Recommendations for castle building sim?

[Gusington]

I may add that to my Steam looting this afternoon 😎

[bbmike]

I may add that to my Steam looting this afternoon 😎

Anyone worth their Grog will add it after reading this thread!  :D

[bbmike]

I've never played it, but can't you build castles in Minecraft?

[JasonPratt]

Re most solid Stronghold game: Stronghold 2 is probably the best 3D version of the engine so far (which is really, really sad ;) ), but you can't buy it on Steam yet. Or rather, you can buy the "Stronghold Pack" on steam, which will also get you SH1 and SH:C, but the SH2 functionality is currently kibosh. That's because they're fixing to release a Steam version of SH2. But if you buy the pack, you'll get SH2 update for free. Hopefully, but not certainly, this will include ongoing patch work. Even if it doesn't, though, it will DEFINITELY include Workshop and thus fan mod/patches.

The most solid SH game to date is universally regarded to be Stronghold Crusaders Extreme (which allows up to 10K units on the map), which is part of the Steam Stronghold Collection. You can also get some nice things from GoG on that game. I do not know whether Crusader/Extreme HD is considered to be part of the pack, but I strongly suspect that the SH1 and SH:C which are included are the HD versions, because I bought the pack on Steam some years ago and I don't have non-HD versions of those games.

Crusader/Extreme adds extra functionality to the SH1 engine, and aside from the (not entirely aesthetic) difference of terrain between 1 and C, there is no real reason to play SH1. (The plot is just an excuse to play maps under certain conditions, and Crusader has an extension of the same plot with more characters to fight and team up with.) Also Crusader allows playing and fighting against an actual Saracen factions rather than mere copies of your own troops.


I am sincerely considering a sandbox of CrusaderX HD for my little project (especially since I already own it ;) ), but from having played SH1 I'm not sure it's exactly what I'm after. You can however play non-battle campaigns all the Stronghold games. (Which are basically trash.  ::) But sandbox non-battle is possible, too.)

[Gusington]

Wow there are a lot of Stronghold games and bundles available. Flummoxing.

[JasonPratt]

I've never played it, but can't you build castles in Minecraft?

Yes, but not developing a village with bots per se. Also, if I'm going to build Voxel castles in a survival mode I'm going to play Medieval Engineers. They look and act muccchhhh nicer. IF ME had bot functionality put back in yet, I might use it for my project. (Or maybe not since the bots are all clones.)

[JasonPratt]

Wow there are a lot of Stronghold games and bundles available. Flummoxing.

In your case, just get the Collection. Ignore anything after SH2. (Crusader and Extreme predate SH2.)

[JasonPratt]

Re Veil of Crows -- I might get that in any case, now that I'm reminded of it, but I don't think it may be quite right for the nieces, any more than Warband would be. (I have to be careful how violent things get.) Good reminder otherwise tho!!

[Gusington]

Just read a bunch of reviews on Veil of Crows and the consensus is that a good foundation is there but it is not a final product yet.

There are multiple Stronghold bundles too! 'EXTREME!!' and whatnot. What's a short swarthy jew to do?

[JasonPratt]

Re buggy Guild games: from my research yesterday, it seems like Guild 2 Renaissance is the top of the list, and that fan patching has continued especially on Steam, which is why in any case I'm going to rebuy it there while it's on sale. Guild 3 is on the way, but no one (myself included) has any confidence the devs will run it smoothly out of the gate.

According to research, the updated fan patch available through Steam has removed practically all the bugs in G2Ren, and improved UI functionality somewhat.

However, I don't think it's possible to build up a castle and town from scratch with citizens in G2 (or G1 for that matter). So not that great for my purpose.

[JasonPratt]

Gus,

Just buy the Stronghold Collection http://store.steampowered.com/app/901735/

Everything after that is worse. Stronghold Legends in the pack is also meh.

Crusader Extreme (HD) is the game to play in that pack. Don't worry about it being "Extreme", that's just marketing fluff mainly meaning the unit count limit for maps has increased. I'm double-checking with an install on my 'work' system this morning, but I think it has all the content of CrusaderHD.

[Gusington]

Thank you Pratt. I can't believe how many titles and packs are available. And I stay away from EXTREME anything - although I do read EXTREME in the voice of Duffman, every time.

[Gusington]

Ooh there's a Vlad Dracul campaign in that pack you posted!! Will buy later fo' sho'...9.99 is solid.

[Destraex]

It is early access - veil of crows that is.

[Gusington]

^Yep. Seems solid and is updated weekly or even more offen but it is not quite there yet according to a lot of players.