For all you veterans out there

[Jynxer]

I have 2 questions actually. First, I’m working on filling a jerry can by fishing. When I started collecting I had about .10L of fuel in there and it showed %25. Why is it when I’m filling it with good fuel the percentage doesn’t go up? Does the %25 mean the condition of the can? Does it mean over time if I leave it, it will go to %0?

 

Second, when upping fire starting skills, do you get more (or less) points for starting fires different ways? Eg. less points for using fuel, or more points for using mag lens?

 

and I’ve actually thought of a third question whilst typing. When you have a lower percentage mag lens, does it differ from one that has higher percentage? ( I’ve read they don’t degrade at all when you have one)

thanks in advance for reading and offering input 😀

[UpUpAway95]

I wouldn't worry about the condition of your lantern fuel.  When you refuel your lantern the condition of the lantern fuel just doesn't matter.  For example, your lantern won't degrade faster just because you've added in a low grade of lantern fuel.  The lighting of the lantern success rate is based on the condition of the lantern (and your lantern condition has to be pretty low for it to fail.  In fact, I've never had one fail to light.  The fuel burns at a steady rate regardless.

Your skill level affects your chances of failing to start a fire and that varies with what you're attempting to start the fire with.  The best strategy early on (if you don't have a magnifying lens or can't use it due to the weather) is to light a torch first (which is almost guaranteed to light with just one match) and then use the lit torch to start your fire.  You can then keep trying to light a fire with the same lit torch multiple times in case of a failure to light (i.e. it saves matches).  If you have a mag lens and you want your fire indoors, just light a fire with the mag lens outside the entrance (weather permitting) and pull a torch from that lit fire... taking that lit torch inside with you and then using it to light the fire, say, in your stove.  You get 1 point for each fire you light regardless of how you light it.  You don't, however, get an additional point for lighting the torch first.  Lighting the fire with the lit torch still only generates 1 point.  You will, however, get 2 points for lighting a mag lens fire at the door and then using a lit torch to transfer that fire inside.

Edited May 17, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[Mistral]

2 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

is to light a torch first (which is almost guaranteed to light with just one match)

Almost guaranteed? Isn't it 100% guaranteed... I don't remember it ever taking more than one match (unless you do accidental double-click and hear the sound cue, but that's user error not by design). Then again I don't pay that much attention to the numbers given that even on Loper and Deadman there is ridiculously massive excess of matches laying around everywhere

Anyhow the annoyance with torch start fires is that if you also happen to have firestriker, that is automatically the first choice in the fire starter menu, so very easy to accidentally click on... I'm sure it's a bug too since lit torch does take priority over matches but not over the striker

As for mag lens condition, no it doesn't matter it is eternal. There are non-decaying items in the game

Edited May 17, 2021 by Mistral

[Dr. S.]

15 minutes ago, Mistral said:

Anyhow the annoyance with torch start fires is that if you also happen to have firestriker, that is automatically the first choice in the fire starter menu, so very easy to accidentally click on... I'm sure it's a bug too since lit torch does take priority over matches but not over the striker

Sadly, it's not a bug. The list is alphabetical. Only wooden matches come after the torches. If you're playing on settings that allow cardboard matches, they always come first. And if you're carrying multiple packs, enjoy hitting the arrow a few times ... 

It would be much better if a lit torch always came first, of course.

[UpUpAway95]

2 hours ago, Mistral said:

Almost guaranteed? Isn't it 100% guaranteed... I don't remember it ever taking more than one match (unless you do accidental double-click and hear the sound cue, but that's user error not by design). Then again I don't pay that much attention to the numbers given that even on Loper and Deadman there is ridiculously massive excess of matches laying around everywhere

Anyhow the annoyance with torch start fires is that if you also happen to have firestriker, that is automatically the first choice in the fire starter menu, so very easy to accidentally click on... I'm sure it's a bug too since lit torch does take priority over matches but not over the striker

As for mag lens condition, no it doesn't matter it is eternal. There are non-decaying items in the game

That's what I thought... until the day I actually had a failure lighting a torch... now I say that nothing is 100% guaranteed, but only "almost guaranteed."  Still a lot higher odds that just trying to start the fire directly.  It doesn't bother me much that the lit torch is not first on the list.  I've learned to pay attention and be careful to select it.

