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Author Topic: No ground-to-attached-to-inventory-to-ground auto-replacement option  (Read 2628 times)

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One thing that has caught me off-guard multiple times, sometimes in a really bad way, is the auto-replacement mechanic throwing away an inventory item when i only wanted to swap the part on the ground with an equipped part.
For example, when autoreplacing a Storage Unit, Storage Units with less capacity can be thrown away.
If i have a damaged Large Storage Unit equipped and a Medium Storage Unit in inventory, Auto-equipping a new Large Storage Unit from the ground equips the new Large Storage, places the old Large Storage in inventory, and drops the Medium Storage.
However, in most situations, when i have a Storage Units of lesser capacity, than the one i currently have equipped, it's because i need a backup in case i can no longer support the bigger one (for example, if my only weight-supporting utility gets destroyed) or if i plan on switching to a Storage Unit of lower capacity (transitioning to flight, losing mass to go full combat, and so on).

So, picture me, with a damaged Large Storage Unit, and finding a newer one on the ground. I swap it out with my current Large Storage Unit, effectively "repairing" it. However, i didn't notice that it made me drop the lower-capacity Storage Unit i had in my inventory, which i was safekeeping for later, only to replace it with the now useless damaged Large Storage Unit.
*Later* Now to equip my... Where's my Medium Storage Unit?

This has also happened to me with other parts as well, including weapons (for example, an Enh. Force Rifle i wanted to keep for the positive salvage and high critical chance). Sometimes i notice it, other times not so much.


My suggestion is an option to prevent Part Auto-Replacement from replacing both an equipped item and an inventory item. Or at the very least, add something that warns/notifies the player that an item from their inventory was swapped out.
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Kyzrati

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Re: No ground-to-attached-to-inventory-to-ground auto-replacement option
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2024, 12:29:56 AM »

Yes very specifically the Storage Unit swapping rules were actually changed for a short period during Beta 13 development to make sure that doesn't happen, but it actually lead to even more problems for players, so was switched back ;)

Specifically with Storage Units you're going to have to be more specifically aware of which ones you want to keep, and do this manually rather than relying on the automated system if it won't suit your needs. But making a special exception for those does lead to even more issues for the majority of players in the majority of situations, as we discovered through actual experience with the alternatives earlier this year in testing.

There won't be warnings added for this particular feature, you'll have to swap manually if you don't want automated behavior, which has very few rules and is quite consistent for the very reason that it's easy to predict what will happen if you let the automated system do its thing.

(The system is getting expanded even further in Beta 14 to allow manual ground-attached swapping when the automated system will otherwise do nothing, but that's a different issue.)
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Josh Ge, Developer - Dev Blog | @GridSageGames | Patreon

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Re: No ground-to-attached-to-inventory-to-ground auto-replacement option
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2024, 10:08:36 AM »

Yes very specifically the Storage Unit swapping rules were actually changed for a short period during Beta 13 development to make sure that doesn't happen, but it actually lead to even more problems for players, so was switched back ;)
I am somewhat curious as to what problems this lead to.

There won't be warnings added for this particular feature, you'll have to swap manually if you don't want automated behavior, which has very few rules and is quite consistent for the very reason that it's easy to predict what will happen if you let the automated system do its thing.
I do have to admit that i never actually use the auto-replacement feature to replace items from my inventory, in part because i didn't realize it existed, in part because those situations are rare compared to replacing equipped parts. As a result, swapping a part from the ground to replace an equipped item that then replaces an inventory item is something i almost never really expect.

Maybe i'm actually the only one it wouldn't bother to have the option to prevent the switching of both attached and inventory parts. If that's the case, then there is indeed not much of a reason to make that option!
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