Stronghold 3 Message Board

Stronghold 3
Version - 1.10.27781
Patch notes


Economic Systems Rebalanced

Peasants now move 66.66% faster.

Immigration rates have been increased.

In multiplayer the rate has been increased even higher.

All farms now produce 25% more food. Bread production been increased by 40%.

Vegetable gardeners produce and carry 50% more vegetables per delivery.

Range units (Archers, Crossbowmen, etc) now gain an attacking bonus based on terrain height

Troop Movement Changes

Macemen, Armed Peasants and Monks always run.

Men at Arms now always walk, instead of running into attack.

Pikemen walk a little faster.

Ranged troops can move and attack troops behind walls when within their line of sight.

Rally points for the Siege Camp have been added

New Market added with Autobuy/Autosell feature

Markets are no longer required to buy or sell goods. Goods can be traded via the Stockpile, Granary, Keep and Armoury.

The new Market is an advanced trading building which costs 200 wood and features a slider with controls for automatically trading goods, with individual settings per good type.

Multiplayer - Coronation Mode

In Coronation Mode players start off at the lowly rank of Village Idiot with limited access to buildings and military units. By generating honour players can move up the ranks, gaining new technology and weaponry along the way. The first King to achieve the rank of Emperor will win the game.

Coronation Mode features upgradable Keeps which have their own defences and provide additional housing for workers and troops.

New Coronation Mode map - Marshlands

Performance improvements

Simulation step has been tweaked so that scripts are now called 4 times less often.

Skinning of actors has been optimised - These include animations now do not blend from a distance, PoseDrivers are not recreated everytime there is a LOD change and the game now prioritises existing PoseDrivers, rather than always expanding the PoseDriver pool.

Pathfinding has been optimised - Buildings are now treated a one large obstacle rather than a number of small obstacles.

Sound has been optimised - combat vocalizations are no longer decompressed into memory, resulting in a memory savings of up to 100 Megabytes after a long game session.

Additional user interface options

Vsync matches your monitors refresh rate to the in-game frame rate to prevent screen tearing. Enabling Vsync will reduce performance so we have added an option to turn Vsync Off/On in the Options menu.

Full Screen/Windowed mode added to the Options menu.

Camera Changes

Previously when zooming out the camera would tilt until eventually the game would be viewed top down. This camera tilt has been removed. The game can still be viewed top down by pressing the Space Bar.

Health bars are now drawn for currently selected Lord units on their icons in the GUI.

Troop/Building Limits

Troop and building maximums have been added to Single Player, in order to prevent performance issues when the numbers get too high.

These limits can be overridden by changing the relevant settings in the Documents/Stronghold 3/Profiles/options.xml file.

Minimap

Flag icons have been added to the minimap for Capture the Flag mode.

Messages and map location notifications have been added when estates and flags are being captured.

Notifications have been added to show the map location of new reinforcements.

Miscellaneous

Game speed changes using the -/+ keys are now displayed onscreen.

Game speed can also now also be controlled using i/o keys (to help some laptop users that couldnt use -/+ keys).

The in-game message log history has been increased to 50. The message scroll buttons can be held down to scroll through them.

Unwanted saved games can now be deleted in the Load Game screen.

The mouse cursor is locked to the game when in Full Screen or Windowed mode. Pressing ALT + TAB will unlock the cursor in Windowed mode.


Bug Fixes

The CTRL groups (CTRL+1/2/3) are now saved in a save game and available when the save game is loaded.

Fixed the Keeps Enable/Disable all industries buttons from breaking when an ox post was present.

Fixed the green directional cursor appearing when right-click dragging, even when only enemies or buildings were selected.

Fixed the first mouse click on a newly loaded map not being able to create a selection marquee.

Fixed units becoming deselected when dragging the mouse to operate GUI controls and releasing it over the game view.

Placing a storage building will no longer open the storage buildings GUI panel, which was making it difficult to continue placing buildings.

The chat key (Enter) is now disabled in single player mode.

Troop health bars are now draw correctly when max health is above 100% due to Good Lord buildings

Fixed some issues with troop speech when Lord units were part of the selection

Added minor GUI feedback sounds to some controls

Tooltips for troops and building costs have been reformatted to be more readable. Tooltips have been added for placing rally points and increasing buy/sell amounts.

Fixed the stop command not functioning for Trebuchets, Battering Rams and Burning Carts.

Fixed honour gains not being tracked correctly for in-game statistics

Changed maximum building limit in Multiplayer and Singleplayer to only track the players primary estate

Reformatted the siege camp panel to look better in Single Player.

