Why should I continue playing this game?

ISleepTheDayAway · 2014-02-08 21:09:56

So, I've had a long fixation with stealing throughout my life. Love it, never from other people. Just practicing pick-pocketing on family members or friends and giving it back to them after, I've played some games like Oblivion just to steal and have fun with it. Anyways, my buddy told me about this game because he knew I liked the concept of stealing and such and I bought it yesterday.

Now, I went through a few house designs with the first $2,000 you're given and I believe I have a pretty good house design for less than that. But the only goal in playing is to steal from others, to better my house, and steal from others, to better my house, etc.

I think I would've enjoyed this game before while it had a salary system, something to make people want to steal from me without me going out and having to get more money. I've thoroughly enjoyed watched the 10 people try to find my safe and couldn't make it out alive or with the money.

The game's basically become me making a brand new character, spending all my money on tools, attempting to rob someone, then a) dying or b) getting the money and spending it on more tools to do the same.

I tried starting off on some smaller houses to make it easier, so I robbed a few $1000 safes but for some reason you throw your backpack away to get the money. So I just threw out $2000 worth of tools for $1000 in cash I'm just gonna spend on more tools to do the same.

Also, I'm not sure if it's just my luck but clock-circuit seem to hate me in this game. I'll see a line of 10 Electric floor tiles and I'll run around the house, backtrack, move between 2 tiles back and forth to see if it gets powered and it doesn't. Then the second I step on one they all light up, it's like I just happened to be unlucky with the clock but do it 9/10 times. And the other 1 time I get halfway through and they turn on.

I'd enjoy this game a lot more if I could make a salary so I could watch people try to rob me and either fail, or have them win and try to better my house's defenses. I swear some of the people with a lot of money have to be cheating. I don't understand how they got through one decent house, let alone a bunch to get that kind of money.

Anyways, I wanted to know your opinions on my thoughts and to give me a reason to keep playing this game.

sebastian · 2014-02-08 21:20:12

It might not be a Clock Circuit. It can also be some animal that made Contact with you, without you noticing, and now pursuing or leaving you, behind a wall, until you step on that Electric grill, and then the animal at the same time step on a switch that activates said grill.

Once you made Contact (see) a animal, the animal will behave as it Always see you, even through walls, doors, and such. (The logic explaination of this can be that the animal smell or hear you through the wall)

Theres 2 ways to defuse a "rigged" Electric grill thats not a Clock: Either use wire cutters and water, but that requires knowing exactly where the entry Point is (eg the Point at "next step it will kill you")
Or you will need to find the way the owner deactivate the grill with (so it don't activate same second you step on it or are halfway through). It can be some hidden button somewhere, codelock, or you need to step on a specific tile (lets say, you need to move into a dead end even through you know its a dead end, its like a "hidden switch" - because a animal behind the wall is deactivating the trap for you) or whatever.

Some things might even need to be carried out in the right order, else a animal is killed which will then not be able to deactivate a trap later on the path.

Remember that the owner must make it to the safe without Tools, so all traps can be "defused" without Tools. (except for red herring traps, that Always activate and cannot be "defused" without tools, but red herring traps is just red herring traps and reaching a red herring trap means you did pick a wrong route where theres multiple routes to take)

Note also that animals and Clocks can be combined, making "timed traps" that require you to move perfectly into the trap (with the least amount of step possible), else the Clock times out and you will Always be killed on that Electric floor.
See it as a "time limit", eg if you dont make it into the trap in time, then you will never make it through.
(Note that "time" in the game is not in seconds or minutes, rather "time" when talking about Clock Circuits, is step-based (and tool based), each time you take a step or use a tool the Clock goes "1 step" forward.)

This can make some houses nearly impossible to force with Tools, since Tools increase the "time" it takes to reach the trap or vault in question.

Last edited by sebastian (2014-02-08 21:31:40)

ISleepTheDayAway · 2014-02-08 21:26:39

sebastian wrote:

It might not be a Clock Circuit. It can also be some animal that made Contact with you, without you noticing, and now pursuing or leaving you, behind a wall, until you step on that Electric grill, and then the animal at the same time step on a switch that activates said grill.
Once you made Contact (see) a animal, the animal will behave as it Always see you, even through walls, doors, and such. (The logic explaination of this can be that the animal smell or hear you through the wall)
Theres 2 ways to defuse a "rigged" Electric grill thats not a Clock: Either use wire cutters and water, but that requires knowing exactly where the entry Point is (eg the Point at "next step it will kill you")
Or you will need to find the way the owner deactivate the grill with. It can be some hidden button somewhere, codelock or whatever.
Remember that the owner must make it to the safe without Tools, so all traps can be "defused" without Tools. (except for red herring traps, that Always activate and cannot be "defused" by regular means, but red herring traps is just red herring traps and reaching a red herring trap means you did pick a wrong route where theres multiple routes to take)

I'm very aware at how the game functions and handles, and it's definitely unique and that's what interested me in it but I just don't see the appeal having played it. All the instances I was referring to were no doubt clock-circuits or voodoo invisible tripwire magic, but that's really just a gripe and bad luck.

