系统）更适合作为你的游戏的模版，我们列出了一系列问题。同样也包含了与存储道具设计以及你该如何区分存储系统与库存模版具有直接联系的问题。我们将把这些问题当成是当前研究的基础。

言归正传，让我们花时间将自己沉浸在一个充满复杂事物的世界中，在这里，王国会衰败，英雄会崛起：即Eternea的世界，这一系统将在2014年末与你们见面。

《Echoes of Eternea》的存储研究案例

（我现在是《Echoes of Eternea》的联合游戏设计师和项目经理。）

1.基础

我们将通过问自己一些有关《Echoes of Eternea》的属性的基本问题而开始落实行动：

1.你的游戏被归类到哪个RPG子类型中？

2.存储在你的游戏中扮演着怎样的角色？

3.你是否设计了能够呈现在库存中的道具？

设计诀窍：当设计任何全新的系统时，你最好能够先着眼于整体情况，并按照你的方式逐渐深入细节中。

你的游戏被归类到哪个RPG子类型中？

《EOE》是一款受到像《Lunar》，《Chrono Trigger》以及《最终幻想》等经典游戏的启发的游戏。从图像来看，它就像是来自16位体和32位体时代的RPG。世界本身非常奇幻，布满了许多仁慈的神明，古老的巫师以及强大的魔法。总之，《EOE》算是一款早旧的科幻JRPG。基于该描述，我更倾向于执行“99规则”存储系统，即我们可以在《最终幻想VI》看到的系统那样。

库存在你的游戏中扮演着怎样的角色？

这是一个更复杂的问题，值得进行详细分析。首先，《EOE》是款大型游戏，要求大约30个小时的完成时间。话虽这么说，我们发现大多数16位体的RPG的关卡曲线都太过陡峭。尽管我们的游戏主要是关于进程，但Hero’s Journey的某些部分是关于克服看似不能克服的障碍，而不是成为所向披靡的人。因此我们选择了一个增量方法进行衡量，并在细微处做出标记。

玩家那方将由9个可游戏的角色组成，每个角色只能装备一个独特的武器。盔甲的选择需要更大的灵活性，但仍然坚持于特定的基本原则。举个例子来说吧，允许我们的所有角色去装备一个皮革外套被当成是一个可接受的实践，但健壮的男武士要是穿着女性的裙子便太过了。

每个角色拥有5个铠甲插槽，包括一个专门为配件所设置的插槽。这里会经常出现升级，但却不如RPG粉丝们所习惯的那样频繁。

同样地，因为游戏较平的关卡曲线，玩家对于各种道具层面的需求将变得不再那么明显。然而，因为我们决定治愈魔法较为稀有，所以最终消费品将在战斗中扮演一个重要的角色。

设计技巧：设计RPG系统是件棘手的任务。为什么？因为关于一个系统的小小改变可能会引起让人讨厌的连锁反应，将会快速破坏你的游戏的微妙平衡。

做一道快速的数学题：即使玩家只在游戏中升级他们的武器3次，这也已经是36个不同的存储资产了。为了多样性，我们决定每个盔甲插槽至少有20个变量，3个置于道具层，以及一个将把玩家带回生活中的药水。我们也不该忘记，在《EOE》中，魔法必须是有装备的。假设至少有20个魔法咒语，我们正着眼于150个以上的巨大存储资产。

因此我们推断出一个玩家存储应该够大且能够容纳一定数量的独立道具，而不一定像早前的JRPG那么多。我们还应该让消费品是可堆放的。

执行一个视觉网格开始具有意义啦，但前提是存储资产应该频繁地出售给供应商。在这种情况下“99规则”仍然是我们可以使用的方法。

你是否设计了能够呈现在库存中的道具？

这时候并没有。为了更有效地掌握什么内容最终会进入我们的存储中，似乎接下来我们应该处理资产设计的特别任务。

2.存储资产设计

资产设计是一项艰难的任务，你需要在清楚希望游戏如何前进后去处理这一任务。我们强烈建议你能够先列出角色进程，因为进程最终将传达你们那一方的道具和工具的相关能量。

幸运的是，这时候我们的角色进程已经设计好了，尽管从实际上看来它将经历多次的修改。

不管怎样，我们是是否呈现存储资产了。

1存储中将呈现出哪种资产类型，以及不呈现哪种资产类型？

2.你是否完全划分了你的存储资产类型？

3.你是否为你的存储道具分配了统计？

4，是否可以随时使用每个存储资产？

5.存储资产的总数是多少？

库存中将呈现出哪种资产类型，以及不呈现哪种资产类型？

也许这看起来是个愚蠢的问题，但像一次性或特殊道具等都没有必要出现在你的库存中。假设你的英雄拥有一个特殊的护身符。它不能是无准备的，它不能占据一个盔甲插槽，并且与英雄的战斗威力没有真正的关系。在这些情况下，我们是否有必要将其呈现在英雄的库存中？尽管你可能想这么做，但这却是没有必要的做法。

