I've got a few Ideas for the fire mechanic...

[Rusty_Old_F250]

After spending a week camped out in the woods, (and "hearing" the music from the game at random intervals, funny what your head does to you) I got to thinking, perhaps the fire mechanic should be re-examined a bit, here's a few ideas:

-after having a campfire going for quite some time you'll get a big pile of ash, but in game there's no ash build up at all. Not a big issue, but it bugs me a bit. 

-using pieces of charcoal from a previous fire makes the next one a lot easier to get started, perhaps re-using an old campfire spot could make the fire easier to start and give a minor increase in the heat value?

-A fire doesn't produce a constant heat value once it's going, it varies, and the closer it is to burning out, the less heat it produces

-sticks burn hot and fast, if you need a hot fire quick they tend to put out more heat initially, but it dies out quick

-a fire can smolder for hours, especially if you had a big chunk of wood that didn't burn completely, 

-When first starting a fire, it's really tough to light bigger pieces of wood, I think kindling (or sticks) should have to be used at first, then after a few minutes we can put on the bigger logs

-Using lots of tinder and kindling gets a fire going a lot quicker

-The smaller you split your wood, the easier it is to light, but the faster it burns! Bigger pieces burn for a long time but are near impossible to light and keep burning without a good bed of coals

 

And on a related note... A sharp double bit ax makes quick work of smaller logs, just as fast, if not faster than a bow saw and is much quicker than a hatchet

And a tip: make sure the blade on your bow saw is actually sharp before you pack it with you,...

Sam

[Diamondz]

Hey Sam, great idea about the campfire! Who would've known!

[illanthropist]

I agree, would be a tad more realistic if harvested timber/reclaimed wood could only be added to an existing fire started from sticks and tinder.

It makes sense also that you could reclaim something from a burnt out fire, even if it was just a success bonus to making a new one on the old bed.

[Fuarian]

3 hours ago, Rusty_Old_F250 said:

After spending a week camped out in the woods, (and "hearing" the music from the game at random intervals, funny what your head does to you) I got to thinking, perhaps the fire mechanic should be re-examined a bit, here's a few ideas:

-after having a campfire going for quite some time you'll get a big pile of ash, but in game there's no ash build up at all. Not a big issue, but it bugs me a bit. 

-using pieces of charcoal from a previous fire makes the next one a lot easier to get started, perhaps re-using an old campfire spot could make the fire easier to start and give a minor increase in the heat value?

-A fire doesn't produce a constant heat value once it's going, it varies, and the closer it is to burning out, the less heat it produces

-sticks burn hot and fast, if you need a hot fire quick they tend to put out more heat initially, but it dies out quick

-a fire can smolder for hours, especially if you had a big chunk of wood that didn't burn completely, 

-When first starting a fire, it's really tough to light bigger pieces of wood, I think kindling (or sticks) should have to be used at first, then after a few minutes we can put on the bigger logs

-Using lots of tinder and kindling gets a fire going a lot quicker

-The smaller you split your wood, the easier it is to light, but the faster it burns! Bigger pieces burn for a long time but are near impossible to light and keep burning without a good bed of coals

 

And on a related note... A sharp double bit ax makes quick work of smaller logs, just as fast, if not faster than a bow saw and is much quicker than a hatchet

And a tip: make sure the blade on your bow saw is actually sharp before you pack it with you,...

Sam

Well I know for a fact that you can't start a fire with a log straight up one match bit of tinder and boom! Fire. No. Don't work that way.

[cekivi]

This reminds me a little of an earlier forum thread about transporting embers...

Some tweaks to fire lighting would be interesting. However, no need to make it a complete fire lighting simulator. Presumably your character will split the logs before trying to burn them

 

[elloco999]

14 hours ago, Fuarian said:

Well I know for a fact that you can't start a fire with a log straight up one match bit of tinder and boom! Fire. No. Don't work that way.

That depends on the log and the tinder. If you use a couple of commercial firelighters for your tinder and the log is good and dry and has been split from a larger log (so you have the inside of the log exposed) it is certainly possible to light it in a fireplace with just one match.

If you're talking a little bit of tinder like a tinder plug used in TLD and a log that you've just sawn off a branche, then no it's not possible...

On topic: yeah the fire mechanism could do with a little more realism.

[SteveP]

I have mixed feelings about fire mechanics. They game has a certain simplicity to it and none of the other crafting, chopping or other activities is animated. On the other hand, making fire certainly requires kindling. How much of a change could it be to add a fourth requirement such as kindling? It could be quite trivial or it might not. I do like the idea of adding more ways to make fire especially with sparks and char cloth or amadou.

Any wood that you would find on the ground in winter is going to be soaked or damp. It makes starting fire very difficult. It's best to gather spruce twigs from standing trees or chop down dead trees and even go so far as to open the logs to get at the dry interior. As has been explained there can be issues with the large number of trees that are in the game and the memory limitations of adding a ton of "features" to trees. Dead trees could be added though.

I wish the game were able to teach real survival skills and strategies but I don't feel that is the direction of the game. I took a quick look at another survival emulation however the crafting tree and skill trees were enormous and the menus confusing and cumbersome unlike the minimalist style of TLD. I've seen games so convoluted with features in the past that they were virtually impossible to play or master. I don't think that is going to be a problem with the small and tight development team.

[cekivi]

The game can educate and simulate real survival but I don't think it (or any game) could ever teach it. You can teach the principles of fire making but it's not the same as doing it yourself or having someone show you how to do it. For instance, through lots of experience, I can make a fire in almost any weather with the caveat that I still need matches, a lighter or a commercial flint/steel. Although I've seen enough TV and played enough games to know many alternate fire making techniques I wouldn't be confident with them and it would take a lot of trial and error to actually get a fire.

[SteveP]

1 hour ago, cekivi said:

The game can educate and simulate real survival but I don't think it (or any game) could ever teach it.

On my video channel, I use that to talk about the basic principles of survival such as the STOP acronym and how to review the basic 5 necessities of survival in each context. It's not so much about learning techniques per se as it is about stopping, not panicking, reviewing inventory and needs and then formulating a plan and putting it into action.

If there were a hope for being rescued, it would be important to take signalling into account. Since no aircraft are flying and there are almost no other survivors, signalling won't work in our situation however, it might work with the addition of NPCs

http://thesurvivalmom.com/find-lost-s-t-o-p/

http://www.befoundalive.com/articles/article/8430068/163312.htm

https://www.efoodsdirect.com/blog/basic-survival-skills-101-14-survival-safety/

 

 

[cekivi]

That I can get behind. I was thinking more along the lines of snare building (and where to put them), fishing techniques, etc. More learned skills as opposed to the mental ones.

[illanthropist]

STOP is one of my faves and it doesn't always need to belong to a survival situation when you KISS it down to just Stop, Think, Observe, Plan it has numerous applications be it project management or solving a mid life crisis 

[elloco999]

13 hours ago, SteveP said:

On my video channel, I use that to talk about the basic principles of survival such as the STOP acronym and how to review the basic 5 necessities of survival in each context. It's not so much about learning techniques per se as it is about stopping, not panicking, reviewing inventory and needs and then formulating a plan and putting it into action.

That first vid is from your channel?