Edited May 17, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[Mistral]

11 hours ago, Dr. S. said:

Sadly, it's not a bug. The list is alphabetical. Only wooden matches come after the torches. If you're playing on settings that allow cardboard matches, they always come first. And if you're carrying multiple packs, enjoy hitting the arrow a few times ... 

It would be much better if a lit torch always came first, of course.

So it is. I actually forgot there even were two types of matches in the game, as it doesn't matter if you're using the torch fires & mag lens as your only source (not counting the very first fire in the game)

I wish there was an option to turn off all fire sources beyond mag lens and maybe like 3-5 match boxes hidden in the game world lol. I mean I guess you could not just pick em up but they're so light theres no reason not to atm

Edited May 18, 2021 by Mistral

[peteloud]

I agree with your suggestion of using a a torch to light a fire.  Two or three years ago I had to be economic with my use of matches, but for the past year or so there seems to be so many matches around I don't even think of conserving them. (I don't normally play Interloper.)

 

[Andy_K]

Yeah, the match discovery rate (on interloper at least) increased massively in one of the patches a year or two ago. Specifically you'll now find many more in glove compartments as well as the known spawn points. But I'm also still in the 'conserve matches' play mode that was necessary beforehand, so it's not uncommon to accumulate 12 spare boxes of matches now...

[GothSkunk]

On 5/16/2021 at 10:42 PM, Jynxer said:

I have 2 questions actually. First, I’m working on filling a jerry can by fishing. When I started collecting I had about .10L of fuel in there and it showed %25. Why is it when I’m filling it with good fuel the percentage doesn’t go up? Does the %25 mean the condition of the can? Does it mean over time if I leave it, it will go to %0?

 

Second, when upping fire starting skills, do you get more (or less) points for starting fires different ways? Eg. less points for using fuel, or more points for using mag lens?

 

and I’ve actually thought of a third question whilst typing. When you have a lower percentage mag lens, does it differ from one that has higher percentage? ( I’ve read they don’t degrade at all when you have one)

thanks in advance for reading and offering input 😀

 

1. The % value of the jerry can is indeed the condition of the jerry can itself. Don't worry about it; it never decays.

2.  Every fire you start, regardless of how you start it, increases your fire starting skill by 1 point. This obviously leads to exploits where people can just rapidly level it up  by building a lot of fires one after the other. I would like to see this limited to 1 point per day.

3. The condition of your mag lens has absolutely no bearing on its ability to start fires.

[Jynxer]

Thanks all for the answers 😀

[Cranky]

On 5/22/2021 at 2:12 PM, GothSkunk said:

2.  Every fire you start, regardless of how you start it, increases your fire starting skill by 1 point. This obviously leads to exploits where people can just rapidly level it up  by building a lot of fires one after the other. I would like to see this limited to 1 point per day.

On stalker runs this is how I lvl up my fire skill fast. I get your point that this is an exploitative trick but a similar trick can be used to quickly lvl up cooking and harvesting skills.

 

If one harvests a lot of sticks and meat (a bunch of fish or a few kills for example) then cooks it all in the smallest increments possible, your cooking skill will lvl up rather quickly.  Same goes for harvesting (provided the weather permitting), if you killed a few wolves, a bear or moose for example and harvest 1kg at a time then the harvesting skill will quickly go up. 
 

Would you like to see these things limited as well?

[UpUpAway95]

On 5/22/2021 at 3:12 PM, GothSkunk said:

 

1. The % value of the jerry can is indeed the condition of the jerry can itself. Don't worry about it; it never decays.

2.  Every fire you start, regardless of how you start it, increases your fire starting skill by 1 point. This obviously leads to exploits where people can just rapidly level it up  by building a lot of fires one after the other. I would like to see this limited to 1 point per day.

3. The condition of your mag lens has absolutely no bearing on its ability to start fires.

A limite of 1 point per day is ridiculously low.  It's often necessary to light more than one fire per day, especially in the early game where the player usually lacks adequate clothing and has no stockpile of wood to fall back on to keep fires going for hours and hours at a time while they run out and collect loot or hunt.  Also, outdoor fires can be blown out at a moment's notice, necessitating that a new fire be started in a different location, again just to stay warm or to finish cooking something.  Starting multiple fires in one day is not always an exploit to level up the skill.