Fixed the cutscene replay button appearing too soon for the final campaign mission cutscenes.

Icon added for the Haybale / Harpoon launcher.

Fixed issues with troops not being able to properly navigate the square bastion in certain circumstances.

Fixed the shortcut key L not selecting non-standard lords in multiplayer.

Visual damage from troops attacking walls better reflects number of hit points left.

Some French Keyboard and German Keyboard fixes.

Map Editor - Deleting the Engineers guild and saving was causing a crash.

Added some more audio easter eggs... the scribe may say a bit more here and there, and certain units have a bit more to say.


Other things to be aware of in Stronghold 3

Line of Sight Changes

Troops on towers/gatehouses/platforms are now less restricted by Line Of Sight. This change was made primarily in order to avoid frustrating situations where troops standing at one side of a tower couldn't fire directly down at enemies on the ground on the other side of the tower.

The side effect of this change is that sometimes you will see troops shoot through structures when it may look like they shouldn't be able to. Whilst this is obviously not ideal we decided the gameplay benefits of this change outweighed the visual inaccuracies caused as a result of this change.

Graphic Settings Recommendations

If you are using a graphics card with 256mb video memory, we recommend playing on Low settings. If you are using a graphic card with 512mb video memory, we recommend playing on Medium settings. Using High settings or at least High Texture High detail may lead to crashes with 256mb/512mb onboard memory on the video card.

4 Player Multiplayer Recommendations

4 Player multiplayer can be demanding for lower spec computers, particularly lower spec CPUs. For the best 4 player multiplayer experience we recommend playing on a high spec computer such as an Intel i5 or i7 based computer with at least 4GB RAM.

Map Editor

Loading 2 maps into the Map Editor consecutively will cause problems when saving the next map. Please open one map, edit it and save. Then exit the editor and re-load to edit the next map.

Keyboard shortcuts

A list of all the keyboard shortcuts are available in English, German and French on the Firefly Website at the following address - http://bit.ly/sh3keys

Stronghold 3
Version - 1.7.25411
Patch Notes

- Fixed the issue with the campaign not continuing after loading in a save game from the main menu.
- Fixed an issue with sections of wall disappearing when loading in a save game.
- Fixed crash if closing a gatehouse when troops are moving through it.
- Several building footprints have been reduced.
- Buildings can be rotated by using the keyboard. Pressing SHIFT or CONTROL will allow the Q/E keys to rotate the building.
- Troops will no longer fall through the floor when crossing Stone Bridges.(User maps with this issue will need to be re-saved)
- Fixed the Fletcher occasionally making the bows in the stockpile.
- A few other potential crashes have been fixed.

Stronghold 3
Version - 1.7.25308
Patch Notes

New maps
- Two Historical Siege maps - Dunnottar Castle, Castillo de Coca.
- Two Deathmatch Multiplayer maps - Deadwood (4 Player), The Dead Shore (2 Player).

Miscellaneous
- If selected together, mixed troop types move at the same speed when commands are issued.
- Worker peasants now fight back against enemy soldiers and animals.
- Can now double-click to load games.

Bug fixes
- Knights correctly appear on horses when invasions attack in freebuild.
- Spanish speech matches the text.
- German text fixes.
- Lady Catherine team colour fixed.
- Military Mission 10 estate capture has been fixed.

Balancing
- Wolf attack strength and hit points have been lowered.

Multiplayer
- Fixes for various out-of-sync issues.
- Various stability/speed improvements.

Multiplayer lobby
- New Lords to choose - Lady Catherine, The Jackal, Bishop Redham, Earl Swinefoot, The Rat, The Wolf
- Difficulty levels (Affects the ration levels)
- Extra levels of starting gold.
- All players can view advanced settings.

Audio Changes
- Fire sounds added for flaming buildings as well as other burning entities.
- Sounds added/tuned to harpoon launcher.
- Sounds added/tuned for burning logs, including when troops are struck.
- Body fall and thud sounds added for when troops fall to ground or bounce off towers (distinct effects depending on if troop type i.e. armored vs. unarmored).
- Troops on fire now scream properly (and horrifically).
- Many additional group troop responses added for when larger groups are ordered about (similar to when large groups are selected currently). These also include negative responses when an impossible command is issued.
- Army attack screams added/tuned for when medium or very large groups are ordered to attack a target (distinct variations based on selected group size).

