The computer game Stronghold was created in 2001 by the British company Firefly Studios. Her genre is a real-time strategy. The game, whose name is translated from English as “The Citadel”, offers its participants to build, storm, defend a medieval castle or develop the economy of the settlement.
The passage of quests "Stronghold" is a large-scale military and economic campaign, consisting of 21 missions. All the tasks offered to players are plot-linked, which allows you to go through each of the stages of the castle’s development, starting from the construction of its main building and ending with the use of troops for the assault.
The plot of the game takes us to medieval England. All actions begin in 1066. However, tasks are not always always limited in time. That is why some missions last for tens or even hundreds of "gaming" years.
At the time of the release of the game, the main aspects of its rules were an innovation of the genre. In this regard, many Stronghold was highly praised for its uniqueness. It is worth noting that the number of fans of this game was so great that it served as the reason for creating a large community. Its members undertook the creation of various amateur modifications and game cards.
A little later, Stronghold replenished with five sequels and two spin-offs. This is the Stronghold Crusader that appeared in 2002, as well as Stronghold 2 in 2005. In addition, the spin-offs of the Stronghold Legends (2006), Stronghold Crusader Extreme, released in 2008, Stronghold 3 (2011), saw the light spin-offs of Stronghold Kingdoms (2012). The last sequel, the developers released in 2014 under the name Stronghold Crusader 2.
During the implementation of the game, more than five million copies were sold.
Graphics
The first thing that strikes each of the players when passing through the Stronghold is the stunning beauty of nature. From the beginning of the training missions, landscapes worthy of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder appear on the screen. This, for example, is a blue surf, which is fascinatingly crushed at the very foot of rocky cliffs. Not far from it you can see a deer herd, which rests in a green clearing of the forest. There are also jumping bunnies created by treetop crowns of trees. However, the player will simply have no time to admire this magnificence. After all, all his attention will be captured by the gameplay.
No less picturesque appear to our eyes and the fruits of civilization. The fact is that when creating castles, the authors used medieval engravings. This made it possible to thoroughly reproduce all the features and details of the 12 types of structures that existed in reality.
Players are happy to look at other buildings - military and business. They are also designed to the smallest detail.
When passing the "Stronghold", you can click on the image of the bakery or workshop. After that, what happens inside of them appears on the screen.
Pleasing to the eye and farms. Their fields sprout very beautifully, then turn green and spike.
System requirements
Passing Stronghold 1 is possible if:
- 4 MB of video memory;
- 750 MB hard drive;
- 64 MB RAM;
- Pentium II 300 MHz.
The game is controlled by keyboard and mouse.
Stronghold Modes
There are two of them in the game. It is a military path and peaceful. These modes represent the path of battles and economic development. What is provided by the authors here?
There is a military campaign in the battles. It includes network play, siege and invasion. In the economic regime, there are missions that develop the settlement, as well as free construction.
The game has its own map editor. With it, you can create siege, construction, invasion, and economic cards for siege missions and network games. There is also a multiplayer mode. It makes it possible to play over the Internet or using a local network.
Gameplay
During the passage of the Stronghold missions, the player becomes the lord, the ruling medieval castle with its inhabitants, as well as the commander of his troops. The main character's task includes:
- providing the castle with raw materials and food;
- training troops for a siege and for striking an enemy;
- establishing a graying economy.
For the castle to flourish, the player will need to maintain popularity at a certain level. This indicator is estimated in points ranging from 0 to 100. At values below 50, its inhabitants will begin to leave the castle. And if popularity exceeds this threshold, then new people will appear in the settlement.
How to achieve the desired level? For this, it is necessary to have an optimal amount of food supplies and establish an adequate level of taxes. In addition, the number of inhabitants will increase due to the construction of houses. But it is worth bearing in mind that in this case large stocks of food will be required.
When passing the game "Stronghold" any task can be completed almost instantly. Soldiers are also trained here without delay. But only for this, the player will need weapons produced in special workshops, and financial means.
The lord himself may also participate in the passage of the military company at Stronghold. Together with other soldiers, he is able to fight on the battlefield. However, it should be borne in mind that the death of this hero will mean, respectively, the end of the mission.
Construction and economics
When passing the "Stronghold" the player is offered six types of tasks. With their help, you can build:
- castle buildings (barracks, gates, towers, walls, etc.);
- buildings used to extract resources (mines, quarries, sawmills, etc.);
- city buildings (churches, wells, houses, etc.);
- workshops for the manufacture of weapons and armor;
- buildings in which products will be processed (barns, etc.);
- agricultural facilities (farms, etc.).
