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Fighting the Dark (Lighting)


Damien Darkside

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So I always have the electricity on. Continuously. I always set electricity to never go out (the 0-5 year option). Why? Because darkness is annoying to me. Sure at the beginning of the game, when you barely have played, night is very scary. You have low visibility and not a lot of awareness of where a zed is. However after that "scariness" is over, darkness is just that, dark. Annoying to walk around in and I want to be able to see.

 

What we need is more LIGHT. Yes. Light. We can continue working during the night, especially since our characters don't seem to need 8 hours of sleep and have no circadian rhythm (we get sleepy with a workout, not by our internal clocks). So if I want to be able to work at night I should be able to see. We have had lamps made from animal fat since as far back as 70,000 BC (estimated), we should be able to make lamps. Also this makes and additional goal of keeping a lamp lit, and to feel more like "living" instead of "surviving" for the late-game.

 

Basic things that are in our real world, as well as throughout human history, such as long-lasting candles, torches (wood kind), oil lanterns aren't in the game. Candles are in the game, but they are only to hold in your hand. Campfires are in the game but they are weak and only used to cook food and provide basic light.

 

Plus the basic aesthetics of having a light source here and there is always a plus.

 

So my suggestions are:

  • Candlesticks, Candle + Bowl, Candle Lanterns, Candle in Jar, Survival Candle
    • All PLACEABLE in the game, with the ability to place on tables.
    • Fuel is the actual candle, which degrades over time
      • Since we already have batteries that do the same, it wouldn't be a stretch to have candles programmed the same way for placed items
    • Maybe X candles + cooking pot = pot of melted wax
      • Pot of melted wax + Jar = Candle Jar
        • Candle Jars last longer than the X candles together
  • Torches
    • Plank or tree branch + knife + towel/cloth strips + gas (kerosene) 
      • This is literally how to make a torch IRL, basic torches can last from 15 minutes, with better ones lasting for several hours
      • Kevlar, which was available commercially since the 70s, is made from flame-resistant materials, but is fantastic for making a long-lasting torch.
        • Kevlar could easily be added into the game when armor is eventually added, and this gives it an alternate use, which adds functionality complexity which is always a plus.
  • Oil Lamp
    • Bowl/Jar, Cloth Strip/String, Oil/Kerosene
      • Basic DIY lamp that you can make at home RIGHT NOW. Seriously.
        • Like Google it right now, you can have a few oil candles for your porch since it is almost summer at time of post
    • More "mordern" Kerosene Oil Lamps were also more common in the 90s, and have been around since 1853. 
    • DIY Oil lamps have been around since 70,000-50,000 BC. You literally only need animal fat or oil, something to soak it up and something to hold it in.
      • Maybe when we have hunting mechanics we can use the fat for this as well as making candles
      • When more crops are added, possibly making vegetable oils for cooking and lamp fuel
        • Olive oil has been used for thousands of years for oil lamps, and is preferred in making your own.
    • Lamps work with refuelling the lamp with oil.
    • Performance 
      • My research shows that it is dependant on how much you are burning, maybe have a "Low light" and a "High light" setting, which influences lamp oil burn
        • "A kerosene lamp producing 37 lumens for 4 hours per day will consume about 3 litres of kerosene per month."
        • From a DIYer "The wicks come 3 to a pack at Wal-Mart and are about 8 inches long each. I trimmed the wick to a crown shape. I found that a half gallon of standard lamp oil lasted about 150 hours, conservatively (my actual burn time was 154.5 hours). When I measured the wick, only ¼" (6 mm) had been burned.
  • Pressurized Camp Lamp
    • Those Coleman camp lamps that produce a bright, white light by pressurizing the fuel.
      • Scavenge the cans in stores
      • Can have the same fuel "bar" as batteries, since they are pretty much the "batteries" of these lamps
  • Tiki Torch, Lamp Post
    • Aesthetic light source
      • Ideal for outside placement
  • Fire Barrel
    • For your disposal needs
    • Super bright
    • Fuel is based on what you are throwing into it
      • Wood
      • Corpses
      • Unusable wood
      • Planks
      • Baseball bats
      • Trash
    • Pick up the barrels on the floor of some buildings
      • Right click > Make Fire Barrel
        • Maybe require hammer to punch holes in the side for airflow
    • Also can be cooked on, if corpses are used as fuel, it taints the food and water until new fuel is added
  • NEW ITEMS
    • Kerosene
      • Camping Oil, Lamp Oil, Firestarting Oil etc
      • Common for camping, especially in sheds and stores.
      • Fuel for oil lamps, used to make torches
      • If used in campfire, instantly the strongest light you can have
    • Cooking oil
      • Used for cooking, maybe more efficient times for stir-frys as well?
      • Additional crafting option when growing compatible crops
      • Used as oil lamp oil, or torches
    • Placement Items
      • All items have somewhat varied capacities, place on surfaces that make sense
        • Makeshift Oil Lamp (Wine/Empty Glass Bottle)
        • Makeshift Oil Lamp (Whiskey Bottle)
        • Makeshift Oil Lamp (Jar)
        • Makeshift Oil Lamp (Bowl)
        • Oil Lamp
        • Camp Lamp
        • Lamp Post
          • Carpentry skill, place it down, right click-add fuel
        • Tiki Torch
          • Scavenge, place it down, right-click add fuel
        • Candle in Bowl
        • Candle Jar
        • Wall-mounted oil lamp
        • Wall-mounted candle holder
        • Fire barrel
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See, this expanded post to me seems a lot more reasonable than "darkness annoys me". Although I still disagree about darkness being annoying, I can't argue against the fact that this is a great set of suggestions and a very well-done post. I hope each one gets implemented!

Edited by BayCon
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In fact, the candles should not be fire dangerous, at least in the game. This makes their use very difficult.

I would like to see as many large electric lamps as possible that illuminate the terrain well, maybe spotlights?
I imagine how they all turn in at the same time when many zombies are moving toward my house.

I'm a legend - thanks that you are was :)

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  • 1 month later...

I really like this idea. I also find dark very annoying. I'm often in a hidden base (on online game) and my favorite part of the game is building. But at night its' so easy to fall from high up if you cant' see where you placed the floor and where you didn't. Therefor I usually use light colored flooring as it shows up better. But I would love to have a lantern or several that I could place that I have to refill regularly. We can scavenge nuts, nuts have oil, maybe have a way to press the oil from some nuts to refuel the lap. That would be something that could be implemented even before hunting and animal fat. Also you can grow corn... you could make oil from that maybe. Anyway as a player who has 1687 hours on game so far, I like the idea. Player approved! lol

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9 hours ago, TheWraithPlayer said:

Sounds good. I know i posted this in a different topic it kinda goes with this so I'll say it again. When the power goes out, everything should go out. Lamposts and lamps don't follow this rule, and it just kinda bugs me.

It's a recent build bug that they are aware of and working on I think. 

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  • 6 months later...

I fired up a sandbox with the Nighttime darkness value set to "Pitch Black." DAMN! Even with Night Owl, with all lights off and curtains drawn inside my house utterly black. Couldn't even manage to fumble around and find the light switch (electricity still on).

 

Now I'm wondering if the values for darkness setting in the sandbox configuration can be adjusted somewhere?

 

Re: OPs suggestions: Yes! all sounds good.

 

There is Hydrocraft, which has an incredible assortment of additional items, though not sure how much more illumination technology it covers.

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