Stronghold Kingdoms

Stronghold Kingdoms
Developer(s)	Firefly Studios
Publisher(s)	Firefly Studios
Producer(s)	Eric Ouellette Paul Harris Mark Barney
Designer(s)	Simon Bradbury Eric Ouellette
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	Alpha 28th May 2009
Genre(s)	MMORTS
Mode(s)	Multiplayer online
System requirements Microsoft Windows Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7 (32-& 64-bit supported) Processor: 1GHz or faster 512 MB RAM Windows XP 1  GB + (for Windows Vista/Windows 7) DirectX 9 Compatible Graphics Card 150MB of free HD space (Downloadable Installer) Internet Connection

Stronghold Kingdoms (SHK) is a massively multi-player online real time strategy game (MMORTS) with a Medieval castle building theme. It was developed by Firefly Studios and based upon their commercially successful and popular Stronghold series of games. Firefly Studios started development of Stronghold Kingdoms in 2007 as their first entry into the MMO genre. The first Alpha test began in 2009 and was open only to 150 players. These were drawn from previous testers of Firefly Studios games, others volunteered via prominent fansites.

In addition to the central theme of castle construction and design, Stronghold Kingdoms incorporates a variety of architectural, economic, military, agricultural, mercantile, industrial and political elements which challenge players ability to prioritize, direct work-flow and resources and administrate their holdings in the manner of a medieval land holder or noble. An individual player's success is not entirely predicated upon the ability to successfully defeat computer-generated enemies, but also upon teamwork with fellow players.

The player begins relatively alone, one village amongst others in a single parish. From this beginning, strategic decisions are made and dialogue established with fellow parish members which introduces the social aspect of Stronghold Kingdoms. All players can vie for stewardship of the parish, dependent on rank. When two or more players wish to be Steward they can negotiate to decide who will take control of the parish, or take it by force, razing out the opposing players village from that parish. If Theology is researched, then monks can be deployed to infiltrate the parish and influence the vote. This is usually referred to as a monk war in the game vernacular. When the successful candidate becomes steward they gain control of the parish army along with the ability to set taxes (tithe), and build the necessary guilds to improve life for all in the parish.

Gameplay Elements

Communication with one's neighbors is vital to a player's advancement and enjoyment of all that Stronghold Kingdoms offers.

Village screen with interface

Starting resources are given to each new player and from that beginning how the village is managed, is essential to building a strong foundation to defend against all enemies. Juggle research to unlock what the castle needs, food, arms, or basic resources like stone and wood, used to build everything in the castle or village. Use research points to unlock different aspects of the game. Obtain honour peacefully by banqueting or choose an aggressive means by attacking wolf lairs, bandit camps and AI castles. Defend your castle in turn from an attacking enemy AI Siege Camp or enemy players. As the game progresses, honour is accumulated and used to rank higher, but honour can be gained, or lost. If you opt to attack another player, this will cost honour thereby making every decision influence the next.

Worlds

World 1, (English Language Server) the original Alpha world is modelled upon Britain. At the beginning of the Beta phase in November 2010 it was announced that World 1 would not reset, as it had through the previous Alpha iterations. As of May 2011 there were over 14,000 active players on this world.

World 2, (English Language Server) as World 1 filled up with players and demand grew stronger for the game Firefly Studios launched World 2 on Tuesday 8 February 2011. This world has the same map and all players from world 1 could join world 2. This also introduced the ability to start in different areas of the map rather than in a cluster.

Welt 1, (German Language Server) was launched on February 22, 2011 and is modeled on Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Czech Republic.

Monde 1, (French Language Server) was launched on 6th July, 2011 and is modeled on a map of France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Mir 1, (Russian Language Server) launched on 1st December 2011. The world is modelled upon Britain.

Factions

As players evolve in game, the ability to join a Faction becomes available. They can create their own or join an existing one, opting for a group that has the same common purpose. The creator of the faction invites and appoints officers who in turn can invite and dismiss members. Each faction has an individual forum where participants of that faction may communicate with one another. Faction leaders may also choose to enter into an alliance or war with other factions, doing so will place a decorated white ribbon or a glowing red sword - respectively, above other player's villages. As a faction grows, they may decide to join a House that holds the same aspiration.

