Inventory update: new backpacks, pockets and bundles

[DonKamaro]

Hello! I have played Vintage Story for several hundred hours since version 1.14, both in SP and MP. And I noticed one problem that is more relevant for experienced players, but can also be encountered by a beginner - a low level of variability and progression in the player's inventory system.

You can make 1-3 Linen Sacks from wild flax and ruin stuff while looking for a place to base. And leather backpacks can often be crafted during the first summer. And then - nothing. No inventory progression. And the variability is limited only to the miner's bag, while armor and clothes have many different types.

To solve this problem, I propose several different solutions - new backpacks, pockets and a system for packing items. All of these options seem to me pretty easy to implement in terms of code.

New types of backpacks

• More types of specialized backpacks

Just expand on the idea of a mining bag by adding more varieties of specialized backpacks with 10 slots. For example - a lumberjack's backpack, in which you can put logs, boards, sticks, cones, resin and axes. Or a backpack for food, containing any food supplies, utensils and seeds.

• Heavy backpack with debuffs

Heavy backpack with 7 slots, which is crafted from bronze and linen. When worn, slows the player down by a percentage. For example, 3-5%. You can also add a debuff to the hunger rate, because heavy armor already has such a system in Vintage Story. Such a backpack should be fairly easy to craft, but it will offer the player the choice of whether to expand the inventory at the cost of speed and hunger penalties?

• Luxurious backpack with expensive craft

Further progression of inventory by adding a universal backpack for 7-8 slots, which is crafted from a variety of hard-to-obtain resources. For example - dyed cloth, leather (or bear’s hide), gold, silver, gems, steel.

• Prescription backpack / Schematic backpack

Expand on the glider idea and allow players to craft larger backpacks with 7-8 slots that require a blueprint obtained from story events, dangerous ruins, or traders quests.

• Legendary non-craftable backpack

Super-capacious universal backpack with 10 slots, which the player cannot craft. This unique backpack can only be found in dangerous ruins, obtained as a quest reward, or bought from a merchant for a very high price. However, the loss of such a backpack will be a great disappointment for the player. Therefore, I think it is worth making it so that the backpack cannot burn out in a fire, and when it falls out of the inventory, it is installed on the ground so that it cannot disappear after 10 minutes, like the rest of the drop.

 

Clothes with pockets

Vintage Story has dozens types of clothing, but they all differ only in appearance and level of warmth. Why not make pockets on some items of clothing? For example, a player can create a couple of clothing options with pockets himself and they will add 1 inventory slot each. And also there will be rarer types that give 2 slots each, which can only be found in the ruins or bought.

Also you can come up with more unique things. For example, the blacksmith/artisan belt, which adds 3 slots at once, but only allows you to store tools.

Offtop: In addition, clothes can be varied with a some small buffs and debuffs, like armor. Or add unique items, like blacksmith's gloves, which are crafted from leather, oiled hide, and chain. Wearing these gloves, you can hold hot objects in your hands without wooden tongs.

 

Item Packing System

As an alternative to backpacks, you can adapt the idea of a Bundling Wrap from Don’t Starve Together (or Ceramic vessels from TerraFirmaCraft) for Vintage Story. The point is to expand the inventory, but balance it with the lack of quick access to items.

For example - linen bundles. Crafted from linen and rope. This can be implemented without a 3x3 crafting grid - a bundle will be created if you put a linen cloth on the ground and right-click on it with a rope in your hand. By placing the bundle on the ground, it will be possible to put up to 4 stacks of items into it. After that, you will need to hover over the bundle and hold down the RMB with a stick in your hand to pack and pull off the bundle. As a result, the packed bundle can be taken into inventory and it will take up only 1 slot.

Similarly, with the extraction of objects from the bundle. You need to put it on the ground and hold down the RMB with a knife in your hand. The bundle will be cut, all packed items will drop out of it, as well as cattail and twine. In order to be able to pack the bundle again, you will need to spend extra time crafting a new rope and linen. Also you can make it so that with a random chance, part of the resources spent on crafting the bundle is lost when it is cut. For example, when cutting the bundle, not 4, but 3 twines drop out.

As a result, the bundle helps to expand the inventory. It will be useful on long hikes and when moving to a new place of residence. A bundle is crafted from inexpensive resources, but this is balanced by the fact that items cannot be quickly obtained from it. The player will have to spend time packing and unpacking items, and there will also be a need to have additional equipment with them, such as a stick to twist the bundle and a knife to unpack it.

 

Thank you for reading. I am not a native English speaker, so I could not describe some points quite correctly, in which case I can explain my thoughts to you more accurately in the comments.