House fallen for 21k

Jabloko · 2014-02-22 14:25:58

The robber sawed his way all the way into the corridor just before the vault room, bricked the cats, and after seeing the final trap, went to fetch the pitbull. I did not see that coming...Mind you, he was carrying a lot of money's worth in tools.

My main idea was to make a house 2k proof, and while I did manage that, I didn't realise it was time to upgrade to something more serious. After all, 21k is a lot of money. This was also my first serious house that did not kill me

Advice, critique welcome. Like I said, I do realise that more money spent on the house itself would have been essential.

Some things explained:
The initial deathtrap/commitment trap/magic dance set-up seemed like a great idea at first ,,Sure dude, brick that glass, put the doggy to sleep, you just signed your death sentence, ha!", and many-many people did fall for it, but somebody with a proper set of tools could have easily exploited that, that's what the extra pit-bulls are for. The final toggle-swtich was candy in case someone goes that far, so will trigger the final pit-bull, which will cut the circuit, making the house, again, un-solveable. I did not realise at the time of setting that screenchange did not occur when you stepped on the last button.

Thick wooden walls for my budget, the intruder would have needed 3+ saws at any given point to exit, and 3+ to re-enter. SHOULD HAVE WALLED THE BIG EMPTY SPACE -.-. That's what caused me to falll in the end.

The house was built step-by-step from a small starting budget, so some things became clumsy by the end, it was difficult to expand it even further, thanks to the thick wooden walls again .

That's all I have to say, criticise away please!

Last edited by Jabloko (2014-02-22 14:39:40)

iceman · 2014-02-22 14:37:31

I'm assuming the doors in the bottom right aren't actually walled off?

Jabloko · 2014-02-22 14:40:03

Your assumption is correct ineed! Corrected.

redxaxder · 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.

Last edited by redxaxder (2014-02-22 21:04:47)

Jabloko · 2014-02-23 10:26:53

Thanks boss! I love that idea with the powered trapdoor! It's soooo tempting to brick that chihuahua

I have my new house already, I'll make sure to implement some of your ideas. Many thanks!

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2014-02-22 14:25:58

House fallen for 21k

#2 2014-02-22 14:37:31

Re: House fallen for 21k

#3 2014-02-22 14:40:03

Re: House fallen for 21k

#4 2014-02-22 19:55:37

Re: House fallen for 21k

#5 2014-02-23 10:26:53

Re: House fallen for 21k

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