Stronghold: Warlords News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru6Qe76T3kE
We have just released our first post-launch Stronghold community Q&A, covering both Stronghold: Warlords and other past, present and future titles in the series. Today Nick runs a gauntlet of both our most common post-release questions and a series of dastardly challenges, posed by resident Firefly Videographer and celebrity chef Aaron Hayden. So if you've ever wanted to see us inhale a bowl of spicy noodles, draw fellow Firefly staff or impersonate classic Stronghold characters then boy we do have the video for you! As always please enjoy watching us embarrass ourselves while simultaneously answering your questions about the future of Firefly, Warlords and the Stronghold series.



Got a question not featured in today's post-release Q&A? Worry not! We've taken the liberty of including all other community questions (to which we currently have answers) in the video's description, to ensure no voice goes unheard. If you have further questions having watched today's video then please head over to the official Stronghold Discord, where developers and fellow players will be happy to discuss the series. You can also sign up to the Firefly Studios newsletter for the latest Stronghold news and inclusion in other initiatives such as player surveys, giveaways and beta invites.



We hope you enjoy this new Q&A as we look forward to the future of the Stronghold series. With version 1.3 releasing on Tuesday May 18th, adding new maps and improvements to the game, we're just getting started with Stronghold: Warlords. New AI, units, warlords, game features, single and multiplayer content are planned for introduction in a series of free updates in 2021 along with new DLC, starting with next week's 'The Art of War Campaign' which adds six missions and two new warlords to the base game.

Please stay tuned for updates to our content roadmap for Stronghold: Warlords in 2021, as well as updates on the Stronghold series as a whole. Thanks for playing!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/907650/Stronghold_Warlords/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THPoM0QMmAM

While we finalize our v1.3 update and first DLC 'The Art of War', both coming to Stronghold: Warlords on May 18th, we're taking some time to dive into the complex history of skirmishes and battles surrounding its protagonist Sun Tzu. So to ensure you're the most studied strategist out there before loading up the new six mission historical campaign (or diving into our upcoming free map pack) please enjoy this crash course in ancient Chinese history!



Our tale begins with the inception of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period, running all the way through to the epic Battle of Boju. Sun Tzu was not only one of the most fascinating (and controversial!) figures of Chinese warfare, but also the supposed author of a military strategy guide which has survived and enduring through the ages. Our new DLC is based on his operations within the war of states Wu and Chu and related exploits worthy of digital recreation. After all who says you can't learn some exciting world history alongside optimisations, new maps and quality of life updates for your games?



If you enjoyed today's video, our updates to the game since launch and would like to suggest future Stronghold content on our YouTube channel please let us know! Post in the comments below and we'll keep all suggestions in mind for video content throughout 2021. For now please enjoy our latest v1.2 content update, look forward to v1.3 on May 18th and more Stronghold: Warlords updates in the coming weeks and months.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/907650/Stronghold_Warlords/

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Today Stronghold: Warlords gets its first major content update with the release of v1.2! Adding requested features such as a new AI opponent (Sun Tzu), AI invasions in Free Build mode, a new Free Build map, general fixes and AI improvements, this update is now available to all players.

Stronghold: Warlords v1.2 Updates Notes
Build Number: v1.2.20432
Update Size: 451.7 MB

Build Number: v1.2.20432 (Hotfix)

General fixes

• Fixed an issue where Sun Tzu would "block" in his weapon workshops
  
• Fixed missing Hideyoshi icon in skirmish lobbies
  
• Fixed stuck starting troops in "Princes and Paupers"
  
• Fixed small gatehouse incorrectly showing road tiles when placed
  

Build Number: v1.2.20394 (Original Release)

Updates

• Added Sun Tzu AI Lord
  
• Added the Freebuild panel, allowing players to do the following in Freebuild:
  
  • Launch invasions
    
  • Acquire free gold and diplomacy points
    
  • Turn on Events
    
• Added new Freebuild map ‘Hillside Fortress’
  
• Turrets and engine platforms can no longer be placed on walls standing on unpathable terrain
  
• Roads can now be connected through gatehouses when tiles are placed on both ends of the gatehouse.
  
  • Note: road pieces will not appear visibly underneath gates, we are working on this for the next update.
    
