Are the castle from age of empires II historically accurate?

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Fact : any historical castle can be destroyed with 4800 (possibly more with upgrades) arrows shot at it.

[@chaptermastertushan3576]

Or one knight if you forget murder holes

[@maj.peppers3332]

Don't ever forget murder holes o.o

[@mergele1000]

Unless there is a guy repairing it.

[@Nerazmus]

If someone want to prove it can't be done feel free to try. - Show us video with someone shooting 4800 arrows on a historically accurate castle.

[@theconeezeanemperor1619]

Or that predominantly stone structures burn in glorious flame after being hit by a sword too many times.

[@NolDragon]

Imagine you're minding you own business taking care of your farm then you see a dozen people from the neighboring kingdom building a whole castle in front of your face.

[@Agent1W]

"Help, help! They're castle rushing!"

[@specificgod3627]

Been there done that.

[@NobodyAgeofEmpires2]

Next thing you're going to tell me 20 elephants can't fit on a boat...smeh...

[@Yawyna124]

The size that can only fit 20 men.

[@ryujin2135]

You know that every person is very particular about having their own room. Needy bastardy keep or dragging out full scale landings.

[@juremugerli2334]

Like well made actual castles, Age of Empires 2 stood the test of time. Almost 20 years later and I still play this game.

[@rjfaber1991]

I know, and that's kind of funny, seeing as it was the least innovative game in the series. AoE1 played a crucial role in laying down the foundations of the RTS genre (together with the original C&C games), AoM effectively created the modern RTS game by combining classic RTS gameplay with RPG-style powerups, and AoE3 was the game that proved that state-of-the-art graphics didn't need to be the reserve of shooters and RPGs. AoE2, meanwhile, was effectively just a copy of AoE1 gameplay-wise. Don't get me wrong, I love it like I do every game in the series, but my hands-down favourite is AoE3, and I do have difficulty understanding why so many people gravitate towards the most tedious game in the series.

[@Wow22109]

Probably of the nostalgia, I really liked Age of empire 3, because of the gunpowder era and napoleonic wars, but stil my best Age of empires is the second one, so much memories. Age of empires 1 did not attract attention as the second one

[@juremugerli2334]

I don't think it's just nostalgia. It may not have been as innovative as some of the others, but that doesn't detract from its overall quality. It is everything the first one was, with some improvements. One of the main reasons why back in the day I mainly played 2 despite loving 1 as well, was the auto-renewable farms. Minor change but very welcome. And I never really got into 3 because I'm just not a fan of that time period. AoE and gun powder don't mix for me. Ancient and medieval times is where my heart is at.

[@Wow22109]

For gun powder age and napoleonic war, I will go for coassacks

[@cadeyrnkearney5930]

Age of Empires 1 set a foundation which Age of Empires II perfected. In my opinion, Age of Empires III then attempted to expand and/or build beyond the game and though it was good, it did not perfect the gameplay. I have not played Age of Mythology. Note: No game can be perfect, however, some can come close enough for it to be noticeable. Furthermore, I may be biased towards Age of Empires II. I do definitely find it more suited to my tastes. Take my words with a grain of salt but consider them nonetheless.

[@jaelee671]

Did you just build a wooden castle for this video?

[@shadiversity]

Maybe

[@whatevah1989]

Now now, Shad. Remember the catchphrase "DEATH TO ALL MISINFORMATION".

[@samwelltarly6700]

Don't listen to Martin, Shad definitely built the wooden castle just so he could do a frenchman impression from Monty Python for this review.

[@Askhran]

If you aren't asking seriously... then yes he only built it for this video. If you are asking seriously then... He actually built it for his kids to play, but that was some time ago.

[@MagusMarquillin]

+Filip You mean he built it for himself to play in, and provisionally allows his kids to join him!

[@liminalheadspace5624]

A drawbridge that falls flat on the ground is just a door with weird hinges.

