Inventory expansion?

[HorribleGoat 1464]

Hello!

We've been looking into using multi piece uniform/armor/equipment through diffrerent methods but so far the answer has eluded us and so I'm writing here to see if anyone out there has any idea how this could be done.

Now I've read many people say Arma does not need more customization in that department, but our mods (Tiberian Era and Lost Dragons) would benefit greatly from such possibility and so we are trying to figure it out.

More pieces would allow us to have more varied units and equipment (with +/-quirks and unique characteristics) without exponential increase to the number of assets required with all the combinations.

We've come up with a couple of approaches we are exploring:

New custom inventory slots :

This I believe would be by far the best way to do it, if it does not prove to be impossible. (I have not found much written on the subject and from what I've read it has been suspected to be hardcoded engine attributes)

I've been trying to figure out how the inventory works exactly and what affects what and so far I've traced the link between the proxies in the character model and the CfgNonAIVehicles classes for them and how they in turn have certain inventory type, which is what declares what type of item they are and in turn into what slot it goes. Next we have to figure out if the inventorytypes and slot types can be accessed from somewhere and if a new ones could then be added and used.

Stacked items :

If multiple items could be stacked into one slot and they would overlay each other it could also provide a solution. What we've gathered the functions that move items around also remove the old ones so there may be something to do there too.

Proxies within proxies :

I looked into this today as in theory one model could hold all the combinations with hidden proxies, but so far It seems proxies within proxies do not animate at all. I do have to look into this more though since I've seen somewhere something about subparts that may have something to do with this.

Combination assets :

Sort of an "foolproof" method that would just require huge amount of full built assets for all the different combinations. Since it would be mostly copy paste a piece here and there it's not that much work, but it seems so crude method.

Now if anyone has any insight into the matter we could use the help with this one.

[x3kj 1247]

Combination assets sound like the best solution to me, at least that's the one i'm currently pursuing. With a custom inventory script that lets you "craft" - as in combine the wanted items to an existing preset, and dismantle it. You should limit yourself to stuff that makes sense. I feel like there is little purpose in having for example every pouch off a modular vest seperate, or making every combination work just because... Just create a bunch of presets/loadouts that make sense and are different enough to warrant it.

Using proxies for every bit and bob is very bad for performance (as section count increases alot).

For certain parts you could use alpha maps and settexture to hide it, but alphas produce problems (e.g. when viewed against with water against background--> see jet windows in vanilla, at least last time i checked). And again - every unique map/material in the p3d creates a new section ->more communication between cpu and gpu necessary.

It's easy to get lost in pursuing the perfect barby-doll, but is it really that usefull? In combat you will not see a difference anway.

Edited July 18, 2015 by X3KJ

[HorribleGoat 1464]

You have a point, and no yeah not our intention to be able to move every single piece, but one or two more than what we have now.

Also what we hope to achieve is that there could be a noticeable difference in using different parts, but the possibility and implementation remains to be seen.

Alpha works with few small details that change, but not very well with pieces from different models altogether and there is the trouble setting up alpha priority.

[Senfo 28]

You can easily do stackable items (at least for items not beíng used in weapons in any form):

create a template magazine and change the count to something like 9000.

For example a Potato:

Player has a Potato in his inventory as a magazine. If the player picks up another Potato you can run a script triggered by the "Take" option or by the inventory openened EH and add one "bullet" to the Potato magazine the player already has.

The Player would have the Potato magazine with 2 bullets in it, which could count as 2 Potatoes. All needed scripting commands are already provided. Weapons, Grenades etc, are already stacked

[HorribleGoat 1464]

You can easily do stackable items (at least for items not beíng used in weapons in any form):

create a template magazine and change the count to something like 9000.

For example a Potato:

Player has a Potato in his inventory as a magazine. If the player picks up another Potato you can run a script triggered by the "Take" option or by the inventory openened EH and add one "bullet" to the Potato magazine the player already has.

The Player would have the Potato magazine with 2 bullets in it, which could count as 2 Potatoes. All needed scripting commands are already provided. Weapons, Grenades etc, are already stacked

Unfortunately what we want to do is to use/increase gear/weapon slots and have the visual models shown when item is equipped. Your technique would fit a more roleplay type game very well though.

[Ranwer135 308]

Why not create a dialog, but activated using the key you press to open the inventory? I have heard Dayz Mod has done the same technique for replacing the old inventory. (Default for ArmA 2 is G, dunno what it is for ArmA 3 :p )

[HorribleGoat 1464]

The dialog part is not the problem, but how to add and use more slots to piece up gear from more pieces.