The Castle Doctrine Forums

Interesting!  I'll fix this.

Old:

Old with gamma ramped up:

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New with gamma ramped up:

I split this out into a separate thread so that we can discuss it further.

I'm aware of this issue, and it's certainly not ideal, because it gives more tech-savvy players a visual advantage.

HOWEVER, the murky, soft-edged shroud is SUCH an important visual aspect of the game.  Any "hardening up" of that shroud edge (which fixes the visibility issues) really detracts from the way the game looks.

I'm now investigating some kind of "under slip" that could be drawn back under the shroud to softly "darken it up", not near the edge, but closer to its core.

largestherb:  giving one tool too many functions makes cost balancing more difficult (look at the crowbar as an example---it has to be as expensive as its most expensive ability).

No graphs yet, but those are coming at some point to the website (I think people will like seeing the data).

Dan:  you can't actually hide tools in your vault to appear poor... they are included in your house's value on the house list (their resale value is).

Yes, this is undoubtedly the case.  Thanks for catching this, though!

Yep, yep!  Modders can go wild.

For me, the question is where to best spend my limited time.  Gotta stay focused on the core game and making that as good as it can be.

Hmm... I imagine if you want to get too deep into modding, running your own server will be necessary.

If you've got your own Linux (I see that you downloaded the UnixSource bundle), you'll have to read the mysql tutorials to figure out how to create new users and new databases.... but after you figure that out, my PHP code pretty much does the rest automatically (i.e., you don't need to learn anything else about MySQL).

It's actually somewhat easier if you use a remote web host, because then you can use cPanel (graphical web admin UI) to create new databases and database users.  This literally takes a few mouse clicks.  (Even I don't remember the details of how to do this manually, from the mysql client, because I use the cPanel method so much.)

I've been using A Small Orange for about... 10 years now, and they rock.  You can get a sufficient plan for Castle Doctrine hosting for only $35/year, which is pretty darn cheap:

http://asmallorange.com/hosting/shared/

That doesn't include a domain name, which is another $10 a year or so... but I'm not sure that you need one.... you might be able to use the ASO address of your server directly, which would be free, but I'm not sure.

ANYWAY, the reason I'm advocating for this is that I want more people to try doing it so that I can iron any confusion out of the HowToInstall.txt file that comes with the server.

During tape playback, while the visibility shroud is off and the tape is stopped, you can use WASD or arrow keys to scroll around the map and inspect all parts of the house.

Hmm... but on the other hand, both saw and wirecutters can be used in other situations, even if you don't encounter a door.  Shouldn't that make them MORE expensive?

You know, you can pretty much ALWAYS bring a saw and use it somewhere.  Same for wirecutters (either on wires or on an electric floor).

But a doorstop can ONLY be used on a currently-open door.  It can't be used to do anything else.  If you don't encounter a currently-open door, it's totally wasted.

So... maybe 300?

So, if you have only a saw with you, and you can disable the door with that, you'll wish you had a doorstop instead.  You'll be "wasting" the saw, and thus blowing $100.

I see what you're saying though... the doorstop can be used in place of two tools in various situations (two saws, or saws and wire cutters.  And it's a pretty weak commit gate if it can be disabled with only one saw...

This is the weird dance I've been going through when trying to balance prices in this game.  I will fully admit that I have NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING here.  It feels a bit like black magic, trying to weigh apples against oranges and eventually just settling it with your gut, and tweaking it later if it's broken.  It reminds me of trying to balance the mana cost of Magic cards.  I guess I'm comparatively lucky, though, because I don't ever have to set things in stone by printing pieces of cardboard!

Suicide runners are really "throw-away" lives... I don't want to value them too much.  You should REALLY be rewarded for building a house that is tricky enough to kill someone who has something to lose.... someone who is trying not to die.

Chills do bring a cost to suicide running, but right now, the cost isn't very high (one hour).  That cost may go up in the future by increasing the chill time, which would make every robbery count more.

Still, even if the chill timer is 24 hours (extreme), there are times when you'd feel like risking a bunch of suicide runs in all available houses, just to blow a bunch of throw-away lives and try your luck.  This risk-free-mode is not ideal, in my view, but I can't conceive of a way to prevent it.

So... slightly cheaper than sawing two walls?  It's pretty easy to build a door that requires sawing two walls to bypass...

I'd like to get input from more people before I tweak the price again.... can someone work up some CastleDraft examples where a doorstop would or would not be the best tool to bypass a given door?

Well, if doorstop purchases fly through the roof, I'll let you know!

Oh my... 10 have been sold already today.  They're flying off the shelves at this new price.