• Greatly improved the appearance of ponds
  

General fixes

• Fixed the landscape textures sometimes disappearing when task switching or changing resolution
  
• Fixed the Diplomacy Map not scaling properly on ultrawide resolutions
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when weapon workshops were destroyed by fire
  
• Water is no longer visible off the edges of Open Plains and Wide Open Plains
  
• Added some missing pathing tiles on Jungle Clearing
  
• Walls, roads and gunpowder trails can no longer be placed in rivers, ponds or seas
  
• Fixed the wrong scribe speech sometimes being played when selecting work buildings with missing workers
  
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause troops in rabble formation move backwards when targeting enemies
  
• Fixed knocked back troops being able to move if given a command momentarily before the knockback began
  
• Fixed a case where ninjas could get stuck when jumping off/onto walls just on the edge of a cliff
  
• Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred due to gatehouse flags being removed
  
• Fix for the Keep roofs not hiding when Lords were atop them
  
• Vertical Sync is now On by default when first launching the game
  
• Added functionality to allow users to change keyboard input language while in-game
  
• Better support for languages that use non-Latin characters
  
• Player estates now show the relevant Lord’s name in campaign missions
  
• General and Lord units now use a pickaxe when destroying walls
  

Campaign

• Fixed a missing Qin Shi Huang line in Armies of Yan
  

AI Improvements

• Edicts are picked slightly more reliably on normal difficulty
  
• The AI now prioritises more expensive attack edicts when it has a high diplomacy point income
  
• The AI is better at steadily upgrading warlords as its own castle grows
  
• Fixed a bug that could let the AI block off the top of stairs with buildings
  
• The AI starts building weapons workshops slightly earlier
  
• AIs that do not use tea will now sell all their tea automatically
  
• Fixed a case where the AI could get stuck if it ran out of food and had no more workers on rice fields. The AI will now turn other work buildings to sleep if it needs workers on rice fields quickly.
  
• Fixed a case where attacking armies could get stuck moving to a warlord estate before a siege camp has been placed in it
  
• Fixed an issue with the AI not correctly detecting when it needs iron for troop weapons
  
• Weapons workshops are now placed in a layout which makes it harder for workers to get stuck due to the building layout
  
• Addressed some issues where troops in attacking armies could get stuck, in particular when caught on armoury roofs
  
• Fixed a case where armies could get stuck because they were trying to assemble at a target siege camp position on an enemy estate
  
• Fixed the "free gold per minute" parameter to correctly allow AIs to be modded to receive extra gold
  
• The amount of gold AIs receive on Extreme difficulty can now also be modded by a parameter called “extreme_free_gold_percentage”
  

Map Editor

• Fixed the keyboard keys moving the camera when the scenario editor is open
  
• Further increased the render distance
  
• The Dragon Gate left and right pieces can now be placed separately as individual objects
  
• New control icons
  

- Added a new map 'Wide Open Plains' - a rework of Open Plains with 4 larger player estates and 1 Warlord

Stronghold: Warlords v1.1 Updates Notes
Build Number: v1.1.19976
Update Size: 932.4 MB

Updates

• Added Extreme! difficulty to both Skirmish and Campaign modes. (Note: Extreme! difficulty in skirmish will give the AI an unfair gold advantage.)
  
• Total troop limit in skirmish/multiplayer is increased. Example: troop limit in a 2 player game is increased from 200 to 300.
  
• Added 2 new large keeps, Mongol Yurt and Tribal.
  
• Selecting alternative skins for player’s Lord model will also change their keep type.
  
• Updated Japanese voice lines for barracks troops.
  
• Added diplomacy points to overall resource settings in Skirmish lobbies.
  
• Motion blur can now be disabled/enabled via a setting stored in options.xml. (default is for it to be enabled.)
  
• The minimap can now be configured to rotate/face North and scale to fit inside its box by default via new settings in options.xml.
  
• Added a new 2 player skirmish map: Riverbend. Expect a tense push and pull battle as both players vie for control of the warlords guarding the path to their opponent's castle.
  

General fixes

• Fix for saves crashing on Load due to incorrect refcounts. (Note: Old corrupt saves will still crash on load, but new saves will now Load correctly.)
  
• Fixed “Defending Our Lands” from the Genghis Khan campaign so that it correctly shows the build menu.
  
• Fix for pathfinding obstacles sometimes not clearing after walls are destroyed. This addresses mortars sometimes not being able to path through destroyed walls in ‘The Battle of Yehuling’.
  
• Changed ruins on ‘Heart of an Empire’ and ‘Fortunes’ in the Economic Campaign to fix blocked mission progress. Please note existing saves from these missions will use old ruins types.
  
• Fix for triangular wall pieces sometimes lingering around after adjacent square pieces have been destroyed.
  
• Triangular wall pieces are now broken down more consistently to match the damage level of adjacent square walls (this has no effect on balance but gives a clearer impression of how damaged a section of wall is).
  
• Lord portraits now appear correctly for MP/Skirmish human player non-AI skins in various UI places.
  
• Increased fade distance of buildings on fire.
  
• Updated popularity report formatting to accommodate longer localization texts.
  
• Overhauled the ninja pathfinding system to handle many map and building layouts that could not previously be navigated.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause groups of Mongolian Horsemen to jostle back and forth after moving to a position.
  
• Fixes for a number of cases where troops could get stuck (especially in gates) and not be able to move again.
  
• Ballistas can no longer attempt to attack defensive stone buildings.
  
• Fixed an issue where troops could get stuck repeatedly failing to attack warlord workers in melee.
  
