Sir Windows

We'll have to wait and see what Firefly has got in store for Stronghold 3 if anything. At least from some of their statements, it seems like Stronghold 2 will get a DE. Also, the feature to have lords talk to the player in Stronghold 3 works, and the default rat is Roger Scabcoat for any lore enthusiast. The editor event to play an overlord message is fully functional. Somehow, I didn't even think to check if it exists until now. There's the option to suppress the scribe, if it's not turned on then he says "A message from Roger Scabcoat" before the message plays. Here's a small test of the event on the second Blackstaff mission. The scribe is set to suppressed. The rat addresses the player at the start of the invasion and once its troops are all dead.

In Stronghold 3? I was wondering if it might be possible to create an event for the editor that would play an AI message. I somehow didn't think of those two. Probably because I've mainly been playing Legends and Crusader DE recently. 😅 It's tempting for sure, but as far as implementing a skirmish mode into Stronghold 3 is concerned, I think it's best to either let Firefly do it in a Stronghold 3 DE or make a Stronghold Europe 2 mod. It's should easier to implement Stronghold 3 assets into Crusader 2 than to attempt to try and build a new game mode for Stronghold 3.

Greetings, Lords and Ladies! Stronghold 3 is certainly a controversial entry in the series. From its troubled launch to bugs to broken features, the game struggled to make a name for itself. One of the standout odd decisions made by Firefly was the exclusion of a skirmish mode. This made Stronghold 3 the first game since Crusader to lack this feature. An official statement by Firefly even says: Recently, I replayed the game and got a bit frustrated by the fact that the lord has weird dark grey skin like a vampire. 🧛‍♂️ So I followed the guide found here and got into digging around the files in core.v to change the texture. I ended up finding some things that make me question Firefly's statement from fourteen years ago. In my opinion, there's a mountain of leftover content in the game, which clearly points to a skirmish mode being originally planned and likely scrapped late in development. Let us investigate this mystery.🕵️‍♂️ Remnant #1 - Lord models The first remnant doesn't even require looking into the game files. It's enough to open the map editor or host a multiplayer game. In the game there are nine mostly unused lord models depicting Lord Longarm, Thomas Blackstaff, the Iron Duke, the Sultan, the Pig (Bishop), the Pig, the Rat, the Jackal and the Wolf. These models aren't even used in campaign missions where you face off against these characters directly (Military Mission 15 and Mission 3 & 5 Blackstaff DLC). There are also models for the generic lord, Lady Catherine and the King. These being the only ones used in the campaign. The only way to use these models is on custom maps or the multiplayer. Firefly would later go on to reuse the Rat, Pig, Jackal and Wolf in Crusader 2. Remnant #2 - Sound files Now, the lord models themselves are interesting, but they might simply be multiplayer content for the game. The story becomes fascinating once we go into Stronghold3/assets/sound/en/ folder. There we find an interesting file called speech_overlord.fsb. Again, using a guide found here, we can extract the contents of the folder. What we see is something anyone familiar with sound files from Crusader, Stronghold 2, Legends and Crusader 2 will immediately recognize. The folder contains all the skirmish related sound bits for Lady Catherine, the Rat, the Pig, the Jackal and the Wolf. Even sound bits like adding a player or removing them from the lobby are present. No speech files exist for Lord Longarms, Thomas Blackstaff, the Sultan or the Iron Duke. Either they were never meant to be in the skirmish mode, or Firefly scrapped it prior to recording their lines. All of these Stronghold 3 speech files would also be reused in Crusader 2. Lady Catherines lines would be used by the Princess. This also explains the Princess' odd choice of words when capturing an