Lord_Chris

That's wonderful news! Very glad to help! Happy gaming :)

While the Port restricted Cone NAT router may be partially to blame, I honestly don't think this is the problem. For one, I have this problem myself, and the only time I've ever had the problem of actually being kicked out of the lobby is when the other person I was playing with was using version 1.4 instead of 1.4.1. Secondly, if this issue was to blame, I think (not completely sure, but have a good feeling) that you wouldn't even be able to connect to the room in GameRanger in the first place. And thirdly, this percentage of players is so small, it's pretty much non-existent: http://www.gameranger.com/support/network/?i_ip=3232235531&x_ip=1498219994&r_ip=3232235521&rt=3&pp=1 However, that's not to say it isn't worth trying. It may be the issue, but not very likely. I'm pretty certain that something else is to blame. I think the only way to actually fix this problem is to be there, or have video evidence of when it happens. Can you connect with any additional players or do you struggle with this? One other potential problem is that if you're struggling to connect to any game, port 16699 is blocked through your router, or internet service provider. It's also possible that you're not allowed to play online games by your service provider. Port 16699 is required to play online, so this may well explain the issue. You can test this here, though I'm not sure how accurate it is: http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

1.4 needs to be installed before 1.4.1. However, in order to play online .etc, you'll need both patches anyway.

Not a problem! Hope you enjoy your holiday :)

No problem! Happy to help! :) To have a "steam" copy of the game, means that your game will launch from the Steam client, see: http://store.steampowered.com/about/ If you don't have to launch the steam client when playing your game, then it's not ran through steam. :) I don't seem to be getting that error, or when I'm not logged in. The only other thing I can do at the moment is enable debug mode, which will show the error to you when you view the page. Can you try again and let me know what else you get?

Welcome @Toni_19! The actual operating system shouldn't make much of a difference, they're both compatible with Stronghold 2 and I see no reason why it shouldn't work. From what you've described, I'd say it's a simple patching issue. Make sure that you've upgraded to the latest version on all the machines that you're using. You can find the patch updates from our download section: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/category/stronghold-2/miscellaneous/ Simply scroll down and you'll find them. Some may be on an additional page. If you're still having a problem, are you using a steam copy of the game?

First of all, looking at the map in more detail, I really can see that you've gone into meticulous detail, it's really good! The village layout has been very well thought out, and it looks very real indeed. I particularly like the fact the village has been built around the trees. This makes both placing new buildings difficult until you place woodcutter huts and destroy some trees. The scripting is pretty good too; it demands quite a bit of skill to get far in the map. There are however, a lot of events which seem to come all at once, not entirely sure if that's how you wanted them, or whether you wanted them staggered or not. I can see how it could be useful both ways though, so I don't really see a problem with it. It's quite difficult to get an army up at first, and especially with the invasions it can make it harder - this can make it much more challenging for you. The objectives were fairly well implemented, and it's a very good map for a few hours of fun! I think that there are an awful lot of events in the map too which could have contributed tot the scripting problem you mentioned, from what I can see. I briefly took a look at the editor screen to find this out. This does mean it could be very easy to get lost in them all and not understand them. I've once had a similar problem to this in Stronghold 2, and the easiest way I found to fix this was to completely do them all again from scratch, keeping a note of the ones that were there before. Once you talk through the objectives out loud, it becomes clearer to understand and you can proceed. But the best solution I find, is to slowly add objectives, and test as you go. Once one thing works, move on to the next, test again, then move onto the next .etc. Overall progress is slower, but you have a much bigger idea what's wrong when something does go wrong, because you can pin-point the cause to a certain objective or action, rather than blindly looking through all of them and guessing which is to blame. When I do this kind of thing, I start with a simple win & lose condition. Invasions are normally one of the last things which should be added because they are unpredictable and can require a lot of time to get just right. Often when you add additional objectives invasions are slightly different, so you end up wasting lots more time testing and changing things to make it right again. And then the same process happens again. Anyway, feel free to ask more specific questions if you'd like. :)

Great. I'll add this into my schedule tomorrow and let you know what happens. :)

And here it is: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/gallery/image/210-castillo-de-bellver/ :) Of course! You don't need my permission to attach it - add it to whatever post you wish :)

That was an anti-spam measure for spammy new members. I've promoted you now, welcome! :) Landscaping is more my expertise in Stronghold 1 too. Unlike Stronghold 2, I'm much better at the scripting .etc there. That map really does look very nice indeed. It's very clear you've put some time into it, and I particularly like the part to the left-hand side of the image. That may well have found a place into our Stronghold 1 gallery, if I can post it there? ;)

Welcome! :) We'd be more than happy to help you test and script your maps. Whatever you need help on, you can be sure that we can assist. You might also want to check out our range of tutorials for Stronghold 1. If you have any maps you'd like to share, you can upload them here, we'd love to have them! What would you say you're best at with map-making? I look forward to seeing you around the forum! :)

Should now be fixed :)

That, I think is a brilliant idea. Even if we don't use that for this contest, I can definitely see us using that for another.

As per the PM - this should be fixed now. Let me know if you have any more issues there. Since this topic was posted fine, and the problem should be fixed, I'll close this topic.

That does look like a very useful playlist, thanks for sharing :) I seldom use cards anyway, but would you say it's much harder without them or pretty much the same?

