RPG INVENTORY SYSTEM
THIS RPG INVENTORY SYSTEM WAS INITIALLY CREATED FOR MY FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY CAPSTONE PROJECT. OUR GAME IDEA STARTED AS AN THIRD PERSON RPG BUT QUICKLY NEEDED TO PIVOT TO A DIFFERENT GENRE. DURING THE ONE MONTH PROTOTYPE PHASE OF THE RPG VERSION, THIS INVENTORY SYSTEM IS WHAT I HAD DESIGNED.
tHIS INVENTORY SYSTEM INCLUDES...
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ITEM DATABASE
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USER INTERFACE SYSTEM
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PLAYER STAT SYSTEM
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EQUIPPED/UNEQUIPPED ITEM SYSTEM
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STORAGE/BANK SYSTEM
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CRAFTING SYSTEM
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SHOP SYSTEM
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ITEM SAVE SYSTEM
ITEM DATABASE!
tHE PROBLEM: FOR AN RPG GAME, MULTIPLE ITEMS ARE REQUIRED FOR DEPTH OF THE GAME.
MY SOLUTION: I CREATED AN EXTENSIVE ITEM DATABASE THAT USED SCRIPTABLE OBJECTS FOR RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ITEMS. dOING THIS ALLOWED FOR OUR TEAM TO QUICKLY DEVELOP MANY WEAPONS AND USEABLE ITEMS WITH DIFFERENT STAT ENHANCEMENTS THAT ALSO TRANSFERED TO THE PLAYER STAT SYSTEM.
USER INTERFACE SYSTEM!
THE PROBLEM: PLAYERS WOULD HAVE NO IDEA WITHOUT A USER INTERFACE TO SHOW THEM WHAT WEAPONS THEY HAD EQUIPPED OR WHAT STATS THEIR PLAYER CURRENTLY HAD.
MY SOLUTION: I CREATED A CLEAN USER INTERFACE THAT SHOWED BOTH THE PLAYERS STATS AS WELL AS THE ITEMS THEY HAVE EQUIPPED ON THEIR CHARACTER AND IN THEIR BACKPACK STORAGE. tHESE USER INTERFACES WERE ALSO CREATED FOR THE SHOP SYSTEMS, CRAFTING SYSTEMS, AND THE STORAGE/BANKING SYSTEM.
PLAYER STAT SYSTEM!
THE PROBLEM: IN AN RPG, PLAYERS WANT TO SEE HOW WEAPONS AND ITEMS WILL AFFECT CERTAIN STATS WHEN EQUIPPED OR USED.
MY SOLUTION: wHILE DEVELOPING THE USER INTERFACES I THOUGHT AHEAD AND CREATED AN AREA THAT DISPLAYED THE CURRENT PLAYERS STATS. THESE STATS COMMUNICATED WITH THE OBJECTS IN THE ITEM DATABASE WHEN THEY WERE EQUIPPED ON THE PLAYER OR CONSUMED BY THE PLAYER.
STORAGE/BANK SYSTEM!
tHE PROBLEM: IN MANY RPG GAMES, PLAYERS LIKE TO SAVE AND COLLECT ITEMS FOR USE LATER IN-GAME OR TO CRAFT OTHER ITEMS. I WANTED TO ALLOW THAT ABILITY TO THE USERS OF THIS INVENTORY SYSTEM.
MY SOLUTION: I CREATED ANOTHER USER INTERFACE FOR STORAGE THAT COLLECTED AND SAVED ITEMS THE PLAYER GATHERED AND THEN TRANSFERRED TO A STORAGE CHEST. THIS SYSTEM UTILIZED THE INFORMATION GENERATED BY THE ITEM DATABASE AND ALLOWS QUICK TRANSFER BETWEEN THE PLAYER AND STORAGE SYSTEMS.
CRAFTING SYSTEM!
THE PROBLEM: MANY RPG GAMES HAVE TOO MANY USELESS ITEMS THAT DON'T IMPACT GAMEPLAY AT ALL. I WANTED TO CREATE A CRAFTING SYSTEM THAT UTILIZED JUNK ITEMS IN A PROGRESSIVE AND WORTHWHILE EXPERIENCE.
MY SOLUTION: I CREATED A CRAFTING SYSTEM THAT WOULD COMBINE SPECIFIC ITEMS into NEW USEABLE ITEMS FOR THE PLAYER. I FIRST DEVELOPED A SYSTEM TO QUICKLY CREATE NEW CRAFTING RECIPES. tHIS SYSTEM ALLOWS FOR AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF CRAFTING RECIPES, ONLY DEPENDING ON THE ITEM DATABASE.
A CRAFTING RECIPE COULD HAVE ANY NUMBER OF REQUIRED ITEMS TO CREATE THE NEW ITEM. THIS ALLOWS THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM TO CREATE EASIER OR VERY DIFFICULT ITEM RECIPIES. tHE SYSTEM ALSO ALLOWS RECIPES TO REQUIRE MULTIPLE OF THE SAME ITEM.
WHEN AN ITEM IS SUCCESSFULLY CRAFTED, THE REQUIRED MATERIAL ITEMS ARE DESTROYED FROM THE PLAYER DATABASE AND REPLACED WITH THE NEWLY CREATED ITEM.
SHOP SYSTEM!
THE PROBLEM: RPG GAMES HAVE MANY ITEMS THE PLAYERS CAN'T FIND IN THE WILD OF THE LANDS, MANY OF THE ITEMS ARE HELD BY MERCHANTS. WE NEEDED TO CREATE A MERCHANT WITH A SHOP SYSTEM TO BUY AND SELL ITEMS.
MY SOLUTION: I CREATED ANOTHER USER INTERFACE THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THE MERCHANT OF OUR GAME. WHEN THE PLAYER INTERACTED WITH THE MERCHANT, THE INTERFACE WOULD APPEAR AND THE AVAILABLE ITEMS WOULD SHOW ON THE DISPLAY. I WANTED THE PLAYER TO BE ABLE TO HOVER OVER THE ITEMS AND SEE THE STATS AND ITEM DESCRIPTIONS AS WELL AS THE PRICE OF THE ITEMS. IF THE PLAYER BOUGHT AN ITEM, IT WOULD REMOVE IT FROM THE INVENTORY OF THE MERCHANT AND PLACE IT IN THE PLAYERS INVENTORY AND REMOVE THE PURCHASE AMOUNT FROM THE PLAYERS CURRENCY. iF THE PLAYER SOLD AN ITEM TO THE MERCHANT, IT WOULD REMOVE IT FROM THE PLAYERS INVENTORY AND PLACE IT ON THE MERCHANT. tHE SELL PRICE WOULD BE ADDED TO THE PLAYERS CURRENCY.
DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS INVENTORY SYSTEM I LEARNED MANY THINGS ABOUT BUILDING A STREAMLINED ITEM DATABASE USING SCRIPTABLE OBJECTS. THIS ROUTE ALLOWED FOR VERY QUICK DEVELOPMENT OF ITEMS AND IMMEDIATELY COMMUNICATED WITH THE PLAYER STAT SYSTEM.
THERE WERE MANY PROBLEMS DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM, BUT THROUGH RESEARCH AND COUNTLESS TESTS THE INVENTORY SYSTEM I CREATED IS QUITE POLISHED FOR ONE MONTHS WORK.
