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#1 Re: Main Forum » Circuits/electronics lab » 2014-03-07 07:25:47

The clock never overflows. You don't have to worry about dealing with that kind of stuff.

Also, because of the changes it's pretty safe for you to ignore overflow behavior completely unless you're doing something *really* strange.

#2 Re: Main Forum » Complete silence to my own traps. 50k house lots » 2014-03-03 14:15:07

Blip wrote:

would only take $6,100 to brute-force, like this: http://castledraft.com/editor/nMEvyM

13 water, 0 saws.

http://castledraft.com/editor/TRUtvQ

All of the floors start on. There are no other impassable obstacles. You'd usually bring other tools for exploring, but once you know enough of the layout...

#3 Re: Main Forum » Chris Jeffrey Black » 2014-02-25 00:10:58

FYI, your odds of beating that combo lock by guessing are 1 in 3 (2 in 3 if you use a water). Better than with branching commit paths.

#4 Re: Main Forum » [Suggestion]: Save Us From Ourselves: No Test-Run Permadeath! » 2014-02-24 22:45:27

If you're at serious risk of dying in the house you designed, perhaps you should build a less dangerous house? I mean, you and your family have to live in it after all. A "self defense" system that kills the owner more than it protects him seems to defeat the purpose.

#5 Re: Main Forum » Electronics is too complicated/not in spirit of the game » 2014-02-24 12:57:54

LiteS wrote:
redxaxder wrote:

A cut detection trap is great if it tricks the robber. But if the robber cuts the right grate he can then use water to get the rest of the way through. If I use an animal instead I can make them cut -every- grate. If I set up the trap correctly they have to keep cutting even after they trigger it. Animals set up a stronger barrier to progress here.

Care to let the rest of us in on your ultimate magic dance wiring setup?

http://castledraft.com/editor/N6sEtg

Here's an example. The important thing is to turn the grates back off after they trigger. As long as the robber lets the animal stay active he's at risk of them triggering again at any step.


If your goal isn't to kill anyone, but just to make a careful robber use a ton of wirecutters, you could always just do this: http://castledraft.com/editor/51D4A6

Of course, you could alter that trap to make it lethal. But that's not nearly as funny.

#6 Re: Main Forum » Electronics is too complicated/not in spirit of the game » 2014-02-24 08:20:16

Hippasus wrote:

A cut detection trap is great if it tricks the robber. But if the robber cuts the right grate he can then use water to get the rest of the way through.

That's why you have to use even MORE advanced electronics to make it so the floor turns itself off again. wink

Animals still reign supreme over TCD. Maaaybe that would change if we had rotated gate tiles. Maybe.

#7 Re: Main Forum » Electronics is too complicated/not in spirit of the game » 2014-02-24 07:27:33

RevealingGekco wrote:

Maybe the advanced electronics are a little confusing for new players, but you hardly need any of those to create a pretty deadly house... cats and dogs stepping on buttons is pretty damn effective.

I'd go even farther. Cats and dogs stepping on buttons is effective enough to make advanced electronics almost irrelevant.

I've spent a lot of time in this game playing around with the electronics system and trying to use it to design traps. I think I have a pretty strong understanding of it. I rarely use advanced electronics in my houses.

Why would I?

A cut detection trap is great if it tricks the robber. But if the robber cuts the right grate he can then use water to get the rest of the way through. If I use an animal instead I can make them cut -every- grate. If I set up the trap correctly they have to keep cutting even after they trigger it. Animals set up a stronger barrier to progress here.

Clocks take up a gigantic amount of space. They are rarely worth it. And if there's a lot of stuff hooked up to the clock it introduces a gigantic saw vulnerability throughout the house. "But clocks discourage tool use", you say! Not really. If you use an even number of tools then you fix all your tile parity problems and you can pace around to get back in sync with it. I can see a clock making a good trap if the robber doesn't know there's a clock -- but then you only get one trap like this. It's not worth it to devote that amount of space to making a trap more tricky and less robust.

A combo lock is less space efficient than the equivalent animal trap. It's also not a practical trap.

