Stronghold: Definitive Edition - Dev Diary (Art & Animation)

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In anticipation of our second public Stronghold: Definitive Edition demo - Releasing at 5pm GMT on Monday 9th October as part of Steam Next Fest - We have just released the first in a series of in-depth developer diaries! These videos, releasing over the course of the month, will examine the challenges and opportunities inherent to a project like Stronghold: DE, through new interviews with veteran Stronghold developers.
First up we have Senior Graphic Designer Darrin Horbal and Stronghold: DE Lead Artist Niall Benzie, resident experts in art and animation for the project and integral parts of our small team. Watch to learn more about their method, the details of specific improvements and techniques used to enhance our first, classic castle sim. Subsequent developer diaries will further explore the game's creation and development, with insight from other long serving members of the Firefly team. We will discuss DE's new features and confirm any fresh developments, as we approach our November 7th launch date.
Please enjoy this first entry in our Stronghold: Definitive Edition dev diary series and be sure to download our final pre-release demo next week, during Steam Next Fest: October Edition 2023! We will be streaming a few bonus videos on Steam as soon as the festival begins and later uploading those here on KZbin. These will be followed by even more DE content before launch, so thanks for playing and stay tuned for plenty of exciting features in the run up to release.
00:00-01:44 Introduction
01:45-03:24 Art Archaeology
03:25-06:31 Upgrading Animations
06:32-08:56 Enhanced Visuals
08:57-09:25 Photogrammetry
09:26-11:05 Favourite Upgrades / Outro
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[@battleground1213]

Oh boy now I am waiting for stronghold crusader remastred

[@sahattambunan14]

Me too

[@daveaitken92]

💯

[@bayn_creations]

same here! :D Crusader remastered would be legendary!

[@arjunarabindranath]

You'd never realise how much work goes into these re-masters without videos like this.

[@pureplay7071]

It didn't need a remaster, it needs a remake.

[@Plinious]

@@pureplay7071 Nope, a remaster is fine

[@theimperialist2686]

Can't wait to have the scribe tell me there's no enough wood again.

[@BurnBird1]

You don't need to wait. The demo is available.

[@negativeimpact9531]

@@BurnBird1 Care to point us in the direction of this demo? Its not on Steam or the website

[@BloodMoonVA]

​@@negativeimpact9531I think there will be a new demo coming soon

[@BurnBird1]

@@negativeimpact9531 Ah, my bad, the demo is no longer available.

[@darthplagueis13]

Caaan't place that there, M'lord.

[@MessiLeo7]

Thank you for changing the color of the area surrounding the barracks/ peasant's fire. It blends in with the rest of the map a lot better now. Thank you for listening to our community's feedback!

[@MS-zp5by]

Can't wait for release, i'm more hyped for this than most popular games nowadays

[@marianmojzis]

Art....simply an art making something great, but old, to look better, but stays great!:)

[@eleonora7490]

Great to see you fixed many of the shadow/depth issues with the buildings and other assets like the fireplace. Awesome as well, you, as established game studio show how things are done in gaming industry in a professional way. I'd really love a series where you go from a sketch, to a fully modeled, textured and animated building, to show how important every role in a team is and how much effort is behind.

[@fireflyworlds]

Thanks for the suggestion! Maybe something for our Unreal project :)

[@eleonora7490]

​@@fireflyworldsLooking forward to it 😊

[@martinsefl5217]

Awesome video with the developers! This is what the community wants. I look forward to you releasing similar Stronghold Unreal videos. :)

[@4nthr4x]

Very excited too see SH DE development, but for my true passion: If I ever pop a genie out of a bottle, my wish would be Stronghold Crusader remastered, 3x

[@KendrickJ2]

I'm still going to buy this, but Crusader is what I really would like to see. All these years, if they created new trails, I would have kept playing. I know there is player created maps.. but more official trails would have been nice.

[@th1789]

200 % agree with ya, I will def buy this but man they should of focused on crusader DE instead 😮🎉, it’s like red alert, forget doing the first red alert (like they did ) , you know we all want RA2 OR YURI REVENGE !

