Games PC STRONGHOLD User Manual

As soon as the King had marched his army into the barbarian homeland, the inevitable rumors of a plot to seize the throne began to spread.

A few seasons into the war, the capture of the King was reported from abroad sparking disorder among the peasantry. Sure enough, the enemy grabbed this opportunity to invade and after several bloody engagements the splintered country became locked in civil war.

When the initial onslaught had finished, your father attempted to negotiate a treaty, arranging a meeting at the stronghold of Duc Beauregard.

Along the way there was an ambush and your father along with several other lords were brutally hacked down by a band of unknown raiders.

With no treaty signed, the enemy continued their assault forcing county after county to yield until the country was lost.

Bruised and exhausted, you have been beaten back to a forest on an overlooked peninsula where it is rumored a small band of bedraggled troops are hiding.

Although you believe there is little hope, maybe from this refuge you can at least avenge your father's death.

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Table of Contents
1.0	Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. .4
1.1	Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.4
1.2	Starting the Game and Game Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.5
1.3	Game Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.6
1.4	Game Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.7
1.5	About the Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.7
1.6	Winning and Losing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.8
1.7	Playing a Multi-player Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.8
1.8	Map Editor Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	11
2.0	Game Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	12
2.1	Main Screen Overview and Navigating the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	12
2.2	Camera Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	13
2.3	Placing your Keep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	14
2.4	Population Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	15
2.5	Rationing and the Granary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	15
2.6	Setting Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	16
2.7	Popularity in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	16
2.8	Gathering Food and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	17
2.9	Increasing your Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	18
3.0	Influencing your Popularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	19
3.1	Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	19
3.2	Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	20
3.3	Crowding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	21
3.4	Fairs and Other Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	21
3.5	Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	21
3.6	Working Inns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	22
3.7	Fear Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	23
4.0	Food and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	24
4.1	The Stockpile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	24
4.2	Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	25
4.3	The Granary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	26
4.4	Food Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	27
5.0	Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	28
5.1	Tax Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	28
5.2	The Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	29
6.0	Military Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	30
6.1	Military Goods and the Armory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	30

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6.2	The Barracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		30
6.3	Available Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		31
7.0	Issuing Military Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		32
7.1	Gathering your Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		32
7.2	Marching Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		33
7.3	Unit Stances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		34
7.4	Military Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		35
7.5	Map Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		37
8.0	Defending your People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		37
8.1	The Gatehouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		37
8.2	Building Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		37
8.3	Turrets and Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		38
8.4	Placing Stairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		38
8.5	Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		38
8.6	Moat Digging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		39
8.7	Mounted Siege Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		39
8.8	Boiling Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		39
9.0	Siege Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		40
9.1	Siege Equipment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		40
9.2	Portable Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		40
9.3	Battering Rams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		41
9.4	Siege Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		41
9.5	Catapults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		41
9.6	Trebuchets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		41
9.7	Digging Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		42
9.8	Filling in Moats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		42
10.0		Reference Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	43
10.1		Non-military Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	43
10.2		Food Flow Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	47
10.3		Resource Flow Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	47
10.4		Buildings Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	48
10.5		Unit Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	58
10.6		Unit Cost Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	59
10.7		Keyboard Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	60
11.0		Additions to the Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	62
11.1		Game Additions and Revisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	62
11.2		Additional Multi-player Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	63
11.3		Electronic Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	67

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1.0Getting Started.

1.1Installation.

Place the STRONGHOLD CD in your CD-ROM drive. If the CD Autoruns, left click on the INSTALL button. If the CD does not Autorun, click on the START button then select RUN followed by BROWSE. Using the pull down arrow, select your CD-ROM drive with the STRONGHOLD CD inserted. Click on ‘autoplay.exe’ and select OPEN, followed by OK then select the INSTALL button.

When the welcome window is presented, select NEXT to continue.

The license agreement window will now be displayed. Please read through this agreement. If you accept the agreement, select YES to continue.

The next option is to select a destination folder. To use the default folder select NEXT to continue. If you wish to change the destination folder click on BROWSE and enter the location you want STRONGHOLD to be installed.

