So I’ve spent the better part of today working out the new inventory system for The Underside. The old system was a bit impractical because it didn’t really allow any sort of items besides “key items” as they would be called in other games. The new system is different in that it allows multiple instances of the same object, so you could, for example, make a potion type object, and allow the player to carry more than one of them. Additionally, the new inventory lists all items in one menu, instead of separating the weapons and items separately, and is also constrained by the size of your inventory, which means you’ll have to balance the number and type of items that you carry along with you.

A problem that arises with this is that it breaks compatibility with existing mods (and any mods in development, sadly). On the flip-side, however, porting old mods to this new system is not terribly difficult (there are only a few special cases to look out for — for example, handling what happens when the inventory is maxed out on, say, an “item give”).

With that said, though, I’m excited to see how this new system will factor into how the game is played. For a start, coins will become more valuable, as shops and things of that nature will be more accessible. Secondly, you’ll be able to select which weapons to take with you, and additionally, you’ll be able to rearrange their order on the next/previous weapon hot keys.

This system also makes it a bit easier for me to implement the “equipping” system I’d been planning to do, but I won’t be giving that away in this post (^:.

Another significant addition to The Underside is the addition of achievements, which work just like they would on, say, XBOX. What’s more is that triggering achievements also unlocks in-game rewards (though not all of them do). The plan is to create a redemption system, where the player earns ‘badges’ (like boyscout badges) for doing certain tasks, which can later be redeemed for prizes at a certain location in the game.

Anyways, lots of exciting work, I’m still hacking away at this inventory system, and hopefully people won’t get too upset about it!