[@jet2135]

Dear Firefly, please add some weather and day/night effects to this legendary game. This will enhance the game's medieval atmosphere so much

[@katsuyaki7605]

Seconded. A day/night cycle with weather would add so much to the game.

[@jointgib]

i like that it's always summer

[@kuboi_]

This is a great idea! I really hope there will be a dev diary for the programming side of the game as well, I would love to see how a game this old is handled by professional game developers and what goes into upgrading it to meet today's standards etc. Super excited for the game btw, can't wait!

[@onurkaratay6297]

I love you Firefly Studios Even without Double Rations İyi ki varsınız 🇹🇷

[@felicity4841]

- i LOVED zooming in to watch my little guys work in a beautiful environment. that was such a good addition, thank you for that! - yeah i noticed that a lot of the walk animations were smoother. i knew that the original animations were probably still available, didn't know that they could be imported! fascinating - lkansldkansldknasldn an army of simons.... - the stone buildings/walls are gorgeous, yes! i even see moss on the towers when theyre right up to a moat (also, will ask for the extremely unlikely for Crusader DE: can i be a Lady please? you can even just use the usual wife model as the Lord and I'd be happy 😂doubt this comment will get seen tho oh well)

[@3oday]

Literally great job 🎉💯💯💯 The best childhood game ever !!!

[@joshy96]

Really cool to see the 3D assets. Looking forward for more Stronghold Unreal news and videos like these!

[@sin4n729]

I'm really looking forward to the Definitive Edition! I'd love to see more about the map editor and hopefully some new features there. There would be some very simple new features that would make me very happy, e.g., an option to change the color of the player without having to download a hex editor. You've already said that there will still be many exploits; some could surely be offered as legitimate features.

[@cisiel22]

Great job, the movement looks great! Thank you for this remaster, the first Stronghold is such a good classic game. Can't wait for the release :)

[@th1789]

Love you fire fly ! So glad your still around making RTS 🎉

[@P1T4Bot]

Wow props to y'all. Love y'all, only the best for the new games :D Hopefully more new 2d entries inc. :P

[@sheogorath601]

I love the old main menu! But well, I grew up with it, you guys definitely have a tough job. Thanks, people, thanks, Firefly.

[@bayn_creations]

I am playing Stronghold since my childhood, it has been a long time... more than twenty years, oh my... :D Thank you! I tell you Firefly, this is looking really good so far! I love it and can't wait for the release day! I have just played the demo not too long ago and it feels so smooth. The sieges, how the walls crumble when the catapult hits them, how the fires burn and arrows fly. The new buildings and units... all so elegantly and carefully crafted. With all respect, I really encourage you to continue the Definitive Series with Stronghold Crusader. It would surely be a legendary time to be alive! Keep up the good work! God bless you! :)

[@user-xm1zd2nc7r]

Im gonna be waiting for Stronghold 4

[@TechMechHeckMeck]

Income Idea for Firefly after release: Due to the fact that there will be an online multiplayer mode, what i am thinking about is that all individual things that a castle has, will be the same with all people which is a little bit sad. For example the look of the lord, the colors and shapes of the blzazon and so on.. (maybe even choose which religion you want, christ -> church, islam -> mosque) I would pay a few bucks if there would be an option to personalize it and i am sure other people will too. Generally speaking, since there will be an online mulitplayer, all options to personalize things can be an easy way to make money from it. They are the perfect option in my opinion, since they don't give you any advantages in the game. As example you can take a look at other games where people pay for skins for their characters, just because they like the different look and they dont get any strength or whatsoever from it. I was playing stronghold as a kid back then and i am sure the majority of your fans are. There is a strong bounding especially to the first 2 games (stronghold 1 and crusader) so i am sure people love to have some options where they can financially support your studio and get something nice in reward. I hope someone reads this message and give it a try. personal note: btw I'd love to see weather and night/day cycles in the game, would make it so much more impressive to see your castle on a rainy day or fight with assasins in the night.

[@brolaf3792]

Looking forward to this greatly!

[@AGROBURIN]

beautiful, congratulations!

[@NoTruth_42069xdgodxqtjaja]

i have my concerns about this but i wish you a great success with this and hope to see more rts games in 2.5d style from yall. thanks.