Next you can create a shortcut folder or use the default within the PROGRAMS menu. When you are happy with your folder name, click NEXT to continue.

Once STRONGHOLD has been installed you will be asked if you wish to install Gamespy. This will allow you play on-line. Follow the on screen prompts to install Gamespy.

To remove STRONGHOLD from your PC, insert the STRONGHOLD CD in your CD-ROM drive and when the Autorun screen appears, click on the UNINSTALL button and follow the on screen instructions.

We recommend you view the ‘Readme’ file before running STRONGHOLD as this contains the most recent information on the game.

Each time you insert the STRONGHOLD CD into your CD-ROM drive, the game will Autorun and a PLAY button will now replace the INSTALL button. Click the PLAY button to run the game.

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1.2 Starting the Game and Game Modes.

When you load FireFly Studios’ STRONGHOLD for the very first time you are presented with a screen prompt asking you to enter you name. Type in the name you wish to be known as and then press ‘ok’ to continue to the main menu screen.

The main menu is divided into four sections.

a) Combat options - This gives you the following combat related options:

1)Play the campaign - Fight your way through the 21-mission campaign for your king and country against four merciless and ruthless opponents: The Rat, the Snake, the Pig and the Wolf.

2)Play a multiplayer game - Play a multiplayer game with up to eight friends on the Internet using Gamespy or via a local area network (LAN).

3)Play a siege mission - Choose to attack or defend pre-built historical castles. This option is pure combat with no community management necessary.

4)Play an invasion - Stand alone fighting missions in the same style as the campaign. You will have to build up your castle and economy while defending yourself from constant attack from one or more enemies.

b)Economic options - Choosing this will provide you with the following non-combat options:

1)Play the Economic campaign - This is set in the period immediately after the Combat campaign (See above). This is a five mission economic campaign based around rebuilding the kingdom.

2)Play an economic mission - These are single missions very similar to those in the economic campaign. You will have to build an economy while trying to balance your available resources and achieve one or many preset goals.

3)Free build - Here you can build to your hearts content. You have no enemy to fight, no goals to achieve and no time limit to stick to. You merely choose the map you wish to build on and away you go!

c) Map Editor - This allows you to build and play custom maps:

1)Load a working map - Allows you to load any map you have previously started and saved at an earlier date.

2)New Stand-Alone mission - Allows you build up a map from scratch that can be used as an economic, combat or landscape map.

3)New Siege That mission - Build a magnificent castle and post it on the Internet then see how long it takes for someone to knock it down.

4)New Multiplayer map - Build a map for you and you friends to fight over in the multiplayer mode.

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d) Load a save game - Load a game that you saved on a previous occasion. You can also access this from within the main game using the options menu.

1.3 Game Options.

The game options panel can be accessed by selecting the key icon to the left of the mini-map within the game.

Save: This allows you to save your game using a file name of your choice.

Load: From here you can load a previously saved game.

Options: This allows you to change the following elements of the game:

Game Play Options: This lets you change the game speed and turn the ingame help on or off.

Video Options: This allows you to change the resolution of the game as well as how fast the map scrolls.

Sound Options: From here you can turn the sound on or off and adjust the volume levels for the music, sound effects and speech.

Help: This takes you to the contents page of the in-game help facility.

Quit Mission: This option quits the current mission and takes you back to the beginning screen.

Exit STRONGHOLD - This closes STRONGHOLD and returns you back to the operating system.

Resume Game: Selecting this returns you to the game.

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1.4 Game Overview.

STRONGHOLD is a castle simulator, it will teach you to design, manage and defend your own medieval castle. Starting in the middle of the eleventh century, with little more than wooden palisades and hills to defend yourself with, you will learn how to build up a castle and rule its citizens. As time goes on, your castles will get bigger and more sophisticated until, by the end of the campaign, you will have all the knowledge you need with which to create the ultimate castle.

You must start your initial settlement from scratch then move forward to defend that which you have built. Each new settlement will need a balanced infrastructure with a steady income, a healthy stock of food and resources as well as a happy population.

