Hello everyone!
As you can probably see, I'm new to the forums. I've been a lurker for a LOOONG time, and have been watching the development of Overgrowth with great interest. I finally took the plunge when I noticed the re-emergence of regular updates, and I'm glad I did. I genuinely hope for Wolfire's sake that this game turns out to be the success that all these years of hard work (and all the more work to come I imagine!)pay off big time, and that we end up with a game that we truly deserve.
That said, I thought I'd make a few suggestions based on my experiences, and though I imagine many similar have been made before I tend to keep mine low-tech and few, but in detail.
My first suggestion is simple: The ability to actively select a specific item on your belt/back.
I find that if I'm carrying a sword and a knife, then end up in sudden combat and tap E to unsheath, whatever I end up with in my hand is (I think) the last thing I picked up/sheathed.
This is an especially prominent issue when using Gyrth's Bow mod (a fantastic bit of work, which I find added to the more open levels with very scarce ammunition can create some great emergent gameplay!) as I can't select an arrow to fire unless it was the last thing I picked up, nor can I unsheathe my sword without dropping EVERYTHING else if it was the first thing I picked up!
Even just a basic '1 is left, 2 is right, 3 is back left, 4 is back right' or whatever would be perfect, obviously it's not an expansive form of inventory that is required given the focus of the game!
My second suggestion ties into this somewhat: Sheathes.
A polearm can easily be carried on the back if you have a basic sling, why not add one in?
I must admit that while I do appreciate the fact that I have to drop a two-handed weapon if I want to climb something, it's not ALWAYS a good thing to not be able to bring it with me.
The option of an equippable sheath or sling for a two-hander could let the individual map designers decide when and where weapons should be restricted based on their item placement etc. instead of a hard-coded rule of 'You can't take a sword over 3m obstacles.' This could also allow for a more detailed selection of weapons both by modders and devs alike by adding in a limit to how many weapons you can carry based on 'weight' or whatever, meaning a dagger and a two-hander is possible, or else a sword, dagger and bow.
Obviously, these suggestions cater more towards the more open, 'narrative' driven maps that I tend to prefer, but I imagine the upcoming campaign could benefit greatly from them! I welcome any thoughts, ideas etc. and look forward to getting to know the community!
DCXanatos