From co-op trails and map packs, to new Lords and custom editors, the power is in your hands to play how you want and with whomever you want!

There’s no better way or time to play this revamped desert hot strategy classic!

Following his debut in Stronghold: Definitive Edition’s Jewel Campaign, The Sergeant has journeyed across the sands to face you in glorious battle! A veteran of great military renown, his confidence lies in commanding his troops; consisting largely of archers and well-armoured pikemen. His strongholds are sturdy and efficient, and his strategies are balanced in both aggression and defence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSRajzCX6Ao

After clawing her way to leadership within her bandit camp, the second DLC Lord, The Lioness, has strength in every sense of the word; solid castles with some sneaky traps, a healthy economy, and hostile tactics to claim her territory. Will you best the queen of the deep sands? Or shall you become her next meal?

https://steamhost.cn/app/3030350/Stronghold_Crusader_Definitive_Edition__The_Sergeant__The_Lioness/

In this patch we are happy to be able to bring you Multiplayer System Improvements, alongside other fixes. Happy besieging!

MULTIPLAYER and CO-OP

• We have fixed a bug causing crashes during Multiplayer, as well as a bug causing resyncs. This fix also affects co-op. A huge thank you to the following players, who were instrumental in helping with testing the fixes: LORDST, -Arno from Iran, Marco, TheRevenantSkull aka.Gympie5, Mr.Pretext, Tryndamere, Gynt, SeanB, Luca aka.RealQuality, Nigel, Megz

  Please note that you will only see Multiplayer lobbies of other players on the exact same version of the game as you. People make sure you're on the latest version if you'd like to play Multiplayer.

  ---

CHANGES

• 'Display Enemy Health' option has been removed from multiplayer due to it causing a bug

BUG FIXES

• Fixed issue where the incorrect gold cost for Laddermen would display when “Improved Laddermen” setting was enabled

• Fix issue where CPU Lords would occasionally use the wrong Castle Design in small spaces

Map and Mission Specific Fixes:

• Fixed issue where CPU Lords’ Castles would be broken in the map Conquest, when the Pre-Built Enemy Castles setting was enabled

• Fixed issue where a Jester was spawning in the player keep, then instantly being killed, in the map Conquest

Localisation Fixes:

• Improvements to the “Left to Right” Setting available in the Arabic version of the game

• There was an error in the previous patch preventing one of the fixes mentioned above from taking effect, this has now been resolved

We recently opened the gates and unleashed the first major update for Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition. The Autumn Update as well as The Canary & The Trader DLC added a wealth of new gameplay content, improvements and customisation options for every kind of Stronghold player.

The work doesn't stop there however! Today we're releasing the latest patch for Crusader DE, bringing more fixes and enhancements to your castle-building and besieging experience!

MULTIPLAYER

• In response to feedback from players struggling to play Multiplayer Matches, we have changed the way the game interacts with the Steam Multiplayer Servers, and also made the game latency tolerance significantly wider. 

• Additionally, we have fixed a bug which was causing players to instantly be kicked at the start of a multiplayer match

IMPROVEMENTS TO DLC 1 CPU LORDS - CANARY & TRADER

• The Canary has gained an engineers guild, allowing her to build catapults when sieging or harassing. We've also increased the number of troops she uses for attacks.

• In one castle the Trader built his wells outside the walls, where they were not accessible if the gatehouses were closed. These are now reachable from the inside.

—

ADDITIONS

• Added Advanced Option “Weakened Eunuchs” to Multiplayer and Custom Skirmish. When enabled, Eunuchs cost more to buy, do less damage and have less health

• CPU Lords Frederick and The Marshal will now buy weapons across all game modes, including the Original Trails

• Added shortcut to open Cathedral/Grand Mosque for troop creation, this defaults to Alt-B 

• Added “No Starting Gold” option to Multiplayer and Custom Skirmish. This only applies to Human Players and does not affect the CPU Lords.

• Added “Blank” Coat of Arms Ordinary

• Added a button allowing for export of the current Coat of Arms. Button is to the right of “Coat of Arms” Menu Title

• The Maps used in Mission 4 of “The Barons Crusade”, The Jordan Valley and Mission 5 of “The Seventh Crusade”, Conquest, have now been added to Custom Skirmish

• Added Option to Load maps from inside the Map Editor

• Prevented spamming via the Ally panel in Multiplayer (You will now only receive one text and audio notification every 30 seconds)

CHANGES

• Mangonels in the original Stronghold Crusader shot at pretty much everything except walls. We have updated the Mangonel behaviour to match this

• Units set to aggressive stance would previously struggle to chase after moving troops and actually attack them. This behaviour has now been improved

