Stronghold

[lugh]

Anyone played Stronghold or Stronghold 2. I'm thinking of getting a new game and since I'm not one for FPS the big name recent releases aren't really for me.
What I'm wondering is how realistic is it and how difficult. Considering I'll be going straight from MTW to this, if it's going to be like the Settlers I'll probably pass on it.

[Kekvit Irae]

It's more like "Tropico Meets Lords Of The Realm" rather than MTW or whatever.

I have never played Stronghold 2 before, but I absolutely enjoy Stronghold: Crusaders (a stand-alone Stronghold game based in Arabia)

Unfortunately, the newer Stronghold (2001, Firefly Studios) is nothing like the older Stronghold (1993, SSI), which is vastly superior to the 2001 version. Plus it's D&D, so that's a thumbs up for me.

[lugh]

I never played either of those games.
I had a look around on the promo site, it doesn't look too bad. There seems to be a bit of roleplay in that you can raise people up to be nobles and put them in charge of conquered castles and the like.
We'll see anyway

[Kekvit Irae]

The original Stronghold you mention is, at its core, a castle builder/defense sim. There's really nothing else to it. The buildings are just a means to an end, whereas the military and the castle building are the main focus points. You cannot send your troops (whom are lacking in deversity) off on military campaigns. The only time you can see action is in timed-events (the enemy invades the map), or when the enemy themselves are building their own castle on the same map. During the campaign, you will sometimes play on maps where you have no buildings, no castle, and no resources. These maps' purposes are pure and simple: siege the enemy castle. It works out quite wonderfully, actually, as the various ways of sieging a castle are played out (sappers going underground, trebuchets pounding the walls, laddermen assisting your foot troops in climbing the walls, etc).
Of course, it's just a game, so you'll find weird (inaccurate) things like infinity spawning animals for hunters, swordsmen destroying stone walls by hacking at them for awhile, and various other things. Dont go into expecting an accurate game. Instead, think of it as a fun game.

[Dorkus]

highly advise against purchasing SH2, at least before it ends up in the bargain bin (should be soon). Extremely buggy game with little in the way of gameplay innovation. It's basically a laggy, buggy version of SH1 (which was a very good, well-designed game).

[LeftEyeNine]

Not a game for a AOE fan. I was disgusted with animations and the graphics and I swore till dawn to the game mag that gave it around 80 points.. Not my style definitely..

[Dorkus]

SH1 is fine. Graphics are not good, but it's a very fun game. Castle setup and understanding the game mechanics make a real difference in your campaign success.

SH2, I agree with you. Complete waste of time and money.

[Kekvit Irae]

Castle setup and understanding the game mechanics make a real difference in your campaign success.

Having a huge multi-layed stone wall guarding your town with an open bottleneck guarded by lots of crossbowmen doesnt hurt either ;)

[Dorkus]

hehe, yes that was a major weakness in the AI. if you left a hole open, it would always go for the hole, no matter how well guarded, and no matter how circuitous a route one must take to arrive at the hole.

I have to say, however, I had some fun times with pitch and oil and long maze like wall structures :)

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Link for the game?

[Dorkus]

link to what? where to buy? ebworld and gamestop are fine in the us.

where to find info about it? just google "stronghold." stronghold heaven is the first link, and it's a good resource.