Firewood

[uhlan 13]

It's not a big thing, but it's always stuck me as odd that you have to be a lumberjack to make a camp fire.  I've made a great many campfires as a Civil War reenactor for 35+ years, and not once have I chopped down a tree.  We ALWAYS use dead-fall, the stuff already on the ground.  For one thing, green wood is much harder to get to burn.

Consider also that you're in the wild, trying to avoid zeds and usually other players, but you have to boil some water and cook some meat - you're gonna make no more fire than you absolutely need to do the job - you're not going to build a bloody signal fire.

I'd like to see it become more difficult to start a fire outdoors when it's raining.  Matches are easier to find, (maybe add lighters too?), but work like a magazine, ie you have but so many matches, maybe 25.  Going in water can cost you your matches.  You don't chop trees to get a wood pile, you pick up Dead Fall, so you don't need a hatchet.  Dead Fall is different than a Wood Pile from choping trees for lumber as in Epoch - though Wood Pile can be burned too.  It should burn BIGGER and more visibly than Dead Fall and require more matches (2 or 3).

Edited September 21, 2013 by Uhlan

[leviski 2152]

Remember

 

its for the sake of "Authenticity" and not necessarily "Realism"

[m.w. vindicator 880]

I like this idea.  If you were in the woods, you could collect sticks and brush.  

 

you could dig a little hole or put together some rocks.  A tiny little flame that would boil your water in a few minutes.  

[Cormyr 39]

I brought up a similar thing not long ago where you can find small dead trees in the forest which you can push over etc.. and use for firewood. So yeah, +1 from me. In regards to burning a wood pile, I would say you would need more than just matches (talking about something like 2x4s, matches just are not going to do the job). So how about needing some dead fall to use a kindling to start a wood pile on fire.. or just some gas and a match or zippo lighter (I used to collect them, really hope they will be added. of course they would require some gas).  :D

[bibbish 49]

Sticks and toilet roll may help if used as kindling. 

[Lady Kyrah 1109]

Yeah but then why would you have to carry a hatchet? As leviski mentioned, authenticity > realism.

[Dr.Duff 211]

Yeah but then why would you have to carry a hatchet? As leviski mentioned, authenticity > realism.

 

To smash in zombies brains of course.

[enforcer1975 1111]

Yeah but then why would you have to carry a hatchet? As leviski mentioned, authenticity > realism.

 

Maybe you could still make a lot of firewood if you wanted to create a bigger fireplace?

[Cormyr 39]

Yeah but then why would you have to carry a hatchet? As leviski mentioned, authenticity > realism.

 

Not all dead fall would be small enough to use right away. Plenty would need to be cut down to size for a small fire. Plus the making of kindling would require a hatchet. Does that work for ya?   ;)

[enforcer1975 1111]

Not all dead fall would be small enough to use right away. Plenty would need to be cut down to size for a small fire. Plus the making of kindling would require a hatchet. Does that work for ya?   ;)

 

Reminds me that a saw might be a better alternative than a hatchet for that purpose.

[Cormyr 39]

For which? Cutting dead fall down to size, or making kindling? What kind of saw? A hand saw or chainsaw? I would say all three, hatchet, hand saw and chainsaw. But the hatchet is only one that can be used for kindling, which should not be a problem since a hatchet should be pretty easy to get your hands on.

[uhlan 13]

In game, what's called a hatchet is an axe - there's a bit of difference there.  A hatchet's the size of a hammer, while an axe is used to fell trees.  A hatchet would be perfect for chopping up dead-fall, but an ax makes wood piles.  Yeah, there's the idea of saws, etc, but I was trying to start small :)

[bibbish 49]

In game, what's called a hatchet is an axe - there's a bit of difference there.  A hatchet's the size of a hammer, while an axe is used to fell trees.  A hatchet would be perfect for chopping up dead-fall, but an ax makes wood piles.  Yeah, there's the idea of saws, etc, but I was trying to start small :)

I think all the melee weapons should have a secondary use.

 

Hatchet - chopping up deadwood

Big/fire axe - chopping down trees/chopping up deadwood (high value item)

Crowbar - getting into doors, cabinets, car boots etc for tiny extra bits of loot

Machete - gutting animals (low yield because tricky)

Pool Cue - once broken can be burnt as fire wood (quite low value item)

 

The melee weapons are quite large, you should be limited as to how many you can carry, just like rifle sized weapons. So you are allowed a melee weapon in your 'tool' slot which is then placed in your melee slot. They should almost regarded as the same slot and should just be ways of organising your gear.

 

You shouldn't be able to pick up another melee weapon while you have one *except* into your bag. The Hatchet could take up 5 slots and the larger items 10. The luxury of carrying extra stuff (just like I have an assault rife with a shotgun in my bag) should be entirely dependent on having a large enough bag and the space in it to do so.

 

This mechanic would matter to people who play together. The guy who carries the crowbar opens things for us, the guy with the sniper rife covers us, the guy with the machete kills the animals and guts them (unless of course we have someone who is 'skilled' [different tread] or has a hunting knife), the guy with the axe gathers the wood. This would mean that sometimes people have roles, because lets face it, carrying blades, a crowbar, an axe and various guns would get too heavy too quickly.

[Cormyr 39]

I think all the melee weapons should have a secondary use.

 

Hatchet - chopping up deadwood

Big/fire axe - chopping down trees/chopping up deadwood (high value item)

Crowbar - getting into doors, cabinets, car boots etc for tiny extra bits of loot

Machete - gutting animals (low yield because tricky)

Pool Cue - once broken can be burnt as fire wood (quite low value item)

 

The melee weapons are quite large, you should be limited as to how many you can carry, just like rifle sized weapons. So you are allowed a melee weapon in your 'tool' slot which is then placed in your melee slot. They should almost regarded as the same slot and should just be ways of organising your gear.

 

You shouldn't be able to pick up another melee weapon while you have one *except* into your bag. The Hatchet could take up 5 slots and the larger items 10. The luxury of carrying extra stuff (just like I have an assault rife with a shotgun in my bag) should be entirely dependent on having a large enough bag and the space in it to do so.

 

This mechanic would matter to people who play together. The guy who carries the crowbar opens things for us, the guy with the sniper rife covers us, the guy with the machete kills the animals and guts them (unless of course we have someone who is 'skilled' [different tread] or has a hunting knife), the guy with the axe gathers the wood. This would mean that sometimes people have roles, because lets face it, carrying blades, a crowbar, an axe and various guns would get too heavy too quickly.

 

 

Only issue I have with this is the idea of using a machete on animals. Hunting knife should be for gutting and skinning animals. Machete is generally used for clearing a path through heavy vegetation like in the jungle etc..  Since there is no vegetation in DayZ which you could use a machete on, the machete could be another way to make kindling (I have done it.. it works fine. But the hatchet would be best at it). Other than that, just the usual slashing melee weapon one would expect it to be (could be used to kill an animal mind you... if ya get close enough).

 

Anyways, yeah, I would like to see as many items as possible having multiple purposes.