[@CarusoDiplomat]

So excited!

[@Anioushka]

grałam w to jak miałam 12 lat, teraz mam 30 i dalej gram, dziękuję Wam z całego serca, pozdrawiam ❤️

[@OmexxDR]

Pls add skirmishing

[@helloimatapir]

Keep up the great work, guys! Looking awesome so far! The only real graphical improvement I could see now is the water. It's not bad by any means, but maybe add some animations to it?

[@thelememonk]

The first game of the series is crème de la crème of RTS games ever. Thank you Firefly team, you all rock!

[@marianosantopinto]

I’m waiting for this once since it was announced

[@Roxxek]

Zajebiście

[@Dragon88889]

Probably the first game I'll buy on release day. Great work!

[@gmananimations]

Beautiful.

[@overdev1993]

Im really surprised that they still got a lot of the original 3d models would have been cool if they showed us more of them :)

[@kummbara1]

Looks great

[@Gondolin232]

Super exited to add this to my Steam Library. Next up: Stronghold Crusader Definitive Edition!! Go Go Go!! CHARGE!!!! ⚔️🛡️🏹👑🏰

[@Schwange]

OMG THAT IS SO INTERESTING Very cool you´re using blender!

[@ozgundemirr]

and now it's time for the real deal, the stronghold crusader definitive edition. Please make it well.

[@Etapia562]

Looking foward to the game ever since it was announced. If I’m honest I would love a strong hold 2 definite edition , it’s my favorite PC game

[@FelipeCarlesso]

Nice! You could keep releasing content to it.. like crusader and extreme being expansions

[@sh4gan]

Will be good to see that in november on GOG also.

[@sebastiancalderonmoreno1060]

Let's go firefly!!!!!, I know stronghold de its gonna be a banger and hope they make the stronghold crussader de

[@Der-Gute]

Could it be that Niall Benzie is a big AoE 2 fan?? 😀.He has the chess figures from the intro to AoE 2 on his shelf. You're doing a great job. I'm looking forward to doing Lets Plays about Stronghold DE. 😀.

[@fireflyworlds]

Big Age 2 and indeed Forgotten Empires fan!

[@Der-Gute]

Haha I knew it. 😀😀.@@fireflyworlds

[@teknonotice]

Manor lords setting the bar guys! ❤

[@antonsmith1497]

10:39 Wanted to point out aswell, that i appreciate the respect for the old game and dont change too much. Just improve.

[@rpd6874]

Love you Firefly I suggest evolving the formula in a nice but fun way for the sequel

[@matthewsteele2070]

Wish you'll make construction and destruction animations for buildings, missing part of original visual

[@user-ev6ge3mg7n]

CARA QUERIA QUE AQUI NO BRASIL ESSE GAME TIVESSE MAIS VISIBILIDADE, É UM JOGO MARAVILHOSO QUE ME CATIVOU NA INFANCIA

[@joshuareed2188]

I still like to see stronghold explore medieval Africa songhai Mali berbers etc

[@bebeconor]

Looks beautiful! But what happened to the fireballs when the pitch ignites? 😕

[@DoctorWho1963Start]

7 November, I need to take that day off... remind me that a week before

[@Adefesio94]

Please, make the buildings rotate when you rotate the map. And add day and night cycle? Or add more graphical features to the ambience

[@kenjijohnsonsanzenin3388]

Is there a way changing the stockpile to infinite by placing for adjacent stockpile and armory also granary, just like in stronghold crusader 2 as it saves a space especially when using stronghold than keep.

