why is it so frickin' difficult to pick stuff up?!

by **screeg** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:29 pm

Or I guess it might be me. I've read the in-game help, I've looked on the forums, but I can't pick up my first item, from the brown bear. I've tried clicking, dragging and the space bar, I tried right-clicking. I've tried it with the party nearby and right on top of it. I tried in windowed and full screen. Obviously I'm missing something, but from playing computer games for 25 years, I kind of feel like something I already tried should have worked.

Suggestion: a popup with a list of available items, prices, etc. from which the player can choose.

by **Demiath** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:57 pm

Or I guess it might be me. I've read the in-game help, I've looked on the forums, but I can't pick up my first item, from the brown bear. I've tried clicking, dragging and the space bar, I tried right-clicking. I've tried it with the party nearby and right on top of it. I tried in windowed and full screen. Obviously I'm missing something, but from playing computer games for 25 years, I kind of feel like something I already tried should have worked.

Sounds a bit mysterious to me. Usually, holding the mouse button and dragging from the picture of the item (not the text with the item's name) to a character's sprite on the screen (who has empty space in his or her inventory) should do the trick. Also, pressing space (again, with the mouse pointer over the picture of the item, not the text) should put the item in any character's inventory.

by **BlueSalamander** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:28 am

I guess I should make the items' names draggable too, not just the icons.

by **screeg** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:27 pm

All right! Now that I've got that little detail figured out, I'm going to buy it.

I don't think making the name of the object selectable is the answer. That will only make it harder to click away from the object. Loot doesn't appear until after a fight, right? How about one loot icon which triggers a popup menu of all combat items, instead of a bunch of individual chests? Personally, I'm not a fan of including every piece of armor and weapon for every fighter you kill, either. I'd like a chance, say 20%, to get a general sample of his kit, a sword here, a mail shirt there, etc., but I'm probably in the minority.

And don't include distance limitations to move stuff to a character. If it's not during combat, what difference does it make? It just makes selection finicky, especially when you move your party as a group.

But these are little details. It's a great game, and something I've been looking for for a loooong time. Anyone who liked Temple of Elemental Evil will love this one.

by **BlueSalamander** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:04 pm

Great. I'm glad you like the game. I'm planning a few extra features regarding equipment - a shortcut key to automatically remove the less important stuff, and automatic movement towards the item you want to pick up when it's not in normal range.
There are a few reasons why range is necessary. For example, in the demo, if I allow the player to pick the Aquamarine from just anywhere, the lizardmen won't be able to ambush the characters properly.

by **Pod** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:52 pm

Speaking of removing "less important stuff" -- a save/load actually removes lots of things I consider important, eg a +4 cloak!

eg: killing the lizardmen in the caves under the hill giant's place. They drop lots of useful tings, but only 3 items are kept on reload

by **screeg** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:57 pm

While we're on the topic, I also missed out on some loot after a random encounter because I moved too close to the edge of the screen. Perhaps a feature where auto-drops are at least three squares from the edge of an area would be a good idea.