[@sephyrias883]

The interesting part about castles in Age of Empires 2 is, that they can be upgraded: 1. Researching murderholes allows the castle to shoot arrows on targets right in front of it's walls, which is kinda odd. If this youtube channel had existed 20 years earlier, then they might have had discovered, that machicolations would have been the correct term. 2. Researching "Crenellations" increases the range for the arrows your castle can shoot and it allows non-archer units to shoot arrows when garrisoned in castles as well. 3. Researching "Masonry", "Architecture" or "Hoardings" increases the castles defense and HP value. 4. Arrow upgrades ("Fletching", "Bodkin Arrow", "Bracer") increase the castle's arrow range as well. Researching "Ballistic" increases the arrows accuracy. 5. Researching "Stronghold" increases the rate of fire. 6. Researching "Treadmill Crane" lets villagers construct the castle faster. 7. Researching "Town Watch" and "Town Patrol" increases the line of sight. 8. Researching "Conscription" within the castle increases the production speed for military units. 9. Researching "Herbal Medicine" makes units garrisoned in castles heal faster. 10. Putting more people into your castle makes the castle shoot more arrows.

[@elite8884]

Sephyrias civ depending

[@sephyrias883]

+Elite Well some of the civilizations do not have access to every upgrade and some of these (Stronghold and Crenellations) are civilization specific. I think I also left out one from the newer expansions.

[@dieterbohm9700]

Thanks for the info, specially the 10 tip, i didnt know that!

[@jetsebrienen1976]

You did forget the persian one from HD which damages rams more. I think it is called boiling oil.

[@WuYixiang]

But what about dragons? No dragon upgrade?

[@tallblondekid]

Like just for the Monty Python impression

[@user-ct9tc4lw9h]

me too

[@harrisonmcarthur7816]

...It's only a model... ;-)

[@BHSRugby1999]

William Hutchison Who doesn't love the French Taunter?

[@Maethendias]

indeed

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

King Arthur doesn't seem very fond of The French Taunter. But he may be biased.

[@CollinInGame]

Not even gonna watch this video before commenting. The aoe2 castles are accurate. If real castles didn't look like the aoe2 castles the it's the real castles that are historically inaccurate. Age of Empires can do NO WRONG. 'Tis perfect

[@Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

I always knew those pesky Normans were unrealistic! #RealCastlesHaveCurves

[@Noone-rc9wf]

Jen'ari-asha Oh yes... those dam sexy curves on them castles... mmm it's almost *orgasmic*

[@votecthulhu9378]

Soldier pokes farm with a spear The farm starts burning AOE cant do anything wrong

[@CollinInGame]

Poking something with a spear creates friction. Friction creates heat. Heat creates fire. Check m8.

[@Tursiopstruncatus]

Yeah, and a fat king runs faster than a horse.

[@T90Official]

Great video hahaha :D

[@AntonyMBenedict]

T90Official - Age Of Empires 2 I am surprised castles in AoE 2 got so much of it right. Anyway, love your streams everyday :D

[@ashervaldez9975]

lol

[@tkzsfen]

Can you get him to cast the final of a tournament? I think that it will please the fans of history and will introduce more fans to the studies of the past.

[@NikozBG]

Legends say T90 watched every video on youtube with "age of empires II" in the title , twice!

[@specificgod3627]

Whoa didn't expect to find T90 in here

[@T2266]

Just FYI, you confused the East and West European castle for one and other. The so called"East European" one is for the British, French, Celtic and Spanish, and the so called "West European" one is for the Teutonic, Goths, Vikings and Huns (Two of those are not even technically nations.)

[@khankhomrad8855]

To be fair, Age II civs are more akin to "people" rather than nation.

[@disquette8958]

Well, actually, those in the first group you mentioned were no more "nations" than those in the second. Scholars argue whether or not a "nation" it is a rather modern phenomenon, but there was nothing even close to a Celtic nation, Britonic nation, etc., back then. Most of those names are derived from historic peoples that often have little in common with the civilization they are supposed to represent in AoE. While they are often anachronistic, vague and confusing, I guess it's working well in some aspects. It leaves room for interpretation, so a single civ tends to cover a whole lot more then it would, were its name more specific.

[@T2266]

@Alfred North Whitehead Yea, they are not modern nations but I'd still argue that they were more nation-like than things like the Vikings and the Teutonic. For Viking is more of an activity the scandinavian did. The thing which called "Teutonic" that had association with the Teutonic Knights was the Teutonic Order, which is a religious/military order.