estate, "I claim these lands in the name of the queen". If one considers this was originally recorded for Catherine who is the Queen of England by the end of SH3 it makes a lot more sense. Remnant #3 - Portraits Now we dive into the aforementioned core.v file. Following the guide, we unarchive its content and head into the interface/scaleform/portraits folder. This folder contains twenty portraits depicting the Pig (Bishop), the Jackal, the Pig, the Rat and the Wolf as angry/pleased/despaired/taunting. These were certainly intended to be used in-game when these characters send the player a message. For one, these four emotions are used by AIs in Crusader 1 & 2, but there are also comments by the developers themselves stating that. For that, we need to head into the /scripts/interface/ folder and open up overlord.lua. There we have the following description of what the file does from the devs: -- Handle overlord interaction: -- Given an overlord speech code (should correspond to the sound/localizationTag desired) -- 1. Play an announcement from the scribe (specific to the overlord) -- 2. Show an image of the overlord with appropriate emotion -- 3. Play the specified speech -- 4. Show subtitles -- 5. Fade out So the game was supposed to have a message system like the previous titles where the enemy/allied lords would contact you. It seems that Stronghold 3 was supposed to use something like a cross between Legends and Crusader, wherein the message is accompanied by a still image (Legends) but in multiple emotions (Crusader). Unfortunately, this feature didn't make it into the game, not even as part of the campaign. It certainly would've lifted the story if the player had interactions with his enemies like in Stronghold 1 at least. Concerning Longarm, Blackstaff, Sultan and Iron Duke; these characters have no portraits either and there is no mention of them anywhere. Though we have to consider that we don't know at which point in development this file was written up, as another comment shows that this feature wasn't complete. -- Store a lookup of overlord code to a table containing: -- { "image name prefix", "scribe announcement" } Overlord.Codes = {}; Overlord.Codes["PI"] = {"pig", "MESSAGE_FROM3" }; Overlord.Codes["RT"] = {"rat", "MESSAGE_FROM5" }; -- also, 6 and 7 for other rats... need separate images Overlord.Codes["JA"] = {"jackal", "MESSAGE_FROM4" }; Overlord.Codes["WO"] = {"wolf", "MESSAGE_FROM1" }; -- Overlord.CodesToNames["ca"] = "catherine"; -- TODO: Add if we get Catherine images Lady Catherine didn't have portraits yet either, but was supposed to, as were the two other rats from the story. Currently, it's impossible to tell which of the three brothers the portrait depicts. Remnant #4 - Multiplayer rules comment Finally, the last significant piece of evidence concerning skirmish mode is found in the /scripts/multiplayer/ folder's game_settings.lua file. The file itself is only interesting for two comments found there. -- Clear any settings that must be reset for single player games -- Ensure that single player settings don't propagate to MP if not explicitly set there These two unassuming lines are interesting since there is no mode in single player that shares any kind of setting with the multiplayer. Maybe the scrapped skirmish mode was meant to have the same options as the multiplayer. Conclusion This concludes this little investigation into Stronghold 3's missing game mode. While all of this isn't stone-cold proof, these little remnants paint a picture that there certainly was more to the game than what we got in the end. It's truly unfortunate that Firefly wasn't able to fully complete their game. Now with the Stronghold and Crusader Definitive Editions out, there's a glimmer of hope Stronghold 3 might get the update it is missing. In my opinion, Stronghold 3 deserves a second chance. For all its issues and bugs, the game still has a certain charm and has a lot of potential. In fact, I would even say it has the potential to become one of the best 3D Stronghold game out there if its issues are finally addressed and missing features implemented. Thank you for reading. 🙇‍♂️