• Replaced the death sounds for the Female Lords

• Changed Insult Hotkeys to match the Crusader HD Default Keybinds

• Previously when the Crocodile CPU Lord is panicking, he would recall all of his Ambushers to the top of his keep. They will now instead hold their positions around his Castle, waiting to surprise attackers

• On maps with Oasis near Keeps, the CPU would place their farms right next to their keeps, and then overwrite them with their Castles. Now, where possible, the farms should be placed outside of the footprint of the castle that will be built

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug around how CPU Lords would over prioritise building Hop Farms when deciding what type of farm to build

• Fixed a bug where CPU Lords wouldn’t use Ladders if their Keep is enclosed

• Fixed a bug that caused the Wolf CPU Lord to be unable to fill siege tents when defending his keep. 

• Fixed a bug that would cause Units to stop digging moat, and idle in the moat indefinitely

• Fixed a bug that, when inviting a friend to a Co-Op match, when they are already in a mission, would cause a crash or for the friend not to be moved to the Co-Op Lobby

• Fixed a bug where a CPU Lord would destroy their oil smelter while panicking, leaving an undestroyable patch of grass on the map (preventing the oil smelter from being rebuilt), and trap them in an iron buying loop

• Fixed a bug where CPU Lords would get stuck deleting and replacing their own buildings when the “Prebuilt Enemy Castles” Setting is enabled 

• Fixed a bug where some CPU Lords would sometimes not build their Castles when “Prebuilt Enemy Castles” Setting is enabled 

• Fixed a bug where, when “Prebuilt Enemy Castles” Setting is enabled, the CPU would struggle to build over the ruins of outposts

• Fixed a bug with one of Frederick’s Castles, which was missing a wall, preventing him sending units to some of his towers

• Fixed a bug with one of the Abbot’s Castles, which was missing a tile of moat leaving a path open straight into his keep

• Fixed a bug that linked Extreme Power Hotkeys 7 and 8, they are now separate

• Fixed a bug where the “Restart Mission” menu option would sometimes not appear

• Fixed a bug where the “Reset All Missions” Setting in the Cheat Menu would not remove progress properly

• Fixed a bug where the “Reset All Missions” Setting in the Cheat Menu would then not allow you to load any missions without closing and reopening the game

• Fixed a bug where the load/save requester wouldn’t show Campaign Saves correctly (they were showing as Invasion Maps)

• Fixed a bug where teaming Player/CPU 1 with Player/CPU 8 would create a team of 3 players, instead of 2

• Fixed an issue where if a map had extra stockpiles, then they would interfere with CPU placement and the CPU would delete its stockpile along with its resources

• Fixed a bug where, when playing Sands of Time with Timer Functionality disabled, completing the mission would not be reflected correctly on the map and mission list, which would show chickens instead. (Unfortunately, for the map display the fix will only apply from now on - previously completed missions will still display chickens, and the mission will need to be beaten again for it to update)

• Fixed a bug causing incorrect music to play when beating a Historical Campaign, in the “Aftermath” Screen

• Fixed a bug with the Tar animation in marshes, where Tar bubbles would get stuck and not disappear

• Fixed a bug where the Bedouin Healer would becomes stuck in a running animation, or slides along the ground when following an injured unit in the aggressive stance

• Fixed a bug where playing the Economic Campaign “Realm of the Crocodile” would cause the Lord Type to get stuck as the Arabic Lord

• Fixed a bug where occasionally the Cathedral Bonus would be referred to as “Mosque Bonus”

Map and Mission Specific Fixes:

• Fixed issue where in Economic Campaign “Realm of the Crocodile” Missions 1 and 3, sometimes your Lord dying would not cause the mission to end

• First Edition Trail, Mission 38 - Saladin “The Kind” can now build his Market 

• First Edition Trail, Mission 43 - Rat “The Stoat” now builds a different Castle, allowing him to function properly

• First Edition Trail, Mission 44 - The Castles that the Snake and Rat built on the left hand side of the map result in The Snake getting trapped in his Castle, rendering him useless. This has now been fixed.

• Crusader Warchest Trail, Mission 53 - The Abbot no longer blocks himself in

• Historical Campaign, Crusader States, Mission 3 - the shield icon was displayed next to the player rather than the two Pig CPUs, who are in a team. This has now been fixed.

• In Economic Campaign “Realm of the Crocodile” Mission 1, the “Witchraft!” Event video was not ending correctly. This has now been fixed.

• In Economic Campaign “Realm of the Crocodile”, Monks could be hired from the Grand Mosque instead of Temple Guards. This has now been fixed.

• In Economic Campaign “Realm of the Crocodile” Mission 4, placing the armoury was disabled. This was an error and has now been fixed.

