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Do you prefer a weight system or inventory slots?
- Thread starter Uncle at Nintendo
- Start date
It really depends on the game, however weight systems are difficult to implement in gameplay without it being cumbersome, they only work for some very specific games. BotW was interesting trying to balance both, the weight of your equipped items affected gameplay but it still had slots at the end.
It has to be kind of a minimalist game where combat is not a priority, in something like Thief weight systems can add depth to the gameplay, but I really cant think of another example. In ARPGs or any kind of action game really its just awful, stay with inventory slots.
It has to be kind of a minimalist game where combat is not a priority, in something like Thief weight systems can add depth to the gameplay, but I really cant think of another example. In ARPGs or any kind of action game really its just awful, stay with inventory slots.
Replaying fallout (like a lot of people right now) and the weight system drives me crazy. I don't like pouring skill points into strength as my builds are always rifle / long range guns.
Having said that, I really don't like resident evil type inventory either.
I think I'd pick weight, but with a generous limit. Maybe it goes up automatically with your level etc.
Having said that, I really don't like resident evil type inventory either.
I think I'd pick weight, but with a generous limit. Maybe it goes up automatically with your level etc.
Slots as long as the system is interesting.
Weight as long as there's are plenty of ways of working around it.
Encumbrance can be a great method to enforce a gameplay loop, like having to return to base, or camp, which can let to more triggers to world expansion. Game devs just need to not make the trek back to town super annoying.
Weight as long as there's are plenty of ways of working around it.
Encumbrance can be a great method to enforce a gameplay loop, like having to return to base, or camp, which can let to more triggers to world expansion. Game devs just need to not make the trek back to town super annoying.
I legit love weight systems. You spend 20 hours making consequential decisions and actively planning ahead. Shit rules.
Stalker nailed it for me.
no hate brotha, I respect your opinion, even if mine couldn't be more different
Stalker nailed it for me.
no hate brotha, I respect your opinion, even if mine couldn't be more different
like deadass it feels cool as hell to play a Fallout game in survival mode
eventually furnishing my home base with a variety of armaments and tools
and then returning to it between expeditions, planning out where I'm going to go next and what I should bring with me to tackle the obstacles I might face
do I bring this or do I bring that? and if I bring that, I can't bring this... maybe that changes my plans... maybe I take as little as I can, and use what I find to get me through? or maybe I can take everything I want and then some, because I built a big heavy mofo this playthrough and a high carry capacity is a consequence of that decision...
it's not for everyone, but it can be very rewarding depending on the context and on your threshold for immersion. it can impart a feeling of realism not just to the world, but to your playstyle, your decisionmaking, and your pathfinding. sometimes, limitations can be fun, when they enforce a style of play and progression that feels real, or deeper, or more rewarding than the more straightforward alternatives.
eventually furnishing my home base with a variety of armaments and tools
and then returning to it between expeditions, planning out where I'm going to go next and what I should bring with me to tackle the obstacles I might face
do I bring this or do I bring that? and if I bring that, I can't bring this... maybe that changes my plans... maybe I take as little as I can, and use what I find to get me through? or maybe I can take everything I want and then some, because I built a big heavy mofo this playthrough and a high carry capacity is a consequence of that decision...
it's not for everyone, but it can be very rewarding depending on the context and on your threshold for immersion. it can impart a feeling of realism not just to the world, but to your playstyle, your decisionmaking, and your pathfinding. sometimes, limitations can be fun, when they enforce a style of play and progression that feels real, or deeper, or more rewarding than the more straightforward alternatives.
Can't remember exactly but it was the last set other than the WLC purchased ones, thief set upgraded to dragonforged. Between that and a few necessities like the spare port crystal, wakestones and ferrystones I was always in the second bar for weight.
I guess slots are better, but too limited (in design, not space) for some games, which is where weight needs to step in.
Dave the Diver, Death Stranding, Outward.
Is that for an overall inventory weight limit or an equip weight system?
Some people actually like the strategic aspect of planning around weight, especially since it often corresponds with gameplay.
Dragon's Dogma 2 made me a fan of weight limits. Just further reinforced the gameplay loop and keeping my hoarding tendencies in check
The problem is that most games are so piss easy nowadays that advanced prep-work like that isn't required unless you're being extra and trying to get as much out of the game as possible.
It's why grid > weight any day, at least there's more thought put to that and can be fun, even if the inventory management isn't required.
Depending on the server and the mods in use, it was either the former, or both.
Course, with early DayZ, the name of the game was realism for the sake of emergent decisionmaking between players. So those kinds of mechanics played well with everything else by adding another layer of consideration to your every move.
Opposite to many here, I like either but I wish they'd sometimes go even further and force you to only carry the absolute essentials without penalty, and the character would have a bag or something that makes sense. It's fine to have abstractions for games that suit them, but it seems like it's every game that has these "carry everything" abstractions. I think it'd be fun to, on occasion, NOT be expected to loot every home I enter in an open world RPG.
the first level is there just to taunt you, wouldn't be the same without it
Reminder that encumbrance is older than vidja games itself and has been ignored by people longer than gaming has had the stat...which is actually pretty early on as it shows up in plenty of early dungeon crawls.