[@disquette8958]

*** Britons *** There are several meanings of "Britons". In pre-Roman times it meant all of the Celtic population of the isles of 'Britannia', as was its more poetic usage for everyone inhabiting the British Isles sometime later on. From some point in early Middle-Ages until today, "Britons" or "Brythons" denoted a group of all non-Goidelic Insular Celtic peoples speaking Welsh, Cumbrian (extinct), Cornish and Breton languages (or if you like, all Celts inhabiting modern-day England, Wales and Brittany in France). Only until much later in 1707 when the United Kingdom of Great Britain came into being, that term saw its usage for denoting the citizens of the new nation - the UK. Prior to that, there were attempts at unifying Britain, but there was hardly anything resembling a British nation before 1707. *** Celts *** "Celts" are such a broad term, that in one of the above-mentioned contexts you can include "Britons" as a subgroup of them. There is no unified Celtic nation today, let alone in the middle-ages. *** Vikings *** Vikings were traders, raiders, explorers and colonists; as such only a more enterprising part of the Scandinavian (Norse) society, not a group with some separate nation-like consciousness - so while I agree with you, to the natives they invaded they appeared as a separate, invading factor, with own cultural distinctions. Whether it is a good term or not, 'Viking' is still used scientifically to denote most of the culturally Norse entities that existed outside of Scandinavia. There was never a unified Viking nation, but rather a Viking cultural group (or Norse, if you prefer), much like the Celts in the above-mentioned context. *** Teutons *** Latin was a popular language with Western medieval, especially ecclesiastical elite. As such, every significant toponym and demonym in any western European language had its Latin counterpart. Latin name for the Teutonic Order was "Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum" which literally stands for "Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem". As you see, "Theutonicorum" or Teutonic, stands for German. It was just one of the names (along 'German', 'Goth', "Alleman') for the German cultural and linguistic group - based on an ancient Celtic or Germanic tribes with little correlation to the medieval Germans and even less with the Teutonic Order. Have in mind that the Teutonic Order also had its own State of the Teutonic Order, a powerful entity that lasted for 300 years that conducted conquests, colonization, conversion and germanization of other peoples, until it was succeeded by Prussia, yet another German state that would later unify all of Germany. Seeing as how fanatical and specific they were in enforcing their religion and "national" values (such as language), if we consider that AoE "Teutons" represent Teutonic Order, they could very well be considered more nation-like then the others on this list, being that the others are merely denoting some loose groups of people. I think that much like with the first three, "Teutons" is just another poetic name for a larger group of peoples, in this case the medieval Germans. You can see the pattern Ensemble Studios went for, and there are other examples (Franks, Saracens, etc.)

[@slein1055]

T2266 because they are civilisations instead of nations

[@MagicBiber]

Soooo...am I the only one who wants to see Shad evaluate Ba Sing Se? o_o'

[@jameshamaker9321]

I really would like to see that too, your not alone.

[@overratedprogrammer]

How has he still never done this??

[@overratedprogrammer]

@Shadiversity

[@darcksage1]

WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS!?

[@PureMetalDragon]

You trow pommels at them

[@Zazu1337]

dragons do not deserve to be ended rightly

[@theamythestdragon3964]

Felix Nadler we all know they do diserve to be ended rightly.

[@forestelfranger]

Well to take care of them you get some siege weapons, that can fire hooks or large nets over the dragon. To try and bind it to the ground and keep it from flying. Than you stuff it full of holes and have cannon folder on stand by to act as meat shields for the range units.

[@baronvonbeans9887]

Indeed. wat if dargons did these keeps a heckin bamboozle?

[@Thraim.]

The video wasn't that great. *_Wololo Wololo_* This video was awesome.

[@elite8884]

AdalRoderick rogan

[@TheJere213]

It is good to be the king.

[@elite8884]

Gold please

[@TheJere213]

Monk! I need a monk!

[@elite8884]

Enemy sighted!

[@InFiHax]

Shad, I'm quite amazed no other Age of Empires player picked up on this but you're referring to them the wrong way around. The one with the blue trim is the West European (Anglo/Frank/Scott) and the Red trim castle is the Eastern European (Hun/Goth/Teutons) Thought I'd point it out xD Nice video.

[@evalpenguin8797]

I hereby demand that all intro from this moment froth be done like this one (MACHICOLLAATTIIOOOOOONNNNNSS!!!) XD

[@Noone-rc9wf]

Eval Penguin Ohh that was just AMAZING! Our lives are changed now after that intro!

[@GafferPerkele]

Build a wall of castles, the only way to be sure!

