It has been talked about flamethrowers, stuff catching fire and smoke, and also it’s kinda pretty obvious how fire should work, realistically talking.
But what about fire sources in practical terms? This post covers most of it through my personal suggestions.
Warning: lots of text.
TL; DR: implement proper fire behavior, realistic firemaking, assort fuel types and fire sources.
Basic principles
I know you guys aren’t cavemen, but you’ve already seen how in 3.x you can magically turn on and off a campfire or torch like if it was a lamp, anytime and anywhere, even under water, lol. In order to see things being more real, these must be stated first.
- Firemaking: in realistic terms, you’ll need the basic elements: an ignition tool, fuel, and also tinder if fuel isn’t very flammable. Without these, players can’t start a fire, unless they take advantage from evironmental or preexisting sources (e.g. lightnings, recently exploded cars, other fires, etc.).
- Fire intensity: this relies on comburent and fuel amount and quality; the more fuel, the stronger and larger flames. Fire slightly becomes weaker over time as fuel is consumed, so it’ll have to be kept up to avoid it from extiguishing, then leaving ashes and/or other burnt waste.
- Fire spreading: fire can spread around if its source is in direct contact with a flammable object. This mechanic will encourage players to keep proper control of the sources to not cause detrimental fires, and also would mean that using torches or similars to lit stuff up could be a possibility.
- Oxygen: as the main comburent IRL (and probably the only one necessary ingame), fire needs it to keep going, so this means there should’t be campfires underwater, and then indoors those would likely extinguish fast (would also eventually consume all oxygen and leave the whole instance covered in smoke).
Mechanics and materials rework
Having in mind the forementioned principles, I suggest these points to be taken in mind in order to overhaul fire features.
Ignition energy
Understood as the means needed to activate comburent to start a fire. Excluding evironmental causes that can provoke a fire (e.g. a lightning), I suggest the addition of these tools/methods in order to allow players to lit fire:
- Matches
- Regular lighters
- Electric lighters (maybe, plz thoughts)
- Lighter sockets (from cars)
- Fire flares
- Sticks
(there are plenty of methods. Not specifying any in particular) - Flint (+ another flint or a metal piece)
- A battery
Marked methods would require certain skill level in order to be done efficiently and faster, and maybe also to be unlocked. Further suggestions of utilities meant exclusively to start a fire are welcome.
Tinder
Quick ignition solid fuel meant as helper to ignition of heavier though less flammable fuel (e.g. logs, heavy cloth), it’s so neglected in many survival games, being such an important component to start fires on extreme survival cases. This element serves to start fires much easier and faster, and there might be many sources from which you could obtain materials that works as tinder, these examples being the main ones:
- Dry foliage (grass/hay/leaves)
- Twigs (trees and bushes)
- Paper scrap
- Cloth scrap
- Dried food
- Tinder fungus
- Fuse.
Alternatively, ignition pads and carbon paper could be added to spawn at camping sites as an easy-lazy workaround. Further suggestions are welcome.
Fuel
The most important element to keep it lit and/or make it grow stronger. Currently in 3.x there’s only gasoline as fuel, and is only usable for either car or generators, so imo there need other types of fuel for different utilities. These are my suggestions of the materials and items to work as fuel:
- Logs: or any sort of wood; trees and such. Slow ignition, for low to mid-tier fire utilities in general.
- Charcoal: makeshift coal made from burnt wood. Works the same as logs, but burns much longer.
- Clothes: pieces of standard flammable clothing. Burns faster if lighter; slower if heavier.
- Dried fertilizer: solid processed animal and vegetal waste.
- Gunpowder: not just for explosives and ammo; small amounts would be good for maintaining fire.
- Powdered chemicals: white phosphorus from smoke bombs, ammonium nitrate and sulphur for gunpowder… Etc.
- Lighter fluid: for recharging lighters. Maybe kerosene instead, for small fire lamps and stoves.
- Alcohol: from spirits and drinks of that kind.
- Gasoline: well known oil derivate for all sorts of vehicles. Different octanes from different vehicles could be good; the higher the octane, the more flammable and explosive.
- Diesel: another oild derivate for certain engines, slightly heavier than common gasoline.
- Bio-diesel: fertilizer processed into liquid makeshift diesel.
- Paint spray: a makeshift though hazardous low tier flamethrower.
- Propane: for fueling oven and stoves.
- Oxygen: for many utilities, from medical to mechanic usage.
There are SO MANY other specific materials I’d like to be included as fuel, though it will just be too much and probably just the half of the mentioned items could be included. Anyway, further suggestions of materials that work as fuel are welcome
Properties
The following are a list of different features of all the forementioned elements to add realism to the whole plot.
- Each type of tinder and fuel must have proper flammability levels, so they burn ingame just like as they should IRL.
- Powder and liquid types of fuel could be spilled on the ground as an improvised fuse, to ignite stuff from a distance.
- Gaseous fuel is contained in cilinders; either large and heavy (propane, oxygen), or small and manageable (blowtorch, paint spray).
- Fuel containers could explode upon ignition, shooting or overheating, depending on fuel stability.
- If isn’t from a safe source, fire can spread if there are flammable objects nearby.
- Structures or objects made from flammable materials can catch fire if ignited, and be totally consumed or destroyed if exposed to it too long; those which aren’t, can be covered and damaged tough not destroyed.
- Items being destroyed if they have long direct contact with fire, leaving ashes or carbonized scraps of the burnt item.
- Oil derricks to not come back; those doesn’t seem realistic to me. If those are brought back, then make them much bigger, harder to built and maintain. Also there should be refining stations made by players to obtain more derivates from oil than just gasoline or diesel if oil derricks are a thing again.
Extinguishing
For many of you may seem obvious, but it isn’t implemented in the game yet so far, as fire wasn’t ever really a true danger. These should exist in case of a detrimental fire going on:
- Usable fire extinguishers, on big or small sizes.
- Buckets and other sorts of decent containers for water, that can be emptied over surfaces.
- Water pumps for either hydrants or makeshift water tanks, so hoses can be usable for extinguishing fire with water.
- Suffocating fire with snow, dirt or sand.
- Putting a large cloth or over a fire (or someone on fire) to suffocate it being possible, for in case players lack of the previous methods.
Further methods are welcome.
I was planning on writing much more about controlled sources, but probably everyone else has already got that covered.
TL; DR: implement realistic firemaking, assort fuel types and fire sources
It took quite a while to make this post, I really want to know your thoughts!
- All of this is great, implement it
- There are some problems with… (comment)
- Not the kind of rework I’d like to see