Only masochists and arch realists like encumbrance.
Only masochists and arch realists like encumbrance.
I'd rather walked encumbered than leave shit behind. Giving you an item limit in any game with a ton of items is INSANITY and I cannot comprehend why anyone would vote for it. Like inventory slots is are hard cut, you can decide with weight management what to leave or what to take, but this is the game stopping you entirely from getting an item.
But outside of that any game with an item limit usually is not one where items really matter for the economy of the game and in these games there is usually a different menu for special item that do not take up normal space.
But outside of that any game with an item limit usually is not one where items really matter for the economy of the game and in these games there is usually a different menu for special item that do not take up normal space.
True, there are always going to be exceptions, we do get over 100 new games every week after all.
But what I said still holds true to me. Aside from grid management, weight management has always ALWAYS made a game less fun for me than more fun. (For example with Stalker, I kept the grid but took off the weight lol)
I know this because I'll play games with the weight, then mod it out, and it is always more fun when it is taken out. Even when it has gameplay consequences.
Anything but a weight limit. It's particularly annoying in games where crafting ingredients have weight, like The Witcher 3 before they wisely patched that out. I don't want to micromanage dozens of items to be able to pick up something I want.
Gothic 1 and 2 had an unlimited inventory and I don't remember anyone saying they were less of an RPG for it.
Gothic 1 and 2 had an unlimited inventory and I don't remember anyone saying they were less of an RPG for it.
To each their own, I suppose. I don't think Tears of the Kingdom would be a better game with carry weight, for instance, but I would personally have a lot less fun with Stalker if the game weren't forcing me to make decisions relating to weight on a regular basis. I like being told 'you can only hold this much', sometimes, for the reasons I highlighted above.
Oftentimes, when I don't like how a game handles weight and encumbrance, it's because of how it's balanced, or because the system doesn't interact well with the rest of the game's design or mechanics. I mean, that's how people who don't like weight and encumbrance always feel, so it's not like I don't get it, lol. That said, for every dime-a-dozen survival game or launch Fallout 76 or Witcher 3 - games where inventory weight adds little to the experience but busywork, even for me - there'll be a game like ArmA or (IMO) modded survival Fallout (or Stalker) where the presence of that system sucks me in and immerses me even more.
Anything that has a weight limit I'm buying on PC and modding out. People who are console only are really suffer through this shit.
The other one is merchants that only have a limited amount of money. Fuck that. Mid that out.
The other one is merchants that only have a limited amount of money. Fuck that. Mid that out.
I would generally go for Inventory as Weight systems are often just annoying, but recently Death Stranding showed me how fun it can get to manage your weight, the fact that you can actually see everything you are carrying and adding the element of placement affecting balance made it very engaging for me.
Echoing what some of you already stated, but it really depends on the situation.
I voted slots, because I think more games have badly designed weight systems than slots, but that may just be by virtue of games having slots generally having less items to keep track of.
If I remember correctly, Divinity: original sin had both weight, as well as slots (bags, which were in effect unlimited, so it ended up being a weight system in practice). Trouble is there was too much worthless stuff, and I really hated inventory management in that game.
I usually tend to dislike it in The elder scrolls/fallout games as well, but that may be on me hoarding until I am close to the weight limit, but never unloading ("I might have a use for this in the next dungeon").
I guess I generally like games with meaningful loot more than loot overload, and with that in mind, inventory slots make more sense. Although I really like the idea of having weight have gameplay consequences
I voted slots, because I think more games have badly designed weight systems than slots, but that may just be by virtue of games having slots generally having less items to keep track of.
If I remember correctly, Divinity: original sin had both weight, as well as slots (bags, which were in effect unlimited, so it ended up being a weight system in practice). Trouble is there was too much worthless stuff, and I really hated inventory management in that game.
I usually tend to dislike it in The elder scrolls/fallout games as well, but that may be on me hoarding until I am close to the weight limit, but never unloading ("I might have a use for this in the next dungeon").
I guess I generally like games with meaningful loot more than loot overload, and with that in mind, inventory slots make more sense. Although I really like the idea of having weight have gameplay consequences
Neither.
If there's inventory management you bet your ass I'm bypassing it somehow.
If I'm forced to choose though, by weight.
If there's inventory management you bet your ass I'm bypassing it somehow.
If I'm forced to choose though, by weight.
IMO DD2 does it really well because its easy to just shove stuff on your main pawn, and the system of finding gold bugs to increase it slightly is really neat.
Also in that game weight and height etc plays a part in almost every game system
Also in that game weight and height etc plays a part in almost every game system
weight stuff is neat insofar as it impacts movement speed in some games/turns into a sim element
but otherwise, inventory slots (as long as there are items that take up multiple slots, as in resident evil 4's famous briefcase inventory) are literally an easier-to-parse visual metaphor for solving exactly the same problem more quickly
but otherwise, inventory slots (as long as there are items that take up multiple slots, as in resident evil 4's famous briefcase inventory) are literally an easier-to-parse visual metaphor for solving exactly the same problem more quickly