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So I couldn't find anything about this anywhere else, but I'm curious about it. Item names have a limit of 8 characters in the OHR, and I'd like to know why this is. I assume it's to be more akin to the early Final Fantasy games that had short names due to memory, or maybe just so that they'll fit onscreen in the menus.
On top of this I was wondering if this limit on the item names could be increased in any, even just by one or two characters. Because I've noticed that often one or two more letters is all I need to fit an item name that makes sense on there. It is fun to be creative when trying to fit "Broadsword of Ghouls Bane with Fire Aspect" into 8 letters, but a little more leeway would be easier.
But of course, I can always continue to make do with what's already there. After all, it's worked for everyone else. Just a thought.
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Item Name Length
Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:25 am 
Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:41 am
I'm curious to know this too.
All I can suggest for now is something I've seen in a lot of old games which is shortening things by removing vowels and changing spelling of words.
example)
Night Storm = NiteStrm
Machine Gun = M.Gun or Mach Gun
In your case I suggest:
Broad Sword = BroadSwd or BrodSwrd
Ghouls Bane = GhlsBane
Fire Aspect = FireAsp
What I do recommend if you have items with confusing names is to create a digital manual that can quickly be skimmed through which showcases a list of all items shortened names, full names, and uses. You could even have in-game characters or NPCs mention important items saying something like "It's important to stock up on Red Potions. They can be purchased in the shop, just ask the clerk for RedPtn." But I guess this could seem silly if it occurs a lot. Also I'm not sure it theres as huge of a limitation on item description so maybe you can supply the full name of the item in the items description so the player knows what it actually is.
In my experience players are very understanding of these limitations. If you've ever played Phantasy Star games I think the limitation for all item names, menu names, character names etc seemed to be only 5 letters long and I was still able to understand what was going on haha.
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All I can suggest for now is something I've seen in a lot of old games which is shortening things by removing vowels and changing spelling of words.
example)
Night Storm = NiteStrm
Machine Gun = M.Gun or Mach Gun
In your case I suggest:
Broad Sword = BroadSwd or BrodSwrd
Ghouls Bane = GhlsBane
Fire Aspect = FireAsp
What I do recommend if you have items with confusing names is to create a digital manual that can quickly be skimmed through which showcases a list of all items shortened names, full names, and uses. You could even have in-game characters or NPCs mention important items saying something like "It's important to stock up on Red Potions. They can be purchased in the shop, just ask the clerk for RedPtn." But I guess this could seem silly if it occurs a lot. Also I'm not sure it theres as huge of a limitation on item description so maybe you can supply the full name of the item in the items description so the player knows what it actually is.
In my experience players are very understanding of these limitations. If you've ever played Phantasy Star games I think the limitation for all item names, menu names, character names etc seemed to be only 5 letters long and I was still able to understand what was going on haha.
⊕ P E R S O N A L M U S I C: https://open.spotify.com/album/6fEo3fCm5C3XhtFRflfANr
⍠ C O L L A B M U S I C: https://dustpuppets.bandcamp.com/releases
Fri Dec 12, 2014 8:28 am
It's simply because more letters won't easily fit on the screen in the items menu. 320 pixels is 40 characters. An 8 character name plus the "x##" count is 11 characters. If the names were 9 characters long then the text on a line would be 36 characters, and you need at least a normal space (1 character) between each column, leaving just a few pixels for borders and scrollbar.
James painstakingly converted the items menu to slices recently. Once we allow editing the items menu slice collection (including being able to change the number of columns, etc, or in future other font sizes and resolutions) then we can remove/raise the length limit, as it'll be your own responsibility to arrange the menu so that the item names fit. But I can see a lot of details that still need to be sorted out. And the in-battle items menu too.
James painstakingly converted the items menu to slices recently. Once we allow editing the items menu slice collection (including being able to change the number of columns, etc, or in future other font sizes and resolutions) then we can remove/raise the length limit, as it'll be your own responsibility to arrange the menu so that the item names fit. But I can see a lot of details that still need to be sorted out. And the in-battle items menu too.
Fri Dec 12, 2014 2:42 pm
Most folks have probably already thought of this, I started using pre-existing, and custom special font characters to make the most of the 8 character limit.
Fri Dec 12, 2014 3:19 pm
Urkelbot666 wrote:
Most folks have probably already thought of this, I started using pre-existing, and custom special font characters to make the most of the 8 character limit.
Ahh that's a good idea. I'll have to keep that in mind for later. I like the text limitation, it gives the game an oldschool vibe.
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⍠ C O L L A B M U S I C: https://dustpuppets.bandcamp.com/releases
Fri Dec 12, 2014 3:56 pm
sheamkennedy wrote:
Ahh that's a good idea. I'll have to keep that in mind for later. I like the text limitation, it gives the game an oldschool vibe.
Urkelbot666 wrote:
Most folks have probably already thought of this, I started using pre-existing, and custom special font characters to make the most of the 8 character limit.
Ahh that's a good idea. I'll have to keep that in mind for later. I like the text limitation, it gives the game an oldschool vibe.
Urgh, it really annoys me sometimes! can be so hard to make many variants of one thing. But I agree the short text, full stops and lack of spacing does have a unique retro feel to it. Plus it forces you to think outside the box.
Sat Dec 13, 2014 5:33 am
Quote:
"Broadsword of Ghouls Bane with Fire Aspect"
That could be condensed down into something like "(insert font icon for broadswords here)F.Gbane", I guess.
Or even a bit shorter, "(broadsword icon)(fire icon)Glbane," though double-icons with item names might look a bit odd and I honestly can't remember if anyone's ever done that in an OHR game (or any game, really.)
I'm guessing that would lead to a lot of weapon/elemental icons in the font if you used a system like that.
FYS:AHS -- Swapping out some step-on NPCs for zones + each step script
Puckamon -- Not until the reserve party is expanded.[/size]