如果你的游戏突出了无限的弹药，或你必须传递给King的特殊晶体会怎样？呈现新奇事物或已经被当成是存储一部分的道具将引起不必要的混乱。

《EOE》整合了一些作为故事的组成部分而非游戏玩法的道具。话虽这么说，我们认为一些玩家可能会对游戏的专门信息感兴趣，因此便为这些道具整合了一个特别的库存标签。这就像是一次适当的妥协。

你是否完全划分了你的存储资产类型？

下一步便是将我们的库存划分成不同类型。这实现了两个目的。首先，这让我们能够更轻松地将主要类型划分成一些子类型，其次，这将让我们清楚该如何去组织菜单库存标签。

在《EOE》中，我们首先如下划分库存资产：

消费品

武器

盔甲

魔法

咒语

非常简单。在这6个子类型中，每个子类型都能够进行进一步划分。关于武器，因为角色只能使用一种武器类型，所以我们将根据角色去划分武器，而不是通过类型。在此我们无需再投入额外的工作。盔甲则是完全不同的。例如—-我们可以将盔甲划分成：

头盔

靴子

主体

绑带

装饰

头盔可以进一步划分成3种类型：轻，中等和重。靴子和主体盔甲遵循类似的层级。绑带一开始被划分成基本的类别，然后根据层级进行划分。从整体看来这样的划分较为复杂，但却是一个非常有益的过程。

你是否为你的存储道具分配了统计？

在委派统计前，你必须先明确这些统计数据是什么。《EOE》使用了5个核心的统计（游戏邦注：力量，速度，毅力，精神和防御）作为大量派生统计的基础，包括损害编辑器，主要的命中率，躲避率，以及基本的命中率。尽管关于我们如何设计自己的统计系统的漫长讨论并不属于本文的范围，但我们却能够说，关于核心统计的列表之所以保持在较小的范围是存在一定的原因，其中一个原因便与库存有关。

简单地说，通过使用一定数量的核心统计，我们可以附加同样有限的统计到武器和盔甲上。说得更明白一些就是，《EOE》中的武器也突出了力量，速度，毅力，精神和防御。这些源自武器的物价统计之后会被添加到我们角色的基本统计中。从这里我们可以轻松地估算我们派生出的统计。

我们的其它盔甲类型，如绑带和装饰将对我们的派生统计产生直接的影响，并且将在之后进行估算。该系统与推动《暗黑破坏神II》如此清楚，有效且有趣的系统相似。它同样也创造了分配统计以呈现出更直白的过程。

武器动机的运行有点不同，大多数只突出1，2个组件。例如恢复药剂能够治愈一个玩家角色并恢复其一定的生命值，同时Phoenix Down能够恢复一个角色并恢复20%的最大HP。为了明确适当的数值，我们必须问自己一些问题，如：

直到哪个关卡道具才能保持可行？

治愈道具应该恢复怎样比例的玩家生命值？同样的，毁灭道具应该夺走怎样比例的敌人整体生命值？

玩家是否能在Overworld中使用道具？

我们已经决定了道具将在《EOE》中扮演一个非常重要的角色。然而我们并不希望到处发送药剂（就像他们在《暗黑破坏神II》所做的那样）。相反地，我们决定采取一种中等的方法，即将道具作为一种选择，而不是花钱的最佳方法。牢记着这种中间派范式，分配统计到我们的道具中变成了一个自然的过程。

是否可以随时使用每个存储资产？

这有点偏离惯例了。有时候，在《EOE》较早区域的供应商将获得强大的武器，盔甲和道具。这并不是说玩家必须能够支付这些道具，但是我们却不清楚为什么特定的供应商能够使用神圣的道具，而其他人却只能出售一些较低级的废物。同样的，我们的系统也授予玩家一个选择：投入你很难才赚到的钱于治愈药剂和中等道具中，或者孤注一掷并购买一个非常强大，从而让你不需要太过依赖于其它道具的道具。选择总是件好事。

