Match Degradation

[aaa1steve]

I have been trying to understand the degradation of matches in TLD, but have only been picking up on random bits in the forums, plus rumored match degrading theory, wishlist treatment, etc., etc. But what is the actual performance of match spoilage IN THIS GAME?

1) Is it true that the matches will not start degrading until I take possession of them? Should I just leave them where I find them, note their location, and go back and get them after 100, 200, or 400 days when I need them, where they will be in the same state, say 50%, that were when first spotted?

2) I noticed that the matches in my backpack degraded much more slowly than the matches I left lying around on the floor. The ones on the floor vanished from the house completely while the ones in my backpack slowly slid in quality maybe 1% per week. Is this a correct observation?

3) Based on the last observation, can I minimize degradation by storing matches in a drawer or cabinet?

Just trying to save myself the time of engaging in a long-term tracking study.

[bikegramps]

#1 yes

#2 yes

#3 yes

[Hyssch]

1) Is it true that the matches will not start degrading until I take possession of them? Should I just leave them where I find them, note their location, and go back and get them after 100, 200, or 400 days when I need them, where they will be in the same state, say 50%, that were when first spotted?

#1

If You said You knew what the condition % was for the matches, that means that You must've examined them by clicking the item in question and reading the infosheet displayed for it... and that action starts the decay process already.

Same happens if You open a drawer/closet/container/glovebox/trunk etc. for once You examined them, those possible items for those containers were also generated and You had already interacted with them, once they were listed on that containers inventory.

If You see a box of matches on some shelf somewhere, just leave them be. Don't interact with that item in any way and it wont trigger the decay process for that item.

I haven't tested this in months, but I believe it used to be like this back in the days.

Best is to start at Pleasant Valley and pick up first the Firestriker besides Signal Hill cabin microwave oven and avoid opening anything that pops up an inventory UI, if really not needed to do so. Otherwise You end up with too many boxes of matches too soon, all loosing condition slowly but surely.

#2 yes

#3 yes

[elloco999]

Every item that degrades, matches included, will only start degrading after the player touches it (clicks on it if it's lying around (even if you put it back) or find it in a container (even if you put it back)). You can easily test this. Go into a building, the game saves at this point. Pick up some stuff you haven't touched yet and check and note their condition. Now reload and leave the stuff alone and exit the building. Come back later (after several weeks, months, when you need those items) and pick the items up again. You will see they still have the same condition. So yes, as long as you don't touch something, it will not degrade.

It is therefore a good practice, if you want to survive for a long time, to not pick stuff up, search containers when you don't need the items.

And yes, where you place an item has an impact on the degradation rate. On the floor/ ground is the worst. Items left here will degrade rapidly. Your backpack is better, items will degrade slower. Containers are the best, items degrade even slower. (Actually, I haven't tested this recently, but this is how it used to be).

Also all containers now have the same effect on every item. This was not always the case. It used to be so that certain containers were better for certain items. Medical kits/ cabinets used to be better for storing matches and fridges/ freezers were better for storing food. This may be introduced again in the future. One of the devs mentioned something along those lines when it was removed.

[aaa1steve]

Especially to Hyssch and elloco999: Wow! You're right about the match degradation. Yesterday I started a new game-run in order to get a fresh start with the new v.243. (I did it not so much because of the new version, but because my previous 510-day run was filled with a lot of sloppy waste regarding matches and lantern fuel, all used up now. Sometimes I used matches to find the bed at night. What a pig!)

After just 3 days of new game-play, I already see degradation of matches that I had clicked-on-but-left in various places. I may adopt a mixed strategy. Matches are usually just lying around on tables, shelves, or the floor anyway. When they are that obvious, I can leave them untouched. But when I accidentally touch them during my search of drawers and boxes, I'll take them and store them in a container at my local base to slow degradation. Some people have suggested the home medicine cabinet or a drawer.

Thank you so much for your very informative answer.

[Gallowsknight]

These is really my only frustration about the game. It's a weird quantum mechanic situation where the food only decays if I have observed it first. It's punitive against real life pragmatic behaviour. In real life that food or match or going to degrade whether or not I've ever seen it.

So in real life my strategy of gathering all the sealed food and storing it in a high dry cupboard not too close to a heat source and of putting matches in a dry draw somewhere is going to be better than leaving them in the middle of nowhere.

I also put my fresh meat in the freezer and my cooked meat and soft drink in the fridge, to prevent contamination. Obviously the fridge isn't going to be powered, but it is insulated and in real life I could plastic bag snow to pack the fridge to keep thing cold.

When I play this game I like to be realistic as well as survive. I try not to "game" any mechanics that don't make sense to me.

[Boston123]

These is really my only frustration about the game. It's a weird quantum mechanic situation where the food only decays if I have observed it first. It's punitive against real life pragmatic behaviour. In real life that food or match or going to degrade whether or not I've ever seen it.

So in real life my strategy of gathering all the sealed food and storing it in a high dry cupboard not too close to a heat source and of putting matches in a dry draw somewhere is going to be better than leaving them in the middle of nowhere.

I also put my fresh meat in the freezer and my cooked meat and soft drink in the fridge, to prevent contamination. Obviously the fridge isn't going to be powered, but it is insulated and in real life I could plastic bag snow to pack the fridge to keep thing cold.

When I play this game I like to be realistic as well as survive. I try not to "game" any mechanics that don't make sense to me.

Pretty much. Many of the mechanics in this game (the "item degradation if you so much as look at it" and the "repair a knife by adding metal, etc" mechanics, specifically) don't make much sense, and is almost counter-intuitive .

Yes, give us all these lockers in the Dam, but if you so much as open them, everything in them will slowly fall apart for no particular reason. :roll:

[TWM]

In real life that food or match or going to degrade whether or not I've ever seen it

While that may be true, I doubt you would like it very much if you made it to Pleasant Valley only to find out all the food had been degraded to the point where eating it would make you ill.

As far as the matches are concerned though, I agree.

After 200 days or so, I'm burning matches going about in the house at night just to ensure they don't go to waste. Which saves on petrol, but will prove a problem in the long run, when I run out of fire igniters.

Its counterintuitive too: in real life, matches wouldn't degrade that match if stored properly.

[Gallowsknight]

While that may be true, I doubt you would like it very much if you made it to Pleasant Valley only to find out all the food had been degraded to the point where eating it would make you ill.

As far as the matches are concerned though, I agree.

After 200 days or so, I'm burning matches going about in the house at night just to ensure they don't go to waste. Which saves on petrol, but will prove a problem in the long run, when I run out of fire igniters.

Its counterintuitive too: in real life, matches wouldn't degrade that match if stored properly.

Yeah that would epically suck. But if I could significantly slow degradation of sealed food by storing appropriately that gives me incentive to leave my cosy base in ML or CH. It gives me a more realistic clock to race against, to aid my survival. Then the logistical challenge of taking it home (like the sled suggestion in another thread). There's the balance in how many calories I spend gathering those calories.

Re: matches if they're going to eventually run out, it'd be great if there was an option to make a firebow out of saplings and guts to start a fire.