[@thehistoryguy4018]

Shad, I recently did a paper on my top ten content creators on KZbin. You were number one on the list (because swords and castles are awesome). The reason I'm saying this because the teacher likes your channel name.

[@shadiversity]

That's so awesome, thanks heaps mate!

[@thehistoryguy4018]

Shadiversity No problem! Without you I would never have gotten interested into Castles, so thank you!

[@maj.peppers3332]

OMG I LOVE THIS GAME! It's what originally got me interested in medieval history! :D EDIT: I think you mixed up East and West European castles for the game. The one you keep calling East European is the castle you get when playing as the Celts, Britons, Franks(?) and I just realized someone else pointed this out :P oh well

[@TheShadowFires]

Me too! Read that goddamn little book with all the explanations so many times. And I knew more things in history class than the others afterwards. :D

[@massaweed420]

TheShadowFires YES!! I read the booklet that came with the game over and over and over as a kid, I was only allowed to play the game 30-45 minutes per day, so I spent a ton of time reading the booklets lol Still have them laying around somewhere

[@daddyleon]

Yeeeah!!! I've been waiting for this for...ages!

[@piccalele]

daddyleon it felt like waiting for tbe wonder to be fully built!

[@daddyleon]

I felt like the Huns researched 'atheism', when I just go them relics!

[@ralphjosephacobo8014]

*Badum tis*

[@NUSensei]

This was a surprisingly fun analysis. Good AoE memories.

[@Alchemist1330]

OMG OMG OMG !!!! I Play AOE 2 Religiously! also little note you mixed up the two European castles. The east European castle was the one with the proper drawbridge.

[@johnnyjohnson4214]

The promotion of the castles shirt earned a like before I even saw the actual content.

[@marcelob.678]

Castles in AoE2 are completely useless, just stab them with your sword a few times and they become engulfed in flames. 0/10 far too flamable.

[@Erika-gn1tv]

Eh, just send a worker to give it a good knocking and it's fine again.

[@Kumarinko]

Malivamar a few times? More like 300 times :P

[@Jeans11234567]

Man that only happens if you forget to make Murder Holes for your castles :)

[@RocketHarry865]

I wonder if somebody should do a mod where units instead of attacking buildings with melee weapons instead try to throw flaming torches on them. Why would would this work on a castle is because a castle would still use considerable amount of wood in its internal structure.

[@saikrithiks2870]

Adam Baker that's what they did for the aoe3

[@TheDerkMeiser]

At least the shameless self promotion comes with a show 😂

[@Ralchire]

WOLOLO! that intro tho.

[@Veellinn]

Damn, you just converted my stables to Christianity. But that is alright, I have researched atheism, so it committed suicide.

[@sephyrias883]

Shad wears a red shirt. Wololo Shad wears a blue shirt.

[@Veellinn]

damn, you are right.

[@crazygrainger2006]

Wololo!

[@ieuanhunt552]

An Australian mimicking and Englishman mimicking a Frenchman. I think my head just exploded

[@shadiversity]

Accent inception?

[@MagicBiber]

Dude, do TV ads, you are a prodigy! XD Nice video, but next time I want to know, if you could actually use cows as ammo for catapults! =)

[@arnogerbil]

yes you could. Would not really be used to tear down walls, but quite often decaying corpses were flung over walls of cities and castles to cause the plague.

[@dainos7_0_13]

you can use 'em in warlords battlecry 2 when playing as orc civ and also trolls can throw sheep :)

[@Pharithos17]

Yup totally, they were demoralizing and disgusting. You could throw anything you could fit in the basket or sling. Trebuchets in Empires: Dawn of the Modern World could throw cows as a special ability. Also, I'd like to say that Warrior Kings let this happen as well, tho not 100%.

[@spacekettle2478]

Prepaarring Carrrcass

[@randomguynamedtheo]

the beginning is the best thing

[@Knight_Astolfo]

OMFG It's literally what I wanted. That shirt. sold. SOLD!

[@shadiversity]

Awesome!

[@trevorpisacone4182]

Shad's castle videos are probably my favorite thing on KZbin.

[@leabrocksieper247]

The SUPERMEGAAWESOME CASTLES shirt? It gets better and better :D

[@shadiversity]

People asked for it, so I made it ^_^

[@DumbassCatboy]

This video is worth it just for the advertisement.

