[Request] Change "collect drops" to use cargo and increase all ships cargo

[user1679]

Request:

Change "collect drops" to use ship's cargo (container) hold and increase all cargo (container) holds by 20%

Details:

This always seemed strange to me that the "collect drops" order goes into the pilot's pockets instead of the ships hold. Aside from the pain of getting the items if you can't teleport to the ship (multiple menus, drop items, pickup items in new ship), it also reduces the need to have ships in your fleet with large cargo (container) holds because your AI pilot apparently has bottomless pockets.

Having inventory use the cargo (container) hold would not only provide proper immersion (because my pilot doesn't have to empty her pocket lint and chewing gum on my desk) but it would also increase the need for larger inventory collectors in the fleet. Instead of having a S interceptor scoop up $10 mil Cr. of junk off the battlefield, you would need a proper freighter with an armed escort to stay behind and clean up. Players could still use a S or M ship but with the knowledge that some items would be left behind.

[CBJ]

With respect, this request doesn't make sense. The precise definition of inventory (in the game at least) is that it's not stored in cargo space. What you're actually asking for is for there not to be inventory at all. This would be all well and good for some items and scenarios, but would be extremely problematic for others. For every situation you've mentioned where having inventory causes "pain" there would be many where placing items in the cargo (or more to the point, not being able to place the items in cargo because the ship didn't have space for them) would be far more of a nuisance. And this is not a hypothetical; when we first set up the ware handling for the game there was no inventory, but it meant various gameplay elements (particularly missions) became frustrating in the extreme.

[user1679]

when we first set up the ware handling for the game there was no inventory, but it meant various gameplay elements (particularly missions) became frustrating in the extreme.

Thank you, without this knowledge the idea of putting inventory in the ship made sense. So why not put a separate inventory section on the ship instead of the pilot? If having the inventory and cargo tied together would make for difficult missions, it seems logical that there would be a separate ship inventory to hold the crates of 10000 space fly eggs you run over with your ship. When you use the crafting station it could simply make a connection to your ship and "beam" the required items out of the ship's inventory.

I guess it just seems strange that when a ship flies into a crate of secure containers, it ends up in the pilot's pockets instead of the ship.

[Nanook]

It may seem strange, but that's the way it has to work. If inventory went with the ship instead of the pilot, it would cause all kinds of difficulties and frustrations having to constantly keep track of and transfer inventory items between ships. And how would that work when you needed to use those inventory items at the various crafting benches on the stations when none of those ships were docked nearby? Not very well at all.

[user1679]

It may seem strange, but that's the way it has to work. If inventory went with the ship instead of the pilot, it would cause all kinds of difficulties and frustrations having to constantly keep track of and transfer inventory items between ships.

But that already happens with pilots. When I order ships in various sectors to "collect drops", I still have to get the items from the pilot because without a mod they don't go into my inventory automatically.

And how would that work when you needed to use those inventory items at the various crafting benches on the stations when none of those ships were docked nearby? Not very well at all.

Um simple, have the game use the ship's inventory the same way it does with the player inventory. You have to dock the ship in order to craft, just like the player has to be there.

[Falcrack]

Inventory is pretty weird in this game with it being infinite. They could probably make an inventory limit, but tons of players would complain. It's like when I am playing Zelda and have 50 bundles of wood in my inventory, yet still run around as if I had nothing at all. It's to keep gamers happy, not to appeal to our sense of realism.

[Nanook]

It may seem strange, but that's the way it has to work. If inventory went with the ship instead of the pilot, it would cause all kinds of difficulties and frustrations having to constantly keep track of and transfer inventory items between ships.

But that already happens with pilots. When I order ships in various sectors to "collect drops", I still have to get the items from the pilot because without a mod they don't go into my inventory automatically.

True, but you can tell your pilots to 'deposit inventory' and they'll take it to your PHQ and deposit it there, all in one place. So one teleportation visit to your HQ and you can collect all those items in your personal inventory. I fail to see how having the inventory items in the cargo bays of your NPC collector ships would help at all. In fact, transferring items between ships is a lot more involved than a simple transfer NPC-to-player, since you can easily teleport to the NPC that has the inventory items.

And how would that work when you needed to use those inventory items at the various crafting benches on the stations when none of those ships were docked nearby? Not very well at all.

Um simple, have the game use the ship's inventory the same way it does with the player inventory. You have to dock the ship in order to craft, just like the player has to be there.

Again, how would that work if you were flying a ship with a different set of inventory items? I don't know about you, but I fly several different ships in my games and it would be a nightmare trying to get all the inventory from my various ships' cargo bays into one ship so I'd have access to all of it at every workbench I go to.