📢 Multiplayer System Improvements - Public Beta Now Live! ⚔️

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.

The Improvements:

- Lower lag between clicking and seeing your action take affect

- Fewer Resyncs

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.

How to Access the Beta:

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.

How to Share Your Feedback:

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 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 - please ensure you include "Multiplayer Public Beta" when writing this

Additional Patch Content also present in the Beta

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.

Changes:

• 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

Fixes:

• 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)

• 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

As always, thank you for playing Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition!

— The CDE Team at Firefly