虽然库存是现成的，但并非总是可以进入的。每个城镇至少有一个供应商，敌人将时不时丢进道具。安全区之间的距离是不同的，经常会随着游戏的前进而增加。这主要是通过设计所决定，就像所有的游戏将突出至少一些难度曲线。

同时因为敌人是生成于地图上并缓慢地住入，所以尽管刷任务是可允许的，但却不是一项受鼓励的任务，也不具有多大好处。相反地，黄金是有限的，如此你便不能在每次闯入城镇时继续进行虚拟消费热潮。请明智地消费，朋友们。

在这时候，“99规则”存储系统似乎就不那么必要的，就像购买99个任何一种基本道具以外的内容可能会将玩家逐出游戏。

存储资产的总数是多少？

189。最终证明这跟我们关于库存道具最初的估算（150多）并没有太大的偏差。

3.完成无形资产

以下是一些额外的问题，游戏问题已经在某种程度上获得解答：

1.你的那一方多依赖于道具的使用？

2.游戏的探索系统是如何发挥作用？

3.你的那一方是由一个角色还是一群角色所组成？

你的那一方多依赖于道具的使用？

这要依情况而定，通常情况下，道具在《EOE》中是同样重要的。我们并不鼓励过度使用，就像你的那一方将没有资金去购买无限的消费品。同样地，玩家能够在战斗中防御自己。有时候，避免受到伤害比浪费消费品更好。

你的游戏探索系统是如何发挥作用？

尽管这里存在一些传统任务，但游戏仍会要求玩家去穿越更大的地下城。“99规则”存储是如此设置下的最理想方法。当玩家离城镇越远，更多让人讨厌的东西将压在库存数，并出现视觉网格。

你的那一方是由一个角色还是一群角色所组成？

《EOE》是基于群组。玩家将在任何时候控制9个角色中的3个。尽管我们在随便摆弄每个角色兜售其库存的理念，但最终证明这太让人困惑了—-有时候你不得不以直觉性为名义牺牲一定的现实性。

再一次地，关于我们的问题的答案揭示了“99规则”存储系统是最理想的方法。

4.选择一种系统

基于我们的发现，《EOE》最好应该执行“99规则”存储系统。尽管我们可以使用一个视觉网格，但是因为我们的游戏是基于群组，所以将呈现一些难度。换句话说，这要求一个非常巨大的网格。

加权系统在《EOE》中并没有多大意义，仅仅是因为角色需要在从城镇出去前集齐足够数量的物资。然而如果每一方成员都被分配了一个最大加权值的话会怎样？这并不是一个可怕的理念，尽管我能够想象在角色间转换库存道具而重新分配砝码将快速成为一款让人受挫的迷你游戏。

最后，我想说因为《EOE》是发生在一个科幻环境中，在这里现实世界的规则并不可行，所以由一方随身携带较多的道具是合理的。

考虑到游戏的组队，子类型，可观的库存以及对于探索的专注，似乎我们将选择“99规则”。但这里的问题在于，“99规则”系统是过时且较为无聊的。它也并不是完全适合，因为在《EOE》中玩家并未像在其它经典RPG那样很大程度地依赖于道具和装备。让我们看看是否能够演示“99规则”系统的缺陷，并想出一些具有创造性的添加内容。

5.将它变成你的

既然我们已经选择了一个存储系统，我们该如何做才能将它变成是我们的呢？首先，它能够帮助我们搞清楚当前模型的缺陷。幸运的是我们已经将其列在之前的部分中。它们是：

浏览一大堆库存道具非常艰难。

系统缺少现实感。

越是允许玩家拥有一种道具，那么每种道具将变得更加没有价值。

关于“99规则”存储系统的大多数执行从视觉上看来都是停滞不前的。文本墙可能适合20年前的标准，但却不是今天。

“99规则”存储系统并不是因为外观而出名。所以我们想做的第一件事便是使它变得更有生气。我们基于两种方式完成这点：

让它更具视觉化：为了让我们的存储系统更加吸引人，我们使用了各种现代风格的字体和底纹。但这还不够。在经过了几天的讨论后，我们决定如果菜单本身是半透明的，并且出现在游戏世界当前位置的上方将是最佳设置。如此，每当玩家进入菜单时，他们将看到一个全新的“背景”。

