Stronghold Crusader 2

Stronghold Crusader 2 (SHC2) is the successor of the 2002 game Stronghold Crusader and the latest installment in the Stronghold Series. It came out on September 23rd, 2014http://www.strongholdcrusader2.com/?p=552, with the game being available on Steam, getGames.com, The Humble Store and Amazon.http://store.steampowered.com/app/232890/
==New content==
For more information, see this link: Crusader 2 Fact sheet
Stronghold Crusader 2 introduces a lot of new content while inheriting numerous features of previous games in the franchise. New features (excluding downloadable content):
*3D Vision engine instead of a 2D engine, with similar tile-based placement of buildings and units.
*Steam support, along with friend lists and game invites between fellow users.
*An Arabic skirmish trail, resembling the Crusader Trail from Stronghold Crusader.http://t.co/aix9fYodKx
*8 AI characters with different play-styles and personalities.
**Recurring opponents: The Rat, The Wolf, The Caliph, Richard The Lionheart and Saladin.
**New opponents: The Shah, The Slave King and The Sultana.
*A selection of new unique units:
**European units: Sergeant-at-arms and the Templar Knight.
**Arab units: Whirling Dervish, Slave Driver, Sassanid Knight and the Healer.
**Siege engines: the Fire Ballista, the War Wolf and the Hussite War Wagon.
*Special abilities for some units: a whirling attack for the Dervish, a defense aura for the Sergeant-at-arms and the Slave driver(only affects slaves), and a charge ability for the Sassanid Knight, the maceman and the mounted Templar Knight.
*Multiplayer cooperative mode, which allows multiple players to work on the same castle (resembling the Castle Builder mode), in player versus computer games as well.
*Togglable dynamic events during battles, such as sandstorms disturbing vision, lightning strikes, fire, tornados and locust swarms.
*Units use tools to destroy walls instead of their standard melee attack.
*Refurbishment of the economic system.
*Unique Arabic and Crusader building styles, as players can choose their own AI character face in Skirmish mode.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_wj63ZvsD4
*New housing system based on distance from the keep (derived from Stronghold 3).
*Unit groups can take certain formations (derived from Stronghold 2). 
==Content (under construction)==
==Merchandise and debut==
Stronghold Crusader 2 has been available for purchase on Steam. The game could be pre-ordered before release, in which case ordering players received the product at a reduced price, the 'Justice' and 'Freedom Fighters' mini-campaigns, ten unique crests and a Power Pack for Stronghold Kingdoms.
Stronghold Crusader 2: Special Edition can also be ordered for more content. This order involves the above content, plus a digital artbook, a library of the game's soundtracks and a free copy of Stronghold Crusader HD on Steam. http://store.steampowered.com/app/232890/
==Development==
For the development history, see the game's development log.
Stronghold Crusader 2 has been in development since 2012 by Firefly Studios. The staff continuously collected community feedback and gradually revealed game information for 2 years before its release, in order to provide the best user experience possible. In Spring 2014, Firefly Studios pinpointed a release date of September 2nd, 2014, however bugfixes and other adjustments delayed it until the 23rd. Various bugfixes and balance changes have been released since then, mostly based upon user criticism and feedback on the official forum.
Stronghold Crusader 2 includes few expansions subsequent to the initial release, giving access to new AI characters to compete against, skirmish trails and two mini-campaigns:
*Princess and the Pig (March 20th, 2015)
*The Emperor and the Hermit (May 13th, 2015)
*The Templar and the Duke (July 1st, 2015)
*The Jackal and the Khan (November 6th, 2015)
*Stronghold Crusader 2: Delivering Justice mini-campaign (December 18th, 2015, initially remained exclusive to those who pre-ordered Stronghold Crusader 2 or those who purchased the Ultimate Edition)
*Stronghold Crusader 2: Freedom Fighters mini-campaign (Initially remained exclusive to those who pre-ordered Stronghold Crusader 2 or those who purchased the Ultimate Edition)
==Videos==
File:Stronghold Crusader II - Teaser Trailer 
File:Stronghold Crusader 2 - Gamescom 2013 Trailer
File:Stronghold Crusader II - E3 2014 Trailer
File:Stronghold Crusader II - Crusader Trailer
File:Stronghold Crusader II - Meet the Sultana 
==Gameplay screenshots==
1_ex_lrg.jpg|Blue Arabian castle
2_ex_lrg.jpg|Small red castle
3_ex_lrg.jpg|Horse archers and a ballista retailiating
4_ex_lrg.jpg|A squad of catapults advancing
5_ex_lrg.jpg|Two armies before battle
screen2.jpg|Green encampment near an oasis
screen3.jpg|Battle on a hill
screen6.jpg|Disease spread inside a castle
screen7.jpg|Arabian troops waiting at a river
Tealcastle.png|Rectangular teal castle
Yellowcastle.png|Yellow castle (resembling the Emir's castles)
Caliphcastle.png|The Caliph's castle
slave_driver_2.jpg|A group of slaves
slave_driver_3.jpg|A burning castle
==Concept arts and wallpapers==
Sc2 sword.png|Wallpaper from the official fansite
Sc2 logo.jpg|Alternative logo
assassinSC2.jpg|The recurring Assassin (concept art)
assasinclimbing.jpg|Merchandise art (with the Assassin on pic)
shc2_4.jpg|Merchandise picture (view of a preparing army)
arabsman.jpg|An Arab Swordsman (concept art)
h.jpg|The Slavedriver (concept art)
StrongholdCrusaders2.jpg|Arabian Bowman (concept art)
shc2_arabbowman.jpg|Arabian Bowman (rendered)
ballista_war_wolf.jpg|The debuting Ballista and War Wolf
sassanid_concept.jpg|The Sassanid Knight (concept art)
desert_castle.jpg|A desert castle
siege_camp_sc2.jpg|The siege camp (concept art)
slavedriver_fanart.jpg|The slavedriver (concept art)
==Requirements==
 	Minimum
Processor 	Intel Core 2 Duo or higher
Processor 	2 GB, 2 cores
Video Memory 	512 MB
Hard Drive Space 	6 GB
Operating System 	Windows XP/Vista/7/8
DirectX Version 	
v9.0c
Connection (for multiplayer)	Broadband
Note: from NVIDIA cards, at least GeForce 8800GT is needed. For ATI/AMD cards, at least Radeon HD 2900XT is needed.
==External links==
Stronghold Crusader 2 Related Websites
*Official Website
*Firefly Studios Website
*Official Facebook and Twitter
*Stronghold Crusader 2 Blog
Articles and Interviews
*2013.01 interview with Hooked Gamers
*2013.03 interview with Strategy Informer
*2013.03.25 interview with RTSguru
*2013.04.23 interview with fwd.lt (in Lithuanian)
*2013.06.18 article on Polygon
*2013.06.25 article on gamer.nl (in Dutch)
*2013.06.27 article on RTSguru
*2013.08.27 article on Hooked Gamers
*2013.09.04 video about the Caliph
*2013.09.17 article on The 6th Axis
*2013.10.18 pre-alpha footage: Lord Seraxia
*2013.11.12 article on Gaminglives
*2014.01.14 article on GGSGamer
*2013.06.13 community Q&A video part 1
*2013.06.27 community Q&A video part 2
*2013.07.11 community Q&A video part 3
*2013.07.25 community Q&A video part 4
*2013.09.19 community Q&A video part 5
*2013.12.19 community Q&A video part 6
==References==
==Navigation==
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Category:Games