• Removed some spare land on the map “Castaways”

• Removed signpost in Custom Skirmish Map “Edessa”

Localisation Fixes:

• Added a setting in the Arabic version of the game, that allows left to right UI (the original UI layout). You will need to close and re-open the game after applying the setting to see it take effect.

• Updates across various localisations

—

Please note: you will only see Multiplayer lobbies of other players on the exact same version of the game as you. People make sure you're on the latest version if you'd like to play Multiplayer.

- Update Size: ~330MB -

The time is upon us, my Liege! Autumn has arrived and with it comes the eagerly-awaited Crusader DE Autumn Update! So dust off your armour, sharpen your steel and charge into the fray!

Battle this bloodthirsty and bitter Lord of the marshes in Custom Skirmish, or challenge his tyranny in the badlands of the Upper Nile in the new Economic Campaign, The Realm of the Crocodile.

In this Update’s Map Pack, we have added three new maps for you to besiege and battle across:

• On an island split into two halves, band together or descend into Skirmish chaos across the 600x map - Castaways

  

• Fight for control over a limited space in the PvP-style 500x Balanced Skirmish Map - Temple Island

  

• Enjoy rich resources and lush land in the 700x Freebuild map - The Thirsty Trail

  

With this update comes improved CPU Sieging Behaviour! For Multiplayer and Custom Skirmishes, this can be enabled in the advanced options section. In the Classic Trails (and in Sands of Time when the “Remove time requirements for Sands of Time trails” setting is enabled) this new behaviour is enabled when hard and very hard settings are used.

So you can Skirmish exactly the way you want, we have added a bunch of hotly requested new Advanced Settings to Custom Skirmish and Multiplayer. Pre-Built Enemy CPU Castles on match start, Uncapped Peasants, Faster Peasant Spawning, Optimised Fletchers, Rebalanced Horse Archers, and more! 

Want to experience the Campaigns with more of a challenge, or looking to make things a little easier? Difficulty Levels have been added to most Historical Campaign Missions, the Classic Trails, as well as all Sands of Time Missions. To access the Sands of Time difficulty levels, you need enable the “Remove time requirements for Sands of Time trails” setting

Want to leave your fate in the hands of the dice in a truly randomised challenge? Look no further! We have added the hotly requested Randomised Setup to Custom Skirmish. You can modify parameters to set the level of randomisation to your liking, for example, limiting the possible map pool to only Official maps, or enabling Random Advanced Options to let RNG decide which troops and buildings you’ll have access to.

You have been asking, and we have listened: We have added a brand new Coat of Arms editor, available in the settings. This new system will allow you to show the world exactly what type of Lord you are, pledge your allegiance to your favourite Crusader CPU Lords (we see you, Rat fans!), or just look very, very cool.

You can now easily set up Co-Op only games in Multiplayer, where both you and another player are automatically set to be allied against all CPU Lords. This comes with access to all the Advanced Multiplayer Settings and Maps, allowing for a heavily customisable Co-Op experience. When browsing the multiplayer lobbies, look out for the new icon representing Co-Op MP Games!

We have continued to work at improving multiplayer, and in this update we have found and fixed a cause of crashes that would occur after resyncs. We have also found and fixed a cause of continuous resyncs which would trigger at the start of a game.

Please note that you will only see Multiplayer lobbies of other players on the exact same version of the game as you. People make sure you're on the latest version if you'd like to play Multiplayer.

Hungry for more? Here are all full list of changes coming!

• The Marshal and Emperor Frederick will now purchase weapons in Custom Skirmish, Multiplayer, the Historical Campaigns new to Crusader Definitive Edition, and all Sands of Time missions

• Added Stance behaviour to the Bedouin Healer Unit: they will now move towards people slightly outside of range on their own. In Defensive Stance they will move a couple of tiles, and in Aggressive Stance they will move several tiles.

• The Healer can also now heal CPU or player Allies. This will occur by default in Co-Op, and is available as an optional setting in Multiplayer and Custom Skirmish.

• Added ability for the Co-Op host to swap the starting positions in Co-Op

• Added disabling use of Moat, as a Buildings setting in the Multiplayer Advanced Settings

• Added “Attack Here” hotkey

• Added an option in Freebuild mode, enabling Defeat upon your Lord dying.

• Added a notification pip to the "talk to allies" button, to show when you have received an ally request

• Added a new “add random CPU Lord” button when selecting CPU Lords in Custom Skirmish and Multiplayer 

• Added a notification of when you have hit the unit cap, but try to make more troops

• Added buttons allowing you to hide Co-Op trail progress with other Players & CPU Lords

• Added more rollover descriptions to settings in the Advanced Options in Multiplayer Lobbies

• Added a setting to mute all text from other players, at all points in the game

• Added a popup to confirm you want to disband your troops, to avoid accidentally disbanding your entire army at critical moments. This popup can be disabled if unwanted.