让它变得更生动：让光标和盒子变得生动化，选择跳出页面的道具，并滚动文本添加生活到资源管理的任务中。

为了解决或至少减少潜在的引导问题，我们将菜单细分成6个类别：道具，武器，盔甲，装饰，绑带和特殊商品。然后我们在屏幕的两栏中的每个分部呈现道具，减少了滚动的需求。最后，我们添加了信息面板，在此玩家可以阅读描述并浏览每个道具的用途。我们也可以不时添加一个有趣的小栏报导，或者一小块信息。我们还计划添加附加滤器，如通过类型划分道具并按照字母对其进行排序等。

以下是《EOE》存储界面现在的样子：

我们通过添加一个协同系统到游戏中而处理了道具值的问题。我们必须精心地制作特定的道具。制作的组件：其它道具。因此快速失去值或突然被废弃的道具都有一个更新的目的。更棒的是，一些精心制作的库存道具并不是由供应商进行出售，这能够进一步提升它们的价值。

不幸的是，关于缺少现实性这一问题，我们确实无能为力。我们将“99规则”改成了“50规则”，因为似乎玩家不需要或不能够支付超过50种道具。为了进一步提高游戏的沉浸感，现在装备的道具并不能出现在群组库存中。毕竟这是一款科幻游戏。

结论

通过遵循这些简单的指南，我们能够明确一个适合我们游戏环境的RPG存储系统。我们做出了一些完善与修改，并像预想的那样能够提升我们用户的整体游戏体验—-或者至少不会减损这些体验。

经常被忽视的RPG库存需要我们倾注更多的注意力，就像对于RPG的其它机制那样。我们需要记得，RPG包含了许多系统，如果你希望自己的游戏获得成功，你就必须确保所有的这些协调都能协力合作。虽然这是一个让人畏惧的挑战，但至少这比将99把大刀装进一个小袋子里轻松多了。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Designing an RPG Inventory System That Fits: Echoes of Eternea

by Robert DellaFave

It’s time for me to put my Gil where my mouth is and start applying the design tips and guidelines outlined in my previous article to a real-world case study, where I use my own recommended processes to design an inventory system for the high-fantasy, nostalgic RPG Echoes of Eternea.

As a reminder, in the previous segment, we discussed the most widely used RPG inventory systems, looking throughout at their perceived strengths and weaknesses. We then shifted gears to design, presenting preliminary questions you should ask yourself before committing to any one paradigm. By taking the time to evaluate which inventory system works best in your RPG, you’ll have a much clearer picture of what direction, or combination of directions they should proceed in. Finally, I talked about how you, as a designer, can work to correct the inherent flaws of your chosen model.

A Quick Recap

The four most commonly used RPG inventory storage systems are:

“Rule of 99″: A text-based system based around the ideal of finite numbers. Users can store a certain amount of each item—typically 99—in their inventory, but never more.

Weighted: Each inventory item is assigned a weighted value. Carrying more than a designated amount of weight will result in ill effects, such as fatigue or overburden.

Visual Grid: The inventory is represented visually on a rectangular grid. The number of grid spaces occupied by an item relates to its perceived size.

Realistic: Any of the aforementioned inventory systems can be used as the basis of a realistic system, as long as severe, real-world restrictions are placed upon the amount of items a player character can carry. Item scarcity is a must.

Other inventory systems exist: infinite systems and inventories that make use of supplemental storage mechanisms such as banks come to mind. But, for our purposes, the aforementioned inventory systems will offer us enough viable alternatives, especially since they can tweaked or hybridized, depending upon your design expectations.

With that in mind, we posed a list of questions designed to help you get a better idea of which inventory system (or systems) would be best suited as a template for your game.  Also included were questions directly related to inventory item design and how you can differentiate your inventory system from stock templates.  We’ll be using these as the basis of our current study.

Without further ado, let’s take a moment to immerse ourselves in a world full of intrigue, where kingdoms fall and heroes rise: the world of Eternea, coming to a system near you in late 2014.

Echoes of Eternea Inventory Case Study

(NB. I currently work as the co-Game Designer and Project Manager for Echoes of Eternea.)

1. The Basics

We’ll kick things off by asking ourselves a few general questions about the nature of Echoes of Eternea (EoE):

1.What RPG sub-genre does your game fall under?

2.What role will inventory play in your game?

3.Have you designed the items that will be displayed in your inventory?

Design Tip: When designing any new system, it’s best to look at the big picture first and work your way down to the minute details.