All construction is carried out instantly. At the request of the player, the buildings can be demolished.
There are four types of resources in a castle. Among them are oil, iron, as well as stone and wood. Their production is carried out in wells and mines, in quarries and sawmills.
The player needs a tree for the construction of almost all buildings. To do this, you need to use the work of lumberjacks. They will dump the tree, saw it, and then the finished boards will be delivered to the warehouse.
To build a castle the player will need a stone. His prey is engaged in quarries. To transport this material, oxen must be used.
Iron in the game is needed for the manufacture of weapons and armor. It will be needed for boilers in which oil will boil. They extract iron in the mines.
Residents of the castle need oil for oil, which will be brought to a boil, and spilled on the heads of opponents. They can also fill the ditches, and then set them on fire. This will destroy the enemies that are in these ditches. They get oil in the wells.
In order to provide castle residents with food, the player needs to build dairy farms, hunter's huts, wheat fields and apple orchards. All this will allow you to get bread, apples, cheese and meat.
But not so simple. Wheat extracted in the fields will need, first of all, to turn into flour. Only then can bread be baked from it. The player needs to manually configure in the system the products allowed by the Lord to be consumed, as well as the speed of their use. This or that volume can seriously affect the level of popularity.
The player is given the right to build hoppers. They will grow raw materials for ale. This hop drink is used in taverns and also brings extra popularity points.
How efficiently any building will work will partly depend on the reverence shown by the player. He can erect a large number of May poles, monuments and gardens, increasing its popularity. However, workers will spend most of their time not on work, but on walks.
On the other hand, the player can begin to build tools of intimidation and torture. This will lead to the loss of some of the popularity. However, in this case, the workers will work more time.
Popularity control is also carried out through the construction of cathedrals, churches and chapels. You can get gold in the game. This is done in two ways - through trade and taxes. However, it should be borne in mind that the market in the game is not always accessible, and purchases on it are conducted only in five units. Sales are carried out on the basis of the quantity of goods that are in stock. In the future, the obtained gold must be used for the construction of weapons for the siege, as well as for the training of soldiers and city buildings.
The main dilemma for the player when completing missions is to maintain a balance between popularity and economic benefit.
War
In the game "Stronghold" there are no separate peoples and races. Each side has the same set of soldiers for hire. In order to play units, the player will need to build a barracks and armory, filling it with swords and armor. Also can not do without gold and free peasants. Trained soldiers in the game instantly. Among them are units designed for remote combat. These are crossbowmen and archers. Such soldiers attack the enemy automatically, at its first appearance. There are units and melee. They are represented by knights and swordsmen, pikemen, foot soldiers with maces and spearmen. All of them will be inactive until they receive orders to attack a specific opponent.
The main focus of the game is on the defense and siege of the castle. That is why many of the ideas that developers have applied are considered innovative. The player can allow the army to take a position on the towers and move along the walls of the castle, while firing at the enemy below.
The player can also storm the city of the enemy, breaking the walls of his fortress or capturing them using stairs and siege towers. He is also given the opportunity to organize an epidemic or fire.
Troops
The game has two guilds - sappers and engineers. In the barracks are combat units, as well as knights. The latter are the only type of cavalry. There are monks in the game. However, they cannot be hired. The developers corrected this gap a little later. So, during the passage of the missions "Stronghold Krusader" monks can be hired in the cathedral.
Among the representatives of the Guild of Engineers are both the engineers themselves and the siege workers. The first of them have no weapons. However, their player can stick to a vat of oil, to defensive weapons or to siege machines. They can also pour boiling oil on the heads of enemies.
The sappers guild is allowed to hire sappers, diggers. They are capable of undermining under the stone fortifications of enemies. Thanks to this, the walls of the fortress collapse.
Among the soldiers who are in the barracks, there are those who have special skills. The player can hire them in order to set fire to oil pits, climb siege stairs or dig ditches.
According to the plot of the game, the king, who led medieval England, was captured by the barbarians. The country was captured by greedy barons. The player is invited to lead the troops remaining loyal to the king, and gradually conquer England, captured by four villains - the Duke di Volpe (Wolf), the Duke Beauregard (Serpent), the Duke de Truffe (Boar) and the Duke de Pus (Rat).
Stronghold Cruzader Modes
This computer game is an independent addition to the basic strategy. Four historical campaigns are available in it. Among them:
- "To arms." This campaign is the easiest. It is dedicated to the First Crusade, which took place in 1094-1099. During the passage of the Stronghold Cruzader, the player must master the control of the castle, as well as the principles of siege and defense.
