
The aim of the game was to balance building a castle and defending it. To promote Stronghold 2, a ten-level Flash game was created, called Castle Attack 2. Stronghold 2 Deluxe was later released, containing all of the patches and new content.Ĭritically, Stronghold 2 received generally mixed reviews, with criticism directed at the bugs present in the initial release and the gameplay. All adversaries and missions from the Warchest edition of Stronghold Crusader have been implemented in the game. Crusader Extreme is a small expansion that introduces a few new mechanics and a new Skirmish Trail with 20 missions.
#HOW TO INSTALL STRONGHOLD CRUSADER MAPS PATCH#
Patch 1.3.1, released on October 28, 2005, brought a "Conquest Trail" to the game, similar to that of Stronghold: Crusader. Stronghold Crusader Extreme (SHCE) is a re-release of Stronghold Crusader released in June 2008. The majority of complaints stopped with patch 1.2. Firefly Studios paid much attention to the gaming community's complaints, and promised fixes in later patches.
#HOW TO INSTALL STRONGHOLD CRUSADER MAPS OFFLINE#
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 buggy nature. However, the series' unique real-time map editor was replaced with a still-life one. It also included many new characters and changed the types of walls and towers that can be added to a castle. Other changes include new military and peace campaigns and the addition of crime and punishment. The game engine was enhanced to provide fully 3D graphics. The direct sequel to the first game and the third overall game in the series, Stronghold 2, was released in April 2005. In addition, the player is allowed to play either as an Arabic lord or as a European king with little difference between the two options except which units the player begins with.Ī combination pack of Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusader, called Stronghold Warchest, was later released with all patches applied, new maps, and a new campaign trail and AI characters in Crusader. The game does take history into effect: Saladin and Richard I of England are present as the game's AI characters for the player to side with or against. Unlike the original Stronghold, however, there are four separate, linear campaigns.

The entire campaign, as well as the "Conquest Trail" game mode, takes place during the Third Crusade.

The focus was radically influenced by fortification and siege technologies developed during the Crusades.

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 East. The second installment, Stronghold: Crusader, was released in September 2002.