[@KimsaneStuff]

But what about all the 90kg projectiles over 300 meters?!

[@mithrawnudo2152]

I don't know why I'm surprised he has a castle in his backyard... but I was. Great Monty Python references!

[@TheHinafreak]

He really knows how to sell shirts. If only other people/companies could sell their product like Shad.

[@chrissalt4903]

Are you going to make an episode on the zelda castle?

[@martinnaranjo3185]

That would be amazing, especially the Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild Versions!

[@mikelms20]

Christoffer Gavelli Huh that one would be interesting, tho we dont get to see much of the wall Street

[@globin3477]

It looks to me like a large part of it would call back to the "fantasy castle vs Real castle" part. Still, I think such a video could be interesting, as the zelda castles may have other defences.

[@thevikingmusketeer9696]

damn you beat me to it. i really wish that shad could use hie super brain to reconstuct Hyrule castle from Breath of the Wild with his mind and sea if it is accurate or not.

[@ptse2769]

I've never clicked on a video faster, thank you for doing this. Please do the other castles soon.

[@Postcinct]

Live right next to Dover. Been to the castle many times, would recommend a visit, the tours are wonderful and the view of the seafront from the top is pretty special.

[@shadiversity]

I'm so envious!

[@corryjohnson8654]

age of empires 2 is one of my favorite classic games! Thank you for doing this video! Plus mighty python jokes?! This is now my favorite video on KZbin hahaha

[@charleslathrop9743]

That intro about the castle shirt is just... *wipes joyful tear* it's just golden.

[@rickykeim2005]

that new Castle shirt is amazing! I'm really glad you're looking at these games. I spent so many hours of my middle school years playing them.

[@matthewdeleon382]

excellent introduction shad.

[@cynicaltheastrocreep4504]

Nice, interesting videos, Shad!

[@ariosarg]

Great video ! But I'm still pondering which of the French and English accent you butchered the most Australian style.

[@Necroscat]

If you wanted to you can build walls around your structures with gates and keeps built into the walls so you would house all your building inside that. i.e. houses, farms, stables barracks... That would be more of a traditional style castle that most people think of when they think "Castle"

[@MedievalTrebuchet]

Shad, the intro to this video was awesome! And so was the rest of the video, of course. You have convinced me, a poor college student, to purchase THE SUPERMEGA-AWESOME CASTLES SHIRT! I cannot wait to wear it around campus haha.

[@shadiversity]

Awesome, you're a legend!

[@mrtnt5732]

The advertisement was AMAZING 10/10 UR THE BEST

[@seanrea550]

builds a giant wooden rabbet and stays long enough to see the content before leaving.

[@seanrea550]

have the wooden badger as well.

[@simonnielsen5565]

Glad to have confirmed that the castles of AOE 2 is at least somewhat accurate. Honestly, i think the details they got wrong are mostly deliberate. The artstyle of the game stylizes all units and buildings to make them easier to identify at a glance. Making the sprites more realistic would probably make them look strange next to the common units of the game. The designers clearly did a lot of research on actual historical tactics and customs, but gameplay comes before realism. That said, it would be interesting to see how the castles would look with the inaccuracies fixed. Possibly an idea for a future video?

[@BIueChangeling]

I lost myself at this intro man. Thank you, i need now a new chair.

[@Blackmark7410]

I loved that you used a picture of Hedingham Castle. It's one of my local castles that I love to go visit.

[@duchessskye4072]

Oh god... I am kinda up late here shad, you can't make me laugh like that!!

[@StrikaAmaru]

6:00 Unless you're playing Dwarf Fortress, where items and creatures* that are caught under a falling drawbridge are completely destroyed. * creatures below a certain weight; go above ~2 tons and it's the drawbridge that gets smashed to component materials.

[@RemovableElm]

I think you'll find you confused east and west....

[@ArgieGrit]

The super mega awesome castle shirt presentation was on point

[@reign0599]

Look at the castles from the game Medieval 2: Total War please!

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

Fun fact, the Eastern European castle was made as a landmark for Minecraft. The modder managed to squeeze a nice number of rooms and corridors inside. the first time I played it, I was like "wwaaaaaaitaminute.... I know this tower... OMG IT'S THE TEUTON CASTLE!" there's a main hall, a guard's room, the kitchen, a pantry and a treasure room stocked with all kinds of loot, and the lord's chamber, with a super OP set of armor. Of course, to get there, you have to get past the defending army..... and, traps. It even has a dungeon with prisoners!... they really nailed it.