Poor old Firefly are looking a bit beleaguered after the disappointing release of Stronghold 3, to the point where the top thread on their forums is titled “We are listening and we are working”. Anyway, some of that listening and working seems to have gone into yesterday’s patch, which has added a “free-build panel” to allow players to experiment with their fortifications a little more: “Although Stronghold 3 wasn’t designed with a skirmish mode in mind,” announced Simon Bradbury, lead designer, “we have listened to what the fans have been saying, so beefed up the Free Build mode to give players lots more flexibility and the ability to have increasingly powerful invasions attack their castle.” Quite why it wasn’t designed with what seems like the most obvious possible mode for a castle-building game is beyond me, but at least they’re having a crack at it now, eh readers?

Stronghold 3
Version - 1.6.24988
Patch Notes

-New free-build mode control panel. This allows you to do the following:
- Launch an attack/siege from a list against your castle
- Set the in-game difficulty (mostly for the sake of estate food consumption rates currently)
- Give yourself some gold
- Activate and set the evil-ness of random events
- Wall attachments (such as stairs) are no longer limited to their attachment points. This allows you to slide them along wall edges. This also affects hoardings, burning logs and braziers.
- You can now press the N key to jump to notifications (enemy attacks, etc) currently taking place.
- Fixed the bug where players were unable to attack ruins and other structures.
- Fixed a bug where the "King" contributed to the population.
- Some tweaks to multiplayer so that the game shouldnt lag as much for everyone when a slow computer is in the game. We are continuing to try to fix MP syncing issues especially in games with 3 or more players.
- A new free-build mode map (Threefish River) has been added.
- The crash which occurred after loading a map or save and then exiting the game has been fixed.
- A crash has been fixed when playing military mission 11 (A Glimmer of Hope) and using the trebuchet to fire at a tower.
- Deletion & repair now requires a mouse click, rather than just the mouse button to be held down.
- Fixed a bug where blood and sparks particles were attached to troops.-
- Trees now sway in the wind.-
Please be aware save games made before patch1.3.24532 that contain fire will crash when loaded.

Stronghold 3
Version - 1.5.24824
Patch Notes

- Mini-map and warning notifications have been added.
- Mini-map now has arrows indicating the location of the keep when off-screen.
- Fixed various wall issues that were causing crashes.
- Fixed issue with troops changing the set stance when moved.
- Fixed issues to make withdrawing units from combat easier.
- Selectable building and troop limits have been added to multiplayer.
- The defensive bonus on walls and towers has been increased.
- The aggressive attack range of troops has been doubled.
- Fixed some multiplayer issues causing the game to go out of sync.
- The game now launches directly into the correct resolution.
- Various small bug fixes.

Please be aware save games made before patch1.3.24532 that contain fire will crash when loaded.

Version - 1.4.24706
Patch Notes

- 3 difficulty levels have been added. Easy, Normal and Hard. Some of the changes affect food consumption rates, along with troop numbers depending on the campaign you are playing.
- New multiplayer mode King of the Hill added.
- Several Exit game crashes fixed. This may still occur very occasionally.
- Animals will no longer count as enemies and therefore no longer block building placement.
- Added the ability to make buildings rotate by 45 degrees. Hold down CTRL when a building is selected and scroll the mouse wheel.
- Sound system cache uses far less memory, which therefore means Stronghold 3 uses less overall.
- Pathfinding on top of repaired walls should now function correctly.
- Damaged walls repair correctly after loading a save.
- Scroll wheel should now reveal all screen resolutions in the graphics options rather than having to pull slider down.
- Several Crashes resolved.
- Various small bug fixes.

Please be aware save games made before patch1.3.24532 that contain fire will crash when loaded. Also we are aware there are still syncing issues in multiplayer which we are looking to fix for the next patch.

