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Why do vendors not list their inventory in a sensible order?

FranpaFranpa Member Posts: 637
edited March 2016 in The Road to v2.0
It's not alphabetically sorted, and there are strange things like ranged/projectile weapons not being grouped together or even plain, bland unenchanted Large Shield being grouped together! It doesn't make sense! It's been like this forever too, especially the large shields!

Is gear grouped by what is good for each class? I mean there is sort of some kind of sense of organization in Winthrop's inventory, but I do feel that missile weaponry should always be grouped together and it makes no sense for some large shields to be randomly not grouped properly with all the other shields!

Small Shield
Medium Shield
Large Shield
Buckler
Buckler
Buckler
Small Shield
Small Shield
Medium Shield
Medium Shield
Large Shield
Large Shield

Why are the first 3 shields not grouped properly?!

Comments

  • AncientCowboyAncientCowboy Member Posts: 199
    Taking a look at TAERLM.STO (Taerom's Thunderhammer Smithy) via Near Infinity, it looks like all the 'common' items are listed in alphabetic order of the item name (the .itm file). Special items (Full Plate Mail, Shadow Armor +3, etc.) are just stuck at the end of the list.
    I agree - the ordering is somewhat tedious.
  • FranpaFranpa Member Posts: 637
    edited March 2016
    Oh, so each item is its own file and its listing them alphabetically according to file name, rather than the item's name?
  • AncientCowboyAncientCowboy Member Posts: 199
    That seems to be the case for that particular store. However, I wouldn't be surprised if other stores vary the order somewhat. Patches, tweaks, and expansions may have scrambled things over the years, and I suspect it's not something that was ever among the high priority concerns of either Bioware or Beamdog (or mod creators).
  • ThelsThels Member Posts: 1,422
    @Franpa: In the very first version of BG1 vanilla, did Winthrop sell more than one type of shield? As far as I understand it, stores have a list of items they sell, and that list also determines the order in which the items are listed in game. If later on additional items are added to a store (patches/EE/mods), these are litely added at the bottom.

    The option to buy different types of shield was probably added later (during EE perhaps), and then these new shields were listed at the bottom.
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    Franpa wrote: »
    Oh, so each item is its own file and its listing them alphabetically according to file name, rather than the item's name?

    No, the store lists the items in the order they are found in the .STO file. You need to look at the order shown in the Edit tab in Near Infinity, not the View tab.

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    Mods can add items to the .STO file, at the end of the list, the beginning of the list, or before/after a particular item. Items that are sold to the merchant in-game are appended to the end of the list.
  • AncientCowboyAncientCowboy Member Posts: 199
    AstroBryGuy wrote:
    No, the store lists the items in the order they are found in the .STO file. You need to look at the order shown in the Edit tab in Near Infinity, not the View tab

    Good to know - I'm just starting with NI and appreciate any guidance :)
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