• Added a notification when trying to select a military building during peacetime

• New Map Editor hotkey added: The "Editor Show Connections" hotkey defaults to alt-C, and shows connection zones on the tile map. This allows the map creator to easily see what's connected and what's not.

• Engineers will now making a digging SFX when digging moats

• The Abbot no longer destroys his Cathedral when panicking

• Changes to how moat and walkable vegetation (shrubs/cacti) interacts: In game, moat placement will not remove it, but the pre-moat will go over them. When moat is dug, it will remove walkable veg. In the Map Editor, moat placement will remove walkable veg.

• Updated the UI of Weapons Buildings, to make it very clear that you can shift+click to change the weapon production output across ALL buildings of that type at once (if you didn’t know, now you know!)

• Enabling the “Remove time requirements for Sands of Time trails” setting now also allows cheat keys to be used during Sands of Time (note that this setting also disables leaderboard placement/functionality!)

• Updated the campaign map illustrations for the Historical Campaign “Saladin’s Conquest”, to better represent the factions involved

• Updated Objectives of Skirmish-Style Historical Campaign Missions

• Added a sound effect when adding gold in Freebuild

• Tweaked the Freebuild Setup Panel

• In a previous update, we fixed a visual Bug when placing rocks over walls - however, this bug could be used by Map Designers to create some very cool visual effects! This is now back in, in a slightly different way: if you hold shift as you place the rock, it will create the 'bug' visual effect

• Fixed an issue with the order in which the CPU Lords would sell goods, which would then negatively affect their economy

• Fixed a bug where the bodies of dead Units would be left on the ground after they were killed, which in some cases caused crashes

• Fixed a bug where more troops could be hired than intended in non-extreme games, surpassing the Unit Cap

• Fixed a bug where loading a save made just a few seconds after a mission started, would trigger a defeat

• Fixed an issue where, when commanding troops, the FPS would drop significantly and the troops would slow down

• Fixed bug that would cause the game to close when inviting a friend who does not have the game open to a multiplayer match.

• Fixed visual for Fire Ballista destruction in multiplayer

• Fixed a gap in the UI of the main HUD

• Fixed a bug in the Map Editor that made it look as though certain very steep slopes were traversable by troops, when they were actually not routable

• Fixed a bug causing Co-Op Mission 5 to crash

• Fixed a bug where The Kings Crusade Mission 5, “Jaffa Recaptured”, would sometimes not end

• In Mission 59 of the Classic Trails, the Abbot's Castle would be blocked in when his moat was completed. This has now been fixed.

• One of the Lionheart’s Castles was missing Ballista, this has now been fixed

• The Classic Trail Completion Video was not affected by the volume settings. This is now fixed.

• Fixed a bug where clicking continue on a final mission on Skirmish Masters wouldn’t play the Trail Completion Video

• Fixes across multiple Localisations

• In one Castle layout, the Canary was not building storage for weapons. This has now been fixed.

• Fixed a cause of resyncs when a player leaves during a Multiplayer Match

• Reduced disconnects by adjusting the latency handling in Multiplayer

• Fixed a bug where the load/save requester wasn't showing Campaign Saves correctly

Known Issue: We are aware of a bug that causes Economic Campaign Mission 1 & 3 to not trigger the mission to end when the player Lord dies. A fix for this will be coming in a full patch soon.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3024040/Stronghold_Crusader_Definitive_Edition/

Greetings Sire! The much anticipated free Autumn Update & paid DLC for Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition will be coming on October 14th!

Prepare to march with your brethren in arms against with the brutal Crocodile as well as the cunning Canary and the tricky Trader in ONE WEEK.

The Crocodile arrives part of the free update, with the Canary and the Trader being part of the separate DLC. Each brings their own distinctive playstyle and unique characteristics to the battlefront.

https://steamhost.cn/app/3030340/Stronghold_Crusader_Definitive_Edition__The_Canary__The_Trader/

Well met, my Liege! A huge thank you to everyone who helped to test the Multiplayer Improvements in our Public Beta. Today we are happy to bring these Improvements to the full game in v1.05, alongside other fixes and changes.

Date: 4th September 2025

- Update Size: 180MB -

• Reduced lag between clicking and seeing your action take effect

• Fewer resyncs

Please note that you will only see Multiplayer lobbies of other players on the exact same version of the game as you. People make sure you're on the latest version if you'd like to play Multiplayer.

