The Harris House - House Breakdown

Blip · 2014-04-15 19:00:08

It's finally here - a full breakdown and description of the house of the late, great Chris Alvin Harris. Feel free to go read his life story here.

And the map you've all been waiting for, unless you already saw it in the "Life and Times" thread:

This house is unique for a simple reason. All the traps, save for my final (poorly designed) magic dance, are psychological traps. Some also have some hidden information in them as well, but that's only for added security. The hope was to have confident robbers die with their tools from thinking they were safe when they weren't. This money would, of course, go towards buying paintings. I only think one guy got past the "combo lock" in the final version of the house, going on to die to my dog, but of course he didn't have the actual right combo.

As for the breakdown, here are the six modular traps (click to enlarge and see my 1337 photoshop skillz):

And here's how it works...
1: “Fakeout”: This trap is relatively simple, but requires a trick that most $2k scouts failed to recognise. The robber has to step onto the first of the upper electric floors before reversing to travel along the lower ones instead; most robbers only went one way or the other and found themselves dead.

2: “Lucky Day”: Here, a “fake” combination lock is used. Only the final button actually affects the pits the robber sees, and the other four buttons activate a pit for the cat from trap 6 to cross, allowing the robber to survive later in the house. If a robber thinks they have the correct combination here by luck, they’ll continue through the house without realizing that they can no longer complete it.

3. “Blind Courage”: A commit gate locks robbers in this corridor unless they used a doorstop to keep it open. They robber has to either continue down an empty corridor or go through two doors. If they continue forwards, when the screen shifts they see the dog-commit gate... and the dog needed for it, which will now kill them if they open the doors.

4: “Korridor”: Now locked behind another, stronger commit gate,this trap tries to make the robber think that their choice of path is always correct. Upon opening the door, the cat sees you; however,the route forward doesn’t activate until 5 steps later, after those who choose to go forwars are confident that it’s safe. Those who hang back and wait for the lower doors to open also have their beliefs affirmed, only to have the lower route reactivate 3 steps later.Waiting past that, until it reopens a second time, shows the robber a corridor with a cat at the very end, and trying to step back and lave again kills the robber; they must instead continue forward. Also, any cuts in the electric floors prevent the final pit from being opened.

5: “Dance or Death”: This trap is a simple magic dance/leap of faith, controlling the two final trapdoors before the vault. The dance is secured behind many pits, and is very hard to guess. The fear of a magic dance also encourages robbers to cut the electric floors; cutting all the way locks the robber out, even if they can figure out the dance.

6: “Cat in the Trap”: This trap’s key was trap #2. If the first4-button combo was entered correctly, the cat seen at the end of the lock can deactivate the switch and let the robber live. Otherwise, the cat seen at the end of trap #5 kills the player one step later, and cutting the electric floors prevents power reaching the third-to last pit. If the lower button has already been hit(by the earlier cat), power is not transmitted until 3 steps after the final cat is seen, when you are safely on the now-powered pit.

My personal favorite of the above traps is Korridor, a completely original trap that went through multiple revisions until I had a version that worked just right. I know FreeLove managed to reach it before I added traps number 2 and 3 after I got my money from the Brit heist, but I don't think anybody else even got to see my magnum opus psychological trap.
The biggest problem I have with the Harris house is how hard it's going to be to top. There are a couple obvious improvements to make, notably fixing that magic dance up nicely, but I really doubt that I can build a house that so well convinces robbers to plunge headfirst into their own deaths. I've been brainstorming some blueprints, but haven't come up with much yet...

But somebody else will rise to complete Harris's mission. And their true identity will be revealed... in the epilogue of The Life and Times of Harris!

So, any thoughts on the house?

Last edited by Blip (2014-04-15 19:41:21)

MMaster · 2014-04-15 19:12:02

Blip wrote:

So, any thoughts on the house?

I'm really sad I didn't have honor to try and rob it. I like it. It's really confusing house. Very good combination of traps. Good luck with next one! This makes me think I will have to design something meaningful again as I'm getting bored with my experiments

Cylence · 2014-04-15 19:51:44

Nice house!

The only thing I don't like is the section 2 to 6 link.
It leaves a wooden trail from your combo lock to locating your vault. 3 cutters, 17 saws, 2 ladders is the bare minimum.
However, I think it's the natural path for anyone trying to brute force a combo lock.