[@deltafa23]

Funny thing since i start to watch you videos abut castles , I want to create a map in the AoE editor about a castle assault with the information of your videos and what the game has to offer.

[@poldi2233]

try doing it in Stronghold. it's a bit more flexible with castle designs

[@elizabethscrase9898]

NOTE: Dover Castles vaulted roof was added during the Napoleonic Wars. The medieval roof and gallery was taken out and the brick vaults were added to support large guns. The vaulted roof however is one of the greatest examples of later 18th cent engineering. (sorry if this has already been noted).

[@matteoreggiani3157]

but Shad... WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?!?

[@Scrial]

Another example for a castle with a stone roof is the Munot in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is also round and has massive pillars supporting it with arches.

[@zukasasteam4631]

That's the kinda advertisment I would want to see on television q.q

[@SophiesDriver]

If I recall correctly, the Castle Keep at Newcastle Castle, in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England has a roof deck made entirely of stone.

[@marcelob.678]

Can you do Medieval 2: total war next?

[@whyjay9959]

It's not a bridge if it's on the ground, it's an unnecessarily-complicated door.

[@LordLebu]

east west got interchanged

[@Giesela0815]

I love how enthusiastic he is about castles, one of the best nerds on KZbin! Respect from Germany young Sir!

[@luka3252]

the best intro ever *and outro

[@Voxdalian]

In Age of Empires' defence: it was never meant to be super realistic, it's a tiny model, you can only do so much with that, and it's mainly about it's in-game use and it should be clear that it's in fact a castle.

[@ColonelRPG]

0:39 ROFL!!!! MACHICULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!11

[@johnothannigh511thawk8]

Shad is the most entertaining guy making castle videos!

[@Elwood288]

There was more energy in that opening than I've had in my entire life.

[@JudgeEomer]

A little note on Dover Castle: the brick vaulting of the roof is from the Napoleonic period when the castle was used as a barracks, and the original medieval castle had a wooden roof in the same style as Rochester, as can be seen from the internal divisions of the hall. Similarly the crenellations were added by a Victorian who thought that was how castles ought to look.

[@TheWampam]

Always those Victorians xd

[@wolfieinu]

Regarding the windows being too large for the outside of the structure: the structure itself is called "castle," but it's often used as a keep in the game by the player building walls and towers around it (otherwise it can be vulnerable to battering rams and petards). So that's not necessarily wrong the way it happens in the game. Oh, and the castles are rather square because all buildings in the game have a square or rectangular footprint. It's just how the game engine works.

[@ZemplinTemplar]

Nitpick: What you call the "East European" template is the in-game West European template, used for the Franks, Britons and Celts. The template you call "West European" is used for several in-game central and northern European factions, particularly the German and Scandinavian ones. Honestly, either of the two would work for a whole number of western European castles. I think the first truly East European template was added in the newer expansions, and that one's a blend of the game's "German" castle template and several new esthetic features.

[@samh1022]

tackling the tough issues of today. keep up the good work.

[@sabletooth]

I think one thing to note in regards to the various issues with size is that the proportions are off. The artists had to make various castles of about the same size and shape that would be easy to identify, easy to distinguish from the various background colours, and differentiate from other buildings and especially other castle styles. The various types of ground also is I think why the Eastern European castle has no moat - there's maps based in desert or snow, so they would have to sprite differently coloured dirt for each variation of the Eastern castle's moat, and work that into the game as well.

[@signorUebelst]

I got an idea for you that you might want to consider for one of your future videos. As seen above you already got videos in which you analyse Castles from Games/Fiction/Fantasy where you compare them and the general concepts with IRL Castles, but I think what would also make for an interessting video would be looking into walled Villages IRL (how they where build, what they had inside them, how they worked in normal day activity and how if they came under attack) and comparing this with Castles and other fortified structures maybe even some fantasy ones. One type in particular, which I think would be interessting would be structures like the Hakka Walled Villages, since they are basically a whole village in one building in such a way as to withstand assault.

[@robfromjersey7899]

One of my favorite games of all time. If you hit a castle enough times with a sword, it will burst into flames and eventually crumble. Never forget murder holes!