• Added 77 new “Place Building” Hotkeys

• Added a setting to disable any time-based functionality (timers, leaderboards, etc)  in Sands of Time, so you can play it like a regular trail if desired

•  Upgraded the Portcullis visual in the Skirmish Teams Table Screen

• Healers and Slaves now show no-attack symbol when targeting walls

• Improved the Healer's animations when running and healing

• Increased Arabic Swordsmen damage against buildings/walls to the correct values

• Updated loading screen

• Reworked the look of the Stockpile

• Removed uncoloured gap between coloured team chunks in the Team Table screen in Custom Skirmish

• Updated Keep and Stockpile UI Sprites to match the new in-game visuals

• Fixed the cause of an issue causing big FPS drops and 'Rubberbanding Units', which would persist in the save file

• Fixed issue where changed Autotrade values would sometimes revert to a previously set value

• The CPU Lords would get stuck in a loop of buying and selling the same resources in quick succession, with big negative effects on their economy. This has now been fixed.

• Fixed issue where CPU Lords would overbuild Siege Engines, causing them to continuously place new siege tents

• Fixes to some CPU Castles (Based on the issues listed in Evrey's Modded Stronghold Crusader AIVs)

• The Abbot would sometimes place double Ballistas in his towers, this is now fixed

• The Abbot could hire Monks from the Barracks, this is now fixed

• Fixed issue where Tunneler Troops would be visible and targetable aboveground when they should be in tunnels

• Fixed issue where a CPUs attacking Siege Engines would move too close to enemy Castles

• Mounted units should no longer get stuck on walls

• Fixed issue where you could only send the Assassins short distances

• Fixed issue where assassins were trying to travel through Gatehouses rather than take a direct route (over walls)

• Fixed issue with CPU Unit behaviour when trying to route through Gatehouse

• Fixed issue where Lancer Knights would (visually) become Swordsman Knights when galloping

• Fixed issue where the animations of Mounted Archers would get stuck when targeting troops on walls

• Temple Guard Rally Point Flag now no longer displays Monks

• During Skirmish Setup, it was possible to place a player in an invalid player slot in the very top left of maps, which would result in the player dying instantly at the start of the game. This has now been fixed.

• Fixed issue where if a keep was too close to the edge of the map, the player positioning selection would break

• Fixed issue where if two Keeps were too close together, the CPUs could build over a player’s Keep, destroying it

• The Genie speech now does not interfere with the Lord speech when adding a CPU Lord in Skirmish Setup

• Fixed issue where a Custom Skirmish would not end, even after all CPU Lords had been defeated

• Fixed issue where the Stockpile’s deletion cursor trigger zone

• Fixed visual bug which would occur for a few seconds when placing gatehouses

• Fixed CPU Lords spamming goods requests after you deny them

• The in-game timer now starts after exiting the briefing screen, time spent in the briefing screen is no longer counted on the timer

• Fixed issue where an engineer pushing a fire ballista would change the colour of his hat

• Added the missing Tooltips for some Siege Tent Rollovers

• Added the missing Help Button to the Fire Ballista's Siege Tent

• Fixed the trigger conditions for the Almost Impressive Achievement

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map Distant Encounters

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map The Bulls Eye (affecting Mission 25: The Forgotten)

• The Marshal now functions correctly in Classic Trail, Mission 64

• Fixed a crash that could be experienced when loading a save of First Edition Trail, Mission 3: This Dusty Land 

• Fixed an issue where the game would freeze when playing Mission 49, The Mother of All Wars

• In the map editor when playing at low FPS, terrain would sometimes be placed automatically over the button area when placing terrain elsewhere. This has now been fixed.

• Removed buildings present in Stronghold: Definitive Edition, but not Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition, from the Buildings Availability list in the Scenario Editor

• Fixed the cutoff Ruins Icons in the UI

• Updates to Polish, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Hungarian and German Localisations

We have been testing Multiplayer System Improvements in a Public Beta over the last week. This has been successful in reducing lag/action delay, but we have decided to extend this Beta to September 4th, to test the further improvements brought to you in today's update.

A big thank you to everyone who has helped us to test these improvements to the Multiplayer System! Without your help we would not have been able to discover the causes of Resyncs that we have now been able to fix with this update.

The final day for the Beta Test will be the 4th September, with the improvements released to the full game shortly afterwards.

In this update, your system will generate an "internal log" during Multiplayer Games. This can be found in the settings folder, and is simply called "internal".

If you and other players experience significant resyncs during a Multiplayer game, it would be incredibly helpful if you could send these logs to us.

Please try and coordinate to include some kind of common title, such as "Logs from x_TheRat_x game" when sending these, so that we can tell which game different logs from different players are from. The more of you that send your logs during a game, the higher chance we can identify the cause of resyncs.

• In the official Discord Server[discord.gg] to the Internal Log Sharing Post [discord.com]

• If you don't want to use Discord, [url]to support here[/url] - please ensure you include "Multiplayer Public Beta" in the ticket

This is a temporary measure to aid testing. Internal Logs will be disabled when we update the full game with the contents of this Beta Test.