Sorry for this both of you, @Crusader1307 has already PM'd me about this too. Short of upgrading the forum, which should be happening very soon, nothing can be done. This is a bug with Panther 1.0.7 Beta and the lightbox effect we installed. The changes have been withdrawn in the next version, which should be released within the next two weeks at the very most. There are now only fifteen templates to add, and I'm doing about three to four a day by myself. I know I've already said this to Crusader, so I can only give my apologies for not already upgrading it, and the massive delay which came with this. But with a full development team again now, progress should be made much quicker than doing things by myself.

I've posted a tutorial which tells you how to unarchive the game files from the '.v' format which they are in. This now means that modifying Stronghold 3 is finally possible. To do so, you must download the following modding utility: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/file/349-modifying-utility/ Here is the tutorial: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/195-unarchiving-stronghold-3-files Let me know if anyone has any issues :)

For those that did not take part in this contest, and have not yet seen the castles properly, you may now download the maps in the download section. Below are the links to the three castle levels: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/file/346-siegethat-upway-level-1/ http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/file/347-siegethat-upway-level-2/ http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/file/348-siegethat-upway-level-3/

Congratulations to the both of you! Well deserved wins indeed. I've changed your user titles to reflect your new positions in the Nation. Thanks for playing! :)

That's always good to hear :) Are there any tips you can give for other players?

Really sorry for this ... I've fixed this error too. I've checked and that's the last thing which could possibly go wrong when submitting as it's at the end of the file. You shouldn't have a problem now.

What exactly are you struggling with? Economy, food, resources, army .etc ?

That's a good idea, we could use that as the next competition, designing that map.

Thanks David, I've fixed this :)

"That would be very useful indeed, Goodman." The Duke quietened his voice. "You never know when we may need your support, even against our allies". A few moments later the commander returned. "I've spoken and some men are going to bring maps into this tent. For the meantime, we'll take a short break; it will also give the servants time to clear the plates away." The Duke and Goodman stood up, stretching as they walked out. The commander signalled for a nearby servant to clean up the tent and walked out with them. They walked a few yards and observed the junior officer training for a while. Unlike the soldiers Goodman was training, these showed much more skill and competence. In a long line, they all practiced throwing their javelins at once. On their training commanders signal, they all raced to get their javelins back and threw their spears again. Instead of the training officer giving them the signal to collect, he pointed at one of the officers instead who moved over to a group of dormant officers to the right. The Duke turned to Goodman. "These are the junior officers" he mentioned. "The very best become part of the "Royal Guard"; their sole job is - or will be, to protect myself and my family. That officer has been nominated for consideration; his aiming was very accurate several times in a row and will be taken for further tests. Officers are put through much more strenuous tests which also determine other things, such as promotions." Other troops has now taken their place to relieve the officers of their shift. They were fully equipped with swords, armour and a shield, and before them stood a 6 ft wall. Their task was to jump it without using their hands. However, just as this training exercise was about to start, a guard came to the group. "The meeting room is ready, sir." he said to the Duke. "Splendid!" remarked the Duke. "We shall be in momentarily." The three trooped back into the tent, where a new scene awaited them; a long wooden table was present in the centre of the room, which had several pieces of parchment on top. The biggest of which was a large map of Blynohm forest. A large throne for the Duke, and two smaller thrones on either side were stationed at the other end of the table. As the three walked in and sat down, other senior officers came into the meeting. It was not long before the tent was fairly full with officers around the table and the Duke spoke. "We're gathered here to discuss important information on our Kingdom's national security." he began. "Our list of allies grows weak, our foes grow both in strength and in number. It is indeed, a dark day for Riverbourne. " a few voices could be heard murmuring in agreement. "It is indeed, the greatest challenge we face, since the Roman invasion." More murmuring continued. "I'd therefore like to propose my battle plan. Since we have few resources available, we need to scavenge what we have. My plan is simple, yet effective. I propose that we send some scouts out in the forest to see what danger lies ahead. We will see which path shows the least resistance, and we shall move towards the Mines of Xilious. If all goes to plan, we should be able to move the camp by tomorrow, only keeping border control here. This is crucial for our very survival, we must ensure that we keep moving so we cannot be tracked." The Duke pointed to a place on the map. "Commander Noggs- This is where you shall take your forces. Make sure that you keep your forces quiet as there are outlaws in the area. After you have taken the objective we discussed earlier, meet Commander Richard in Darkington. He will be able to provide you with more updates for your mission. We shall split our best forces across the forest, and then meet up in the Mines. This way, more of our forces will survive and we will be less likely to be detected as an "attacking force". The forest has many tunnels which allow guards to pop up in different places. Keep your wits about you. Do not trust anyone. We wait for the cover of darkness tomorrow night to be sure everything will go as planned. We now need to plan roles for all of our officers in this. Noggs, as we agreed, you shall be in charge of the second company. " The Duke points to a spot on the map. "Richard, you will take your guards from here to Darkington where you will meet up with Noggs. General Lindulf, you will take company A from here through the swamp and meet us at the entrance to the Mines. And Goodman- you shall be in command of the scouting. You move at sunrise. Let us know of anything further down the forest, our lives depend on the information you receive. I believe that practically concludes this meeting. Questions?" Several people waved their arms in the air to indicate they had questions and The Duke prepared to answer them.