As you progress through the game your defenses will become steadily more advanced. In the early stages you will only have enough resources at your disposal to build a simple stockade. Eventually you will have techniques with which to construct a virtually impenetrable fortress.

There are many challenges ahead of you on the road to victory. Each territory has a unique set of economic conditions and you will face many bloody siege engagements before this chapter in history draws to a close.

Only with careful castle planning and the cunning use of military tactics will you be able to ensure the safety of the kingdom. Your STRONGHOLD awaits you, good luck and God speed my liege!

1.5 About the Manual.

This vast tome may appear a little daunting at first but luckily there is no need to read all of it to begin playing. You may find it useful to go through the in-game tutorial first by selecting the tutorial shield from the start screen. Alternatively, chapter 2 quick start/game basics will introduce you to all of the main concepts. Once you know the basics you can read through the sections you want more information on.

'Notes' will appear now and again to give you more information on the last topic discussed.

Note: You do not have to read these bits if you don't want to, as they are only here to answer frequently asked questions on the last topic.

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'Tips' will also appear throughout to give you information relating to game dynamics such as shortcut keys or other alternative ways of doing things.

Tip: It is quicker to skip these sections to start with as they are only here to suggest different ways of doing something you have just learned about.

There are also 'Hints' which suggest possible game play strategies.

Hint: Don't read hints if you prefer to figure things out on your own.

1.6 Winning and Losing.

Each mission within STRONGHOLD has a unique set of objectives. To view the objectives you have yet to complete, select the ‘Briefing’ button to the left of the mini-map.

You will see the mission briefing text for the current scenario. All of the completed objectives will have a dagger through them. If the objective of the mission is to eliminate all the enemy units, then you will also see a timeline. This indicates the time until the last invasion arrives on the map. When all objectives have been met, you win and the victory screen is displayed. If the lord is killed, you lose and the defeat screen is displayed.

1.7 Playing a Multi-player Game.

You can start a stronghold multiplayer game either via Gamespy Arcade(tm) matchmaking service or by setting up a local connection.

a) Looking for a game on Gamespy Arcade(tm)

Launch Gamespy Arcade and move to the Stronghold lobby. Here you can find other players to compete against. Once all the players are ready the host will launch the game and you will be sent into the Stronghold multi-player options screen.

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Note: You can autorun Gamespy Arcade from within the Stronghold multiplayer Service Provider screen in which case Stronghold will exit and Gamespy Arcade will start, re-launching Stronghold once you have chosen your opposition.

b) Setting up a local connection

Clicking on Multiplayer in the Combat Options screen brings you to the Service Provider screen. Here you will see the list of available connection methods installed on your machine. Click on your preferred method and follow the on screen instructions to connect. One player will host the game and the remaining players can join the game set up by the host.

After you have connected to a multi-player game you will arrive in the multiplayer options screen. If you have joined a game you should signal you are ready to start the game by clicking on the ready icon. You can then tell the host which type of game you would like to play by using the chat window, but you cannot set any of the game parameters as only the host has control over these.

Players Connected - Here you can see a list of connected players along with their ready status. All players must be set to ready before the game is launched. You can also set your team number here. By default each player plays separately but you can ally together by clicking on your team number to match that of another player. Being in an alliance with another player means that your troops will not attack each other and you will win the game if the victory conditions are met jointly.

If you are hosting the game you can now change any of the default game type options below:

Starting keep - In a multiplayer game each player starts with a pre-placed keep. This option allows the host to change the type of keep each player starts with. Changing this will also change the level of buildings, troops and starting goods available. The simple Saxon Hall provides an early medieval game with few resource and troops types available. The most advanced is the Stronghold, which gives you access to all late medieval troops and technology.

Gold - This allows you to set the initial gold each player begins the game with.

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Popularity - This option sets the starting popularity rating.

Trade - From here you can turn the options to trade on or off for the ‘Resources’, ‘Food’ and ‘Weapons’ categories.