Updates to Stronghold 3 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

- Added a possible fix for the failed to initialise bug.
- Fixed issue with units starting in a T-Pose when a map loads.
- Fixed issues with troops walking through walls.
- Fixed issue with man-at-arms being able to throw their spear through walls when directly ordered to attack someone behind the wall.
- Fixed issue with ranged units twitching while attempting to target a unit that is out of line of sight.
- Fixed issue with ranged units trying to melee targets that are initially out of line of sight instead of shooting them.
- Fixed issue with ranged units not attacking enemies in range after losing their target due to him walking out of range.
- Fixed various issues with walls (placing towers at tight angles).
- Added "snap" wall placement. Hold down CTRL when adding a new section to an existing wall to either extend the wall straight or perpendicular to the existing wall.
- Fixed issue with not being able to turn off all Chandler Workshops.
- Fixed issue with engineers starting in a T-Pose when their equipment is first placed.
- Fixed issue with peasant models sometimes appearing on top of iron/stone/farms and sometimes being attached to all of your troops.
- Fixed issue that would cause trebuchets to break if interrupted while they pack/unpack.
- Fixed issue with team colors where some appeared to be on the neutral team (white) after load.
- Fixed issue with shadows showing open buildings rather than solid closed buildings.
- Villagers will now visit the Inn from time to time.
- Camera should no longer go below sea level.
- The trebuchet has been re-added to A Glimmer of Hope (Military Campaign: Mission 11). Save games made before the patch will not feature the trebuchet.
- Fixed Map Editor crash on exit.
- Fixed issue with waterfalls duplicating themselves in the map editor after saving and reloading. Any user created maps with waterfalls will need to be re-saved in the map editor.
- Fixed the hotkey shortcuts to select the players Lord (L) and to cycle the camera to enemy lords (SHIFT + L) to accurately find units belonging to the correct players. (Also applies to other camera/selection hotkeys).
- Fixed Russian, Polish, and Czech text being cut off on some buttons.
- The Windows setting for left-handed mice (left & right mouse buttons swapped) is now used in-game.

Please be aware save games made before patch 1.3.24532 that contain fire will crash when loaded.

If the last few years have taught me anything, it's that the global economy is a delicate machine, and the boot heels of the greedy can all-to-easily trample it, and the lives of millions along with it, underfoot. A balance must be struck between the wants and needs of the consumers and the ability ...

Updates to Stronghold 3 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

- The mouse cursor has been improved and will help with selection and responsiveness issues.
- Game speed added. Press + to speed up the game (x2 or x3 normal speed) and - to slow the game down to normal speed (x1).
- Buildings can now be placed on top of workers and animals. The game will move the workers or animals out of the way.
- Fixed issue with military units sometimes not selecting a new target after a fight.
- Fixed issue with Archers and Rangers not being able to attack walls & buildings.
- Fixed issue with wolves (and other animals) being able to climb up ladders.
- Fixed issue with siege equipment being able to climb walls/towers.
- Fixed crash when changing resolutions in game on some machines.
- Fixed issue with stone quarries and iron mines when a worker was turned back into a peasant.
- Fixed issues when quitting/continuing the Tutorial.
- Fixed several pathfinding issues in Tower of London siege map.
- Fixed issue with peacetime continuing from multiplayer games into single player games.
- Hostile animals now respond to missile fire.
- Fixed French keyboard layout.
- The Map Editor is now available from the Steam interface. To locate it click on the top menu 'View' and select 'Tools'. Scroll down and you will see 'Stronghold 3 - Map Editor'
- An extra large map size has been added to the Map Editor.
- A new large Freebuild map, Abandoned Lands, has been added.
- Various small bug fixes.

Sometimes the best reason to build a wall is so you have something to fling your diseased cow over.

Stronghold 3 is now available on Steam!

Stronghold 3 is the long-awaited third installment in the award winning castle-building series. Set 10 years after the original, the Wolf it seems, has cheated death and during his painful recovery hes become even more bitter and twisted. Now he seeks revenge. Raiding villages and towns during the dead of night, the Wolf has created a tide of panic and you and your allies are the only force that stand against him.

Stronghold 3 is ready to teach the importance of proper castle grouting on October 25. That's the official launch date from Firefly Studios and 7sixty Games for the title, which has seen numerous delays and had its publisher delisted from the stock exchange.

We've placed some military gameplay footage above, with several trailers and developer diaries after the break. Have fun storming the castle!

After peasant-pleasing and/or poking comes castle crashing. Firefly promised to show more of the militant aspect of Stronghold 3 and here’s a video which does just that. See castle walls crumble and tiny men topple from them, reduced to nothing more than ragdolls. Hear a polite British man explain that the medieval era is an ideal showcase for physics. I was hoping they’d be using a Buridanian impetus model but they’ve gone for Havok. I’m more interested in the castle building than the castle destruction, some of which is briefly shown at the end. Have a gander.

(more…)

After peasant-pleasing and/or poking comes castle crashing. Firefly promised to show more of the militant aspect of Stronghold 3 and here’s a video which does just that. See castle walls crumble and tiny men topple from them, reduced to nothing more than ragdolls. Hear a polite British man explain that the medieval era is an ideal showcase for physics. I was hoping they’d be using a Buridanian impetus model but they’ve gone for Havok. I’m more interested in the castle building than the castle destruction, some of which is briefly shown at the end. Have a gander.