I liked section 1 and 4 the best. Losing sight of pets is always intimidating.

tigerbalm immunity · 2014-04-15 20:10:03

First of all, the house is beautiful, elegant, and nasty as hell, and I commend you for it. It is well beyond the scope of anything I might design on my own...though i will likely borrow some ideas, if only inadvertently, through osmosis.

As far as legit 2k robbers go, it's totally impossible and incomprehensible. but did you worry that a serious robber who would use cutters and water for the top and bottom paths at the opening until he found the route that powered the trap door to the bit lock would then have a free-ish look at the cat in part 6? part 6 fairly screams end zone to me, or something close to it. and knowing that the bit lock must power the pit the cat lumps into, he can return with ample saws, meats, waters and a ladder and/or explosive and will find himself with a view of your vault, thereby circumventing your gorgeous Korridor. that would scur me real bad. obviously it wasn't an issue. idk. it's much easier when i can see your whole map.

Blip · 2014-04-15 21:00:05

Cylence wrote:

The only thing I don't like is the section 2 to 6 link.
It leaves a wooden trail from your combo lock to locating your vault. 3 cutters, 17 saws, 2 ladders is the bare minimum.
However, I think it's the natural path for anyone trying to brute force a combo lock.

I wasn't worried for two reasons:
1. People will usually try guessing a solution before cutting. If their guessed solution worked, why cut at all? They'll just ignore the interdependency entirely, and assume that the cat they saw lived as well. If they thought it died because they saw it before entering a combo with the final button included, they could just come back and do so, and then they would be sure the cat lived - even if it didn't.
2. See the dog above the sticky switch on the cat path? In the process of cutting to the trapdoor, he'll see you and close the powered door. (I think he's too far away to drug, but I'm not sure.) Also, you forgot in you tool approximation that the trapdoor there is closed - for a pure brute force solution, you'd need 4 ladders, a brick, 2 guns, 2 meat, an explosive, a blowtorch, 17 saws, and lot of luck. You could also trade the explosive + blowtorch combo for a crowbar. Some of that can of course be removed if you have the entrance scouted out, but it still costs a hell of a lot of money, and that's knowing everything that's ahead of you.

I would guess that the house would fall to somebody going along the path, and breaking what was in their way, before it would fall to what seems like a needless and pricey cutting of walls.

iceman · 2014-04-15 21:49:12

I absolutely love how the combo lock has 2 different "solutions", and all the trickiness that ensues. Korridor is very nice as well- I like how it keeps robbers on their toes with the timing. You should've done something with the corners, though- say, have a second wire branching off the combo lock leading to a surprise kitty in the very bottom right

Cylence · 2014-04-15 22:40:34

Blip wrote:

I wasn't worried for two reasons:
1. People will usually try guessing a solution before cutting. If their guessed solution worked, why cut at all? They'll just ignore the interdependency entirely, and assume that the cat they saw lived as well. If they thought it died because they saw it before entering a combo with the final button included, they could just come back and do so, and then they would be sure the cat lived - even if it didn't.

For me, I've seen lots of houses where you can just follow the combo lock to the vault location. I am also super cautious. So I'd like to know if the power will cutoff before trusting it. Maybe it's just me. You have the tapes to prove it and I only have my theories. It's good to know what you've seen robbers tend to do.

Blip wrote:

2. See the dog above the sticky switch on the cat path? In the process of cutting to the trapdoor, he'll see you and close the powered door. (I think he's too far away to drug, but I'm not sure.)

You won't see that dog until you ladder up the trapdoor and step on it. The dog is drug-able at 3 spaces away.

Blip wrote:

Also, you forgot in you tool approximation that the trapdoor there is closed - for a pure brute force solution, you'd need 4 ladders, a brick, 2 guns, 2 meat, an explosive, a blowtorch, 17 saws, and lot of luck. You could also trade the explosive + blowtorch combo for a crowbar.

The trapdoor isn't closed, and I wasn't talking about a full solution, just how much it would be to locate the vault since it's in plain view. And yes, robbery is expensive, which is why I think blowing through with saws is usually the better idea since you can actually get those from your house income.