- The Conquests of Saladin. When passing this campaign, Arab troops fall under the control of the player. All missions in this case are siege. This campaign is dedicated to the campaigns of Saladin, which he undertook in 1187.
- The Royal Crusade. This campaign was an attempt to liberate Jerusalem. It was undertaken by the King of England, Richard the Lionheart, the King of France Phillip II, as well as the Emperor of Germany Frederick I Barbarossa. All missions of this campaign are defensive.
- "Crusader Wars". This campaign does not claim to be based on real events. However, it reflects well the spirit of the wars waged by the crusaders in the Middle East.
There is a special campaign in the game. It is called the Way of the Crusader. It includes 50 cards that are not interconnected by a specific plot. The player in order to get closer to the goal, you need to go through fifty missions. Each of them has its own allies and enemies.
To defeat the enemy, you can play in individual card mode. At the same time, it is possible to set the desired number of computer enemies, which can be from 1 to 7, as well as the initial conditions of the match and alliances.
At Stronghold Krusader it is proposed to build a castle, villages, etc. This mode is known for the first part of the game. Construction can be carried out without any restrictions on the ground. At the same time, the F1 key is able to call the event editor.
The War at Stronghold Cruzader
This system has not changed compared to the base game. Only Arab units were added. Partially they duplicate standard soldiers. In their list: Arab archer and swordsman, slave and slinger, flamethrower and horse archer, as well as an assassin. All of these units must be hired for gold. To complete the Stronghold Cruzader game, in addition to siege weapons, the authors added fireballs. With them, the player can set fire to enemy buildings or destroy units from the enemy army.
There is a unique innovation in this game. They are assassins, who, using cats, deftly climb the walls of the fortress. They kill the guards and open the gates. Otherwise, the combat system remained the same.
Economy
In this part, the passage of the Stronghold Cruzader remained the same. The authors decided to change only some prices for goods and buildings.
Castle construction
The player will need to build this structure using such rows of defense as towers, walls and barbicans. It will also need auxiliary buildings. Among them are a camp of mercenaries and a barracks, a guild of engineers and sappers.
Barbicans are needed so that the player can pass his troops through the defensive system. The army can climb the walls through these structures. Drawbridge can be attached to the barbicans, which will allow units to overcome ditches.
As for the extraction of resources and the creation of weapons workshops, no changes were provided for in the new version. A significant difference in the sphere of agriculture was the location of farms. Now they can be placed only in oases. Compared to the base Stronghold, major changes have occurred in urban buildings. Now for the construction of temples will need gold. The construction of a cathedral or church automatically takes into account the bonus to the level of popularity of the ruler.
Stronghold 2
This game, just like the base one, is a real-time strategy. Her system is more similar to the Stronghold Cruzader.
The authors propose to build a medieval castle and keep its defense. The main system requirements for passing the Stronghold 2 games are:
- 1.4 Hz processor;
- 32 MB of video memory;
- RAM 256 MB;
- 2.5 GB hard drive
Gameplay "Stronhold 2"
As in the basic version, the player acts as the lord who rules the medieval castle. When passing the Stronghold 2 games, you also need to build military buildings and housing, buildings in which resources will be extracted, as well as workshops. There are peasants who, in the presence of free places (buildings), will choose their own work for themselves. In this direction, player intervention is minimal. He should pay attention to military buildings.
The army also consists of hired peasants (recruits). At the same time, military units can be controlled both in a group and individually. This is especially useful when passing through the military company Stronghold 2. Sometimes battles take place here. On each side, more than one hundred soldiers take part in them. However, during the passage of the Stronghold 2 military campaign, the authors slightly changed the rules. Now the player can buy certain units. But he has the right to do this only if he will possess a certain level of “honor”. This is a game resource, which is given for the balls, feasts and tournaments.
The new that can be seen during the passage of the mission "Stronghold 2" - the estate. These are semi-autonomous villages without defensive walls and a castle. The player controls them, as well as artificial intelligence. The estates produce goods that can be sent by cart to the castle or to the allies.
There are various modes in the game. Among them:
- military and economic missions;
- "Siege";
- "The fight for the crown";
- "Free construction";
- The Way of the Conqueror.
Perhaps the passage of "Stronghold 2" in the company of players. This allows you to make multiplayer.
Two advisers lead the players on all missions. Tom Simkins teaches economics. In combat, players are directed by Constable Briggs.
Stronghold of Legends
The main system requirements for this game are:
- 1.6 GHz - processor;
- RAM - 512 MB;
- 64 MB video memory;
- hard drive - 2.5 GB.