Thank you very much. I'm honored to be featured on the home page. 😃

Greetings! Today my big lord pack for Stronghold Legends was approved, and I thought a thread going more into details on its contents would be a good idea. Mostly, I want to give a more in-depth rundown on the six new lords featured in this lord pack and the thought process behind them. I am looking forward to feedback, comments, questions and suggestions on the lords., Links to Download Section Richard the Lionheart "My banner will fly atop your keep before this day is out!" Spoiler King of England, avid crusader and in my opinion one of the most memorable characters from Crusader, translating Richard into Legends ended up a more complicated task than expected. While Richard himself was a pretty straightforward lord, there was the huge issue of him overlapping too much with King Arthur. For one, they're almost identical when it comes to castle design and unit roster. The initial plan was to give Richard a castle based on his largest castle from Crusader, featuring an outer wall and basic towers. Unfortunately, I ran into the issue of Legend's maps being somewhat too small. As such, Richard uses a more classic castle design. To differentiate him militarily from Arthur, he doesn't use all round table units, while his raiding forces have been augmented by macemen and men-at-arms. This way Richard should be a more aggressive opponent, exerting pressure on his enemies early and continuously. Melee units: Swordsman, Pikeman, Maceman, Men-at-Arms, Gawain, Galahad, Percival Ranged units: Archer Siege: Trebuchet, Catapult, Siege Tower, Battering Ram, Mantlet, Cat Preferred colour: Blue or Red Sir Longarm "We fight for the honour of those that have gone before!" Spoiler Good old Sir Longarm is back for more. Unlike Richard, this old knight didn't prove too difficult to translate into Legends. Replacing Lancelot, he plays a very different game. Sir Longarm takes it slow from building up his castle, economy to using some of the most expensive units in the game. As a master of knights, he utilizes the round table to its maximum while also training a hearty amount of knights from his barracks. Sir Longarm might not be the quickest attacker, but one shouldn't underestimate him nonetheless, since once his knights ride out, there is no stopping them. Melee units: Swordsman, Knight, Knights of the Round Table Ranged units: Archer, Merlin Siege: Trebuchet, Catapult, Cat Preferred colour: Teal The Rat "You impudent upstart! I shall take great delight in dispatching you myself." Spoiler The rat is well known as the weakest opponent in any Stronghold game. This is also the case here. Although he is slightly more competent than in Crusader and has regained the ability to use siege weapons like in the original Stronghold. His castle is small, poorly designed and easy to besiege. His economy is nothing much to speak of either, but both are set up relatively quickly and cheaply, giving the rat the ability attack faster than any other AI. The rats armies are mostly made up of men-at-arms and archers, with a handful of swordsmen thrown in. Since the rat is part of the ice faction, he also uses a limited amount of magical units for raiding. The idea here is that the rat administers his lands so poorly that wolves, bears and witches run rampant and even begin to spill over into neighbouring lands. Melee units: Man-at-Arms, Pikeman, White Wolf, Polar Bear Ranged units: Archer, White Witch Siege: Catapult, Mantlet Preferred colour: Orange The Pig "Blow the horn, bang the drum! The Pig is coming to town!" Spoiler The pig was one of those characters where the design choices seemed very obvious. He likes macemen, he is very violent, crude and his castles were always pretty square shaped. Making him part of the ice faction seemed the obvious choice since the square aesthetic fits him well and giants fit his style perfectly. Taking inspiration from the first Stronghold, the pig also uses pikemen for both defence and offence. His castle is on the smaller end of things. Initially he had a very large castle, but just like Richard he often ran into space issues. The pig takes some time to get his castle and economy set up, but once he's ready, he's coming in force. Melee units: Maceman, Pikeman, Giant Ranged units: Crossbowman, Archer Siege: Catapult, Battering Ram Preferred colour: Dark Red The Snake "Can you hear it, hm? That's your death drawing near." Spoiler The snake was something of a late addition. Initially, his spot was occupied by the Jackal from SH3/SHC2. The decision to scrap the Jackal in favour of the snake mostly came down to the fact that all other characters were using the SH/SHC voices and designs. The snake presented something of a challenge. For one, he was missing numerous voice lines, both due to using a messenger in SHC and due to not appearing in SHC2. Eventually the snake ended up using whatever voice clips he had in Crusader combined with some unused lines from SH2. The next challenge with the snake came down to his military. Looking at his appearances in previous games, one notices that the snake is either a beefed up rat (Crusader) or a weaker pig (Stronghold). What set him apart in Crusader was his usage of mercenaries and slaves for quick and early aggression. In Legends this is mostly represented by his two favourite units being demons and Saxon warriors. This also allows the snake to become aggressive very early, as his war machine mostly relies on gold and honour. Melee units: Maceman, Demon, Outlaw, Vampiric Creeper Ranged units: Archer, Giant Bat, Black Dragon, Siege: Catapult, Fire Ballista, Burning Cart, Mantlet Preferred colour: Yellow The Wolf "Soon you will see what it means to wage real warfare!" Spoiler The wolf is the strongest opponent in the game and was surprisingly easy to implement. He builds a strong castle, fortified by crossbowmen, pikemen and swordsmen. It takes him some time to set up completely, but whenever possible he sends out strong forces to harass his enemies. His raiding forces range from hardy pikemen and swordsmen to hellhounds and werewolves. Once ready the wolf sends out the strongest siege force out of all the AIs consisting of swordsmen, werewolves, crossbowmen and many deadly siege weapons. He is an opponent not to be underestimated. Melee units: Swordsman, Pikeman, Knight, Werewolve, Hellhound Ranged units: Crossbowman, Sorcerer, Giant Bat Siege: Catapult, Fire Ballista, Trebuchet, Mantlet, Cat Preferred colour: Grey

Five new lords and a lord editor is pretty amazing for post-launch content.

In hindsight, it's really odd how Morgan le Fay never made it into skirmish mode. She'd make the perfect third ice lord with a focus on witches.

I can help with this one. Getting Beowulf into custom skirmish was the first thing I did with the Lord Editor when @ Asophix shared the draft version. The .zip contains all the files to change Vlad into Beowulf. Alternatively if you'd like to replace Mordred I can help with that. Beowulf EN.zip

Congratulations! 😀👍 I've already got a question. What's the process of sharing new lords going to be? Do we simply submit them to the Legends Miscellaneous section or should we make a thread on the Legends subforum as well previewing the new lord?