Win Conditions - This allows you to change the way in which the game is won. E.g. killing the enemies lords or achieving an economic goal.

Starting Goods - This lets you set the initial food, resources and weapons each player begins the game with. The available goods will differ depending upon the keep type you have selected.

Starting Troops - This changes the amount of troops that each player starts with. If you want a longer build up before the first battle then set this to 'none'. If you prefer jumping straight into the action, change this setting to 'many'.

Chat Window - You can send messages to the other connected players from here by typing a message and then pressing return.

Map Selection - The maps available will differ depending upon your keep setting and the number of players joining. Maps can be selected from the bottom right window. You will see an overview of the selected map appear in the top right window and a short description of the map below it.

When every player is ready and you are happy with the game settings, the game can be launched by pressing the ‘Launch’ button.

In Game Chat

During the course of a multiplayer game you can send messages to other players by bringing up the chat entry panel. You do this by pressing the Space bar. Before you start entering your message you need to decide who to send your message to. The default is to everyone, but if you wish to send a message to a specific player, pressing the number keys will select an individual player as the recipient. Once you have typed your message, press ‘Enter’ to send it. If you want to cancel the message press the ‘Escape’ key.

For any updates to the Stronghold multiplayer game, please refer to the ‘Readme’ file.

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1.8 Map Editor Overview.

After selecting the ‘Map Editor’ button, you will be presented with four additional options.

Load a Map - This option allows you to load and edit a previously saved map.

New Stand-Alone Map - From here you can create a new siege, invasion, economic or landscape map complete with it's own map and scenario. The 'To Map' button will take you to the map-editing screen and the 'Edit Scenario' button will let you change the various events and conditions for the mission. Follow the step-by-step instructions to select the map size and game type you wish to create.

Note: The game type you select, determines where the map will appear in the game. For example choosing to create an invasion map will make the map show up under the ‘Combat Invasion’ category.

New Siege That Mission - This part of stronghold allows you test your castle building expertise against that of other would be challengers to your crown! Everybody starts with the same resources and builds a castle using a fixed amount of stone and troops. Attackers then have a set amount of points to choose the make up of their attacking force in an attempt to siege your stronghold and kill your lord. Your castle can then be judged by how well it survived or how easily it fell.

New Multi-Player Map - From here you can create a map for you and your friends to fight over. When you enter the map editing screen there are extra options for placing the players starting keeps and structures. The number of keeps you place on the map dictates the maximum number of players that can use the map and the type of keep you place will set the 'Starting Keep' type (see section 1.7 on multiplayer games).

Once in the map editor you will have at your disposal an array of landscape editing tools and a custom scenario builder to enable you to create the most beautiful map or the ultimate mission.

You may share these missions for the purposes of game play but may not sell or make other commercial uses of the missions. Firefly Studios Ltd. reserves all other rights to the editors and files.

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2.0 Game Basics.

This section will take you through all of the main features within Stronghold. If you rarely play computer games, it is recommended that you go through the in-game tutorial by selecting the tutorial shield. If you play computer games regularly, then scan this chapter to familiarize yourself with the basics.

2.1 Main Screen Overview and Navigating the Map.

After starting a new game the screen will look something like this:

To scroll around the map, push the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen. As you scroll around, the overhead mini-map will move with you.

Tip: You can also use the cursor keys to scroll around the map. Another way to get to a specific location is by left clicking on the overhead mini-map in the bottom right of the screen.

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2.2 Camera Interface.

When you press and hold the right mouse button on the main display you will see the four camera interface icons appear.

To Rotate the Map:

Move the mouse pointer upwards onto the rotate icon, it will highlight and the map will rotate ninety degrees. The map will continue to rotate if you leave your mouse over the rotate icon and won't stop until you release the right mouse button.

To Zoom:

Holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse pointer over the zoom icon, will zoom out your view, allowing you to see more of the map. Repeating the process will zoom back in again.

To see behind things:

Moving the mouse pointer downwards onto the flatten icon will pull the landscape, trees, walls and some buildings down to the same level. Releasing the button will make the landscape spring back up.

