Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition Demo Discussion

[Asophix 158]

Current status: UNAVAILABLE (v2.0.0 access on Steam, 1.7 GB size)

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Greetings Lords and Ladies,

Firefly Studios has revealed their plans to release Stronghold Crusader as a definitive edition on July 15th, 2025.

Much like Stronghold 1, this "re-release" aims to provide an experience close to that of the original game, with redone graphics and added content on top. SHC:DE promises to add the following:

• 4 new AI characters,
• 8 new Bedouin mercenary units,
• Sands of Time skirmish trails with global leaderboards (opt-out),
• a cooperative skirmish trail to battle alone or with a friend against the computer in a series of missions
• up to 800x800 size maps
• alternate Arabic and Crusader visuals for certain buildings

In the demo, you will be able to select from three game modes:

• Sands of Time scenario: battle it out against a preset pool of AI opponents in a skirmish match
• Custom Campaign mission: hold out against invasions of Bedouin raiders
• Custom Skirmish sandbox: arrange your opponents and starting settings on a map of your choosing, and best your rivals

It is strictly underlined that contents are liable to change in a later version, and the demo does not represent the final product.

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Demo updates (chronology):

• January 20 - February 4, 2025: Version 1.0.
• February 24 - March 4, 2025: Version 1.01 >  1.02.
• April 4 - April 14, 2025: Version 1.02.
• May 28 - July 3, 2025: Version 2.0.0.

[Asophix 158]

Addendum

Browsing the in-game help and options, there are additional details not available in first glance. The following summary outlines these for you, giving a better picture of what we can expect.

Automarket

A well-known feature from other Stronghold titles and SH1:DE, the market can be set to automatically trade goods below or beyond a certain threshold.

Bedouin Mercenaries

They are hired in the Bedouin Stockade, in a similar way to the Arabian mercenaries. They need only gold and a free peasant for each recruitment.

The following troops are addressed:

• Skirmisher: a light-armored ranged unit, who throws javelins from long range, but with low attack frequency.
• Eunuch: slow and bulky area attacker, who cleaves through enemy ranks with double sabres.
• Sapper: a fast siege specialist. Carrying a shovel, he can 'eat through castle walls in no time', as well as reveals pitch ditches and is very resistant to fire.
• Demolisher: a light siege specialist. He carries a tower shield, which can absorb projectiles until broken. He can also remove pitch ditches and killing pits, as well as destroy structures easily with his sledgehammer.
• Healer: a combat medic, who can slowly heal one allied unit at a time. They largely resemble their Crusader 2 counterpart.
• Heavy Camel: a heavy and expensive all-round unit carrying an archer and a fighter. It behaves similar to the Horse Archer, but it can't fire on the move.
• Camel Lancer: a very light variant of the Knight, riding down its target with a lance.
• Ambusher: a guerilla variant of the Fire Thrower, these guys can become stealthed like the Assassin, when not in close proximity of enemy troops. They hurl fire pots at an area or an automatic target.

Edited January 30, 2025 by Asophix

[Isaiah 32]

I think they did a great job with Stronghold: Definitive Edition. I am excited to see what they do with Crusader DE and hope it turns out to have a similar quality.

Edited January 21, 2025 by Isaiah

[Asophix 158]

For what it's worth, I played the demo a little bit and so far it resembles SH1: DE. It's early to tell anything but I could see myself buying it on release.

There is the weirdly fluid movement coupled with low animation frame rates and the graphics may take quite a bit to get used to due to the contrast, otherwise the game plays well. It feels much easier to see where a building's footprint goes and projectiles are more pronounced too.

The Skirmisher has a weirdly long range with its spears (the same as an archer!) and the demo enemies love to spam them, so it could feel hard to defend against them. Portable shields can't go on towers in the new game either! 😄

[EaglePrince 260]

Hey guys, I just yesterday saw the video by Firefly about Stronghold Crusader Definitive Edition. I love it!

What you haven't mentioned yet, it should also bring the following:
- 800x800 maps!
- co-op multiplayer!

I just love both of those! I think this is finally a new Firefly game I'm going to buy right when it's released. I've already downloaded the demo.

I've played it for less than an hour, but it's very enjoyable. You can only play a classical campaign where you need to rebuild a castle, and I don't know what more in other missions, and another campaign similar to Crusader trail, but with about five missions. So it might also be comparable to the old Crusader States campaign.

I like how they refreshed the graphics and everything, I'm so excited about it. I will certainly write more about my impressions.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try those larger maps and co-op, those might not be available in the demo, but I have yet to see that. I haven't played all the missions yet. I hope Firefly will keep their promise about those two.

They even said there will be a co-op campaign in the final game.

Oh man, I've been wishing for those larger maps ever since Crusader HD!

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[Asophix 158]

Glad you like the demo! 🙂

  It is really shaping up to be a serviceable game after all those 'missteps' Firefly didn't get just right enough. The alpha is also looking advanced enough that there are no apparent bugs. Surely there are annoyances like not being able to access the trade panel right away (it must be done by clicking on the scale, then on the good type), or children being in the way of placement, but these can be easily fixed if need be.

7 hours ago, EaglePrince said:

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try those larger maps and co-op, those might not be available in the demo, but I have yet to see that. I haven't played all the missions yet. I hope Firefly will keep their promise about those two.