Electronics are only good for tricking and confusing people. They aren't good for making a robust defense. Cats, on the other hand, are good for tricking and confusing people, and can create a robust defense at the same time. Seriously. Use cats instead of electronics. You won't regret it.

#8 Re: Main Forum » How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like? » 2014-02-23 18:56:43

joshwithguitar wrote:

Otherwise, I think anyone who enjoys the electronics building in this game would really like SpaceChem if you haven't played it already.

And possibly everything else zachtronics has done.

#9 Re: Main Forum » Is it safe... » 2014-02-23 07:18:31

It becomes more likely if they wait out the chills and try again after the first 2k.

#10 Re: Main Forum » castledraft.com — another house editor » 2014-02-23 07:16:46

By the way. To get easier access to previous houses for importing, I replace ^[^#]*$ with an empty string in the recorded games file.

This regex only leaves lines without a # in them. So mostly houses remain.

#11 Re: Main Forum » House fallen for 21k » 2014-02-22 19:55:37

Do not let a house get to 20k with that much wood in it. 20 saws costs 4k (opportunity cost).

Try to imagine what a great time someone with 20 saws would have in there.

Some more detailed notes:

I like that the commitment dog trap has 8 spaces. This means that just a dog food isn't enough to leave (since your house doesn't provide any free places to loop the dog). However, your wood walls are a problem here as well, since a saw and a dog food will let them leave safely. So the entry trap needs the following improvements: make it harder for people to disable the dog and make the relevant walls unsawable. If you do it right then they'll need to use either a gun or an expensive wall wrecking tool or a ladder to get out.

I like that your magic dance room is reverse triggered. The magic dance protects you from the cat zapping you later so you get punished for disabling the dog. The dogs at the back are a good idea, but the first two dogs are not positioned correctly to account for the screen transition.
The screen transition happens here: http://castledraft.com/editor/Dkj3R0
After that the robber will take one step forward and then sleep the dog on the rotary switch. So the dog doesn't block any relevant switches. It would be better if that rotary switch was a relevant button instead; then the robber has a dog sleeping on top of a button so they're forced to shoot it if they want to mess with the button. The very last dog is good. If the robber walks up to hit the buttons himself the dog sees him and disables everything. Meat won't defeat it. However, on their second visit a robber can brick the buttons to avoid the second screen transition (it's unlikely they'll try to copy the revealed dance at this point, since that wont secure their exit).

I like that the grate trap kills the robber unless he has a wire cutter. This is a good thing to consider. But keep in mid that they are not forced to bring more than one wire cutter if they put the dog to sleep (since they know there are no active animals). Whenever you have a grate hallway, make sure the robber activates an animal they cant deal with before entering it; even if the animal doesn't do anything. This forces a careful robber to wirecut every single grate before stepping on it (or risk getting killed). You can also improve the grate trap by punishing a robber for breaking it (as they inevitably will) with something like this: http://castledraft.com/editor/SOAfBo.

Your guessing doors at the end are defeated by bricks. Since bricks are so cheap and common, you should alter them so that this is no longer the case.

If you're going to require a dog chasing you to reach the vault, then don't give robbers backup dogs that they can easily bring to that part of the map. Also, a robber will gladly get chased through there without a ladder if they can clearly see the vault is right after it. If they cant then they'll need to either bring a ladder or risk their life.

#12 Re: Main Forum » For the love of god please do not kill me with my own traps. » 2014-02-22 12:25:41

Paraphrasing what Jason said to a similar comment, perhaps what you're building is simply too dangerous.

#13 Re: Main Forum » Is it safe... » 2014-02-22 06:36:41

Post your name and ask someone to rob you. A security tape from a strong robber is the best form of criticism.

#14 Re: Main Forum » I know it's been said but I can't help my addiction » 2014-02-22 06:33:50

super_maçon wrote:

But that doesn't change the fact that right now when you are starting a new game the only way to get some cash ( and so to be able to actually play the game ) is to get extremely lucky by finding a doable house without tool or to wait until you get enough bounties.

Part of "playing the game" is trying to figure out where the cash comes from. You have noticed two possible sources of easy cash, but I guarantee you those aren't the only ones.