Houses

Houses have their own banner and designated colour. Factions apply to join a House and on acceptance are integrated and sport the house colour beneath their villages on the world map. They also receive the house banner by their name on the leaderboard.

Glory

Glory is an ongoing challenge played in rounds between Houses. A House gains points for the control of parishes, counties, provinces, and countries. At the end of each cycle, which is determined when a House reaches one million points, the last two Houses in each round are eliminated and take no further part in Glory. The House that wins a round receives a gold star on their banner.

The final victory condition was set on 17th January 2012. When five Houses remain in Glory, the elimination process will now drop one House instead of two. Stars gained from previous rounds are equal to lives. If a House finishes last, it may use a star to gain a life and remain in the Glory Challenge.

Achievements

An update on 9th May 2011 brought Achievements to Stronghold Kingdoms. Awarded in the shape of a medal, players earn these by completing deeds. To acquire "Banquet King" for instance, a player would need to feast with different elements of banquet goods, to earn each rank of medal. The medals come in four ranks starting with iron, silver, gold and diamond. Medals ranked silver and above reward the player with a small amount of honour. All medals earned by players are viewable in game to both friend or foe, so you can see what other players have achieved. With over 40 achievements to accumulate, it could take a player some time, but Firefly Studios bestowed some retroactively, thereby giving players a head start with their collection.

Sound

An update put out on the 16th June 2011, takes the client build to 1.20.4.63 and delivers for the first time to Stronghold Kingdoms, music. The background music is a medley of beautiful medieval sounds that make a welcome début to the on-line game and will be instantly recognisable to fans of the Stronghold series. Those wonderful notes composed by Robert Euvino are now incorporated into Stronghold Kingdoms. Listed in the music folder is a battle medley that includes two endings, one for defeat. Along with the battle music there are various pieces including, Under an old tree, a poignant piece titled Stainedglass-all, and an ecclesiastical sounding Monks1. The music can be turned off altogether or reduced depending on player preference.

Free-to-play

CEO of Firefly Studios Eric Ouellette, stated Stronghold Kingdoms would be free-to-play. A set number of free cards are given each week depending on criteria achieved in game. An option exists to also purchase crowns. These crowns are then used to buy strategy cards and Premium Tokens, to enhance gameplay.

Strategy Card Packs

• Random Pack - Standard and Rare Cards
• Food Pack - Food Production Cards
• Industry Pack - Resource & Productivity Cards
• Army Pack - Offensive/Siege Cards
• Defence Pack - Defensive/Castle Cards

Premium Token

This token gives the option to automate some of the play actions while one is offline. Auto scout, attack, trade and recruit. A research and build queue is also included.

Premium Boxes

Two premium box editions have been released that include special content. The Stronghold Kingdoms Deluxe Edition is the English version while the German Premium Edition differed only in offering a 10% lifetime discount when purchasing crowns. A code within the box gives access to the exclusive content. Accounts may only redeem one code.

Development

Alpha 1, this was a closed alpha and the game at this stage was very basic. Some parish screens were blank but for a tax setting. Barracks were limited to the stewards command research which scales with each level attained.
Alpha 2, religion was added where previously the research for this had been greyed out.
Alpha 3, parish guilds were implemented and strategy cards introduced.
Alpha 4, most of the screens were now in place. The only major addition to this alpha was the introduction of captains. These were now necessary when buying or capturing a village. They were also fleshed out with their own tactics.
Beta, at the time of writing this article an open beta is in progress.

External links

• The official Stronghold Kingdoms Website
• Firefly Studios official site
• Bright Hub review of Stronghold Kingdoms by Michael Hartman
• German GamingXP Review of Stronghold Kingdoms by michaelha
• Google translation of michaelha's Review of Stronghold Kingdoms
• Hardcore Christian Gamer review of Stronghold Kingdoms