Fire and Burn Mechanic changes.

[J20hawkz]

Since we have been playing Don't Starve it is clear our Developers have focused on producing content that is very well polished and highly detailed. The new fire mechanic is simply a great addition to the game and definitely adds another layer of difficulty.

By now we all know that literally everything can be burned. Although this is a good thing I feel Klei can take it a step further and implement that attention to detail they are honestly so good at.

I propose that only items which are obviously flammable should be burned. To take that a step further, anything you craft from flammable objects should also be burned. This could also unlock a new tier where the player can either upgrade or craft items made from resources that do not catch on fire.

For argument sake. A stone chest or an Ice Igloo (basically a non flammable Tent).

Balance Issue 1

This seems fairly reasonable but would have to probably be balanced somehow because there wouldn't be the need for their flammable counterparts.

Agreed there does need to be a balancing issue. That could come from higher costs for crafting, maybe not being as effective as the "original structures", a series of upgrades to improve the non flammable builds again requiring more resources, a new tier crafted machine that requires resources deep from within the caves to craft thus allowing us to make these non flammable items.

Again for argument sake. The stone chest would have 4 slots instead of the regular 9 maybe not as extreme as that, but you get the idea.

You can even have objects that combine both stone and wood which results in structures taking slightly longer to get set on fire. Or which objects contain materials from which it was made are flammable, only burn and leave behind any materials that are not flammable to be gathered and reused.

Balance Issue 2

Just some sort of an idea. Maybe it can be using some 'ancient' material only found in caves 2? However, it would have to be A: Really rare, B: Nonrenewable, or C: The result of killing a boss.

Essentially, if you right click a building with this material, it will 'repair' the building to a state where it is no longer flamable, possible gaining some sort of 'ancient'y appearance.

Just to keep everyone on same terms.

Main suggestion is to have crafted items made from flammable resources burn only. So anything that isn't made from a flammable resource won't get set on fire.

Your idea is one we have suggested but I like how you are implementing the repair feature we have to upgrading. This will no doubt make upgrading very simple. Having the upgrade item being hard to obtain is a must. I can only see the caves being that site of resource. Not only will it force those who haven't ventured into the caves yet, to try it out, but it will definitely make things much more difficult in obtaining the upgrade resources.

I believe caves will have more floors to it. Lava caves have been mentioned before. It could be the perfect site to obtain highly resistant fire materials that can be used to upgrade objects to make them non flammable. Fire resistant materials will have to be refined in order to be used. So it won't be as easy as gathering a few to use straight away.

Thoughts?

[TeSrOy]

This seems fairly reasonable but would have to probably be balanced somehow because there wouldn't be the need for their flammable counterparts.

[TeSrOy]

Completely unrelated but is Klei pronounced "clay", "clee" or "clai?"

[J20hawkz]

Pronounce Klei as if it rhythms with play.

Agreed there does need to be a balancing issue. That could come from higher costs for crafting, maybe not being as effective as the "original structures", a series of upgrades to improve the non flammable builds again requiring more resources, a new tier crafted machine that requires resources deep from within the caves to craft thus allowing us to make these non flammable items.

Again for argument sake. The stone chest would have 4 slots instead of the regular 9 maybe not as extreme as that, but you get the idea. Saying that, it's like the Improved farm plot making the basic farm plot redundant. Or the winter hat better than the rabbit earmuffs. They are upgrades but they come with higher costs.

[Skorp]

I was going to say that the stone items would made wood useless but f they have less slots or they are just worse I could see them being an alternative.

[Pyromailmann]

I think the ideas are good but how about a higher teir chest than the stone or wood chests called the Gold Chest with 16 inventory slots (cut stone and 10 or so gold nuggets) (Gold may be easy to come by but the chest is crafted with an Alchemy engine or unless Klei wants to add another teir to Science then make it on that teir.) And why stop their we should be able to craft an optional Thulecite Chest (15 thulecite) for the same function as a chest if you'd want. And then a Shadow Chest that has 32 slots but drains sanity or costs a lot (40 nightmare fuel, 3 living logs maybe)

 

Just sharing thoughts ^-^  

[J20hawkz]

I only mentioned chests as one possible idea. But the same can apply to almost anything. The bottom line is regardless of what needs upgrading or what needs a stone or gold version. In such a game that focuses on attention to detail, setting the burn mechanic this way will make a lot of sense.

You can even have objects that combine both stone and wood which results in structures taking slightly longer to get set on fire. Or which objects contain materials from which it was made are flammable, only burn and leave behind any materials that are not flammable to be gathered and reused.

