Stronghold (2001 game)
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| Developer(s) | Firefly Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Take 2 Interactive and God Games |
| Release date(s) | 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer (IPX, TCP/IP or Modem) |
| Rating(s) | ELSPA: 11+ ESRB: T |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Media | CD (1) |
| System requirements | 300 MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 750 MB HD |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse |
- For the 1993 game of the same name, see Stronghold (1993 game).
Stronghold is a game by Firefly Studios from 2001, which combines real-time strategy elements with a medieval castle simulation. The game has a sizable community following and is well known for its addictive gameplay. It also has many fierce enemies that the player can fight against. Stronghold combines elements of RTS games and building games like Sim City. This game (and to a lesser extent, its expansion pack Stronghold: Crusader) received generally favorable reviews.
The game was followed by two sequels: Stronghold 2 and Stronghold Legends.
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[edit] Gameplay
In Stronghold, you take the role of the lord of a kingdom or other high-ranking official. The goal is to create a stable economy and a strong military to defend against invaders and destroy enemy castles.
Stronghold takes place in a medieval kingdom. The exact time and place are not stated, but a map showing the progression of the story is obviously that of England and Wales. The story of the Campaign begins when the King attempts to invade a barbarian enemy. The invasion fails and the King is captured and held for ransom. Almost immediately, four powerful lords begin to cut the kingdom into their own personal territories. The player is represented as a young, inexperienced commander, whose father is killed in an ambush en route to propose peace with the enemy. Only two lords remain loyal to the King, and the player is in their service.
[edit] Features
In order to survive, the player is required to construct a castle, building the individual buildings and the castle walls and towers. The player is also left to determine which buildings are vital and which can be left outside the castle to be destroyed in the event of an attack. There are also options to create soldiers to defend the castle, and to eventually attack and defeat an enemy.
In order to create a stable economy, as well as gathering resources, the player is required to maintain a positive popularity level with their peasants; failure to do so will result in peasants leaving the castle and, subsequently, economic collapse. Popularity can be maintained by keeping adequate housing, low taxes, high food rations and keeping a supply of ale. Popularity can also be affected by the creation of structures to inspire fear or love: facilities of torture and execution which will increase worker efficency but reduce popularity and military effectiveness, presumably due to bad morale, while parks, statues and shrines will have the opposite effects.
The game differs from many other similar games as the player is required to process resources through a number of processes before they can be used for a certain purpose. To create an army, a player must not only have free peasants, but must process the resources required for their weapons through appropriate workshops, rather than simply spend the resources required at a barracks. The acquisition of ale and bread also goes through a series of processes. Some of these, however, can be bypassed with enough gold with a market, and the Crusader version of the game allowed players to hire mercenaries for more gold rather than create soldiers themselves.
[edit] Characters
- The Lord: The lord of the player's castle.
- Lord Woolsack: The main advisor for the player. Suggests the player employ a more conservative battle strategy.
- Sir Longarm: A soldier who also serves as an adivsor for the player. Suggests the player employ a more aggressive battle strategy.
- Duc de Puce: An apparent illegitimate son of a noble, who assumed his Dukeship upon his entire family's death. The most incompetent enemy in the game.
- Duc Beauregard: The man responsible for the original Lord's death, and holds a strong grudge against the Lord and his family.
- Duc Truffe: An obese bandit king.
- Duc Volpe: A mysterious enemy, and the most dangerous of the game's AI enemies.
[edit] Crusader
The second installment, Stronghold: Crusader was released in September of 2002. The gameplay is similar to the first game, but with enhanced RTS elements and with all maps and missions set entirely in the Middle Ages in the Middle Easrt The focus was radically influenced by fortification and siege technologies developed during the Crusades, as the entire campaign, as well as the 'Conquest Trail' game-mode, both take place during the Third Crusade.
Unlike the original Stronghold, however, there are four separate, yet linear themselves, campaigns. The game does take history into effect: Richard I of England, Philip II of France, Sheriff of Nottingham, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor are present as the game's AI characters for the player to side with or go against. There are numerous other AI personalities, however. In addition, unlike the original game, the player is allowed to play either as an Arabic Lord or as the English King. This does not affect what units the player is allowed to train, but it does effect what units they player begins with.
[edit] New units
The new game introduced Arabic military units that the player can recruit from a Mercenary Post. They are typically more expensive that their European counterparts, but the player does not have to create any weapons or armor for them.
Arabian Archer He is the stronger middle-eastern equivalent to the normal archer. It does the same damage but fires faster. Costs 75 gold.
Slave Slaves are the weakest military unit in the game, even weaker than spearmen. As they are armed with torches, they are best used to burn down enemy buildings. Also the cheapest unit, costing only five gold.
Slinger A short-ranged unit, considerably weaker than the normal archers, but are useful against armored units. Costs 12 gold.
Assassin Invisible to enemies at a distance, assassins have a reasonably strong mêlée attack as well as the ability to scale walls as well as take over and open enemy gates. Costs 60 gold.
Horse Archer Archers mounted on horseback, thus gaining the speed of knights. This unit is able to fire while it moves, thus allowing it to run in circles around their "prey". Costs 80 gold.
Arabic Swordsman The strongest Arabic mêlée unit. They are similar to ordinary swordsman, weaker but faster. Costs 80 gold.
Fire Thrower Throws burning projectiles at enemies. Short ranged, very vulnerable to enemy archers, and best used against farms. Costs 100 gold.
[edit] First Combination Release - Stronghold Warchest
This was a combination pack of Stronghold and Stronghold:Crusader with all patches applied and some new maps.
[edit] Third Game
The sequel, Stronghold 2 was released in April 2005. This was much more than an expansion pack. The game engine was enhanced to provide full 3-dimensional graphics. Other changes include new military and peace campaigns and the addition of crime and punishment which allows players to torture unruly peasants. This was the first complete overhaul of the franchise since the first Stronghold appeared on shelves in 2001. It also included many new characters and somehwat changed the walls and towers you can add to your castle.
Upon its release, many players were outraged by the game's frequent crashes, lag (even while playing offline on a computer with exceptional hardware), and overall buggyness. Firefly studios paid much attention to the playing community's complaints, and promised fixes in later patches. Soon after, patch 1.1 was released which fixed some issues. However, it was not until patch 1.2 was released that a majority of complaints have stopped.
On 28th of October, 2005, a third patch (1.3.1) was released, further fixing bugs and adding similar components to that of Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusader, one of which is the memorable "Conquest Trail"
The third patch introduced a new bug: The game only starts when there is no internet connection active.
Critically, the game has received generally negative reviews, whether from the bugs present in the initial release or the gameplay.
[edit] Stronghold 2 Mini-game
To promote Stronghold 2 a Flash game was created called Castle Attack 2. The aim of the game was to balance building a castle and defending it. The game has 10 levels a difficulty increases on each level. The maximum amount of archers the player can have is three and the player can have six people in total.
[edit] Standalone Expansion Pack - Stronghold 2 Deluxe
This is a new release of Stronghold 2, the original Stronghold 2 plus all the patches, the minigames, and some new maps.
[edit] Fourth Game
The game Stronghold Legends contains twenty-four missions, spanning three different campaigns. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Count Vlad Dracul, and the mighty Siegfried of Germany will each be playable.
- Gamershell Legends Screenshots
- Firefly Studios Legends Release Page
[edit] External links
- Firefly Studios
- Stronghold Knights Community
- Stronghold at GameFAQs