For the passage of the "Stronghold of Legends" the authors have significantly changed the gameplay. They removed some types of units, adding new ones. Also in this version there are three types of games. Among them, single-user, which is divided into scripts, as well as network and map editor.
Passing almost every new mission begins with the construction of your castle. Next, you need to debug the extraction of necessary resources and production, as well as build defensive structures that are necessary to repel enemy attacks. After that, the player creates an army. He will need it to capture enemy castles located in another part of the map. Attacks on other people's fortifications occur gradually. The main tactical advantages in this part of the game are magic spells, as well as strong heroes who have additional features.
Stronghold Cruzader Extreme
This add-on to the game is the only one released by the official developer. It can be used as a separate modification or installed on a standard version of the Stronghold Cruzader. There are some additions to this game, namely:
- magic;
- additional computer opponents - 8 units;
- new cards;
- an additional campaign consisting of 20 missions;
- endless troops.
Passage "Stronghold Extreme" is designed for experienced players. It’s not so easy to manage an unlimited number of units. With the passage of the Stronghold Cruzader Extreme, armies can reach tens of thousands of soldiers. Also, the game has become distinguished by a new structure and tactical capabilities.
To successfully use the version, players will need to have a personal computer with the following:
- Pentium III processor 1 GHz;
- 256 MB of memory;
- 4 MB of video memory;
- 1.1 GB of hard disk space;
- OS Windows 2000 / Vista / XP.
Stronghold 3
This version of the game has its own innovations. They consist in an improved castle construction system, which allows you to get as close to reality as possible, delving into the subtleties of craftsmanship. In addition, the passage of "Stronghold 3" may please with its updated graphics. Added to the game and several modes, including night sieges. New opportunities appear during the assault on the walls.
The world that the player will admire during the passage of Stronghold 3 is more similar to that present in the basic version. Interesting changes have affected buildings. They will look different depending on their distance to the castle. The smaller it is, the richer the structure.
To play the game "Stronghold 3" you will need a computer in which there is:
- 2.8 GHz processor;
- 1 GB of RAM;
- 128 MB video memory;
- 2 GB of free hard disk space.
The new version of the game announced high-quality 3D graphics, a change of day and night. There was an opportunity to destroy natural objects. A different, compared with the base, system for the location of buildings has been developed. Many game processes began to be controlled by artificial intelligence.
As before, in the course of the development of the settlement, they adhere to two directions - economics and military affairs. Which path will be chosen depends on the player.
The plot of the game was a continuation of the history of the base version. All the action takes place in the same locality, but only after seven years. The wolf managed to survive after falling from the tower and seriously injured in a battle with the protagonist. He fled to the East, where he regained his strength. 7 years later, the Wolf returned to England, accompanied by his new ally Jackal. In addition, he was joined by the sons of his minions, who were killed during the liberation of the country, the Rat - the Duke de Pius, and the Boar - the Duke de Truffe.
Stronghold Cruzader 2
The gameplay of this game, like the previous versions, is very much tied to the construction of castles, the contents of the settlement, as well as the battles. The face of war has changed very seriously. At first glance, the differences are difficult to notice. However, when fights begin, an experienced player will no longer recognize the story he knows. So, when passing the game “Stronghold Cruzader 2” you can see a larger number of units. Now there are already 20 units. Those who switched from the old versions of the game "learned" new tricks. In addition, the authors changed their indicators of protection and damage. There are also such units that give bonuses to allies and restore their health. The archer also became available to the players, who can stand up for himself when conducting close combat.
Not without losses. When passing the "Stronghold Cruzader 2" miners, engineers and slaves with ladders no longer meet. The authors removed the siege towers from the game. In exchange, players were provided with two types of catapults.
Castle sieges have become much more efficient and easier. This was made possible due to the reduction of defense equipment and assault. Now the player can no longer direct the person carrying the ladder to the wall and transport a dozen units through it. You will need to either break the wall or capture the gates with the help of the Asanites.
The passage of Stronghold Cruzader 2 begins with a training mission. For its passage, you will need to build gardens, provide the population with food and save the necessary resources. After that, the player will have to build a barn and warehouse, several sawmills, as well as apple orchards. The next step is the destruction of the lions. To do this, you need to take a few soldiers and go with them to the den of the beast. The Lord is a very strong man. To deal with lions is not a problem for him.
After eliminating the lions, you can tackle the economy. For its prosperity, it is worth building 10 sawmills, 3-4 farms, as well as 5-6 apple orchards. After providing residents of the settlement with resources, an arsenal should be built, as well as workshops in which they will manufacture swords and bows. Extraction of iron ore will allow the player to complete the main tasks. The mission will be considered successfully completed.