[RM2K] [RM2K3] "ITEM ORDER" DESIGN ADVICE & RANT

This article aims to help organize/plan the item order in RPG Maker 2000 & 2003 by providing some guidelines.





Playing a game? Wanna set that item you use all the time into the first slot? YOU CAN'T.

Items in RM2K & RM2K3 will appear in a fixed order decided by the game creator. Meaning they'll appear in the menu in the same order as in the database.
Since there's no "item sort option", a game designer will have to pay special attention when creating items.
This may not seem such a big deal, but item order plays a big part in how RPGs play.

Having a well thought item order will make your game less frustrating and more intuitive in these situations:

> Using/searching for items in the menu;
> Using/searching for items in battle;
> Easier to search/choose items to equip;





Even worse if some of those equipments are from middle/end game, mixed in with early game equips.
Suppose I want to place the Hi-Potion next to the Potion, to do that, since there's no free slots, I'd need to push every item one slot down.
This means I will have to redo ALL shops, treasure chests, enemy drops or item events that use these items!

How does this happen?

> Poor planning;
> Changes in the game design;
> Adding random items to the item list;
> Not grouping the same type of items together;



Plan lots!
Plan all items in advance to avoid adding items out of order.
Use Notepad or Excel (or OpenOffice, it's free!).

Group items by "type".

1 - Healing Items;
2 - Attack Items;
3 - Consumables;
4 - Equipments;
5 - Key Items;

Generally, "Healing Items" (HP, MP or status healing) come first so they're easier/quicker to use/find in battles and menus.
Then you should have "Attack Items" (bombs, single use spell items).
Following with other "Consumable Items" (spell/skill teaching, stat increase, etc).
Next should be "Equipments", weapons, shields, bodygear, headgear and accessories.
I'd recommend the above order since it's the same used in the "equipment menu", but you can change the equipments group order around, since when equipping items you'll only be shown the type of items you're selecting:



Want to put weapons last? You can.
Just make sure to still group them by type, to find them easily in the menu or when selling.
Whatever you choose, order them from worst to best (or the other way around) and be consistent about it, this will make it easier to pick and equip items.
Last group of items should be "Key Items".
Unless they're usable, in which case they should be right after consumables for easy access.

Games deviate from their original plan all the time, so you need to account for that.

The following is the most important advice.



Even before (or instead of) planning, you should create some "Item Dividers", these are placeholder items that won't be used in game, they serve only to separate each item group type in the database.
The blank slots between each divider will be used when you need to add new items, plus the player can't see these blank slots in game.

Guesswork time!
"Item Dividers" should be far apart, like 400 slots apart from each other.
Depending on the game you're making, 400 may be too much or too little for each item type.
You'll have to think about how many of each item your game will need. Usually, you'll require equipments above everything else, don't be afraid to leave too many blank spots, you should have at least 2000 blank slots for equipments alone.

This is important!
Even if you did plan your items in advance you should still add 100 to 200 blank slots between each item type group (in addition to planned items).

Per example: you'll have your planned 20 "Healing Items" plus 100~200 blank spaces to add more healing items if needed, then have your 10 "Attack Items" plus 100~200 blank spaces to add more attack items if needed, then your 32 "Consumables" plus 100~200 blank spaces and so on for weapons, shields, armor and every other item group type...

It will make adding new items, restructuring and reorganizing items much easier in the long run.
All versions of RPG Maker give you enough room for these values.
Except for those extremely items heavy games with +1000 different weapons...

Hope this advice helps you in your game making! :)

What about the rant you say?