[@PureMetalDragon]

Speaking of castle in video games, have you ever tried the Stronghold series of games, Shad? I would really like to see what you think of those games, considering they flaunt themselves as a castle sim game.

[@Vaelzan]

A couple of things that I'd like to add to this - the castles were deliberately designed as keeps since the player can also build standalone walls and towers, thus creating a custom layout for a bigger castle (keep, walls, towers + extras). Also, while the drawbridge over solid land looks ridiculous, that could potentially be resolved based on the terrain that the structure is placed on, and I suspect they may have done so in the single player campaign, though it has been a very long time since I've played it. I agree about the stone roof, it should have ended much closer to the walls, as well as the size of the windows, though I can sort-of forgive the latter due to small details being less visible in a game (so lots of things are bigger than they should be relative to the overall structure, which itself is relatively tiny compared to the size of people).

[@thearisen7301]

Very nice, love the new Castles shirt. =) You should do a similar series where you examine weapons and/or armor from movies and video games and determine if they're historically accurate or at least practical/sensible.

[@cory6266]

An exemplary Monty Python impression, well done.

[@davidford85]

It's funny you should mention Rochester Castle when talking about the Red Trimmed Castle, because another unusual feature the game castle has in common with Rochester is the single round tower (albeit on the opposite corner, and technically only semi-round). It would be interesting to know whether Rochester was an influence or whether it's just a case of convergent design...

[@maldito_sudaka]

You and Lloyd making Monty Python impressions on the same day, you guys kill me LOL.

[@Mephisto28890]

By the way, the game is aviable on steam for cheap, got 3 addons with new addons coming every 1.5 years (devs beeing active), got an active player base and pro player scene with twitch casting and youtube support.

[@Raven_Leblanc]

I...JUST...LOVE...THAT...INTRO!!!!! MACHICOLATIOOOOOOOOONS!

[@Phoenix-zu6on]

the drawbridge on the red castle have their centering point outwards though, so theyd just lay against the wall as for the others they would also fit neatly into the arch above the door

[@elsavic]

I dont think they got it wrong by not knowing, I think it was deliberate. There is no place to put the space for the wooden beams, the walls must be thick to hold the visually acceptable archers, you have to make it clear on what the characters are doing, its just game design. They have to balance cartoonism and realism for the sake of game

[@archive4058]

I just love this new shirt. So much knowledge and you could just say, "Talk to the walls" or something.

[@TheBeastCH]

Shad You made a video about wooden castles and how a castle would stand a chance against dragons. On that note: In a world with no dragons, you can make wooden castles and castles with wooden roofs. They work. But in a world where fire breathing dragons exist, you want to have as little flameable material in your structure as possible. This means: Stone castles with stone roofs all the way, no matter how fiddly it is, because everything else doesnt protect you against dragons. You also want to replace as much wood from doors, window-frames, drawbridges and so on with iron or steel as you can. No matter how expensive it would be. Because if a dragon burns down your drawbridge, you are trapped inside like if there was a siege. Also, you want to have ballistas (catapult sized crossbows that shoot spear sized arrows. no clue it I spelled that right) on every tower. That is especially the case if dragons can be tamed and ridden. Its the same principle as you dont want to build a castle out of glass if there are machines that can throw rocks the size of a pig.

[@ThomasAllen90]

Love the openings mate :) Respect from Syd.

[@GilgameshEthics]

in game you can build a stone wall or palisade around your Castle turning it into a full on keep.

[@captainbina9558]

I don't even need the actual video, SUPER MEGA AWESOME CASTLE SHIRT is all I need. It made my day.

[@PcKaffe]

Shad, look closely at the stone walkway edge towards the roof area. There are wooden beams coming out of the walkway in a fashion that would support the walkway.

[@Jukettaja]

When Shadiversity gets old he'll point at a suburban landscape shouting: "It used to be all castles around here!"

[@noobiesmurf]

I learnt so much about history from AOEII; especially the proper manual with descriptions of units, hope it was all accurate.

[@keiyakins]

Some of those issues are probably artifacts of the original being rather low-resolution. There's only so small you can make a feature and have it visible, and you do want visible features to keep it from being boring to look at.

[@WJS774]

The drawbridge leading to a gatehouse that is connected to the main keep is an interesting thing on the red one.