Hint: This feature will prove very useful later on when you want to peek behind walls!

To hide the Management Panel:

Moving the mouse pointer over the icon to the left hides the management panel and makes the game go full screen. To bring the management panel back up, repeat the process.

Tip: You can also use the tab key to hide the management panel.

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2.3 Placing your Keep.

You must place your starting keep and a granary on the map before any other buildings become available. To construct a building, select it from the building selection scroll at the bottom of the screen then left click on the main display when you are happy with it's position.

Note: If you happen to place a structure over an area of inaccessible ground, part of the cursor will turn red warning you that you cannot build there.

Once the keep is placed a lot of things will start happening. One of the first things you'll see is you starting resources being transferred from your starting goods onto your stockpile.

These resources are now available for you to use in construction.

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2.4 Population Growth.

In addition to the keep and the stockpile you will see a campfire. Moving the mouse pointer over it will reveal the population growth indicator.

The more popular you are, the faster it will fill and the quicker your population will grow. Every time the indicator makes one full rotation, a peasant will arrive and stand by the campfire until work becomes available. If the halo turns red it means that you are unpopular. The halo will then show how quickly people are leaving your castle.

2.5 Rationing and the Granary.

When you build a granary the food in your starting goods will be transferred to it. Left clicking on the granary will bring up the granary panel.

Note: Left clicking on any building or person will bring up a screen giving you more information on them. Right clicking after placing a building will clear the building cursor and give you back the standard mouse cursor.

This panel lets you see your food details and allows you to make changes to your rationing. On the right of this panel there are five plates with varying amounts of food on them, which symbolize the different ration settings from 'no rations' up to 'double rations'. Reducing you rations below the default of 'full rations' will have a negative effect on your popularity, whereas increasing them will have a positive effect. You will see the rate of consumption by watching the speed of the bar in the granary panel or by looking at the units of food disappear from your granary.

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2.6 Setting Taxes.

Left clicking on your keep will bring up the tax panel, which lets you view your tax details and change your tax rate. You can set your taxes to anything from a generous bribe all the way up to a downright cruel tax by moving the slide bar left or right. Increasing your tax rate above the default setting of 'no taxes' will have a negative effect on your popularity and reducing taxes to hand out bribe money will have a positive effect.

2.7 Popularity in Brief.

The scribe holding up an open book allows you to see critical information at a glance.

The expression on his face reflects your popularity and he will also let you know what he thinks about some of your actions!

Left clicking on the report book will bring up the reports panel.

Left clicking on the ‘Popularity’ button will show all information regarding your popularity.

At the bottom of the panel, after the words 'In the coming month' you will see the overall effects of your actions on castle popularity for the coming month. Making changes to your tax rate and rationing are the two main ways of manipulating your popularity. Ensure your popularity rating remains above 50, otherwise people will begin leaving your castle.

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If your scribe stops smiling and your popularity rating starts being displayed in red, you will begin to lose workers. Your popularity will be displayed in red if it is below 50 and displayed in green if it is 50 or higher.

Tip: Listen for announcements from your advisor. He will let you know if you are running into any problems.

2.8 Gathering Food and Resources.

Running along the bottom left of the screen you will notice six shields.

These are the building category buttons, which change the type of buildings displayed on the building selection scroll above them. Moving your mouse pointer over these shields will highlight them and bring up a brief description of the button above the building selection scroll.

Tip: If you can't work out the function of any of the icons in the game, move your mouse pointer over the icon and it's description will appear.

The most basic resource in the game is wood, as it is required in the construction of almost every building. Left clicking on the shield with the picture of a hammer will select the ‘Industry Buildings’ category.

When you place a woodcutter's hut on the map a peasant will turn into a woodcutter and get to work cutting down trees.

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A quick and easy way to gain food early on is by hunting deer by building hunter's huts found in the ‘Farm Buildings’ category.

Once the meat is prepared they will place it in your granary, swelling your food stocks. You should always be aiming to balance the rate at which you consume food with the rate at which it is being put into your granary.