I would personally love to have played this game back when the salary system was in place to see how I liked it, but right now it seems The Castle Doctrine has nothing to really offer me.

sebastian · 2014-02-08 21:34:35

Did you see any animals, or did you not explore enough to really find any animals that you are required to get in touch with? It does not matter when you see the animal, even if you see a animal through a window or something far in the beginning of the maze, the animal might trigger a button later in the end, that makes it impossible for you to finish the map. It can also be required to make Contact with that animal to defuse the trap (it then pursues you behind wall until animal step on a button), else it Always activates.

Also, I would rather recommend you to begin with building a defense for about 1000$ and leaving about 1000$ for other people to take.
Then you need to make defense that look harmless but will kill the player, like the Electric grills you saw that kill you the moment you step on them.

If the defense looks harmful, they will simple use Tools on that to defuse it, so what you need to do, is defense that player don't waste Tools on. For example: Fake commit gates, traps that look nonworking, like a commit gate without Power sorce, but starts working mysteriously when the player returns, and traps that actually disable parts of the house if they attempt to use force or do things in incorrect ways.

Last edited by sebastian (2014-02-08 21:38:12)

Amatiel · 2014-02-08 21:37:34

The bounty system is better tho. You obviously just dont have enough wealth to attract robbers. Maybe your house is too intimidating, do you have concrete walls or closed powered doors at the entrance? This makes people too scared to rob you.

A non-intimidating house (which is actually an ingenious death trap) with a worth of over 1k or even better 2k will get constantly robbed. You will likely have issues getting back into your house at first when the attempt/kill numbers are low. You will be raking in Bounties and tools in no time.

ISleepTheDayAway · 2014-02-08 21:45:26

Amatiel wrote:

The bounty system is better tho. You obviously just dont have enough wealth to attract robbers. Maybe your house is too intimidating, do you have concrete walls or closed powered doors at the entrance? This makes people too scared to rob you.
A non-intimidating house (which is actually an ingenious death trap) with a worth of over 1k or even better 2k will get constantly robbed. You will likely have issues getting back into your house at first when the attempt/kill numbers are low. You will be raking in Bounties and tools in no time.

I'm going to try this, and hopefully with the money I make off the robbers I'll be able to expand my design. As for the intimidating thing, my house is completely made out of wood it just has some unique parts in it.

I was thinking of writing just script to basically auto-build my house for me, and possibly buy my tools on a new life. It's really just a burden to go through, then I accidentally misplace one item and die in the test and have to redo it? No thank you, I'm not sure if it'd be "legal" by the game's rules but I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

42dustman · 2014-02-08 22:37:25

ISleepTheDayAway wrote:

I was thinking of writing just script to basically auto-build my house for me, and possibly buy my tools on a new life. It's really just a burden to go through, then I accidentally misplace one item and die in the test and have to redo it? No thank you, I'm not sure if it'd be "legal" by the game's rules but I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

The only problem with redoing a house design is that thieves that had previously died in it will be able to reenter it and then they will know the lethal parts of it, I have already robbed the same house twice because the owner reused his design. Still, if do that script could you upload it for us too?

ISleepTheDayAway · 2014-02-08 23:01:43

42dustman wrote:

ISleepTheDayAway wrote:
I was thinking of writing just script to basically auto-build my house for me, and possibly buy my tools on a new life. It's really just a burden to go through, then I accidentally misplace one item and die in the test and have to redo it? No thank you, I'm not sure if it'd be "legal" by the game's rules but I personally don't see anything wrong with it.
The only problem with redoing a house design is that thieves that had previously died in it will be able to reenter it and then they will know the lethal parts of it, I have already robbed the same house twice because the owner reused his design. Still, if do that script could you upload it for us too?

Well, like I do with all my designs. I'd tweak bits to make it different, but have a base to go off of. I will probably upload it here though for those interested.

EDIT: Also, another thing. Why is it that I've had people kill my wife several times just today and they get like half of my safe? It makes it so I have $500 instead of $1000 and no one wants to try and rob me so I just suicide and re-build the entire thing.

Last edited by ISleepTheDayAway (2014-02-08 23:05:59)

iceman · 2014-02-08 23:07:19

The wife holds half of the money in your safe (not counting tool value). That means that it's advantageous to kill her to get the money, but it's *really* advantageous to protect her. If she's alive when your safe is robbed, you keep a lot of money instead of going down to 0.

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2014-02-08 21:09:56

Why should I continue playing this game?

#2 2014-02-08 21:20:12

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#3 2014-02-08 21:26:39

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#4 2014-02-08 21:34:35

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#5 2014-02-08 21:37:34

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#6 2014-02-08 21:45:26

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#7 2014-02-08 22:37:25

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#8 2014-02-08 23:01:43

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

#9 2014-02-08 23:07:19

Re: Why should I continue playing this game?

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