Stronghold 2 Manager is here! Possible to play MP game with bots

[Lord_Chris 267]

Hmm ... This looks good. Hopefully if Firefly are adding updates, they will actually add AI in online though, so it could work anyway. But this is definitely still worth a try in the meantime!

[EaglePrince 233]

I completely agree. Having this enabled by a patch from Firefly would be the best! I seems that the game itself is capable for multiplayer with AI lords, but that this option got locked at some point, or it has been locked from the beginning...

 

I may try to play a complete game with this today. If I do, I will let you know how it went. The only thing I have noticed by now is that AI lords don't build siege camps, thus they don't send laddermen upon human lord's castle. Still, I am not quite sure about this one - maybe it acted like this because I had no walls while I was testing the mod, but if I remember correctly, AI lords in singleplayer always build siege camps and train laddermen. If I don't have a wall, they would send it upon my barracks, engineers guild, etc... I could be wrong, and I will see about that yet.

[EaglePrince 233]

I have just tried it. I played a 2v3 game against Sir William, Lady Seren, and Edwin.

 

My impression about them not using siege camps turned to be true. Because of that they don't use laddermen, and they didn't besiege my or my allies castle as efficiently as they would. Still, it was a fun game, AI lords were pushing as they would in singleplayer game, and they were as hard to kill as in singleplayer game. The only difference is that they didn't start attack on any of two of us - they were just sending those raiding parties. Still, it was fun for me to play, as my ally didn't handle quite well, so I was coming into her rescue which wasn't that easy as well, as our estates were not close enough and the two estates between us were rules at a moment by our enemies.

[kian 0]

hello guys.

I'm having a problem with this hack.

when I use it,stronghold 2 stops working.

I have a 1.4.1 version.

any ideas?

and I'm using windows 10 64 bit(in case of need of information)

Edited March 29, 2016 by kian

[EaglePrince 233]

Welcome to Stronghold Nation, Kian!

 

Did you try some of those usual stuff such as running the game, or the tool in the compatibility mod? Also, do you have Steam version of the game? Maybe that's what causes the problem. If you have Steam version of the game, can you run the game without having Steam running? Maybe that could help.

[EaglePrince 233]

Just one more thing... As you had you're on Windows 10, I assume I have Steam version (maybe I'm not correct), and if that is the case, I believe that's the reason... Still, we shall see about that as well. This is something new, and we haven't heard much about it, including about some problems such as yours, and ways to fix them.

 

Still, even if it does crash on your machine, I am almost sure that it would work if somebody else hosted. ;) You can play with us if you want - we can have a Stronghold 2 gaming event now and then to fight against AI opponents. If I understood everything correctly the tool doesn't do "anything special", it "only" unlocks the option to add AI in a multiplayer game. That's how I see it. And of course, for us it is very special tool, I have already burning it on a disc, I certainly don't want to lose it. :)

[kian 0]

the compability did not work and no I don't have the steam version

[Lord_Chris 267]

Do you get this?

 

 

If so, that's because the tool crashed your game. There's nothing that can be done. The tool isn't very stable anyway, and hasn't been updated for about 10 years. But I would be interested to know exactly what causes the crash on yours. Perhaps just operating system incompatibility.

 

Have you noticed anything unusual on Windows 10 - such as more crashes, grainy textures .etc ?

[kian 0]

I get "stronghold 2 has stopped working" and no just some random crashes in the game with very low frequency.

[EaglePrince 233]

...just some random crashes in the game with very low frequency.

I get the same with Windows 7... Still, it happens rarely.

 

By the way, if one of you would be willing, we could try playing a test game against some AI lords this evening or something like that? Just to test it if it is enough that only one of us to have the tool working. We can do it quickly - kill the enemy early with spearmen.

 

And one more thing - did you turn off your antivirus protection before running the tool and using it in the game?

 

Also, one more thing. The guy who uploaded the video has several unnecessary steps, it is enough to do it like this:

 

1. You and your friend start GameRanger, the one who has the tool opens a room, and starts the game when everyone is ready.

2. The host leaves the room as soon as the game loads to him, goes to kingmaker game, minimizes the game, clicks ENABLE, gets back into the game, and hosts another game. (All of this is done within Stronghold 2)

3. By that time you will make everything ready before Stronghold 2 loads to your friend. You just wait them up, and set the game, and play.

