Stronghold Crusader Extreme Interview

Released in the latter part of 2001, Firefly Studios' Stronghold was a real-time strategy game set in the Dark Ages. It gained considerable attention for its city and castle building element, which included simulation-like aspects such as designing your own citadel, complete with inhabitants ranging from courtiers to jesters, peasants and even town drunks. Despite limited fanfare, the title became a success. As a result, Stronghold Crusader, which came out about a year later, faced considerably greater expectations. The team did not disappoint. The scenario shifted somewhat, to one based on the renowned holy wars of the 11th and 12th centuries. Taking either the European or Arabian side, players were charged with wresting control of the arid desert lands from the other. Doing so involved daunting challenges like erecting and defending medieval bastions, and laying siege to the enemy's outposts.

Following 2005's Stronghold 2, which wasn't as well received, the studio has decided to return the property to its roots with Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Slated to ship shortly, it's geared for hardcore fans of the series' style of play, especially as implemented in the first two titles, and who would like to see it taken to a far greater scale. In this regard, the developers also seem to feel it may appeal to other strategy gamers who enjoy demanding, massive battles fought by armies that can reportedly number up to 10,000 units. In addition to this new feature, which appears to provide the basis for the name, they are also implementing two more of note, outposts and tactical powers. While calling our campaign to know more sacred would be exaggerating, we were certainly keen to question Lead Designer Simon Bradbury.

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Jonric: To begin with some background, please introduce the Stronghold property. When did it originate, and what are the characteristics that make it distinctive?

Simon Bradbury: It first appeared in 2001; Eric Ouellette and I set Firefly up to make it. We had previously worked on historical city sims and also on medieval RTS games, but we decided that there was a great opportunity to combine the two in one title.

the terrain... it's pretty much the desert. This plays well to our frequent use of fire as a weapon of both defense and attack. Geographically, oases are key in the game, with players fighting over control of the fertile land

Stronghold is, I think, quite unique in that it quite naturally combines both those two genres into a single release. A kind of builder /smash it up type of game.

Jonric: What exactly is Stronghold Crusader Extreme? Is it an expansion? How did the concept arise? How soon will it be available?

Simon Bradbury: Extreme is an extension of the original Crusader; it's not an expansion pack in that it features a whole new set of gameplay. One of the most popular requests we get regarding Crusader has always been for more troops. So, we decided that by keeping the original engine, and with the advances in PC tech over the years, we could now pump masses more troops onto the battlefield... and this in itself led to the evolution of the resulting style of gameplay.

Extreme will appear on PC this June, and I challenge you to find anything similar! And it works on Vista.

Jonric: What kind of gamer will it appeal to most? Does it have any elements that will be familiar to RPG fans?

Simon Bradbury: Crusader has always been our most popular hardcore title. Personally, I think it is a great game and continue to play it often; as such, I would recommend it to anyone. It is very much a fast-paced strategy game. It isn't, however, an RPG, whichever way you look at it.

Jonric: Since we know you're working on an action RPG, Dungeon Hero, is there any direct or "spiritual" connection is there between the two properties?

Simon Bradbury: The connection I make between the two is this... Stronghold has always had bags of life in it. In and around your castle and village, there is always something interesting going on; you simply place a few buildings and life appears.

With Dungeon Hero, we wanted to bring a fresh set of ideas to the action RPG arena, and our main one was to create a very realistic dungeon, one where goblins make stuff, have needs, run away, tend to their ill, that kind of thing. Here, we are perfectly placed to use our experience with Stronghold and other sims in order to breathe more life into the dungeon than has been previously seen in an RPG before.

Jonric: How would you summarize the overall game environment? Doe it include a story element? Is there much variety in the terrain?

Simon Bradbury: Extreme is very much a skirmish game, and so it tests the player's ability with a linear trial that players progress along, with each mission getting progressively harder. Only the strong will reach the end.

As for the terrain... it's pretty much the desert. This plays well to our frequent use of fire as a weapon of both defense and attack. Geographically, oases are key in the game, with players fighting over control of the fertile land, which they can use to feed their people.

Jonric: Does Extreme use an in-game character or avatar to represent the player? To what degree can it be personalized?

Simon Bradbury: Again, Extreme is about strategy, so a lot of the above doesn't really apply. Your representative is the lord on the map. Once he is killed, you lose the game. There are a few customizable features, however; for example, you can choose a western or Arabic lord, change his name, and post your own avatar.