Please Note: Outside of this Beta (in the regular game) the "resync" popup only appears if a resync has occurred for x amount of time, to prevent it appearing for tiny micro resyncs. However, for the Beta, the "only appear after x time" functionality is disabled to make it easier to identify what is lag, and what is a resync.

1. Go to your Steam Library.

2. Right-click on the game and select Properties.

3. Under the Betas tab, select Public Beta from the dropdown menu.

4. Steam will download the beta update, and then you’re ready to wage wars against your fellow Lords and Ladies!

Please note: You will only be able to play with with other players also on the Public Beta version of the game. However, you can switch between the Beta and Regular versions of the game at any time, using the dropdown menu in the Steam properties tab.

Your input is invaluable, and will help us to bring the best experience possible to Multiplayer Games! To let us know how you're finding the improvements, you can use the following methods:

• When you've had your fill of multiplayer games, please fill out this short Feedback Form. The data from this is vital and will inform further changes and improvements to the system: https://forms.gle/eFBJNdQzvPx3wy9K9

• You can additionally join our official Discord Server[discord.gg] to discuss how you're finding the Beta with other players, and report any bugs or issues experienced in the Beta

• If you don't want to use Discord, you can report bugs [url]to support here[/url] - please ensure you include "Multiplayer Public Beta" when writing this

These will be released to the Base Game in a patch (alongside the Multiplayer Improvements) once we are confident that the Multiplayer Improvements aren't having any unintended negative effects.

• Healers and Slaves now show no-attack symbol when targeting walls

• Increased Arabic Swordsmen damage against buildings/walls to the correct values

• Updated loading screen

• Some Localisation Updates

• Improved the Healer's animations when running and healing

• Fixed the cause of an issue causing big FPS drops and 'Rubberbanding Units', which would persist in the save file (This was caused by blocking a gatehouse with a stockpile)

• Fixes to some CPU Castles (Based on the issues listed in [url]Evrey's Modded Stronghold Crusader AIVs[/url])

• Fixed issue where Tunneler Troops would be visible and targetable aboveground when they should be in tunnels

• Fixed issue where Lancer Knights would (visually) become Swordsman Knights when galloping

• Fixed visual bug which would occur for a few seconds when placing gatehouses

• Fixed AI Lords spamming goods requests after you deny them

• Fixed issue where an engineer pushing a fire ballista would change the colour of his hat

• Added the missing Tooltips for some Siege Tent Rollovers

• Added the missing Help Button to the Fire Ballista's Siege Tent

• Fixed the trigger conditions for the Almost Impressive Achievement

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map Distant Encounters

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map The Bulls Eye (affecting Mission 25: The Forgotten)

• The Marshal now functions correctly in Classic Trail, Mission 64

— The CDE Team at Firefly

The time is upon us, Sire!

We’re excited to announce that our Beta Test for Improvements to the Multiplayer System is now publicly available on Steam! The Community has always been incredibly important in shaping the Stronghold legacy, and we would love for you all to jump in and help us test these improvements to the Multiplayer System!

The final day for the Beta Test is the 24th August. If all goes well, we aim to release these improvements to the full game by the end of next week.

Outside of this Beta the "resync" popup only appears if a resync has occurred for x amount of time, to prevent it appearing for tiny micro resyncs. However, for the Beta, the "only appear after x time" functionality is disabled too make it easier to identify what is lag, and what is a resync.

1. Go to your Steam Library.

2. Right-click on the game and select Properties.

3. Under the Betas tab, select Public Beta from the dropdown menu.

4. Steam will download the beta update, and then you’re ready to wage wars against your fellow Lords and Ladies!

Please note: You will only be able to play with with other players also on the Public Beta version of the game. However, you can switch between the Beta and Regular versions of the game at any time, using the dropdown menu in the Steam properties tab.

Your input is invaluable, and will help us to bring the best experience possible to Multiplayer Games! To let us know how you're finding the improvements, you can use the following methods:

• When you've had your fill of multiplayer games, please fill out this short Feedback Form. The data from this is vital and will inform further changes and improvements to the system: https://forms.gle/eFBJNdQzvPx3wy9K9

• You can additionally join our official Discord Server[discord.gg] to discuss how you're finding the Beta with other players, and report any bugs or issues experienced in the Beta

• If you don't want to use Discord, you can report bugs to support here[firefly-studios.helpshift.com] - please ensure you include "Multiplayer Public Beta" when writing this

These will be released to the Base Game in a patch (alongside the Multiplayer Improvements) once we are confident that the Multiplayer Improvements aren't having any unintended negative effects.

