#For the past couple of days I’ve been working on the new Inventory System for Tower Unite.
####The inventory system consists of a data backend that can be saved / loaded / and networked to clients and a UMG frontend that dynamically populates a grid with Inventory Slot UI Elements.
####The backend is divided up into 3 basic components:
Inventory Items
Inventory Slots
Inventory Containers
Inventory Items are Unreal Actors that can be placed in the world, and can also be stored internally as UObjects for the purposes of serialization and data storage.
They are also Blueprintable, allowing designers / modders to create their own items for the game.
Items are loaded at runtime using the AssetManager so they can be added without needing to recompile the game.
Inventory Slots can each contain a specified class of Inventory Item.
The items in this new system stack based on type.
So if you have 4 trampolines you only need a single slot to store them in.
Inventory Containers can be anything that contains items, like a backpack, or a vault.
An inventory container basically has a list of Inventory Slots and manages the overall networking / synchronization of the player’s inventory.
There is also a set of utility functions to control how items get distributed among individual slots.
###Now that I’ve bored you to death with technical details, here’s an early screenshot of the UMG frontend working in-game.
So does this mean that we have a setting to sort items in an inventory? Or does it mean that it remembers where we place things in the inventory via a stored matrix?
Basically we’re considering getting rid of the Vault/Trunk all together and creating a Stash that you will always have access to everywhere. It’s the same concept, but you don’t have to move yourself to a physical spot to access it. It’ll always be there for you.
Since we have the ability to stack items on top of each other, I also have a concept for what that would look like (it’s the circle with the 2 in it).
Hotbar will return, but it’ll be part of the backpack - which is your active wear inventory that you carry around with you and, just like GMod Tower, you will have limited slots for that. The Stash will have as many slots as you need.
Got another update to the UI concept. I’m thinking of having the right two buttons lead to Quick Settings and Appearance for quick access to the things you typically need to adjust while playing.
As for the backpack, I’m considering making all equippable/active wear remain there and all furniture and placeable items would be in the furniture (or stash).
On top of that, I wanted a way for users to know when inventory has been added so I put a little notification (the ‘!’) to let them know to check out what’s changed: