Stronghold Series

[General Maximus]

Stronghold is a great castle building series from Firefly Studios. Better call them "Castle Building Simulators".

There are six games in total:

• Stronghold

• Stronghold Crusader

• Stronghold 2

• Stronghold Legends

• Stronghold Crusader Extreme

• Stronghold Kingdoms
  

• Stronghold 3

Stronghold Crusader is my favorite. You are down into the Holy Land and can build your castle any way you like. Stronghold Legends is a fantasy type, so I haven't tried that one. And Stronghold Kingdoms is a all multiplayer game.



Do you guys play any game in Stronghold series?


If you don't, give it a try. You may find Stronghold Crusader ideal for any player.


And if you play, share your stories, screenshots, experiences, anything related to Stronghold games.

[Celsius]

Stronghold Crusader is by far the best out of the series, in my opinion anyway.
Stronghold 2 is meh, but I did spend a few hours playing it.
Stronghold 3......no, just no.

I would love to see a new Stronghold with the Crusader engine. For some reason I love those graphics, and it would be very easy to do today.

[wolfbane751]

i like legends though crusader is my favorite out of the series though i looked forward to stronghold 3 but then i got turned off by how many people said it was bad so i never bought it

[General Maximus]

Stronghold 3 is graphically best, is very good in its simplicity, but that makes it completely another genre. It lacks nearly all of the features which made Stronghold series the hit of the age. And don't let me get started on the bugs...

By the way, I bought Crusader Extremes just to see the TW style battles. Man, it is so epic that I cannot stop playing. I am currently having hard earned peacetime after being besieged for 2 hours of real world straight.

Richard the Lionheart broke through two levels of my 4 level castle. After half-an hour of hard fighting, his attack stalled on the third level. I beat him back to level 2, and the fight has broken down into minor skirmishes, with only a single massive wall keeping him away from me.

I used my small rear gatehouse to sneak an archer out. Now that his troops are inside, I moved that archer around the castle all the way to the front gate. The level 1 of the castle i.e. the front, is completely in ruin by now. There were some walls remaining, so I used the remaining stairs to climb my that archer on a wall. He went over the walls, until he arrived at that bastion with brazier.

I just set fire to the pitch ditch and it Lionheart who is trapped now. I was not able to light up that ditch earlier because of intense fighting, and I constructed those ditches just before siege began. I am just having some hard time protecting the rear gatehouse that I kept for emergency, which is beginning to be surrounded. But I will call my ragtag ally soon, and I can only hope that he comes to my defense.

AI is wonderful, man, amazing. You can have 10,000 unit battles on a map with a much more better AI than Rome or Medieval II Total Wars.

Your stories?

[Achilleslastand]

Ive probably spent over 1000 hours at least playing the original SH,Crusader and SH2 online. Back when Gamespy Arcade used to be hopping every day and night with plenty of SH and Crusader players. Never cared about the fantasy storyline of SHL tho.
SH2 was still a decent game but still cant hold up to the greatness of the first two.

SH3 however was actually one of the worst pc titles ive seen in recent memory which was a shame because i was truly looking forward to it.
Im playing SHK now and actually after the learning curve am enjoying it immensely.

Firefly should be announcing their next title in the next week or so and hopefully it will be SH Crusader 2 and return them to glory.
http://www.rtsguru.com/article/3710/...-Gamescom.html


If anyone knows of any other castle sims please post a link if they are of any interest!

[General Maximus]

Ah, the siege ended. I installed the boiling oil in my castle. He began using powerful troops, but they all died burning. Then he rammed the rear gatehouse, only to be met with a charge of desperate knights inside.

I rebuilt my whole castle, although nearly ruined my whole economy on rebuilding. I recovered, built more than 1,000 spearmen and 500 pikemen, and defeated him in the field. I dealt him such blow that he chose to attack others instead of me.

I attacked other lords too, seeing that Lionheart has began strengthening his castle. I defeated others until it was just me and good old Richie left. He sent his army against me, but I was ready this time. His whole army died out in arrow spam that I did.

I have surrounded him, considering that defenders inside are still powerful to hold me if I dare to assault. I have burned out all of his outlying buildings. I will let him starve for now, and since his lord is very low on health, I guess I will send crossbowmen to dispatch him.

[Cahoma]

I own them all except Stronghold 3 and Stronghold Crusader Extreme. They were the main reason I got into TW in the first place, as I was looking for a Stronghold-like game.

[SLN445]

I was pondering buying these games but the combat discription put me off...but from the stories here my interest has peaked again.

[vinh834]

I was always skeptic of Stronghold Kingdoms and have yet to try it after all this time. What do you guys think of it?

[Echbart]

Stronghold collection is on sale at Gamersgate. I bought it today and well will play it when time comes for it

[Achilleslastand]

I was always skeptic of Stronghold Kingdoms and have yet to try it after all this time. What do you guys think of it?

Ive been playing it for a few weeks and actually after the learning curve am enjoying it. It is free to play but there are cards which give you bonuses and crowns which give you bonuses as well which you may purchase.

Heres a apt description............

Live the life of a medieval lord in Stronghold Kingdoms, the world’s favorite castle MMO. A unique PC strategy game, Stronghold Kingdoms features an interactive, online medieval world and a community filled with hundreds of thousands of real world players.
Play the role of a peaceful lord… Or talk with your sword! Anything is possible in this simulation of medieval life. Besiege the castle that’s never been taken, overthrow ruthless tyrants, bankroll your faction’s war effort, pillage your neighbour’s resources, peacefully raise cattle or do it all! A wide range of stats, ranks, leaderboards and achievements gives every player something to aim for, from ‘Banquet King’ and ‘Peacebringer’ to 'Besieger of the Month' and ‘Lionheart'!
Be part of an authentic feudal community of kings, houses, factions, elections, liege lords and vassals, with different ways to communicate with other players, discuss strategies and form allegiances. While an impregnable castle should be at the heart of any lord or lady's domain, you can also specialize with a vast research tree. Starting as a humble peasant, each promotion brings with it valuable research points to spend on trading, diplomacy, warfare, farming, religion and more. Be aware though, as your power grows so does your renown, as you engage in the fight for the crown itself!

• Play for Free - Stronghold Kingdoms is free to play, no subscription or payment is required. Just download and dominate, don’t stop until you’re crowned King!
• Build a Mighty Fortress - Crush the invading hordes with impenetrable castle defenses, then launch a powerful counterattack!
• Join a Medieval Social Network - An amazing interactive map lets you trade, scout and explore a buzzing medieval world. Unite a faction, attack its enemies and return triumphant with their captured banners!
• Explore a Vast Research Tree - Are you a farmer, trader, diplomat or warlord? Research new technology to specialize and give you the edge.
• Unleash Your Inner Castle Sim! - Arrange village buildings for maximum productivity and watch your settlement come to life.

[SLN445]

So is the MMO like the SP games but MP? or is it some basterised version?

[General Maximus]

So is the MMO like the SP games but MP? or is it some basterised version?

Most MMOs are usually all around multiplayer games that have some single player element in them. But you cannot play them without internet.

By the way, you guys use those man traps? I mean those stakes that are hidden in the ground, and flare up through weight.

[SLN445]

Most MMOs are usually all around multiplayer games that have some single player element in them. But you cannot play them without internet.

By the way, you guys use those man traps? I mean those stakes that are hidden in the ground, and flare up through weight.

:|

What i mean is, is this particular MMO follow the gameplay found in the Single player version or has it been so altered or the original concept thrown out all together and the only link between the Single player and the Online version is the name.

Ive been annoyed by far to many In name only MMO games that im skeptical of anything that markets itself as the MMO version of a normal game.

[General Maximus]

:|

What i mean is, is this particular MMO follow the gameplay found in the Single player version or has it been so altered or the original concept thrown out all together and the only link between the Single player and the Online version is the name.

Ive been annoyed by far to many In name only MMO games that im skeptical of anything that markets itself as the MMO version of a normal game.

Yep, I understand what you want to say.

As far as I know, Stronghold Kingdoms had retained nearly all of the features of the stronghold series. Yesterday I downloaded Age of Empires Online, it retains most features of AOE series too, but only half compared to single player AOE games.

But there are some games whose name says something and gameplay says something entirely else. There is a multiplayer game named GTA San Andreas Multiplayer. Although it bears the name of GTA San Andreas, it is completely different. It is nothing like a GTA game. And they even spammed their game on Facebook.

The real GTA SA multiplayer has some other name, but at least it offers full multiplayer features and most of singleplayer features..

[SLN445]

Signed up, interesting but god does it take ages to do anything.

Feels similiar to those god aweful Travian style games but the Combat and free building give me enough to play around with it.

[General Maximus]

That's why I prefer to play single player, like Stronghold Crusader or Stronghold 2.

BTW guys, what tricks do you use to defend? Mine is to build castle in a style that can 'slow' down the enemy very much, while I rush out my cavalry from a side or rear gate to sandwich them. Until then, my moats and archers keep them away.

[General Sultan V]

stronghold 2 was best.

stronghold 3 was a pile of trash

[SLN445]

Having had a bit of a play with Stronghold Kingdoms, its shortcomings are becoming fairly present.... They realy need to expand the amount of things you can build, expecialy in the Cosmetic department (you dont seem to be able to build paths? so my awesome village is built in a paddock?), so many things become obsolete so quickly as it devolves into a number game or disregarding making a good looking castle/village just so you can maximise defence/production....

Still fun to play though going to stick with it and see how far i can get.

[Raritу]

I played Stronghold Kingdoms for about 4 months, joined those Houses' wars and stuffs. I quit as a 1st in Line Prince when I got bored of it.

I have some small guides, though:
As a new player, some higher ranking players may offer to be your liege lord. You may accept it to raise honor faster, as you liege lord, they may also send you goods or troops to help building your villages. Beware, though, if your lord is in a war, your village may get attacked as well.

Join a strong Faction or a House before trying to be a Parish Steward, or many eyes will be kept on you.

Players can be treacherous at times.

Castle Building: Don't build moats, as they're pretty useless, or fill your castles with walls. For example this is an useful guide.