Stronghold 3 (Game)

Stronghold 3

GAME » on October 25, 2011

The extremely belated sequel to 2005's Stronghold 2. This time it will supposedly steer away from the complicated nature of Stronghold 2, and return to the more simplified gameplay of the original Stronghold while keeping the best elements from both games.

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Overview

Stronghold 3 aims to combat the numerous problems that plagued Stronghold 2 and to up date the franchise with modern gameplay mechanics such as directly controlling the units living in the player's stronghold. The game also adds major graphical improvements and a Havok physics engine.

Story

A former ruler teams up with various other factions to take over the lands. The player must fight for the freedom of his people.

Gameplay

The goal of Stronghold 3 is to create a prospering keep while suppressing the advancement of neighboring developments into the player's territory. However, the game is not all about making war on your rivals. The campaign of Stronghold 3 includes missions for both military victories and more economical approaches such as trading and alliances through two separate campaign paths. The game also allows players to reenact important battles throughout history. Being an RTS, Stronghold 3 has three primary gameplay mechanics:

Economy
Construction
Military

Economy

Stronghold 3 relies heavily on economic infrastructure and management. The tasks range from building houses, luring peasants into your community, and protecting the peoples so they can work productively. The player must manage the production chain to make sure carpenters have wood, blacksmiths have metal, etc. As with previous Stronghold titles, the majority of the player's time will be spent managing both the population and their supply chain.

Construction

Stronghold 3 removes the construction grid and lets players build where ever and at whatever angle they desire as long as the topography will allow it. Players have the option to build housing, barracks, production facilities, and, most importantly, many types of walls and attachments to their fortress defenses. Walls can be augmented with gates, towers, and defense mechanisms. The type and size of the walls depends on the various stages of development the player is at. The break away from standard grid construction allows the player greater control over the design of their stronghold and ultimately makes the strong hold look more realistic than previous games.

Military

The major change between previous games and Stronghold 3's military combat is better control over military units. The player can directly control the units to a fair degree. The military units can either be created through training or recruited. A major component of Stronghold 3 is the ability to siege other strongholds. The siege mechanics have been largely overhauled with the implementation of real physics and particle tracking.

Graphics and Physics

Graphics

The game uses Trinigy's Vision engine that is also used in games such as Arcania: Gothic 4 and The Settler's 7. The engine is a vast graphical improvement over the previous games. The game will support day/night cycles, advanced lighting, fog of war, and weather.

Physics

Developer Firefly opted to use the Havok engine to give the siege combat a more natural feel. The game supports particle tracking and environmental destruction. Instead of buildings breaking apart using canned animations, the destruction is calculated in real-time. Real-time physics also allows the player to set traps such as rolling logs, diseased cows, and flaming oil.

Multiplayer Support

The game will support 8-player online modes.

System Requirements

PC

Minimum

OS: Windows® XP SP3/ Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7
Processor: Dual Core CPU – 2.0GHZ
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better
DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c
Hard Drive: 5 GB space free
Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card

Mac

OS: 10.6.8 and above
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core) Quad Core Recommended CPU Speed: 2.4 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB
Video Card: Radeon HD2600, Geforce 8600, with 512 MB VRam or better
Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce® 8600, 8800, 9600M, GT 120, 320M ATI Radeon HD 2600, HD 3870, HD 4670, HD 4850, HD 5670, HD 5750

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