[kian 0]

It didn't work .

I disabled the whole security but still... the same result.(Stronghold 2 has stopped working)

any other ideas??

Edited March 30, 2016 by kian

[EaglePrince 233]

Chris, what is your OS?

 

For one thing, we know that what differs between us is OS. On another hand, maybe it could be about the game... In my case - I have Stronghold 2 Deluxe, which I patched to 1.4, and 1.4.1. Also, my game is installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Firefly Studios\Stronghold 2, and I run the AI Manager tool from My Documents folder. ...or to be more specific: C:\Users\Zahirovic\Documents\Stronghold 2\AI Manager\SH2 Manager...

[kian 0]

I still don't get it... why does my game crash by using this tool while others can use it with no problem?

Do you think some files might be corrupted?

[EaglePrince 233]

I don't think that your game installation is corrupt. It's just that something is different. One thing among those is operative system... The other thing - something may be different in the game installation compared to mine. Is you have another computer you could try to install the game there as well, and it it would work on that one. If it does, then it should be about OS... I doubt that reinstalling the game would help, but it you have time for that, you can try that as well... Only I'd say it's little likely to help.

 

Anyway, with who would you like to play against AI's? Maybe this would work on that other machine. It would be enough.

 

For now we know it works on my Windows7 PC's, and on computer of the one who uploaded the YouTube video, and he has Windows XP (or maybe Vista).

[kian 0]

My friend and I have the same OS(Win 64bit)and we have the same problem.

But if the problem is from the OS than why it didn't work in compatability mode?

[Lord_Chris 267]

This isn't a problem with the operating system, it's a problem with the game. If it was a problem with the operating system then that would crash rather than the game. It's the game that's crashing because you're essentially, hacking it to change some values. That's why it crashes.

 

I really don't think this will work. As a last resort, you could attach a dxdiag, but I'm not even sure if that will help massively.

[kian 0]

Are you saying that there is no way to make this work?

[Lord_Chris 267]

Personally, I don't think there is. You could post a dxdiag file (link above) and I could check to see if you have anything I would consider could be causing this, but again, I'm not really sure that I will pick anything up.

[EaglePrince 233]

Chris knows more about these stuff than I do, but still, like I said, the only way to know for sure would be to try it on a different computer. I find it interesting that it works for me, but it doesn't work for you. That is why I assumed this may have something to do with OS...

 

Still, there is hope for you. You can make a gaming event here at Stronghold Nation, and if I am able to, I would be willing to come to you and your friend, start you the game, and then leave. That would work. Check the personal message I sent you about that.

 

Also, we hope that Firefly would enable us multiplayer, this is something that many people want.

[kian 0]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4m7m2rye271j5zg/DxDiag.txt?dl=0?

tell me if the link isn't working

[EaglePrince 233]

The link does work.

[Nigel 71]

Still, I should again say - the file is being reported as a virus. I myself believe it is a false positive, but you don't have to risk actually. For example, if you play with me, I would host and only the host needs to work with this tool to add AI lords.

 

This sounds very interesting.

If you are willing to host, EaglePrince, I would quite like to try it out sometime.

[EaglePrince 233]

Sure. I would be able to play next week. This weekend I will have a lot of work, but after Tuesday I should be free. I was thinking about writing you a personal message about this, as I assume you would like to play against AI lords. :)

 

Also, it would be great if you found some time to see if this works for you, as we have two persons that are unable to use the tool. I can, but Chris can't , and so doesn't Kian.

 

EDIT: Just to add - like I said before, I can host, there would be no need for you to use the tool as well - at least not for that matter. I only wanted to say if you could try it as well, to see how many of us can actually use the tool, but if you wouldn't feel comfortable with that - I wouldn't mind, I understand that. :)

Edited March 31, 2016 by EaglePrince

[Lord_Chris 267]

@kian - I checked the dxdiag file and I couldn't find anything that could be wrong or could explain this ...

[EaglePrince 233]

I just want to tell that if someone wants to try this tool, try it, I think it will most likely work. Of course, you would have to have the original exe file for that, without any modifications. Maybe this discussion here could discourage you, but you should still try it if you want to play with AI lords, and keep in mind that those to who this works great don't come right away to say "yes, it works" - just like with all those downloaded war scenarios we have in download section. Many download them and play them, but few comment - which would be welcomed, of course. :)