I don’t see any reason both a user-preference sorting system and a auto-sorting system cannot be used. The way I see it working is as follows (assuming storage clothing is treated like containers):
Survivor Todd has on him cargo pants, a trenchcoat, one military rucksack, two backpacks, a belt rig, a fanny pack, and a holster. So 8 containers of clothing.
Without player intervention, auto-sorting is used. One way of doing this is, upon picking up an item, the computer notes the volume of the item and places it in the container with the largest total storage, which would be the military rucksack. If the military rucksack cannot hold the item due to a lack of space, the computer looks at the container with the next highest storage. However, Todd has two backpacks, so which to choose? The computer would choose the one that is lowest alphanumerically, or the lowest letter/symbol (or highest, as long as the computer knows which to pick next). If backpack 1 is d and backpack 2 is e, the computer looks at backpack 1 next, then backpack 2, so on and so forth. If it goes through all the containers the player has and cannot find a suitable container, it returns the message, “You have no room in your inventory for (item)!”
It can just as easily go from smallest storage to biggest, and that’s the more efficient option. The reason I opt for the opposite, however, is that I’m assuming that the player would be dropping his backpacks to fight should he be a melee character or overburdened. As most items grabbed and auto-sorted would be random loot, food, water and other not-immediately important crap, this would allow the player to get rid of as much weight as possible in one drop command, as opposed to having to leaf through his cargo pants to drop those extra batteries he doesn’t need that are pushing him just over the weight limit. I also assume that if a player picks up an item he wants to equip and/or keep close on his character, he would move the item from his backpack to one of his other not-dumped containers, and having it go from biggest to smallest means the player doesn’t have to drop crap out of his other containers to fit the item he wants to keep close. Basically convenience, at the expense of efficiency. If the player wants to micromanage, he can always shift things around in his containers.
An option besides auto-sorting could be player-preference sorting. The way this would work would essentially be a screen similar to that of the one you use to determine what layer of clothing goes over or under what. You have your currently equipped containers visible in columns, and you have a ‘unsorted’ column, which contains all the type assignments of items there are. From here, you are able to move the categories from the unsorted column to your containers, to indicate what your preferences are for which items go where. Drugs to cargo pants, tools to trenchcoat, CBMs to backpack 2, Firearms to military rucksack, etc. Anything the player doesn’t care about, he can leave unsorted. I’m not exactly sure how, but it would be helpful if it were possible for the settings to be remembered so that when a player drops and picks up his rucksack he doesn’t need to reassign the categories that that rucksack had.
Now, three different kinds of situations can occur. The player (Todd still) attempts to pick up a welder. The computer first looks at this sort of preference chart to see if the player has set a preference for tools. The player has set a preference for tools to be placed on his belt rig. The computer checks the volume of the welder vs the belt rig’s available storage. There’s enough room, so the welder is placed in the belt rig and the message, “You put the welder in your belt rig,” is displayed. That’s the first situation. For the second situation, Todd doesn’t have enough room in his belt rig for the welder. The computer then falls back on the auto-sort system as above and his rucksack has enough room. The welder is placed in his rucksack and the message, “You put the welder in your military rucksack.” is displayed. This would alert the player to the fact his belt rig can’t hold the tool and he should either find another spot, make room for it or just leave it where it is. That’s the second situation. For the third situation the player has no room in any of his containers for the item, so the computer checks the preference first, then the auto-sort preference, then returns the message, “You have no room in your inventory for welder!”
Personally, that would seem optimal to me. I wouldn’t have plastic bottles clogging up my cargo pants pockets when I don’t want them there even if I didn’t give a rat’s ass about preference, and when conditions are favorable and I do care about preference, I can get drugs in my pants pockets with my lighters, so I can take a puff or hit to help me out in a close combat situation. I’m not exactly sure what a container inventory would look like, nor do I know where development is at atm in regards to it, but I feel good about the system I mentioned above. YMMV.