[brummbar7]

They could make a craftable 'upgrade' - Thulicite plating, which makes structures fireproof.  Or something crafted out of gears.  You use the 'upgrade' by clicking it over the structure (like how a razor is used).  In any case, I think such things would need to involve resources that are non-renewable, or not easily renewable.  That would exclude stone, which is for all intents and purposes infinite when you consider all there is to be mined in the caves, and gold, which is very infinite from pig king.  Gears are renewable via tumbleweed, but not easily.   I think they could also make the structures take many more hammer blows to demolish, and maybe even make them take two giant swipes to destroy. 

 

In another thread it was suggested to make the dragonfly scales an upgrade that would not only make structures impervious to fire, but even impervious to giants.  But at the same time, impervious to the hammer and deconstruction staff, so better be sure it's where you want it because you can't move it!

[aredshroom]

They could make a craftable 'upgrade' - Thulicite plating, which makes structures fireproof.  Or something crafted out of gears.  You use the 'upgrade' by clicking it over the structure (like how a razor is used). 

I was thinking something exactly like this - grounding* the structures in some way with some hard-to-get substance. Could be from the dragonfly or from the caves. That way we won't need duplicate structures for everything, but we could just upgrade the existing structures to be fireproof.

 

*I used the term grounding because I was thinking of electrical grounding. Maybe this suggestion could be used to prevent structures from burning from lightning too. To prevent upgrading structures from becoming too easy, whatever substance used for it mustn't be too common to get. Could even be non-renewable so people'd have to think which structure they want to fire/shockproof.

[Kellyc764]

While I think that there is definitely a market for Thulicite chests for those more capable of scaling the ruins, but I'd like to see stone and perhaps wood still being an integral part of a Chests construction.

 

Perhaps a crafting recipe along the lines of:

Reinforced Chest

3 Planks, 6 Cut Stone, Opulent Pickaxe and 1 Gear.

 

(wood on the inside, pickaxe to shape the stone, gear to open/close it)

 

I think it should contain the same slot's as the wooden chests since it my mind it'd be the chest you make to keep your precious stuff in, your spider sacks, gold, blow darts etc.

[porps]

i fully support this idea!

 

Another thing that bugs me about the burn mechanics is that merm houses are susceptable to it. ok they probably should be, but theres no way to build new ones like there is with pig houses. I'd just propose craftable merm houses so that they dont end up going extinct.

[Plague Mouse]

I have no idea why we still don't have any upgraded containers.

There's backpacks of different tiers with improved inventory but only regular wooden chests with 6 slots. It seems silly to me.

[The Letter W]

Maybe with the things that can't be burned, they have a winter penalty? Like they have say a 40% chance of freezing shut in the lower temperatures. Pick your poison; locked out for an undetermined time or burned to the ground? 

[brummbar7]

Maybe with the things that can't be burned, they have a winter penalty? Like they have say a 40% chance of freezing shut in the lower temperatures. Pick your poison; locked out for an undetermined time or burned to the ground? 

Shadow chest that can only be opened on the full moon, but is impervious to giants and fire?

[BipedalBear]

My krampus sack, MY BEAUTIFUL KRAMPUS SACK! It is gone now, weep*

:'( 

I don't think making krampus sack flammable is a good idea.

[Lonestarr01]

As long as crafting said fire-proof item would take a rare, non-renewable item. That way, you still need flammable things. This will make it so you can't have an entire base fire-proof. You'd have to pick and choose what you want to not go up in flames.

[Plague Mouse]

I think we can safely say that Krampus Sack is protected from ever being turned to flammable.

The grinding alone makes it the rarest item in the game.

[Parrotoss]

I completely agree! Many people appear to be complaining about summer randomly setting things on fire and that there is little to be done about it. Having non-flammable counterparts would allow for other options of survival to be pursued--yes!

Also, this is a bit out there, but bear with me--what if flammable items has a sort of "comforting effect," or sanity boost for small bouts of time--say, when a player lights a campfire at night and a wooden chest is nearby, it will offer a tiny tiny sanity boosot against the darkness. Of course, in order for the system not to be abused, there would have to be a limit on how much at a maximum can be gained--but by having flammables close to a fire, it increases the risk of them burning down, but also allows a sanity boost.

 

A weak trade off I know, but it's something and makes sense.

Comfort can be found in beauty and dapper products if top hats and flowers have taught me anything.

Tell me, is a finely carved and smooth chest not as more dapper as an ugly, rough pile of rocks that dare contends to have the title an elegant as "chest."

 

Sorry if I didn't make any sense...my main idea got a little lose, even from me.

[Warewolves]

Just some sort of an idea. Maybe it can be using some 'ancient' material only found in caves 2? However, it would have to be A: Really rare, B: Nonrenewable, or C: The result of killing a boss.

 

Essentially, if you right click a building with this material, it will 'repair' the building to a state where it is no longer flamable, possible gaining some sort of 'ancient'y appearance.