Undo - If you change your mind when placing a structure, left click on the ‘Undo’ button to the left of the mini-map and you're last action will be cancelled. All of the resources will be recovered.

Delete - To remove a structure from your settlement, left click on the ‘Delete’ button to the left of the mini-map then select the structure you wish to remove. Half of the resources spent in construction will be recovered.

2.9 Increasing your Population.

To increase your available housing, build more hovels found in the ‘Town Buildings’ category.

Your available housing will increase by eight and your settlement will continue to grow, but so of course will the mouths to feed.

Recap:

• Use the camera interface and mini-map to help you find a suitable location for your settlement.

•The keep and granary must be placed before any other buildings become available.

•Popularity is your key game variable.

•Changing your tax rate and rationing will influence your popularity.

•Make sure you start gathering wood and food early on.

•Build more housing to increase your population, keeping an eye on your food supply and popularity as you expand.

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3.0 Influencing your Popularity.

This chapter will take you through each of the factors, which govern your popularity. These are listed for you when you open the popularity panel from the report menu.

To the left of each is a face. A green smiling face means that you will have a positive effect for that factor. A yellow face shows that

there is no effect and the red sad face represents a negative effect. When added together the sum of these reflect either a bonus or penalty to your overall popularity. This number is shown after the words 'In the coming month'. There are a total of seven ways to effect popularity with the two main factors being food and tax.

3.1 Food.

Changing your rationing is one of the quickest ways to influence your popularity. Both the number of food types eaten and your ration setting affect your food bonus or penalty. These separate influences can be seen in the granary panel.

Your people will be happier with you if you supply them with more than 1 type of food. Less than full rations hurts your popularity, while increasing your rations boosts it. The bonuses and penalties from food types eaten and rationing are as follows:

Food Types Eaten	Bonus to Popularity		Rations	Bonus to Popularity
1	0		None	-8
2	+1		Half	-4
3	+2		Full	0
4	+3		Extra	+4
			Double	+8

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3.2 Tax.

The people of Stronghold do not enjoy paying taxes so any positive tax rate you set will have a negative effect on your popularity.

When you have sufficient gold in your treasury you may decide to give your peasants a handout in the form of bribe money each month.

Doing this will have a positive effect on your popularity.

Hint: You will find bribery proves useful when you are running low on food. Change your rations to half then hand out bribe money to offset the worst of the penalty until you find a way of restoring your granary stock.

The table below shows the popularity bonuses and penalties that you will receive from the various tax settings.

Generous	Large	Small	No Taxes	Low	Average	High	Mean	Extortionate	Downright
Bribe	Bribe	Bribe		Taxes	Taxes	Taxes	Taxes	Taxes	Cruel
									Taxes
+7	+5	+3	+1	-2	-4	-6	-8	-12	-16

Note: Attempting to give out bribe money when your treasury is empty will not have any effect on popularity.

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3.3 Crowding.

Your keep provides you with some starter housing for your people, after which you need to place houses to increase your maximum population level. Each house provides shelter for another 8 people. Crowding will occur when your population exceeds your available housing. The population indicator will turn red if you have an overcrowding problem.

Overcrowding may occur if a house is deleted or destroyed by the enemy. To remedy overcrowding, simply build more housing.

3.4 Fairs and Other Events.

Occasionally, during the course of the game, traveling fairs will pay surprise visits to your castle and provide entertainment. Whilst they are in town you will gain a temporary bonus to popularity.

Other events such as the marriage of your lord will also occur, bringing temporary changes to your current popularity. These are added bonuses that you have no control over.

3.5 Religion.

When a religious building is placed, priests will arrive and begin blessing your people.

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By opening the religion panel from the advisors report menu, you can see the percentage of people who have been blessed as well as the bonus you are receiving to popularity.

The blessing given by the priest wears off after a short while, at which point that person must be blessed again. Covering the religious needs of the community, therefore, is a continual process. The higher the percentage of blessed people, the higher the bonus you will receive to your popularity.