• Healers and Slaves now show no-attack symbol when targeting walls

• Increased Arabic Swordsmen damage against buildings/walls to the correct values

• Updated loading screen

• Some Localisation Updates

• Improved the Healer's animations when running and healing

• Fixed the cause of an issue causing big FPS drops and 'Rubberbanding Units', which would persist in the save file (This was caused by blocking a gatehouse with a stockpile)

• Fixes to some CPU Castles (Based on the issues listed in Evrey's Modded Stronghold Crusader AIVs[github.com])

• Fixed issue where Tunneler Troops would be visible and targetable aboveground when they should be in tunnels

• Fixed issue where Lancer Knights would (visually) become Swordsman Knights when galloping

• Fixed visual bug which would occur for a few seconds when placing gatehouses

• Fixed AI Lords spamming goods requests after you deny them

• Fixed issue where an engineer pushing a fire ballista would change the colour of his hat

• Added the missing Tooltips for some Siege Tent Rollovers

• Added the missing Help Button to the Fire Ballista's Siege Tent

• Fixed the trigger conditions for the Almost Impressive Achievement

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map Distant Encounters

• Removed accidental Unbuildable Tiles in Map The Bulls Eye (affecting Mission 25: The Forgotten)

• The Marshal now functions correctly in Classic Trail, Mission 64

— The CDE Team at Firefly

Good morrow, my Liege! As more and more of you have been playing, sharing and cooperating, we’ve been toiling away on another wave of updates and changes that should address some of your main concerns as well as make the whole Crusader experience smoother. It takes more than one warrior to make an army, so too does each bug report help to collectively improve the game for all. Godspeed!

- Update Size: 326MB -

"When moat can’t be placed due to high ground, the CPU Lords will now place killing pits instead (these will be free for the AI in this specific situation, so as not to cripple their economy)" functionality has been restored (it was disabled briefly in v1.042), with some tweaks.

The CPU will now place these in a random pattern rather than a checkerboard, and the maximum amount that can be placed has been capped (limited to 250 in 8v8, up to 400 in 2v2). The rebuild rate has also been reduced.

We have identified and fixed a cause of a crash that was occasionally affecting players during any games with CPU opponents.

MUTLIPLAYER: We are aware of the ongoing issues a portion of the playerbase are experiencing during Multiplayer, in relation to lag/placement delay, and resyncs. We are hoping to get further improvements to you in the next patch, and appreciate your patience while we work on this. Any multiplayer changes are a big risk so we need to make sure they are tested thoroughly before they reach players.

SAVES: We’ve made a potential fix and added additional logging to hopefully address some instances where people were not seeing saves when trying to load saved games - if you are still encountering missing saves, please send the player.log file that's in the settings folder to support here[firefly-studios.helpshift.com]

• You asked, we answered - Bedouin Troops can now be enabled in the Classic Trails! In the "Classic Trails" menu screen, at the bottom right, hit the "advanced options" button (the question mark) - there will be a checkbox to turn bedouin troops on/off.

• There is now a toggle to see ALL available Multiplayer Lobbies available globally, regardless of region. Use with caution, as joining lobbies far away from your own country could cause performance issues.

• On that note, we’ve added a country tag to the lobby list, so you can see the country of each lobby available

• Map names of Firefly Maps in the Multiplayer lobby are now translated to your own language (rather than the lobby host’s language)

• When moat can’t be placed due to high ground, the CPU Lords will now place killing pits instead (these will be free for the AI in this specific situation, so as not to cripple their economy)

• Autosave Options added to Co-Op Setup

• Added a frame around Small Mini-Map Borders for some visual flair

• Ally Shield Icons now appear on the Trail Skirmish screen mini-map

• The different Lord Types now have unique Death sounds

• Added alternate flag visuals when playing as an Arabic or Bedouin Lord

• The Fire Ballista will now smoothly rotate during movement

• Added Trail Name to the Skirmish Masters Screen

• You can now delete records from the Skirmish Masters history by right clicking

• Added a loading bar on game launch

• The Jewel has found her missing Knights! She will now use Knights to both defend and harass.

• Increased the building limit from 2k to 4k buildings. In Skirmish/Multiplayer, each player has a portion of the 4k for themselves based on the number of players. So in an 8 player game, each player can have up to 500 buildings, but in a 2 player game they can have 2000 buildings each.

• Troops can now pass through Shrubs, Bushes and Cacti (not trees!)

• The Lords have been resized to be suitably intimidating (and easier to spot)

• The gravestones of dead Arabic and Bedouin Lords, will now show a new illustration when clicked on (rather than a Christian cross)

• Improvements to the Co-Op “load save” system (including the addition of a load button to load single player Saves)

• Fixed multiple issues regarding the Fire Ballista: it would sometimes perform its firing animation, but not actually release a bolt. They will also now shoot over walls correctly, and also not get stuck shooting at walls repeatedly.