I would really prefer that Hinterland either completely change the basis on which these skills are leveled or not bother trying to police what individual players do in their single-player games.  However, for the sake of discussion... the cooking skill could level by weight instead of by the piece.  The same could be said for harvesting.  Fire starting, however, is more problematic to change the basis on which it is leveled.  They could increase the overall number of points required to fully level and then scale the points given depending on what is used to start the fire.  Fires started with a torch would get 1 point since the supply of torches is effectively infinite and the player is basically assured of eventually succeeding.  Fires started with a mag lens could also be worth just 1 point for the same reasons.  Fires started with a match, however, could be worth 3 points, since they are a more limited resource in the game and, at least for the early game, the odds of success are much lower overall.  Fires started with a firestriker could be then worth 2 points since the odds of success are a little higher than with a match.

[GothSkunk]

On 5/24/2021 at 4:26 PM, Cranky said:

 

 

If one harvests a lot of sticks and meat (a bunch of fish or a few kills for example) then cooks it all in the smallest increments possible, your cooking skill will lvl up rather quickly.  Same goes for harvesting (provided the weather permitting), if you killed a few wolves, a bear or moose for example and harvest 1kg at a time then the harvesting skill will quickly go up. 
 

Would you like to see these things limited as well?

Absolutely.

On 5/24/2021 at 8:09 PM, UpUpAway95 said:

A limite of 1 point per day is ridiculously low...

 

I don't care.

Edited May 26, 2021 by GothSkunk

[odizzido]

One thing to say about the skilling up fire starting by making a bunch of fires.....that's kinda how building a skill works. If you get two people of equal skill and for a week one person makes 50 fires a day and the other makes only one, the person who has made 50 a day will be much better at it. It makes sense.

 

Now about the harvesting and cooking, I think those should be switched to weight. So cooking/harvesting 1kg of meat gives you 1 skill point, cooking/harvesting 0.1kg would give 0.1 points. That way you skill up based off of the amount of work and material you're working with instead of how quickly you can hit harvest and then cancel to get tiny chunks of meat.

[Dr. S.]

The wiki says that harvesting already works by time spent harvesting (one hour = 1 point) so it doesn't matter what size pieces you harvest for this purpose. (What does matter, if you care, is type of tool, or no tool, because those affect the time to harvest.)

For cooking, I suspect the system is the way it is because cooking applies to teas as well as meat, so they went with a simple "1 cooked item" = 1 point system. I don't really see any reason to change it (or to limit the number of points gained in a day). If players want to exploit it, they can; that mostly seems tedious to me.

[UpUpAway95]

8 hours ago, Dr. S. said:

The wiki says that harvesting already works by time spent harvesting (one hour = 1 point) so it doesn't matter what size pieces you harvest for this purpose. (What does matter, if you care, is type of tool, or no tool, because those affect the time to harvest.)

For cooking, I suspect the system is the way it is because cooking applies to teas as well as meat, so they went with a simple "1 cooked item" = 1 point system. I don't really see any reason to change it (or to limit the number of points gained in a day). If players want to exploit it, they can; that mostly seems tedious to me.

By weight would still cover teas when made from dry (0.10 kg) and any other cooked foods.  Everything already has a weight.  Harvesting can also be converted to weight... makes it all based on one thing... neither pieces nor hours would need to be tracked.  A 40 kg bear would always count as 40 kg... no matter how you sliced and diced him or how long you took to do it.

Edited May 27, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[UpUpAway95]

8 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

By weight would still cover teas when made from dry (0.10 kg) and any other cooked foods.  Everything already has a weight.  Harvesting can also be converted to weight... makes it all based on one thing... neither pieces nor hours would need to be tracked.  A 40 kg bear would always count as 40 kg... no matter how you sliced and diced him or how long you took to do it.

ETA:  Fishing could also go by weight.  IMO, it's less complicated than what we have now.

[oushidian]

Slightly on topic, how to keep a fire going.
1. Always light a torch then light the fire with the torch. It's not 100% to light but if it fails you have a lit torch in your hand.

2. Once lit, collect torches. Chick on fire and harvest a torch. This will lower your fires time so add wood if needed (good way to control burn time BTW). Put out torch. Empty your hand (puts torch in inventory). Click on fire and get new torch. Repeat (I tend to only need 3-4 torches).

3. Keep last torch lit. Walk around, maybe pick up sticks. When your torch gets low spike it into the ground, pull out new torch, carefully position tiny dot over torch on ground, light new torch. Repeat.

4. When wolves attack: They won't come near you because you have a torch. If your torch is low light a fire and make more torches.

5. Not useful in the wind.