Coop is coming up, as well as there are additional skirmish missions beyond the first one. Maybe the coop trail doesn't deserve the type of bells and whistles, granted you can set up a custom skirmish room with the same presets. However, if we get some coop missions like the scripted Crusader States' missions (e.g. Mission 2 Snake getting a huge bunch of Arabs attacking very early on), I may even salute the devs. 😄

It definitely looks to pack more replayability than full titles as of late.

[EaglePrince 260]

I agree! It bugs me so much that I can't access the market by pressing the M hotkey. It just moved the camera to the marketplace, but I have to click at the market manually to buy or sell stuff.

Also, like you said, the co-op campaign doesn't seem like much to make. Still, I like the idea of it. That will motivate players to try co-op, as they will at least wish to unlock those achievements in the game.

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[EaglePrince 260]

Tried to play the first Sands of Time mislim yesterday evening. I didn't get to finish it, and then I noticed we cannot save game progress in the demo version. I need to keep that in mind next time!

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[Asophix 158]

I also gave a go for the 'Hard' skirmish mission and finished it in one sitting.

Firefly designed the map in a really clever way: you get a naturally defensible position, but horrible economic prospects and the tech limitation also forces you to play the slow game, unless you are creative 😄 The enemies can also get on your nerves pretty fast with the sheer number of shock troops sent at you.

On 29/01/2025 at 14:37, EaglePrince said:

I didn't get to finish it, and then I noticed we cannot save game progress in the demo version. I need to keep that in mind next time!

There is only one mission available for the trail so don't fret if you missed anything! You can build an almost foolproof defense if you manage to build the iron and weapons industry.

Some tips for the boring strategy:

Spoiler

• You only need to seal off your side of the ford with a lookout tower, a small gate and minimal walling. The starting troops can finish their work just in time before the first attack waves.
• Feed your peasants ale, not food. One hops farm on the oasis can supply two inns and four, maybe five breweries, eventually maxing out at 58 population.
• Ignore Fuzzy Wuzzy's advice and remove the forest asap to afford buildings. Wood is affordable once you have stable income from the iron mines.
• Build three fletchers making crossbows and buy the leather necessary. While crossbowmen won't get the first hit in, skirmishers take two bolts, much like Arabian archers.
• A line of towers packed with xbows, overlooking the river will slow down quarry operations. Add a few archers mainly to snipe quarrymen and ox hitchers as the Nomads drench you in skirmishers.
• Build swordsmen as your main force. They steamroll the Nomads and with luck, the Sentinel too, when supported by a tower.

Also, some information about the two enemies you face:

Spoiler

• The Nomad
  • Introductory-level enemy who likes his Bedouin troops. He is a mixture of the Snake and the Sultan, being more annoying than menacing.
  • His castle is more like a camp. Only walls with gaps in them, no moat, no towers, no gates. His encampment really looks deserted apart from the keep area, but has plentiful lego blocks.
  • Nomad's economy is comprised of selling stone and iron. He only ever gathers apples for food, which isn't much. He is also weirdly prone to survive on little food.
  • This guy LOVES Skirmishers. They are sent in droves much like monks from the Abbot, they always get in hits from enormous range, and in general they will piss you off.
  • For attacks, I have seen Demolishers accompanying skirmishers. There are also Camel Lancers for harassment, but they are generally stopped when your castle can't be broken into.
• The Sentinel
  • The guy from the main menu screen, who is not very easy to take. He is very defensive and takes some time to get running.
  • He builds a dense Templar cross-shaped castle with dense moat. One gatehouse on two sides each, and a square tower with tower equipment on the other two each.
  • Economy is the same as Nomad, plus dairy farms. Also ample weapons production.
  • Sentinel loves his leather armor. Crossbowmen are his choice of ranged troop, supported by macemen and pikemen.
  • There aren't many attack waves from Sentinel. Beyond his standard troops, I've seen Demolishers, as well as he builds catapults. He is fairly bad at digging up moat.

 

[EaglePrince 260]

I noticed your reply, but I don't want to read it until I win the mission too.

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[Asophix 158]

@ EaglePrince  It's your time to shine now, the Demo is re-enabled! Saving and loading is still not available though, so prepare accordingly.

[EaglePrince 260]

Wow, I didn't even know it was disabled for some time. The more reason to play it now when it is re-enabled!

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[Asophix 158]

The Definitive Edition demo is again available for a limited time, until the 13th of April! 🙂 Version and functionalities are unchanged since the last open beta.

[Asophix 158]

After some lull, a new version for the Crusader DE will be released on the 28th (as teased by Udwin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPVD87qdGdI).

Much like previous releases, it will be available for a limited time only. Above all, it will feature a preview of a Sands of Time mission that is played on a bigger map and with more opponents. 

There will also be a limited Custom Skirmish mode with a modest pool of two maps, a reduced selection of AI bots and the option to turn on the magic bar from Crusader Extreme. Bedouin troops will also be available for recruitment.

 

[Asophix 158]

Hi All!

The Crusader DE Demo is unavailable again with this day and in anticipation of release of the full game, this discussion for it is effectively closed.

A new long-term discussion will be opened in place of it in the Town Crier.