[@Mastakilla91]

First off - hats off for the hard work to turn such a classic into its definitive state. We waited for something like that. Now for the (constructive) critique: -New character visuals now seem a bit mushy. Especially when compared to the new walls/gates and buildings. Make them somewhat more visible (higher contrast or saturation ? More resolution?) ---There are some mismatches in color saturation between terrain textures. ----New advisor looks shit. Bring back the old one !!! -----New start screen with the random knight dude sucks aswell. (Update the old screen) -----Remove the green arrow from the advisors's book or make it more "medieval" ----Return the "Time until defeat" bar along the mission goals to the upper right corner like in the old game. No background shadowing. ---Make the advisor and his book bigger. New ideas: ---Day/Night cicle ----Weather ----Wind logic (not only trees but also ground with grass moving) ---People walking through grass move aside and turn it into a path

[@goofdxes]

I wanna see the actors behind the voices. King William, the archers, your scribe etc

[@thattonnatoguywithafez8246]

Hey Firefly, is it possibly for you to perhaps release a lot of these original files for public use such as in fan games or such? A lot of this stuff seems really nice.

[@yevheniiherasymchuk]

thanks a lot for your hard work! I wonder if the fact that assets are being moved to Blender, means that we might have some reusability of them in future projects/games?

[@marekkos3513]

the original trees animations , actually look much better

[@Wazir2030]

❤❤❤❤

[@lcd89x]

People like simple things The castle must be placed with resources in the Android game. In the event of an attack, after destruction, the repair returns automatically and upgrades are open until 100 With the increase in the number of soldiers, the number of the army, and the strength, with the facilitation of the lists This is how the game becomes number one الاشخاص يحبون الاشياء البسيطة يجب وضع القلعة مع الموارد في لعبة الاندرويد وفي حال الهجوم وبعد التدمير يعود الاصلاح تلقائي والترقيات مفتوحة حتى 100 مع ازدياد عدد الجنود وعدد الجيش والقوة مع تسهيل القوائم هكذا تصبح اللعبة الرقم الاول

[@stevanM100]

After I buy this I hope one day for Stronghold 2 remastered.

[@alexanderkolesnik7540]

When I first launched this game at the age of 8, it looked exactly like this!!! Take my money and return me there in November! The only thing I don't like is the main menu of the game, it looks cheap and not as formidable as the original.⭐💻

[@horrorhouse16]

If this game becomes a hit, you could consider adding Stronghold Crusader as DLC. And after observing all the improvements, I'm confident it will indeed become a hit like it was back in the day!

[@th1789]

Amen , crusader was the best and the improved version of the game

[@miscellaneous263]

I played the new demo and can already see improvements over the old one, keep on the good work! Though there is one aspect that disappointed me a bit, as I mentioned in my excessive feedback. Apparently you decided to stick with the old 8-directional unit orientation, instead of implementing a 32-directional orientation like in AoE2: DE. Is it because of the strict deadlines and imited resources or some technical limitations? Have you even considered imlementing it?

[@fireflyworlds]

Yes we had to focus our resources on what was most noticeable, hence 16 directions for siege equipment as outlined in the video :)

[@miscellaneous263]

@@fireflyworlds Makes sense, thanks for the reply! And hope you'll reconsider this decision for the Crusader DE :)

[@keithconlon4374]

I wonder if any of the Stronghold 2 military buildings (like additional mercenary post or new level of Stronghold Crusader mercenary post), Stronghold 2 mercenary Military Units, Stronghold 2 AI lords characters, and Stronghold 2 Castle Defenses got incorporated with that of the original Stronghold game, and Stronghold Crusader Stronghold Crusader Warchest/Stronghold Crusader Extreme to Stronghold Definitive Edition.

[@keithconlon4374]

If so that would be interesting and cool.

[@keithconlon4374]

But also new additional content in terms of uniquely new additional Military Units, uniquely new additional AI lords characters, and uniquely new additional Castle Defenses.

[@sirhans1466]

They didn't comment on the scribe O.o

[@fireflyworlds]

We have added an option in the game settings to use the old scribe if you want - See our latest video for more details: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5bEXpSLnp6tas0

[@simonrix5953]

I love that the bread was tasty, i will remember while playing 🍰😄

[@DanRelayer_Ukraine]

Can't wait for the game. I was really happy with the demo. Obviously a lot of care is going into the game, and it really warms my heart. Much love! P. S. The edit bits were hillarious.

[@jorgeinti]

so if we want Stronghold crusader we need to support this project. Dont let us down with the cashgrab plz

[@katsuyaki7605]

Will this be released on GOG like the previous games?