• Fixed an issue where actors would hover briefly before landing during their knockback animation.
  
• Fixed an issue where actors could get stuck just on the edge of unpathable terrain after being knocked back.
  
• Troops in rabble formation are more reliable at moving to target enemy units on rooftops.
  

Balance changes

• Halved warrior monk area attack damage to 500, doubled cooldown time to 60 seconds.
  
• Adjusted the way splash damage is applied to walls from siege projectiles, to make overall damage more consistent across diagonal and non-diagonal walls.
  

Warlords

• Repair and Upgrade Castle edicts can no longer be used when the enemy is very close to the castle. If triggered before the enemy approaches, they will still finish if the enemy comes into range during the edict.
  
• Warlord shipments now only display messages on their first and last shipment, in which they report Current/Total goods sent.
  
• Added an icon to the diplomacy map for ongoing instant attacks.
  

AI Improvements

General

• AI Lords now use their own respective keeps in Skirmish games.
  
• Added several new overlord taunts.
  

Town

• Many improvements to AI town building, including smarter positioning of different building types, fixes for several cases where the building layout could result in stuck workers, and increased maximum distance that buildings can be placed from the keep.
  
• Improved granary placement to be more central inside the castle, making it better protected from attacks.
  
• Fixed several issues with turrets and engine platforms not attaching to walls correctly.
  
• The AI is better at calculating how many of each type of work building it needs to build its economy and train an army.
  
• Fixed a bug that could get the AI stuck trying to build an embassy when it already had the max amount allowed.
  

Strategy

• The AI now takes the number of players on their team into account when choosing whether to target an enemy player or warlord, allowing them to prioritise enemy players earlier in free-for-all games.
  
• The AI is now more likely to target the warlord closest to them over other warlords.
  
• The AI no longer attempts to influence warlords on Easy difficulty.
  
• There’s now a minimum time before the AI will attack any target, which varies by difficulty.
  
• Harder AIs now better at picking Warlord Edicts and issue them more often.
  
• When at very high gold levels, the AI will now aim for triple its normal popularity to get peasants spawning faster.
  

Castle

• Defensive troops, turrets and engine platforms are now positioned more intelligently based on the direction to the closest enemy player.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause castles not to build when spawn points are rotated.
  
• Fix for defensive troops on Genghis’ castle walls sometimes getting stuck.
  
• Tweaked the tower positions in Hideyoshi’s castle.
  
• Defensive troops now spend less time running back and forth between different positions on the walls.
  
• On Easy difficulty the AI now only builds a single layer of castle walls.
  

Armies

• The AI is now more willing to buy weapons to train troops when needed, to preserve the desired unit composition of their army.
  
• Improved the balance of Barracks and Academy troops the AI will train, whether or not they have weapons available.
  
• Fewer troops are now kept in reserve, allowing the AI to attack faster and with larger numbers when up to their troop limit.
  
• Improved the distribution of different troop types in the types of armies sent out.
  
• After capturing a warlord, armies will now sometimes guard the warlord for a period of time before moving to attack a new target.
  
• Armies that encounter an enemy keep on route to their target will now switch targets rather than continuing to their original target.
  
• Armies are better at navigating through allied estates to reach their target.
  
• Fixes for several cases where armies could get stuck while moving to their target or reforming.
  
• The AI will now more reliably start attacking with siege armies based on the number of attacks already made and their own economic development.
  
• Armies are better at tracking enemy lords who have moved away from their keeps.
  
• Fixed an issue that could stop attacks being launched once the AI reached their troop limit.
  
• Fixed several issues with the placement of forward siege camps in Warlord estates.
  
• Improved the AI’s ability to coincide Warlord attack edicts with their own attacks.
  
• Expensive troops such as Generals and Samurai are no longer held back to guard siege weapons.
  
• Fire oxen and rocket launchers no longer target warlord town buildings.
  
• Armies made up of horse archers and other cavalry now have a strong preference to tail other armies when they can, given they tend to be ineffective against enemy warlords by themselves.
  
• If individual troops in an AI army are unable to join the rest of the army for too long, they’ll now suicide in order to avoid the whole army getting stuck.
  
• Improved AI handling of rocket launchers, to avoid firing in areas that may set the ground under their own troops on fire.
  
• Genghis now sieges with more mortars and fewer rocket launchers.
  

Map Editor

• Added support for WASD/arrow key camera movement (with ctrl for faster movement) and Q/E keys to rotate the camera.
  
• The camera can now pitch closer to zero/ninety degrees, for easier editing.
  
• Increased the render distance.
  
• Spawn points now move up/down if the landscape tool is used underneath them.
  

Notes

• We have set the achievement ‘Thucing Phantastic’ to hidden for now as it is not tracking correctly. This will be addressed in a future update.
  
• While we have fixed the issue that was corrupting saves, old save games that were previously crashing on load will still crash. Saves made in newly started missions are fixed.