Prioritize lit torches over cardboard matches

[Salty Crackers]

Cardboard matches come before lit torches in the firestarting menu. I've often been carrying a torch from place to place to conserve matches, and when I go to start the fire, I accidentally use a match anyway. Please reverse the order.

[Salty Crackers]

Turns out the firestriker gets priority over lit torches as well. It's not as much of a problem, but if I'm already holding a lit torch, do I really need the extra 10% chance of a firestriker?

[Derek0311]

7 hours ago, Salty Crackers said:

I'm already holding a lit torch, do I really need the extra 10% chance of a firestriker?

Sounds like an oversight to me. How does a firestriker give you a better chance of starting a fire over an open flame?

[Salty Crackers]

7 minutes ago, Derek0311 said:

Sounds like an oversight to me. How does a firestriker give you a better chance of starting a fire over an open flame?

The firestriker has always had a +15% chance for firestarting while the torch has +5%. It never made any sense to me as a ferro rod is way harder to use than other firestarters, but I don't imagine this will change.

[Derek0311]

(IRL) Before I head out, I’ll make myself “chaos candles”, cotton balls slathered in Vaseline.  Waterproof outside, dry on the inside, and burns well after you tear them open.  Great for ferro rods because, like you said, they aren’t easy.  Probably too much to ask for in TLD, but hey, worth a shot.

[Ragwort]

This would save me so much clicking - fully support it!

[Salty Crackers]

56 minutes ago, Derek0311 said:

(IRL) Before I head out, I’ll make myself “chaos candles”, cotton balls slathered in Vaseline.  Waterproof outside, dry on the inside, and burns well after you tear them open.  Great for ferro rods because, like you said, they aren’t easy.  Probably too much to ask for in TLD, but hey, worth a shot.

I use dryer lint myself.

Another good idea! Dryer lint as a non-renewable tinder source with a bonus to fire starting chance.

[odizzido]

I always have to cycle to the torch as well. It seems obvious to have that as the number one choice. It's so slow clicking through the scrolling menu system too.

 

I think hinterland would benefit from hiring someone to come in, play their game, and fix all those little things. Someone who enjoys their game and is good enough at working on games that they can do small tweaks and fixes.

 

Like for example I've been playing Stalker: Anomaly and I notice things like shotgun damage using a single pellet(of eight) for the damage calculation tooltip info and so I change it so that it uses slugs to more accurately reflect the damage they do. Or changing from 9x18 to 9x19 on some weapons doesn't actually do anything, so I fix that too. That's what they need. They don't need some senior game programmer, just someone who enjoys the game and knows enough to help.

[Salty Crackers]

2 hours ago, odizzido said:

I think hinterland would benefit from hiring someone to come in, play their game, and fix all those little things. Someone who enjoys their game and is good enough at working on games that they can do small tweaks and fixes.

This is the purpose of the forums. HL does actually read the forums, but a lot of the little ideas don't get implemented as they want to wait for the next major update to change anything beyond tuning and hotfixes in the few weeks after a major update. I would rather have these nitpicks addressed quickly, but that's not how HL works.

[stirfoo]

Same for the mag lens. Make it the default if the sun is out an you don't have a torch lit.

[Mroz4k]

I agree with this suggestion, like most people I imagine. The thing here is - the extra added fire starting chance is there for game-balance issues. As Firestarter itself is much rarer then the usual matches. That said, having a lit torch in order to conserve matches is a very common strategy by players.

Also, I think we could explain it as firestarter being more precise in starting fires then a lit torch. When starting fire, first step after preparing the fire for ignition is to light the tinder. That might be easier to do with a firestarter then with a lit torch. Then again, just placing a torch onto a wood might be enough to start a fire without tinder in reality... so Id say these are mostly just game design, something to distinguish the use versus rarity in item selection.

Back to my main point: While most people would prefer to use lit torch over the firestarter to conserve matches, this may not be the same for everyone. Someone might actually want to create the fire with teh firestriker because of its added bonus to starting the fires. So, this comes down to personal priority. Each player might wanna use something different. This issue is also very commonly seen in other parts of the game - the quick-equip buttons, for example. Press 1, you will equip flashlight, for example. Now, flashlight is entirely useless unless there is an aurora up... which there isnt, most of the time. Same with weapons. Press 2, you will whip out a rifle. Now, most people might prefer a different weapon, most would probably choose Bow before the rifle.

My suggestion in the past was that there was a setting in the game settings where players could select their own individual preference. And even change the preference in the future as they get more gametime experience and change their routines.

 

My "fix" to this: I usually only carry unlit torches, one lit torch, and a set of carboard matches or  wooden matches to boot. So, when starting a fire, and changing what to use to start the fire, I usually click "back" which puts it on the lit torch straight away. I still on occasion waste a match as well.