[@TheUltimateBlooper]

As a 3D artist - I appreciate these kinds of dives :) One question, though - any particular reason to move everything to Blender nowdays? Is it the cost, or the tools or what? Asking as a Max artist who is considering learning some Blender.

[@ThatBulgarian]

8:54 I wont be sleeping tonight thanks

[@jointgib]

i want to see the bears

[@patrickbateman1828]

Hi Firefly! Are you also planning to launch this masterpiece in Mac? I've been playing the original Stronghold since its launch and it would be so awesome if you could keep the game alive in this other platforms as well. Love your work!!

[@fireflyworlds]

No Mac version currently planned but we'll let you know if that changes :)

[@tarakmaammar214]

Is it me or do the cliffs look better in the HD version ?

[@fireflyworlds]

Still a WIP :) Wait until launch for the finished article

[@pesedit864]

Seas and rivers look bad, please remake

[@KL-yt8hz]

can you still put too meny archers on a 10x4 wall?

[@NobleKnightMain_06]

will we have new units ? would be nice

[@juestomunba9658]

dear firefly studio team can you help me why i can't find it in steam the stronghold definitive edition DEMO?

[@fireflyworlds]

A new demo will release later today (around 17:00 GMT) and be available for one week as part of Steam Next Fest :) You will be able to find it on the Stronghold: DE store page which is linked in the description of this video. Enjoy!

[@nikatchitanava]

Create a new one with the same old emotion and mechanics, just make it amazingly beautiful and much bigger. I love this game, I just want something new and beautiful rather than a remake of the old one 🥺❤️ Just release a new one, much better, much nicer, much bigger ❤️ I'll wait ❤️

[@sfreakc]

Will there be "Extreme" level of pops with Stronghold: Definitive Edition? This is the only thing stopping my cousins and me from buying the game... Was very limited in Deluxe multiplayer

[@AbbasXone]

Can we have version for ios and ipad os ? I have ipad Air 4 and iPhone 12

[@Kat1kafka]

Any chance for a stronghold 2 definitive edition?

[@eterno1610]

Can't place that there m'lord in definitive edition.

[@17Givet]

That is actually system requirements and all the modeling in 3d, and the game itself looks (2d) like in the original game. Question for the artists(Modeller) why was it necessary to draw a full 3d model if we only see one of several sides in the game?

[@thattonnatoguywithafez8246]

They make a model then they create a sprite based on that model. Which does make sense, basing a sprite of a model rather than it being fully from scratch. And them also spriting it again to keep the look in line. I think even AOE2 has renders for its buildings and units and then just drew sprites based on those. Don't know about AOE2 DE.

[@argjendalija9950]

Add skirmish pls

[@Roknavas]

Will this version work on steam deck?

[@JestemPerdian]

when models are 3d, why there is no free camera rotation in 360

[@miscellaneous263]

the models are not used in the game, they are are pre-rendered to 2d sprites

[@polterghost_]

I feel kinda sad for Firefly. They try to make something new for years but for some reason they cant repeat that early quality and success. Everyone just wants to play the first 2 games and everything else gets forgotten.

[@adelcherbal5048]

I was waiting for some real walls and towers crumbling ...

[@abdullahkhodadadikarimvand4122]

hello , please make this game with bigger maps , mich bigger maybe 12 vs 12 , and the size of map be 10x

[@winD1go.]

Игра легенда

[@lcd89x]

يجب تحسين لعبة الاندرويد اجعلو بناء القلعة مع الموارد وفي حال الهجوم يتم التدمير ثم يعود اصلاح تلقائي

[@nargiz_kriper]

Эй! Обернись! Не терпится сновп это услышать!😂

[@zabidkhan3737]

Plz I request you guys plz make the mobile version also exactly the same as PC one

[@ryannowo5954]

please make a survival mode

[@amba74]

Please dont change the face of the scribe

[@fireflyworlds]

We have added an option in the game settings to use the old scribe if you want - See our latest video for more details: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5bEXpSLnp6tas0

[@zekox1392]

Skirmisher please

[@INGtapia]

question, will the population you will have continue to be limited?

[@fireflyworlds]

Expect updates on this in future videos!