If you think the way you've been playing the game is stupid, then play a different way. You've gotten a "correct" approach in your head and you've noticed it isn't working, but instead of discarding the approach you're attacking the design of the game. -.-

#15 Re: Main Forum » [Idea] A tool for breaking combination locks. » 2014-02-21 18:26:47

Disregard that invitation for now. Since posting it I have died, rebuilt the house, and died again.

#16 Re: Main Forum » I am sorry, Eric Robert Tso ($50,600 Bounty) » 2014-02-21 18:18:49

LiteS, your name is Allen Donald Lindsay.

I just spent many steps in your house and didn't do much of anything. What's my name?

#17 Re: Main Forum » [Idea] A tool for breaking combination locks. » 2014-02-21 17:19:59

TyrannosaurusHax wrote:

$13400

For common items like saws you're better off considering the opportunity cost of not selling the saw (instead of the buy cost). A more realistic cost of tearing through that map would be 29 * 200 + 1800 = 7600.

#18 Re: Main Forum » I am sorry, Eric Robert Tso ($50,600 Bounty) » 2014-02-21 11:36:56

I've had a ton of visits from Tso as well. He's a very careful fellow. I imagine you don't plan to reveal how you fooled him.

A similar thing happened to me earlier this week (although it was only a 25k bounty). I walled in a box of pit bulls in the bottom right corner figuring I'd come up with a use for them later.

#19 Re: Main Forum » So an abandoned house made it to the front page today » 2014-02-21 11:30:45

There's a route through the dead animals in knight's house that can be used to lead dogs to block the vault path (using two saws).

#20 Re: Main Forum » So an abandoned house made it to the front page today » 2014-02-21 10:54:10

I don't know why you're saying the name in code. Anyone who's looking for these things can find them pretty easily smile

I didn't put the dogs back in the exact same spot because I didn't know how many surprise dogs there would be. It's difficult to coordinate this sort of thing.

When I have cash to burn later I'll do similar renovation on Knight's place. He has a lot of spare dogs lying around.

#21 Re: Main Forum » Meta-Game and Common Trap Mechanics » 2014-02-21 09:26:19

For those of you who like to put your wives at risk, there's a shotgun pincer trap that I've died to several times:

http://castledraft.com/editor/eGacLb

On entry, the robber can tell from the layout of the hallway that he doesn't have to worry about a dog cutting off his exit. So he can "safely" go take a peek around the bottom corner. A robber that does this without tools is dead. Once he wakes up the wife and the dog, the wife cuts toward the exit with a shotgun while the dog chases him. In order to dodge her shotgun at the exit the robber must leap into the jaws of the pit bull.

12 steps after sighting, the layout looks like this: http://castledraft.com/editor/Pd90an
13: http://castledraft.com/editor/1wroTC
14: http://castledraft.com/editor/GaJQE0

#22 Main Forum » So an abandoned house made it to the front page today » 2014-02-21 08:32:21

redxaxder
Replies: 4

To whoever moved those dogs, thank you. That was a huge payout big_smile.

*edit: this is the second time this week I've been killed by my own chihuaua. "Test your traps safely", they said. "Use a chihuahua", they said. Those things are lethal. If that indicator light had been a pit the little traitor would have died instead -.-.

#23 Re: Main Forum » [Idea] A tool for breaking combination locks. » 2014-02-21 07:27:39

ukuko wrote:

The bottom left of the map seems to be the favourite spot for fake combo locks.

Only the fake ones?

#24 Re: Main Forum » A new player trying to add to the game, thinking: my ideas are awesome » 2014-02-21 07:25:24

Regarding 1, my understanding is that this game is supposed to make you feel bad about people breaking your stuff. I think it's working.

#25 Re: Main Forum » [Idea] A tool for breaking combination locks. » 2014-02-21 06:50:59

colorfusion wrote:

I'm half way up the front page, and have been the very top house with the same design, and have a house that is incredibly easy to figure out with a single scouting trip and no tools.

It's always easy when you built it yourself wink

*
Also, I fibbed slightly when I said I don't have a combo lock. But I'm sure you'll agree this kind of thing hardly counts.

http://castledraft.com/editor/c8C9wM

I call it "Despair".

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