Failing to Make Fire

[frank teh bunny]

Why am I failing to make fires inside of a house, inside of a stove... my 11 year old nephew can make fire more efficiently than our survivor fighting for his life... Makes it difficult to play to be honest.. just unrealistic..

[Martial.Lore]

Many games include skill development mechanics that are intended to make the beginning of the game more challenging, rather than throwing you out there with a bunch of ready-made supplies. The Long Dark is meant to be a struggle to survive, in both the short and long term.

There could be any number of reasons why a fire won't start in real life, even indoors. Just be glad TLD doesn't throw in wet fuel and damp matches as a fire-starting complication! In games RPG and RNG mechanics are always intended to scale difficulty and skew assumptions that players might carry with them as they progress through well-developed gameplay. The Long Dark actually does this very well.

I'm approaching Day 250 and the only struggle I really have is remembering where all my good supplies are stashed over the world and trying to figure out which indoor location I haven't visited in Mystery Lake and Coastal Highway in order to get the "Exploration Game" achievement.

[Metanoia]

Originally posted by Corn Dust:

Originally posted by Nil Desperandum:

@Corn Dust: As you play the game your experience skills develop, not only with Fire Starting but all your other skills as well. You will come across 'experience' books, which once read contribute to a particular skill, such as fire fighting, weapon skills, cooking, mending, etc. That and doing a particular skill adds up your skill points till you arrive at level 5. Practice lighting a fire for example, reach level 5 in fire lighting and you won't fail at that particular skill except for RNG - random number generator - which is a throw of the dice, I cannot recall ever failing at fire-lighting once I have attained Level 5 skill, except in trying to light a fire in the prevailing wind. Be lucky!

you cant practice starting fires because the game limits the amount of starters you have, so eventually the game does force you to die.

Actually with the changes they've made in the past, its possible to survive literally forever, a gameplay loop exists that can provide you the resources required to never die so it really is reliant upon your skill level.

But judging by the way you have taken the game so far, you dont seem too eager to give it another try and to attempt to adapt to its harsh environment, so perhaps the game just isn't for you.

People in this thread have said it before, but what alot of experianced players do is either use a magnifying glass or light a torch with a match to give you multiple attempts to prevent RNG from influencing your attempt to make a fire, this is why you'll see people usually carrying a spare torch they pulled from a previous fire, just incase.

I've sank 500+ hours into the game and love it, but I'm a survival game fanatic, so.

[deripsninu]

Originally posted by Corn Dust:

Originally posted by Nil Desperandum:

@Corn Dust: As you play the game your experience skills develop, not only with Fire Starting but all your other skills as well. You will come across 'experience' books, which once read contribute to a particular skill, such as fire fighting, weapon skills, cooking, mending, etc. That and doing a particular skill adds up your skill points till you arrive at level 5. Practice lighting a fire for example, reach level 5 in fire lighting and you won't fail at that particular skill except for RNG - random number generator - which is a throw of the dice, I cannot recall ever failing at fire-lighting once I have attained Level 5 skill, except in trying to light a fire in the prevailing wind. Be lucky!

you cant practice starting fires because the game limits the amount of starters you have, so eventually the game does force you to die.

You can practice. Sit in a cave. Start a fire (mag lens is good). Add fuel to the fire. Take a torch from the fire, start a few other (one stick only) fires from the torch. Repeat. Each successful fire you light adds to your skill. Once you get to level 3, you no longer need tinder. Once you get to level 4, you'll rarely fail.

What's your fire starting level? If it's low, your percentage chance of success is low. Get the skill up and it becomes easier, to the point of being almost impossible to fail. If you're trying with poor materials, your chance will be even lower. Cycle through the material options and pick the ones that boost your chances of success.

Oh, and if you really need a fire NOW, use the accelerant.

[SBlack]

Originally posted by deripsninu:

Cycle through the material options and pick the ones that boost your chances of success

As said, books are best for this. Well worth picking some up in the early game. Later on they aren't needed.

Higher level fire skills are better for fire duration. Just fire starting chance is very good from level 3 on already. And that can easily be achieved without lighting fires for their own sake. Reading a skill book or two helps.

But the OP is just trolling at this point. Throwing out nonsense and several of that in a row

[iwasa]

Remember the RNG is not necessarily your friend. Sometimes you can have a run of bad numbers that can be so infuriating.

Consider:

When you got a fire started, always pull a torch, extinguish it, and the next time you want to light a fire, light the torch first. It gives you several tries without having to expend matches or fire striker. If you plan to use torches for other purposes, take several, keeping in mind each torch takes 10 minutes of fire duration.

Be aware that, at level 1 to 3, maybe 4, the time it takes to light a fire with sticks (of course using tinder) will take nearly all the available burn-time of the stick. Better to use a book or cedar wood. If using a stove and a stick, you can be rather bitterly surprised at how often the fire will die while you try to reconnect to it to put more fuel on it. Also be aware that if the fire dies while you're frantically clicking on it, you can end up inadvertently striking a match because the "light a fire" process immediately appears when you click on the burned-out fire.

Since your failures were in a stove, it may be that you used sticks instead of cedar. I think I put on the wish list that fire starting allow for more than one stick, but until they do that husband that cedar wood and books. Better luck next time.

[LittleBlueDuneBuggy]

Originally posted by Corn Dust:

Just doesn't make sense. Bad developing.

It's a game. How are you supposed to level up your skill if it's already maxed out?

I think what you're looking for is a game that consists of a giant red button. You hit the button, and are instantly shown a new screen reading: "Congratulations! You've won!"

[Foxen]

^ That could become a bestseller!!! :D ;-)

[Whatever]

You're assuming that the materials that you are using are dry...is it not perpetual winter in the game? What are the odds that the stick you picked up..outside..in the snow..is dry?Not to mention that the air moisture content in northern Canada is horrible in the summer and the winter,right now this second it's 77 percent moisture content here in northern Ont ,lol..so things get damp and stay damp even inside(if you're going for realism ) so ya,even inside fires sometimes wont work,because that book or paper might also be slightly damp...not to mention that none of the buildings have heat..so nothing to dispel the indoor moisture.

[yaddle]

Originally posted by Corn Dust:

Can fly planes but cant make a fire inside of a stove, indoors. HAHA okay!

Well said brother

[TushTushTush]

You got whine and troll skill 5.

[listless]

Everybody thinks they can make a fire, but most of them can't - not without making a smoky mess first and using way more material than necessary.

[yaddle]

Irl you don't need tinder... It's just a lot more helpful to have

[Yourbestfiend]

To be fair most of the houses in this game are still close to the temperature of freezing.

[Foxen]

Is there even one house above freezing?
Haven't seen one yet...
Try it naked and you'll freeze...afaik in any of the houses.
But please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Metanoia]

Originally posted by Foxen:

Is there even one house above freezing?
Haven't seen one yet...
Try it naked and you'll freeze...afaik in any of the houses.
But please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's why you wear clothes.

Even a mediocre set of shirts and pants should stop you from freezing in most t2-t3 indoor locations.