[J20hawkz]

Just some sort of an idea. Maybe it can be using some 'ancient' material only found in caves 2? However, it would have to be A: Really rare, B: Nonrenewable, or C: The result of killing a boss.

Essentially, if you right click a building with this material, it will 'repair' the building to a state where it is no longer flamable, possible gaining some sort of 'ancient'y appearance.

Just to keep everyone on same terms.

Main suggestion is to have crafted items made from flammable resources burn only. So anything that isn't made from a flammable resource won't get set on fire.

Your idea is one we have suggested but I like how you are implementing the repair feature we have to upgrading. This will no doubt make upgrading very simple. Having the upgrade item being hard to obtain is a must. I can only see the caves being that site of resource. Not only will it force those who haven't ventured into the caves yet, to try it out, but it will definitely make things much more difficult in obtaining the upgrade resources.

I believe caves will have more floors to it. Lava caves have been mentioned before. It could be the perfect site to obtain highly resistant fire materials that can be used to upgrade objects to make them non flammable. Fire resistant materials will have to be refined in order to be used. So it won't be as easy as gathering a few to use straight away.

Thoughts?

[brummbar7]

Main suggestion is to have crafted items made from flammable resources burn only. So anything that isn't made from a flammable resource won't get set on fire.

Is this not already how it is?  I know the ice box, lightning rod, and flinger are all non-flammable, and don't have any flammable ingredients.

[J20hawkz]

Is this not already how it is?  I know the ice box, lightning rod, and flinger are all non-flammable, and don't have any flammable ingredients.

Interesting, I thought that was just coincidence, and didn't hold true for other structures that weren't made from flammable resources. So can you confirm that all crafted items which are made from non flammable resources don't burn?

If what I am suggesting is true already for every crafted item in the game then that is pretty awesome. So we should push the ideas I added in regard to balancing issues.

[Warewolves]

Just to keep everyone on same terms.

Main suggestion is to have crafted items made from flammable resources burn only. So anything that isn't made from a flammable resource won't get set on fire.

Your idea is one we have suggested but I like how you are implementing the repair feature we have to upgrading. This will no doubt make upgrading very simple. Having the upgrade item being hard to obtain is a must. I can only see the caves being that site of resource. Not only will it force those who haven't ventured into the caves yet, to try it out, but it will definitely make things much more difficult in obtaining the upgrade resources.

I believe caves will have more floors to it. Lava caves have been mentioned before. It could be the perfect site to obtain highly resistant fire materials that can be used to upgrade objects to make them non flammable. Fire resistant materials will have to be refined in order to be used. So it won't be as easy as gathering a few to use straight away.

Thoughts?

 

We should also be able to have the option to 'repair' burned buildings using the resources they're made of, such as cut grass for a science machine. I am unsure how that would be implemented however.

(Maybe if they burn, they drop their non-flammable materials, like a burned tree dropping acorns occasionally)

 

As for the caves, a lava cave sounds interesting, and deadly. The chance for overheating would have to be high, but hot springs could be a feature. Giving up cold for the price of health etc etc.(There should also be a trick if you put an endothermic near the hot springs while 'using' it, you can stop yourself from overheating.)

 

Enemies would also be something to think of. I think a fire batalisk could be an amusing addition as a reference to the fire keese of zelda.

 

Now how to get down...

It would have to be a little special.

Oh! How about defeating the ancient guardian breaks open an unbreakable rock nearby as a reward also. Just another way to add to the difficulty.

Or maybe something related to fire. Maybe the hole is surrounded by flames and you need an ice staff to douse the flames.

 

Another thing I'd LOVE to see is more lore about those ancients. So many questions yet to be answered!

 

And just maybe...The king of nightmares...

[brummbar7]

Interesting, I thought that was just coincidence, and didn't hold true for other structures that weren't made from flammable resources. So can you confirm that all crafted items which are made from non flammable resources don't burn?

There aren't many that don't include any burnables - nightlight is the only other one I can think of and I've never built one in RoG.  I could see the bird cage possibly being non-flammable despite it's papyrus - never tested it.  Fire pits are a special case of course.   I think literally every other structure includes at least one flammable component.

[J20hawkz]

There aren't many that don't include any burnables - nightlight is the only other one I can think of and I've never built one in RoG. I could see the bird cage possibly being non-flammable despite it's papyrus - never tested it. Fire pits are a special case of course. I think literally every other structure includes at least one flammable component.

I'm going to need 100% confirmation on that. What I can do is test it out myself and edit the wiki if needs be. I'll start seeing which items are flammable and which aren't even though they are crafted using flammable resources. Will test once the DLC is finalised. Thanks for your contribution to this thread however.