Stronghold Crusader Editor Overview

By Lord_Chris

With the introduction of Stronghold Crusader came the removal of exisiting features, the addition of new ones, and even the alteration of existing ones. The purpose of this article is to inform you of what exactly has changed between the Stronghold 1 and Stronghold Crusader editors. For a complete overview of the editor, please see this page.

The very first thing that has changed is where the editor is located. Under the main menu, it is now under a different name, "Custom Scenarios". From there, the following screen is available:



The first link allows you to play custom scenarios. Whether you have downloaded them, or made them yourself - this is the place to go. The second link is for loading an existing map into the editor. Again, you have the option of any downloaded or maps you made. The third button is the only one that is generally different - it allows you to make a new map. Once you select it, you will arrive on another screen:



A "Castle Builder" map is a single player map with no objectives other than to build your castle. Note however, that on no scenario type, the ability to choose the landscape is different, it is exactly the same as in Stronghold 1.



No events will be scripted as the user creates their own in-game by hitting F1. The "New Custom Scenario" button allows you to create either an Invasion or Economic scenario. After clicking this you will be taken to another screen where you will see these:



The left icon is for Invasion maps, and the right icon is for Economic maps. Finally, the third new option is to make a "New Crusader Map". This is a skirmish map or multiplayer map that you will create. The only other change in the Stronghold Crusader editor is that it will show this:



This icon depicts whether the map is balanced or unbalanced. Once inside the editor however, there are very few minor changes.

Iron can be placed on minimum height, maximum height and any level if height now. Additionally, Iron has been moved to the "Edit Height" section of the Landscaping section.

Another change is the fact that there are now two lake tools available in the water section. When placing buildings and units, there is a new tab available which shows an Arabian Scimitar. This allows you to place any of the units available in the Mercenary Post.

Finally - the biggest change in Stronghold Crusader is the fact that you must place all food production buildings on Oasis. However, this is not entirely true. This is because Food production buildings can be placed on Thick scrub terrain as well as Oasis. Additionally - farms no longer have to be placed on minimum height. They can now be placed on any height level which is particularly useful for maps with higher terrain levels.