What RPG Sub-Genre Does Your Game Fall Under?

Echoes of Eternea is an RPG inspired by classics such as Lunar, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy. Graphically, it draws heavily from the 16- and 32-bit RPGs of the day. The world itself is fantastical in nature, chock full of benevolent deities, ancient wizards and potent magic. In short, EoE is an old school fantasy JRPG. Based on that description alone, I was heavily inclined to implement a “Rule of 99″ inventory system, akin to the one found in Final Fantasy VI.

What Role Will Inventory Play in Your Game?

This is a more complex question, worthy of significant analysis. First off, EoE is a fairly large game, requiring an estimated completion time of roughly thirty hours. That being said, we found the leveling curve in most 16-bit RPGs to be too drastic. While we’re all about progression, part of the Hero’s Journey is about overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, not becoming all-powerful. Thus, we opted for a more incremental approach to leveling, marked by subtlety.

The player party would consist of nine playable characters, each of whom would only be able to equip weapons unique to their person. Armor selection would afford greater flexibility, but still adhere to certain basic principles. For instance, allowing all of our characters to equip a leather tunic was deemed an acceptable practice, but a stalwart male warrior wearing a Maiden’s dress might be crossing the line.

There would be five armor slots per character, including a slot for accessories and bands.  Upgrades would be found often, but less often than what RPG fans are probably accustomed to.

Also, due to the game’s flattish leveling curve, the need for multiple item tiers became less pronounced. Yet, because we decided that healing magic would be scarce, consumables would ultimately play an important role in combat.

Design Tip: Designing RPGs systems is tricky business. Why? Because a small change to one system can set off an unwanted domino effect, quickly unraveling your game’s delicate balance.

Doing a bit of quick math: even if a player only upgraded their weapon three times throughout the game, that’s already 36 different inventory assets. For diversity sake, we decided that there would be at least 20 variations per armor slot, three healing item tiers, and a potion that would bring a player back to life. Oh, and let’s not forget that, in EoE, magic must be equipped. Assuming at least 20 magic spells, we were looking at a staggering 150+ inventory assets.

Thus, we concluded that a player’s inventory should be large enough to hold a great number of individual items, but not necessarily as much as the JRPGs of old. That, and we would allow consumables to be stacked.

Implementing a visual grid started to make more sense, but only if inventory assets could frequently be sold to vendors. Still, at this point the “Rule of 99″ still seemed like the way to go.

Have You Designed the Items That Will Be Displayed in Your Inventory?

At this point, no. In order to get a firmer grasp on exactly what would eventually go into our inventory, it seemed logical to tackle the monumental task of asset design next.

2. Inventory Asset Design

Asset design is a laborious task best dealt with after you have a clear idea of how you’d like your game to progress. It is highly recommended that you outline character progression first, since progression will ultimately dictate the relative power of your party’s items and gear. Oh, the tangled web that is RPG design.

Luckily for us, at this point character progression had already been drafted, although admittedly in practice it would undergo several more revisions.

Either way, it was time to take on inventory assets.

1.Which game asset types will be displayed in the inventory, and which will not?

2.Have you fully departmentalized your inventory asset types?

3.Have you assigned statistics to your inventory items?

4.How readily available is each inventory asset?

5.What’s the total count of inventory assets?

Which Game Asset Types Will Be Displayed in the Inventory, and Which Will Not?

It may seem like a silly question, but certain items such as one-time use or special items don’t necessarily have to appear in your inventory. Let’s say, for instance, that your Hero brandishes a special amulet. It can’t be unequipped, doesn’t take up an armor slot, and has no real bearing on his combat prowess. Under these circumstances, is it really necessary to display it in his inventory? Hardly—although you may want to anyway, if only for lore purposes.

What if your game features unlimited ammo, or special crystals that you must deliver to the King? Displaying items that are either novelties or already assumed to be part of one’s inventory can cause unnecessary clutter.

EoE incorporates several items that function more as part of the story than they do gameplay. That being said, we decided that some players might be interested in the game’s lore, and thus included a special inventory tab for these items. It seemed like a suitable compromise.

Have you fully departmentalized your inventory asset types?

The next step was to break down our inventory into types. This would accomplish two purposes. First, it would allow us to more readily divide main types into further subtypes, and second, it would give us a sense of how our menu’s inventory tab should be organized.