I tried rebuilding one of the Wolf's castles from Crusader using the editor. It worked out pretty well, even with the relatively large size of the castle. The only issues I noticed were related to AI behavior rather than castle building. Even with a priority of 2, the AI had an issue with placing the sorcerer's tower. It placed the barracks, armory, pantry, and engineer's guild just fine, but when it came to the tower, it would always block itself out of placing it by building a farm on its location first. The best solution for this was to simply not have it in the AIC and let the AI pick the spot freely. The AI has some issues placing ranged troops atop towers. It places the units at the right spot before building the tower, but then has them standing next to it after building it. It seems like it's unable to tell them to go up the tower. If the unit in question dies, though, a replacement will man the tower just fine. Other than that, I had no issues, and the editor was a lot of fun to use. Looking forward to the AI editor as well. I feel Legends has a lot of untapped potential in terms of modding.

I don't know how much this applies to multiplayer but throughout the skirmish trails I've also found Merlin and Galahad to be extremely good. Not really Percival level but more useful than Lancelot, Gareth or Bediviere. Especially Merlin can be a game changer when facing Siegfried since he's useful against both giants and shield maidens alike.

I'd be very interested in how to alter Legends' AIs. Truth be told, I only noticed Lancelot's behavior while testing a small graphics mod. It really bothered me that Alfred and Beowulf aren't available in regular skirmish. So I replaced Vlad's interface, fx, binks, text and castle files with Beowulf's. Their army comps are roughly comparable, since staples like Saxons and dragons are there. The big difference being the siege units and vampiric creepers. Under usual circumstances, I wouldn't have noticed the macemen, but I ended up paying more attention to the AI during a test match. For the most part, I wanted to make sure Vlad's AI can function with Beowulf's castle. This was when I noticed the macemen but dismissed them as event units. But then they kept showing up during further testing, including matches against Lancelot. This was when I decided to do the initial 1v1 test against Lancelot. Honestly, I also find this pretty amazing, since this means there's an AI that uses macemen in the game.

I forgot to mention that I play without starting troops and weapons. My initial assumption was that they must be event related. I've followed your suggestion and did another test run. This time with events turned off, no starting weapons and no starting troops. The result was the same. After I sent a creeper up on one of his towers Lancelot recruited around five macemen. I've recorded a video of the test. It shows all the setting and nothing much happens until 4:42 when the macemen come out of the barracks. I don't know how Stronghold Legends AIs are designed exactly but in Stronghold Crusader aside from their attack & defence troops they've got some more specialized troop categories such as moat digging, moat filling, ranged sortie, patrols, siege defence, raiding and others. It would be interesting to know if Legend's AIs have a category for defence units against creepers. Now, this might be a long shot, but has anyone checked if Dietrich trains swordsmen when facing Good or Ice as an enemy? I've seen him train defensive swordsmen on a very rare occasion but until now I never bothered to check which faction he was facing.

Greetings, I've been using Stronghold Nation as my main source for looking up information on units, AIs and every other aspect of Stronghold recently. Specifically for Stronghold 2 and Legends most recently, as the coverage here is excellent. Yesterday, I noticed something that doesn't seem to receive any mention anywhere online. It seems that Lancelot's unit roster isn't limited to swordsmen, archers and men-at-arms. Lancelot also trains around five macemen whenever his units are threatened by vampiric creepers. I noticed this first when playing with an ally Lancelot against Vlad and then checked it myself in a 1v1. I've attached screenshots from two different games showing the macemen in action. The macemen were spotted on the Steam Edition of Legends. I've not played the original release of Legends. Did Lancelot use macemen back then as well or is this a balance change made by FireFly for the steam version only? Edit: On the second screenshot there's also a pile of my own macemen fighting men-at-arms. The group of four macemen ahead of the swordsmen in blue belong to Lancelot though. https://cdn.stronghold-nation.com/community/monthly_2025_05/20250517220435_1.thumb.jpg.dc698e84e6c0092376ded391d85d04dd.jpg https://cdn.stronghold-nation.com/community/monthly_2025_05/20250517225656_1.thumb.jpg.7a27cff1621ba554f1ccba7c9598f42e.jpg https://cdn.stronghold-nation.com/community/monthly_2025_05/20250517225911_1.thumb.jpg.6419f145175a19f41bf382d41c752b42.jpg