There are four main illuminating sources in the Burning House, and each has different brightness, weight, and special conditions.
Last time, I shared the goals and talked about what the Burning House should be — what feelings it should evoke and what challenge it sets before you.
Today, I will talk about illuminating items — a part of the system in which you will have to make choices over and over again, calculating time-related resources, stock levels of indicators, and the items themselves.
1.
The worst enemy of cash
is the lightest of the items. It has a small lighting radius and burns out rather quickly. Once extinguished, a matchstick cannot be lit again.
How quickly you can retrieve a matchstick from your inventory depends on how many non-matchstick items there are compared to matchsticks.
A matchstick will also fall out of your hands if a monster attacks you.
You can find a matchbox — it is retrieved from the inventory at a fixed speed and does not fall out of your hands when a monster attacks.
It also allows you to light matchsticks.
In exchange for the matchbox’s protection, you will have to spend extra time putting matchsticks into it and taking them out when needed.
2.
A candle
— brighter and longer-lasting than a matchstick. Unlike a matchstick, it can be relit again and again until it completely melts and does not fall out of your hands when a monster attacks.
You can hold a candle with your bare hands — if you do, it will fall out once it melts enough. But if you find a candlestick, you will be able to use the candle in full.
Additionally, you can place a candle in one of the floor-standing candlesticks scattered throughout the house.
3.
A lighter
is slightly brighter than a matchstick but burns significantly longer. Naturally, it does not need another fire source to be lit.
Since some monsters become disoriented in darkness, you may sometimes need to extinguish the light — and at such moments, the lighter will let you down. It lights up and extinguishes with a sound, though not very loud, which may attract other monsters.
You can also try using the lighter to distract monsters — by throwing it.
4.
A lamp
— the heaviest and brightest of the light sources.
You can control its fuel consumption by adjusting its brightness and can place it on the floor while lit, so it doesn’t occupy your hands but still prevents you from being left in darkness.
However, the lamp takes a long time to light — lift the glass, raise the wick, ignite the wick, lower the glass… and it takes almost as long to put out.
It will also fall from your hands and break if you are shaken by a monster’s action while low on health. Additionally, the lamp will break if you throw it — the lamp produces one of three types of sound…
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3561910/Burning_House/