As your castle population grows the percentage of your people blessed will start to fall, thus lowering your bonus. To rectify this you will need to place extra religious buildings. Be warned however as your community grows, people will start demanding ever more impressive (and expensive) religious structures and failure to provide these buildings will result in a popularity drop.

The religious buildings available can be seen in the town buildings category.

3.6 Working Inns.

A working inn is one with a supply of ale and an innkeeper. The innkeeper will collect ale from the stockpile and deliver it to the inn automatically. Once ale is available at an inn, your people will start to drink it. The rate at which ale is drunk depends on your population. The more people you have the faster it will be consumed. To check to see if an inn is working, select it and look at it's panel.

This panel shows how many barrels and flagons of ale the inn has in stock. For each working inn, (i.e. one that still has ale) you will gain a bonus of plus 1 to your popularity. Ale is drunk from each inn at the same rate regardless of its location. Inns are in the 'Food Processing Buildings' category.

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3.7 Fear Factor.

Fear factor lets you know how people see you, as either cruel and ruthless or easy going and forgiving. Your fear factor determines how productive your workers are. Placing good things around your castle will make you seem easy going and increase your popularity, but at the same time will reduce your workers efficiency.

Constructing some gardens in the castle for example will make everyone happy, but you will find that they tend to loiter about at the gardens after delivering their goods, instead of heading straight back to work.

To see these structures left click on the ‘Good Things’ button in the 'Town Buildings' category.

On the other hand, you may wish to appear more cruel and ruthless. You can increase work efficiency by placing bad structures around your castle. This will unsurprisingly have a negative effect on your popularity. Placing a few gallows for example may not be the most popular of decisions, but it has the effect of encouraging people to work that extra bit harder. They will even start to deliver extra goods when they make deliveries to the stockpile, granary or armory.

To see these structures, left click on the ‘Bad Things’ button in the 'Town Buildings' category.

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4.0 Food and Resources.

This section will take you through how to manage your food and resources. In Stronghold, there are three types of goods available:

·Food

·Resources

·Weaponry

Note: For information on weaponry, see section 6.1.

Upon starting a new game you will see a cart travel across the top of the screen. This signals the arrival of your starting goods.

Your starting goods are displayed in the top left of the main display, until you provide space for them by building a stockpile, granary or armory.

4.1 The Stockpile.

All of the resources you gather or produce will be placed on the stockpile. Each stockpile square can hold up to four resource types.

You can gauge the approximate amounts of resources you have by simply looking at the stockpile. To see the exact amount of each resource left click on the stockpile.

Tip: You can also use the ‘Stores’ button from the advisors report menu to get to the same panel.

When you run out of space, extra stockpile squares can be added to your original stockpile. Any additional stockpile squares must be placed adjacent to your original stockpile.

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Hint: It is a good idea to leave some space around you stockpile in case you need to expand it later in the game.

4.2 Resources.

In total, there are eight resource types, which are stored in your stockpile. Some are raw materials and others are processed.

Wheat: This grows on your wheat farms and is at the start of the most productive food chain in Stronghold. Wheat is required to make flour.

Flour: This is produced at the mill and requires wheat. Flour is required to bake bread.

Hops: These grow on your hop farms. If you want to brew ale, you will first need to grow hops.

Ale: This is produced at the brewery and requires a supply of hops. When ale is finally distributed through your inns, you will gain a bonus to your popularity.

Stone: The quarries that extract this from the ground must be placed on the white boulders. Stone is required for building most of the castle defensive structures.

Iron: The mines, which extract this, must be placed on the reddish colored rocks found on the tops of hills. You will need iron to craft the more advanced weapon and armor types.

Wood: This is gathered by woodcutters and is used in the construction of most buildings. It can also be used to craft basic weapon types.

Pitch: You will find this bubbling up through marshes. Once you have placed a pitch rig on some oil in the marsh, pitch diggers will extract pitch. Pitch is used for boiling oil and pitch ditches.

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