Estimating the cost. (I don't count bricks, water, dogmeat because they are so plentiful).
First scout trip, wire cutters, until i see ladders and combo lock.
2nd come back with 30 saws and 4 ladders. (would locate the vault but not enough ladders), although, this is usually enough. End result of a long set of wooden wiring is usually solvable by 2 ladders, no matter the amount of trapdoors daisy chained (so i bring 2 more than what I already know I need).
3rd come back with saws galore and 5 ladders. (vault hit)
Accounting for a safety gun on trip 2, (trip 3 is fully mapped so no need for a gun), it would probably cost around $30-$40k.

My high end experience is very limited though. But just letting you know what's in my head .

Shinnbob · 2014-04-16 00:45:24

Well Blip love the house. You have managed to fit in 6 main parts to the house well & do that without really compromising the design. I love the psychological stuff you have going on there - something which I am a big fan of. Plus the fake 'combination lock' is just plain good fun & something that is always good fun on the tapes.

While the house could be forcibly robbed I think even if a scout had got a look at the first 4 sections of the house they would still have a lot to do tool wise. The reason the house becomes harder to scout is because you are doing things to the house but the house responds in a different way than would be anticipated with an average house.

Great stuff

Kimenzar · 2014-04-16 02:22:11

Neat House, You could have used the top left corner to safe a dog somewhere for an extra commit at the top. The commit hallway could be more efficient. Like this:

http://castledraft.com/editor/lb3YEv

Now you can use the left top corner for another neat thing and have a better commit. 2 Ladder, an explosive and a water against 8 saws and a water(best case 3 saws and 2 water)

Last edited by Kimenzar (2014-04-16 02:23:07)

Blip · 2014-04-16 07:58:20

Cylence wrote:

Blip wrote:
Also, you forgot in you tool approximation that the trapdoor there is closed
The trapdoor isn't closed, and I wasn't talking about a full solution, just how much it would be to locate the vault since it's in plain view. And yes, robbery is expensive, which is why I think blowing through with saws is usually the better idea since you can actually get those from your house income.

And that's what I get for posting right before going to sleep; when I said the trapdoor is closed, I meant that it was open.

Blip · 2014-04-16 19:12:35

In hindsight, I see your guys' point about the trap 2 to trap 6 dependency being a weak point. I probably should have used the extra space in the bottom left corner to build a trap that has a out-of-brick-range cat lock you out of the vault area with powered doors if you try and cut along the wired walls, preventing people with saws from bypassing it without a crowbar. I don't see why I didn't add that especially when I had money to spare, other than the fear of having to do another self-test. Alternatively, I could have set up that dog above the powered door sticky button properly, by adding some pits so that he sees the robber earlier, out of meat range. Also, surrounding the vault with walls so it's not visible from behind might have been a good idea, as Cyclene said, but I'm not sure how much difference it would really make, as the vault location is still clearly telegraphed once one breaks into that cat corridor. I won't really be able to make any of those changes, as Harris is long dead, but thanks for the in-depth feedback, everybody!

Cylence · 2014-04-16 23:01:47

Blip wrote:

In hindsight, I see your guys' point about the trap 2 to trap 6 dependency being a weak point. I probably should have used the extra space in the bottom left corner to build a trap that has a out-of-brick-range cat lock you out of the vault area with powered doors if you try and cut along the wired walls, preventing people with saws from bypassing it without a crowbar. I don't see why I didn't add that especially when I had money to spare, other than the fear of having to do another self-test. Alternatively, I could have set up that dog above the powered door sticky button properly, by adding some pits so that he sees the robber earlier, out of meat range. Also, surrounding the vault with walls so it's not visible from behind might have been a good idea, as Cyclene said, but I'm not sure how much difference it would really make, as the vault location is still clearly telegraphed once one breaks into that cat corridor. I won't really be able to make any of those changes, as Harris is long dead, but thanks for the in-depth feedback, everybody!

Another idea that's more inline with your theme: "make a fake vault area in the bottom"
Someone with my mindset would be discouraged after you fool them .
http://castledraft.com/editor/WSMBkI

Blip · 2014-04-18 19:31:48

A quick "thank you" to the guy I just robbed for using the Harris entrance trap as his primary defense.

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The Harris House - House Breakdown

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