Lord_Chris

If you feel that steam is better for you, then choose that option. My personal opinion shouldn't influence you there. The main thing I do with any game is modify it, that's why I don't like steam, it makes it less mod friendly. But if you don't intend to modify it or just want to modify it lightly it shouldn't be a issue. However, I can't vouch as only played the version not on steam. I would take it that you can install it on two PCs from steam, but again I can't vouch as I've never done it. I've only ever played one steam game (SH3). All I know is that you definitely can without.

You can buy the stronghold collection off steam. Once bought, you can download the game any time you like. Do note that this is all the games, not just SH2.

You should install the Game Ranger client, however, I have attempted a game earlier this morning and it appeared to work via GameSpy. So for tonight we'll play as normal and take it game by game as to whether we play by Game Ranger.

I personally suggest you get it from amazon. The deluxe version is better as it has more functionality, and I would try to make sure you get a copy not on steam if you intend to modify it as steam just over-complicates things. You can use the same copy of stronghold 2 on any computer - I have it installed on my windows 8, windows 7 and windows XP machines. You can connect via LAN or just with a password which stops other people from joining. All I do is load the game with the disc on one PC, then take it out and put it in another and load it from there.

Looks like someone knows his history! ;) Yes, I have to say I agree with that, I'll add that in the main signature of the month thread.

Hopefully :) Looking forward to getting a full game in now! I'm not sure as to whether you need to install the GameRanger client, I would guess so but I'll look into it more and post back here.

That's not a bad idea, but how would I decide what a 'better' map is? By the amount of downloads, the rating, views, etc? Articles can be ordered by views so that shouldn't be too hard.

Today it my pleasure and duty to inform you that after several months of work, the StrongholdNation Members Area is now open! Though I am currently working on editing articles, everything else is working so far. Enjoy adding your own articles for the site as well as gaining access to StrongholdNation's TeamSpeak 3 channel (thanks to Charles of Tours) If you have any further requests as to what content you would like in the members area please post them below and I will try to accommodate them.

Well, this is certainly some excellent news! It's too bad I've finally installed my mods again though :/ We can certainly play SHL for a bit while I create a few maps and scenarios though. Speaking of which... http://forums.stronghold-nation.com/topic/157-stronghold-legends-8th-9th-14th-june/

As a result of multiplayer now working again, we will be playing several SHL matches once more! This event will take place at 6 PM GMT all times. Please post if you intend to join as unlike stronghold 2, the stronghold legends matches have much less users per lobby. We must know how many lobbies to setup!

Last Month, the winner was EaglePrince for our "Firefly Studios" themed contest. EaglePrince has thought about, and decided upon the following theme: kingdoms and empires of medieval Europe and Middle East Your signature will have to contain some kind of symbol or icon depicting some kingdom or empire from middle east or medieval Europe. Flag, Coat of Arms, anything that represents this. An image such as a king, emperor.etc. And if you are considering joining in, it wouldn't hurt to drop in a note so I hurry along those "last minute" sort of people. The contest will run until the 20th of June, and after this date the voting will begin. But do remember... the longer you have your signature posted, the more likely people will notice it! Basic Rules: http://forums.stronghold-nation.com/topic/94-announcing-signature-of-the-month/ Good luck! **Voting** Lord_Chris EaglePrince Charles of Tours

Poll closed. As it is a draw, this month's winner is EaglePrince. Congratulations! Feel free to shoot me a PM with your theme for this month at any time :)

We have recently installed a new feature in our download central. All users who upload files have a 'files page' in which they can promote their files via several means and get subscribers. Subscribers in our download central are people who get notified about future files you upload. Users can individually choose whether to display a subscriber button on their page as well as display a slideshow gallery with screenshots of their maps to show other users when they are browsing through. To change your settings for this, once logged in click the "my files" heading in a site sidebar. You will then be redirected to your page, where if you click the "edit" button" you can change yours. Users who do not set any options will be given the default ones. These are that the subscribe button appears as well as the gallery but with several wallpapers such as space backgrounds and those from planet Earth. Users can have a total of 12 slides to show off their map making skills. We are currently looking for ways to increase the number of settings so if anyone has any ideas please share them below.

Though I can't be fully sure this is true with stronghold 1 as I've never played it, most of the game versions for the others are forwards compatible but not backwards compatible - so if anything it would be the 1.1 version that would have the difficulties playing your file.

Poll Closed. We'll play SHL today and SH2 tomorrow as a result of this poll.

Hmm, I don't fully believe them on that either. I know loads of people who despise Steam (including myself) and have explicitly said they aren't getting it because of it. You know how much I hate steam, I'm sure I've told you via PM before, the only reason I might get it (still undecided) is for the site. SH3 is an alright game, it's on the way to becoming a good one (if only it hadn't have been abandoned it might have been) but I just hate the steam element of it. It makes the game run incredibly slow - just looking at the time for the game to initially start up, the game takes about thirty seconds more to load than if it wasn't on steam, you connect to a server thousands of miles away, when in reality it was probably easier to just install the game on your system and be done with it. Then of course there's the old issue with bringing in a third part - you have to give steam your details for a 'free steam account' when in reality all you want to do is play the game, and it becomes more and more of a task to do just that. But, they aren't to be criticised, they're doing a great job, and this one will turn out to be a masterpiece! :) The game generally looks very good, I'll also point people in the direction of this video as it's pretty informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nx2jwT9CRM

Stronghold Crusader 2 will be released on the 2nd of September 2014 as revealed by Firefly Studios recently.

On the 31st of May 2014, multiplayer for both stronghold 2 and legends will cease to work as GameSpy are shutting off all remaining servers.

Now our news has been replaced by topics from our announcements forum on our homepage, here is this announcement on stronghold crusader 2.

The news has been replaced on our homepage by topics from the announcements forum. So rather than this being lost I thought I would add this into the stronghold crusader forum.

Topic stickified. :)

** This was originally taken from Stronghold-Knights.com. ** There is also an attached word document below - this is on scenario design and eye candy taken from stronghold heaven. Scenario Design.doc

For each month from now on, the moderation team will take everything into consideration a user does on the site (I.E. Forum Posts, Downloads Submitted, Articles Written.etc) and the user who they believe has put the most effort into helping the site, or has submitted the most things in total, generally, the most active member, will receive the following reward added to their signature: This month, the winner is EaglePrince for his excellent contributions to both our downloads section and our forums. He really has put a lot of effort in to making these places great places to hang out. Congratulations EaglePrince, and well done!

Categories reorganised, they now appear in order of release date. The game versions have also been added in. You can now submit a stronghold 1 file here: http://www.stronghold-nation.com/downloads/submit/stronghold-1/

Ok, those have been added thanks :) What about game versions? There will be 1, but any updates? The next step is to organise them so they aren't all over the place and actually have structure...