(more…)

Stronghold 3 isn’t that far away now and I’m as excited as a peasant with a new pitchfork. Much has been said of the fancy physics and the way they’ll affect traps and breaches, and much more has been said about diseased badgers. To remind us that it’s not all pestilent wildlife and siege warfare though, Firefly have lifted their portcullis to let a new trailer slip into the world. It concentrates on the economic side of the game. That means maintaining the castle and the village around it. It also means listening to the demands, hopes and fears of your people, which, like a British weekend, mainly revolve around ale, wolves and the ever-present possibility of being placed in the stocks.

(more…)

The classic castle-builder is back for a third installment.

GRAPEVINE, TX - Today sees the launch of new Texas-based video games publisher: 7sixty. Formed to meet the demands of today's consumers for high quality and innovative titles, 7sixty is working with talented developers to provide players with unique and enjoyable experiences on a range of formats, including consoles, home computers, smart phones and tablets. Each title will have a clear digital road-map that aims to expand their longevity, consumer reach and community interaction...

Promising build’n'bash’n'badger game Stronghold 3 has moved first from a Spring then to a Summer and then September release date and now to a nebulous ‘Autumn’ release date – which is bad news for anyone who, like me, is currently reading A Dance With Dragons and was hoping for a bit of brutal castle sieging afterwards. However, the change in date brings with it a shiny new trailer, and news that it bears a whole new publisher.(more…)

#sacksfullofdiseasedbadgers I went to see Firefly's long-awaited strategy sequel Stronghold 3 two weeks ago. It's a game about constructing some castles and destroying others, and it looks rather jolly. But jolly in a ‘squalid medieval life and constant war' kind of way. Here's some detail and impressions for you… More »

I went to see Firefly’s long-awaited strategy sequel Stronghold 3 last week. It’s about constructing some castles and destroying others, and it looks rather jolly. Here’s some details, impressions and even some trailers for you…

They had me at ‘sacks full of diseased badgers.’ Game devs – if you want an instant way to my heart, include badgers. I fondly remember going to see Neverwinter Nights back in the day and being delighted by the inclusion of Dire Badgers, then persuading passing Bioware chaps to show me how to use the toolset to create a level featuring a badger invasion.

I digress. One of castle sim/medieval strategy game Stronghold 3’s many smaller features is the option to hurl plague-infected animals over the walls of a hard-to-siege enemy fortress, thus sowing horror, sickness and despair among the populace. The choice is yours: one cow, a couple of sheep or a sackful of badgers. Each results in a different kind of disease-cloud, and a different sort of disgusting. The badgers, incidentally, were voted the winning carrier by Stronghold fans presented with a choice of third beast. They chose well.

Given how important building is to them, it's amazing how unkind most strategy games are to the noble art of construction. Click an icon, pop a little wireframe grid somewhere and boom - there's your neatly pre-fab base. Obviously, you don't want to hang around rotating walls and admiring how happy ...

Firefly Studios, the team behind Stronghold 3, has learned some important lessons in all its years of simulated castle building. For one, constructing spiral staircases counter-clockwise makes them easier to defend against right-handed swordsmen. But more practically, Firefly has learned that taking your time is key.

The studio's putting that second lesson to good use today, announcing that Stronghold 3 has been moved from an "early 2011" to a "late summer 2011" release window. Apparently, the delay will allow Firefly to implement "a host of great new features" so, needless to say, we're bracing ourselves for the best looking moat physics in the biz.

MIDLOTHIAN, VA and LEICESTER, UK - Leading videogame publisher, SouthPeak Interactive Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SOPK) and Firefly Studios have today announced that upcoming castle building strategy game Stronghold 3 will be released on PC later this summer. The release window has been pushed back to include a host of great new features that will ensure Stronghold 3 truly is the king of the castle...

Fans asked to choose beastly catapult ammo in the upcoming castle building sim.

Engage the dead-cow-launcher!

Get a hold on these screens.

Firefly Studios returns to their roots with the third installment of their hit franchise.

SouthPeak Games and Firefly Studios hope you're ready to build a third, really strong building for ... um ... holding stuff, as the two companies announced this week that they'll be bringing out Stronghold 3 in "the first quarter of 2011." The game is said to feature an "improved building system" and new "dramatic nighttime sieges."

The physics engine has also been given a refresh, with castles that "crumble into ruin before your eyes" -- hopefully not yours, of course! Stronghold 3 will get an "initial" digital-only release in early 2011, which SouthPeak says could be bolstered by a retail SKU. "A retail release is definitely not out of the question," the publisher said. "We want to deliver according to demand from the fans." So, what SouthPeak's saying is it depends on whether the game's digital release takes a strong enough hold on consumers' hearts, if you will? Ba-zing!