In EoE, inventory assets were first divided as follows:

Consumables

Weapons

Armor

Enchantments

Spells

Simple enough. Each one of our six sub-types could be subdivided further. For weapons, we decided that because each character could only wield one weapon type, weapons would be subdivided by character, and not by type. No further work was required. Armor was a different beast altogether. Case in point—armor could be divided into:

Helms

Boots

Body

Bands

Accessories

Helms could be further paired down into three categories: Light, Medium and Heavy. Boots and body armor followed a similar hierarchy. Bands were first broken down into elemental categories, and then grouped by tier. All told, it was a rather exhaustive, but highly beneficial process.

Have You Assigned Statistics to Your Inventory Items?

Before delegating stats, it’s imperative that you determine what those stats are. Echoes of Eternea uses five core stats (Strength, Speed, Stamina, Spirit, and Defense) as a basis for a plethora of derived stats, including damage modifiers, critical hit rates, dodge %, and base hit points. While a lengthy discussion on how we designed our statistical systems is outside the scope of this article, it suffices to say that our list of core stats was kept exceedingly small for several reasons, one of which was related to inventory.

Simply stated, by using a select number of core stats, we could append the same limited number of stats to our weapons and armor. To clarify, weapons in EoE also feature Strength, Speed, Stamina, Spirit, and Defense. The added stats from weapons are then added to our characters’ base stats. Done. From there we could easily calculate our derived stats, all in one shot.

Our other armor types, such as bands and accessories, would have a direct impact on our derived stats, and were calculated after the fact. The system is similar to the one that drives Diablo II: clean, efficient, and hopefully fun. It also made assigning stats to equipment a more intuitive process.

Weapon stats were kept intentionally simple. The real magic occurs behind the scenes.

Item stats functioned slightly differently, as most only featured one or two components. For example, restorative potions heal a player character for a specific number of hit points, while a Phoenix Down revives a character and restores 20% of their maximum HP. In order to get the numbers right, we had to ask ourselves a few questions, such as:

Until what level will an item remain viable?

What ratio of a player’s hit points should a healing item restore? Likewise, what percentage of an enemy’s total health should a destructive item take away?

Can players use items on the Overworld?

We already determined that items would play an arguably vital role in EoE. However, we didn’t want players spamming potions either (as they do in Diablo II). Instead, we agreed on a middling approach, where using items was almost always an option, but usually not the best way to spend a turn. With this middle-of-the-road paradigm in mind, assigning stats to our items became a natural process.

How Readily Available Is Each Inventory Asset?

Here’s where we deviated a bit from the norm. Sometimes, vendors located in EoE’s earliest areas would get their hands on powerful weapons, armor, and items. That’s not to say that players would necessarily be able to afford such items, but it never made sense to us why certain vendors had access to godly gear, while others only sold low-grade trash. Also, our system would grant players a measure of choice: spend your hard-earned money on healing potions and middling gear, or go for broke and purchase a piece of gear so powerful that you may not need to rely as heavily on items. Choice is always a good thing.

That being said, inventory would be readily available, just not always accessible. Each town would have at least one vendor, and enemies would occasionally drop items and gear. The distance between safe havens would vary, generally increasing as the game progressed. This was by design, as all games should feature at least some sort of difficulty curve—Flappy Bird notwithstanding.

It should also be mentioned that, because enemies are generated on the map and repopulate slowly, then grinding, while permissible, is neither highly encouraged nor beneficial. In turn, gold would be limited enough that you couldn’t go on a virtual spending spree every time you barged into town. Spend that money wisely, kids.

It’s at this point where a “Rule of 99″ inventory system seemed less essential, as purchasing 99 of anything outside of the most basic items would essentially wipe the player out.

What’s the Total Count of Inventory Assets?

189. It turns out that our initial estimate of 150+ inventory items wasn’t too far off the mark.

3. Rounding Out the Intangibles

Just a few more questions, some of which have already been answered in part:

1.How reliant will the party be on item usage?

2.How does the game’s questing system function?

3.Is your party composed of a single character or a collective group?

How Reliant Will the Party Be on Item Usage?

It depends, but, generally speaking, items are of tantamount importance in Echoes of Eternea. Overuse is discouraged, as your party will not have the funds to afford a nearly infinite supply of consumables. Also, players will be able to defend themselves in battle. At times, avoiding damage will be preferable to wasting consumables.

How Does Your Game’s Questing System Function?

