The Castle Doctrine Forums

The video is pretty solid.  I think it conveys a lot of information about how the game actually works (kinda like a tutorial) while also expressing the special, sad, vengeful, frustrating, and triumphant thing that it is.  And it's nice and short.  With this video posted on Kotaku, I'm sure there will be many more people playing. 

It makes me think you should consider doing some proper tutorial videos, cuz I like the style and it would be helpful for new players.

Also, hearing the music at the end of the video instantly makes me think of the game.  It's been branded into my mind.

The "dead by christmas" anecdote is hilarious.. mostly because he didn't die.

Lol I didn't even know this was possible and it's gone!  Guess I've missed some release notes.  I wish there was some other way to defend the family other than pitbulls.  It just doesn't seem like enough (unless you have a ton of them).  If family could be defended with other means, readding this mechanic might be justified.

I forgot that Mr. Rohrer changed drugged meat so that crowbars don't work on drugged animals anymore.  In that case, the "dogs stay away from dead dogs" suggestion would be very helpful!

Turning off fog of war?!  That would explain several mysterious robberies I've seen. 

I'm in favor of sight-activation or distance-activation of pets.  I love that pets trigger buttons and I think it is one of the core trap mechanics, but magic dances can make for very un-fun houses. 

There is at least one way in which this change might also make your basic pitbull a bit stronger.  Currently, dancing around in front of a door is a viable way to check if there is a dog that can path to you somewhere beyond the door.  If there is, then you simply don't step through the door and you are safe from it with no tools used.  If you have to see the dog before it activates, then doors become more ominous, since you cannot close them(strange), and opening the door may release a dog.  This would allow a new kind of simple no-electronics dog trap.

On the download page there is a big red message which says:

PLEASE WAIT! v10 will be available shortly

I really liked FunnyMan's original suggestions about encouraging robbery-fun houses rather than unbreakable houses.  I'm interested in the game design taking some steps in this direction, mostly just to move focus away from designing unbreakable houses.  Mr. Rohrer has already done a lot of work trying to deal with unbreakables, but not like that.  The abandonment of blueprints has made it a lot easier to go back to experimenting with simpler house designs rather than only trying to come up with the most complex/convoluted designs. 

I have previously suggested letting dogs walk over corpses (pile-o-dogs!), but Mr. Rohrer doesn't want to encourage rooms of dogs (I still use them).  I think that standing on corpses to protect yourself from pitbulls is a silly mechanic, and it is so widely used.  I've also complained before about the significant monetary damage that you can do when you slaughter someone's dogs, but Mr. Rohrer's recent economy changes have made that much less of an issue (for the moment!). 

I'm interested in Bey Bey's suggestion of using alternate paths and dog-distractions to better protect your family, but frankly I have no idea how to test such a thing.  Does your family react to you during self-test as if you were a robber (ie, start fleeing?).  I'm not sure how you could test your family pathing.

There is little incentive to make your house fun to explore (even less with blueprints) when being robbed is so disastrous.

Suggestion: each successful robbery gives you a smaller percentage of the vault loot rather than half or all.

Suggestion: a limit on the number of times you can rob a house per day (or until the owner returns).

The goal of my suggestions is to make being robbed somewhat less disastrous, while also making it harder to be griefed.  I would hope this might encourage house-builders to be more fun (particularly if blueprints are restricted).

I made a house.  It got robbed after 2 scouts, my wife clubbed.  I suck at Castle Doctrine since blueprints.

I'm excited to see the update!

My biggest concern about a reset is that it will reduce the total number of houses significantly.  Only houses made by currently-active players will exist after v6.  This will probably result in 90% fewer houses than there are now (just made up that number).  Money is going to be tighter again and new houses are going to experience more robbery attempts.  I'm assuming no economy changes in v6. 

I'd still love to see npc houses.

Looking good!  I hope they are cheap!

I recently started over (having died during a self-test of my 20k+ house).  It has been very difficult to make money.  When I log in, I have been robbed multiple times for tiny sums.  By plugging the money hole from abandoned houses, my house with $132 is now deliciously appealing to robbers.  This means starting out with a new house is even more difficult than it was. 

Mr. Rohrer's "huge problem" was one of the biggest ways to make money in the game (next to fresh empty houses).. but it was also an important way to hide.  Now there is no hiding. As soon as your house gets $1, your house appears five pages down from the top of the leaderboard.

Focusing on trying to rob the top houses and ignoring my own seems like the most appealing strategy now.  It isn't very appealing though because most of the top houses are magic dances (except Lance Ronald Maynard, who has one of the most interesting houses I've ever seen).  Once v6 maps come out and all the top houses are pillaged and burned, I'm not sure what will be left. 

I like Bey Bey's suggestion about adopting a "murderer" avatar if you kill family.  Very dramatic.

I've killed many wives in this game, but the current game practically begs you to do it.