Stronghold Crusader Extreme – FAQ

On the 28th of January, 2008 Firefly Studios announced Stronghold Crusader Extreme, an improved successor of Stronghold Crusader! It includes the Crusader content of Stronghold Warchest and its unique changes deeply impact gameplay and tactics!

• What are the System Requirements?
• When is the Release Date?
• What are the known features?
• What’s this about Battle Field Powers?
• What will we not see for certain?
• What about modding?
• Is there a demo?
• Where else can I find news, screenshots, videos, and other stuff of the game?

What are the System Requirements?

Operating System: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista
Processor: Pentium™ III 500 mhz (1 GHz or better recommended)
Memory: 128MB (256MB or more recommended)
Hard Drive: 850MB
Video: 4MB DirectX 8.1 Compatible
Sound: DirectX 8.1 Compatible
DVD Drive: Required
Modem: 56k (DSL or better recommended for Internet Play)

When is the Release Date?

Stronghold Crusader Extreme went gold on May 23! It is now available at several retailers both local and online (e.g. Amazon.com) and the game can also be legally purchased and downloaded from these sites:

• Direct2Drive
• GamersGate
• GamesPlanet
• GameTap
• Steam

What are the known features?

Stronghold Crusader Extreme contains:

• The maximum units have been increased to 10,000 (total)! However this does not affect the gameplay of the original Crusader Trial or the Warchest Trail, wherein the normal units limit is present.
• 3 Crusader Trails: The original 50 mission trail, the 30 missions of the Warchest Trail, and a all new 20 mission skirmish trail exclusive to Extreme.
• Battlefield Powers: 8 Powers that can turn the tide of battle, but you are limited to the amount in your Battlefield Powers bar, which recharges at a seemingly constant speed.
• 30 new maps for single player skirmish games or multiplayer play.
• Inclusion of 5 AI’s from Stronghold Warchest: The Wazir, Marshal, Emir, Abbot, and Nizar (The other three are legally downloadable and installable).
• There is a new building: an outpost barracks that continuously recruits certain types of troops, usually common ones, to create huge armies that can batter a castle like a tsunami!
• The economy has been increased to increase the ability of the player to build their armies.
• An autosave feature has been added which saves your game right when you win a skirmish trail mission. Firefly studios requests that players send in their autosaves archived (RAR or ZIP format; saves are located in My Documents\Stronghold Crusader\SavesExtreme) to topscores@fireflyworlds.com, along “with your name/alias, to see if you can compete with the best!”^{19th June 2008}

What’s this about Battle Field Powers?

Battle Field Powers are quite similar to power of various units in Stronghold Legends, the tactical aid of World in Conflict, or the Hero powers of BfME2. A power is selected, an area is targeted, and the Power is unleashed! The Battle Field Powers from the top are:

1. A barrage of stone projectiles pound the selected area, killing all units in the radius and inflicting large amounts of damage to enemy buildings. However, this has no effect on lords or keeps.
2. Summons 10 mounted knights near your own troops.
3. A gift of over 2,200 gold coins magically appear in your treasury.
4. Summon 20 macemen near your own troops.
5. Summons 14 engineers that you can command to build or man equipment (not free to build!).
6. Summons 20 Spearmen near your own troops for your aid.
7. Partially heals troops within the selected area.
8. An arrow barrage rains down on a selected area, easily killing cheap units.

What will we not see for certain?

• Maps sizes remain the same size.
• There are no new resolutions. (800×600 and 1024×768 only)
• No Stronghold 1 content as there was in Stronghold Warchest.
• No troop formations.
• No estates; Stronghold Crusader Extreme is very much like the original Crusader.

What about modding?

According to Darren, a member of Firefly Studios that has helped develop every Stronghold game:

• The csv file of Stronghold Crusader Extreme is editable to create new trails.
• Modding tools will be released “later on”.

Is there a demo?

Yes, there is. A demo was released on June 24, a month and a day after the game wend gold.

It can be found at these sites:
Gamer’s Hell
FileShack
Filefront (English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian)

The Extreme demo offers two missions from the all new 20-mission skirmish trail, and one normal Crusader historical level featuring apparent full functionality of gameplay (no features removed!), which is something not seen in the previous 2-D demos.

If you are new to the Stronghold Series, you may wish to play Extreme’s predecessor’s demo, Stronghold Crusader, whose demo can be found here and provides a similar gaming experience even though many of the features of the original Stronghold Crusader game are absent in the demo not to mention Stronghold Crusader Extreme features and massive armies, but it is more friendly to beginners.

Another demo you may be interested is the original Stronghold 1 Demo. It is also a fine example of Stronghold gameplay, although features removed, and in a more European environment.

Where else can I find news, screenshots, videos, and other stuff of the game?

Stronghold Heaven plans to have all that (except perhaps the videos…), after sufficient time has passed since the game’s release. However current Stronghold Crusader Game media and info can be found at these various sites.

Official Sites:
Firefly Studios
Gamecock Media

Commercial Game Sites:

Gamespot
Gamespy
Gametrailers.com
IGN
Kotaku
VideoGamer.com

Other fansites:
Stronghold Knights
Unofficial Stronghold Crusader Extreme Forums