While there are few conventional quests, the game will require players to traverse large dungeons. “Rule of 99″ inventories are ideal for such settings. The longer players are away from town, the more of a nuisance weighted inventories and visual grids become.

Is Your Party Comprised of a Single Character or a Collective Group?

EoE is party-based. Players control three out of a possible nine characters at any given time. While we tinkered with the idea of each character touting his or her own inventory, it ultimately would prove too confusing—sometimes you have to sacrifice a bit of realism in the name of intuitiveness.

Once again, the answer to our question reveals the “Rule of 99″ inventory system to be ideal.

4. Choosing a System

Based on our findings, it appears that EoE would be best off implementing a “Rule of 99″ inventory system. Although we could conceivably use a visual grid, the fact that our game is party-based would present some difficulties. In other words, it would require an awfully large grid.

The weighted system makes little sense in EoE, if only because characters need to stock up on a fair number of supplies before venturing out of town. However, what if each party member were assigned a maximum weight value? That’s not a terrible idea, although I can imagine that shifting inventory items around from character to character just to redistribute weight would quickly become a unintentionally frustrating mini-game.

Finally, we reasoned that because EoE takes place in a fantastical environment, where real-world rules don’t apply, it was OK for the party to carry around an exorbitant amount of items.

Given the game’s party composition, sub-genre, sizable inventory, and focus on exploration, it looks like we’re going with the “Rule of 99.” The problem is, the “Rule of 99″ system is antiquated and pretty boring. It also doesn’t entirely fit, as players won’t rely quite as much on items and equipment in EoE as they do in other classic RPGs. Let’s see if we can mask the “Rule of 99″ systems’ flaws, coming up with a few creative additions of our own.

5. Making It Your Own

Now that we’ve chosen an inventory system, what can we do to make it our own? First, it helps to know the flaws of our current model. Luckily, we listed them in the previous segment. They are:

Navigating through a sea of inventory items can be laborious.

The system lacks a sense of realism.

The more a player is allowed to have of one item, the less valuable each individual item becomes.

Most implementations of the “Rule of 99″ inventory system are visually stagnant. Walls of text may have been the accepted standard 20 years ago, but not today.

“Rule of 99″ inventory systems are not exactly known for their looks. So one of the first things we wanted to do was enliven it. We accomplished this in two ways:

Make it more visual: In order to make our inventory menu more appealing, we used a variety of stylish fonts and shading. But that wasn’t enough. After tossing around ideas for what seemed like days, we agreed that it would be best if the menu itself were semi-transparent, perched on top of our current place in the game world. That way, each time players entered the menu, they would be treated to a new “background.”

Animate it: Animated cursors and boxes, selected items that jump off the page, and scrolling text all added life to the otherwise pedestrian task of resource management.

In order to solve, or at least reduce, potential navigational problems, we subdivided the menu into six categories: Items, Weapons, Armor, Accessories, Bands and Special. Then, we displayed items from each subdivision in two columns on the screen, reducing the need to scroll. Finally, we added an information panel, where players could read a description and view what each item does. Occasionally, we would add a funny tidbit, or a piece of lore. Plans to add additional filters, such as grouping items by type and alphabetizing them, are currently in the works.

Here’s how the EoE inventory interface currently looks:

A near-final version of Echoes of Eternea’s inventory menu

We addressed the problem of item value by adding a synergy system to the game. Certain items and pieces of gear would have to be crafted. The component for crafting: other items. Thus, items that are either rapidly losing value or rendered obsolete suddenly have a renewed purpose. Better yet, some crafted inventory items are not sold in vendors, increasing their value further.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much we could do about the lack of realism. We changed the “Rule of 99″ to the “Rule of 50,” since it seemed unlikely that players would ever need, or for that matter be able to afford, more than 50 of one item. To further increase the game’s sense of immersion, currently equipped gear does not show up in the group’s inventory. Other than that, well… it is a fantasy game, after all.

Conclusion

By following a few simple guidelines we were able to identify an RPG inventory system that worked fairly well within our game’s environment. We made improvements and other tweaks, with the desired effect of enhancing our audience’s overall gaming experience—or, at the very least, not detracting from it.

Often overlooked and sometimes ignored, RPG inventories require the same care and attention to detail that your RPG’s other mechanics do. Remember, RPGs consist of many systems, all of which must work in tandem if your game is going to have any chance of achieving success. It’s undoubtedly a formidable challenge, but still way easier than fitting 99 broadswords into a pouch.(source:tutsplus)