• Fixed issues with the targeting of CPU Fire Ballistas

• Improvements to CPU logic over long distances

• Tweaks to the CPUs handling of buildings in dangerous areas', which should lessen the build/destroy loop they sometimes get stuck in

• The Jewel would never enter “Harass Mode”, this is now fixed so prepare yourselves!

• Fixed issue where CPU Attacker Units would randomly stop attacking walls and other structures

• Missing smoke trail visual effect has been restored for ranged Troops in ‘Extreme Mode’ when using flaming projectiles.

• Fixed issue where some Troops would become invisible, both on screen and to other Troops, while still being able to deal damage

• Fixed issue where attacking Troops would disappear on the way to attack small keeps

• Fixed issue where CPU Oil Pot Engineers would get stuck constantly moving, and so would not do their job

• Fixed issue where disabling Cow Throwing in the Multiplayer Setup Settings was not applying to the game

• The Bedouin Outpost is no longer fireproof

• Fixed Marketplace cost in Custom Scenarios (Free Markets for all!)

• The material collection count for achievements ‘Lord v. Food’, ‘Calm down, Rambo!’ and ‘No More Wood Needed’ was sometimes being carried over between games, this is now fixed

• Crocodiles and Hyenas no longer break their legs during attack animations

• Slaves now have a running animation when moving 

• Knight’s horses no longer appear as though they are moving slowly when galloping 

• Some building videos were not looping properly, this is now fixed

• Fixed issue with animation when Peasants would spawn in by the campfire

• Correct Wind and Birdsong ambient noise now plays

• Genie Voicelines when settings teams or adding/removing players is less frequent, and will no longer cut itself off

• Lords will now consistently make their death sound upon death (including when killed by a ranged attack)

• Fixed issue where Campaign Menu buttons would sometimes play music rather than progressing menu screens

• Drunkards will no longer get stuck at the campfire after being built over

• Removed unnecessary Engineers Guild from the Nomad’s Castles

• The Emir was sometimes building an armourer instead of an armoury, this has now been fixed

• The Wolf would sometimes block off his Engineers guild and other buildings, and then destroy them. He will now build this Castle slightly differently to prevent this

• The Saladin will no longer build his armoury directly in front of one of his gatehouses, blocking entry/exit (what was he thinking?!)

• Fixes to Classic Trails Missions 11, 12, 21, 28, 45, 46, 47, 65 & 67

• Fixes to Crusader Extreme Trail Missions 5, 8, 17, 19 & 20

•  Skirmish Masters Screen now correctly displays Sands of Time Mission Names (this will not apply retroactively, only for new entries)

• Skirmish Masters Screen will now correctly display the background for the Lord that you were playing as when the mission was completed

• Co-Op missions will now appear correctly in the Skirmish Masters Screen

• Trail Starting Dates were displaying incorrectly when cheats (chicken skips) were used, this has now been fixed

• In the Historical Campaign “Saladin’s Conquest”, the Engineers now speak Arabic

• Added Flour to the Starting Goods options

• Fixed issue were ranged Troops on towers would get stuck regrouping

• Some shrub types were invisible upon placement, this has been fixed

• The icons for Building Tools and Nature Tools were the incorrect colours, this is now fixed

• Stopped 'not enough workers available to run this building' from playing each time an additional building is placed.

• Map Name fixed for ‘Divided’

• In maps imported from Stronghold Crusader to Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition, seagulls would fly off of the map. This is now fixed.

• The following maps have had fixes: Marshy Mayhem, Armenia, Close Encounters, Hell on the Hill, The Great Lake, Crete Peninsula, Rock Face, The Valley, Height Advantage, In the Shadow, Wazirs Fortress, Three Little Pigs, Crossroads, Ultimate Victory, Swampy Island

• Updates to Simplified Chinese, French and Russian localisations

• German Localisation - fixed a speech/text mismatch for a line from the Saladin

• “Arabic”, “Arabian” and “Arab” should now be consistent across text and speech

We’re working on implementing this into the game’s settings as an optional feature, but for now:

- To disable the Sands of Time’s timer-based functionality: run the game, go into the Options menu and click "Open Settings Folder" and then exit the game. 

In the windows explorer window, open "settings.cfg" in a text editor (notepad for example) and find HideSoTTiming:False and change this to HideSoTTiming:True, and save it. Then when you run the game, Sands of Time will not show any timers or leaderboards.

Please note: you will only see Multiplayer lobbies of other players on the exact same version of the game as you. People make sure you're on the latest version if you'd like to play Multiplayer.