Fire and smoke giving away your position?

[Old_Crow_Whiskey 119]

I did a little daytime experiment in Stolichny where I lit a fire in town and went up on the hillside to see what I could see of it. The fire was very bright and obvious immediately around the animation. However I got to a hiding place 250m away from the fire and turned around and saw... nothing. No smoke and no flames. It wasn't brighter near the fire or anything. I truly expected to see a huge column of smoke. All my graphical settings are maxed out btw.

 

Has anyone else experimented with fire draw distance in the current build? Would the results be different at night or do fires "go out" after a couple hundred meters?

[McWendy 675]

I too would like to know the render distance for smoke. Fire or crash smoke.

And are these open for manipulation via settings? Ie increase render distance?

[nexventor 429]

Yes 190 mtrs is the draw distance.

[Jex 1104]

Yes 190 mtrs is the draw distance.

 

That's crap.

[nexventor 429]

That's crap.

 

It really is. I think I have some footage, ill take a look and upload if I can find it.

 

Ok 190 mtrs is the draw for ADS/Scope/Range finder and the fire can be completely invisible to the unzoomed eye at a tiny 100mtrs. 

Edited January 15, 2015 by NexVentor

[Jex 1104]

It really is. I think I have some footage, ill take a look and upload if I can find it.

 

Ok 190 mtrs is the draw for ADS/Scope/Range finder and the fire can be completely invisible to the unzoomed eye at a tiny 100mtrs. 

 

Let's hope the new rendering engine changes things :)

[Tatanko 5591]

It really is. I think I have some footage, ill take a look and upload if I can find it.

 

Ok 190 mtrs is the draw for ADS/Scope/Range finder and the fire can be completely invisible to the unzoomed eye at a tiny 100mtrs. 

So basically what you're saying is that the true render distance is 100m? Yikes. I believe it, though.

 

Let's hope the new rendering engine changes things :)

I'm sure it will, and I hope so as well. Not everything needs to be rendered at crazy distances, but this is one thing that needs to be visible from a distance.

[LoveAffair 329]

It's the same with Chem Lights too , I threw like 3 down the street to attract curious travelers and after i ran like 100m or so , It was totally pitch black where i just threw my Rainbow of lights.

Does this mean i can use my headlight or flashlight and not be seen too at that distance ?

[Jex 1104]

It's the same with Chem Lights too , I threw like 3 down the street to attract curious travelers and after i ran like 100m or so , It was totally pitch black where i just threw my Rainbow of lights.

Does this mean i can use my headlight or flashlight and not be seen too at that distance ?

 

I suspect that is the case though a fire at night is like a beacon - like someone took a part of the suns core and placed it in your fire.

[[Outcasts]Massacre 121]

we actually had to idea to put a fire on up on the radio towers as beacons.... untill we noticed we could see them past 200m or so

[rickyriot 1009]

Is the render distance not based upon the client graphics settings?

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

Well, it's nice to know it's safe to have a fire and not draw moths to a flame... for now.

[karlkurtz32 59]

Yeah, I noticed this a while back.  I was on the walkway of the tower at Green Mountain and I wanted to attract people.  So I lit a fire up there and burned like 4 flares all at once.  I climbed down, ran across the field, looked back at it, and nothing.  Completely dark.

[CJFlint 357]

Regardless of how far you can see it, its not idea or tactical. Normally I will lite fires unless I am far away from were I think players will be or in a safe location. There are other options to stay warm heat pads, or animal guts.

What really want to see is for the devs to correct the gas stove, and heating to it. Currently all it does is burn food.

Even though fires look cool, I def want to see more options.

Edited January 15, 2015 by CJFlint

[nexventor 429]

Let's hope the new rendering engine changes things :)

 

We can only hope.

 

So basically what you're saying is that the true render distance is 100m? Yikes. I believe it, though.

 

I'm sure it will, and I hope so as well. Not everything needs to be rendered at crazy distances, but this is one thing that needs to be visible from a distance.

 

Unfortunately that is exactly what I am saying. I will post a very quick vid when I get home tonight if I get time.

[Old_Crow_Whiskey 119]

Well I'll be lighting a lot more fires now, until they fix this (and I'm 100% sure it will be fixed). Thanks for chiming in

[pillock 850]

What really want to see is for the devs to correct the gas stove, and heating to it. Currently all it does is burn food.

 

 

Admittedly I haven't tried this in .52, but you could definitely heat yourself up using gas stoves before that. It was slower, mind.

[cheranuscrusiser 21]

LOL

 

 

 

If we get something added to Dayz and it was not broken, then I would make a post. 

 

One more year of Alpha and then we can see the fixing I'm hoping.

Edited January 16, 2015 by cheranuscrusiser

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Is the render distance not based upon the client graphics settings?

Object quality very likely has very much to do about the distance.

[zeotrope 76]

Regardless of what reason we do or do not see fire at distance. The effects of fire should be seen as far as the eye can see. If I can see 3km at night then I think I should see a tiny glow of fire in the woods that far too. If it is daytime then I would expect to see a column of smoke or a hazy plume hovering in the canopy etc.
 

It's a shame that lighting a fire at the moment has no real consequence unless you are very close to another player in which case they will spot you.  If you were say, cooking on the fire, and another player was down-wind of you, It would be great if he / she received a message such as "I smell food cooking" or something similar. 

Fire is fundamental to long term survival in the wilderness. It is a basic requirement. Here's hoping that the Devs go all out on this one. From feeling the temperature of a recently extinguished fire to observing the effects from long range.

 

Fingers crossed.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Zeotrope

[Old_Crow_Whiskey 119]

^ Even better if it gets cold at night. It would force players to get indoors, make a fire, or trade out that tactical t shirt for puffy coat. I'm certain the developers won't let us down when it comes to the role fire plays in this game during beta and release.

 

I just made the dayz equivalent of a bonfire and it didn't make me dry after about 5 minutes of sitting at it. Looks like draw distance isn't the only thing that needs tweaking.

[zeotrope 76]

^ Even better if it gets cold at night. It would force players to get indoors, make a fire, or trade out that tactical t shirt for puffy coat. I'm certain the developers won't let us down when it comes to the role fire plays in this game during beta and release.

 

I just made the dayz equivalent of a bonfire and it didn't make me dry after about 5 minutes of sitting at it. Looks like draw distance isn't the only thing that needs tweaking.

Good point

[therandomredstone 432]

This is all planned to be fixed along the 2015 roadmap. The fire's glare will "dim" as you walk away. If there are bushes and trees shrouding the fire, it will be more difficult to see it. If a fire is in a open field, you will be able to see it for MILES away. This is not the main priority currently. But trust me, it will be.

[mercules 1290]

There was excitement when devs had been mentioning the new renderer about how it would allow them to use proper light sources, they might have mentioned vertexed lighting. I suspect the new renderer will help with this issue. 

[barnabus 1708]

Just keep in mind that the smoke from a camp fire is going to be relatively clean and harder to spot than that of the typical helicopter crash.  Camp fires aren't going to be as smoky simply because they aren't burning all the same toxic crap that would be on fire in a helicopter crash.  I agree that the light of a fire or a chem light or even the gas lamp needs to be much more obvious.  I lit a gas lamp in the turret of a police station and could only see it from 150 or so meters away if I zoomed in on it, that light should have been visible for several kilometers on a clear night and it was.   It would be nice to sit back and observe a town at night and see lights on in the houses.  That might make my character a little less crazy and a little more comfortable in Chererus