FAQ – Technical Questions

Q: What are the system requirements for playing Firefly’s Stronghold 2?
A: Minimum System Requirements:

  • OS: Win98SE/ME/2000/XP
  • CPU: 1.4Ghz
  • RAM: 256Mb
  • Graphics: 32Mb (GeForce2 MX upwards)
  • DirectX: 9.0c
  • Disc space: 2.5GB

Recommended System Requirements:

  • OS: Win98SE/ME/2000/XP
  • CPU: 2.0Ghz
  • RAM: 512Mb
  • Graphics: 64Mb
  • DirectX: 9.0c
  • Disc space: 2.5GB
  • Internet play: Broadband connection recommended

Q: What ports do I open in my router for being able to play Stronghold 2 online?
A: You will have to open port 16699 for playing Stronghold 2 online.

Q: When trying to play online I can not sign onto a game in the lobby, what do I do?
A: Try shutting the game (not the computer) down, restart it and then try to connect again.

Q: When playing online either I or my opponent(s) are kicked out of the game, what can I do?
A: First thing is making sure you all have patch 1.3.1 installed. Shutting down the game and restarting it can help on this. Also make sure you have no spyware or virus on your computer (check with freshly updated anti-spyware and antivirus programs).

Q: How do I find out what hardware I have in my computer?

A: Click the Start button, then Run. Type dxdiag and click OK. Say yes to WHQL testing.
Processor type, memory amount and version of DirectX can be found on the system pane.
Name of graphics card and version of graphics driver can be found on the monitor pane.
Name of sound card and version of sound driver can be found on the sound pane.

Q: I have a GeForce MX / GeForce 4xxx / 5xxx graphics card and the game looks all messed up even though I have installed the latest driver:
A: Go to www.nvidia.com and download one of the older drives that are made for your operating system. For Win98SE/WinME the 56.64 driver is often the best on older nvidia based graphics cards. For Win2000/WinXP the 56.72 driver is often the best. For installing the driver first download it to your computer to a place where it’s easy to find like in a special downloads folder you create, then run the file which will then unpack its content to C:\NVIDIA\*Operating System name*
[Like Win2KXP]\*driver version name*[like 56.72]. Then uninstall the current graphics driver from Add/Remove programs in Control Panel. When the computer restarts, say ‘No’ or ‘Cancel’ to New Hardware Is Found. Disable your antivirus software, then click your Start button, go to Run, click Browse and mark Setup in the *driver version number* folder. Click Open and Ok and the driver will start installing.

Q: Will the game run on the Intel Extreme graphics card?

A: The game should run on the Intel Extreme graphics when set to Low in the Graphics settings.

Q: All the words are impossible to read. They look just like random pixels, there are a few letters but not many. What do I do?
A: Try to update the driver for your graphics card. For some it works using one of the drivers that can be downloaded at omegadrivers.net. Use at your own risk.

Q: The game will not install. When I try to install I get a message saying that autorun.exe has an error and must shut down:
A: Click the Start button, then Run, browse to your CD/DVD drive, find the setup file, mark it and click Open and then OK. The game should now start installing.

Q: The game stops during installation and I get a message about a file transfer error -106, what can I do?
A: Delete the content of all Temp folders on your computer. Do this every single time a game will not install, that way you are sure there’s no corrupted files stored that could make installation errors.

Check your harddisk for errors and defragment it.
Check disk for errors: Open My Computer (or Windows Explorer) right-click your hard disk, click Properties and then Tools. Click the button for checking the hard disk for errors, set a check in both fields in the window that pops up, click Ok. Close all windows and reboot your computer.

For defragmentation go to the same place as before but click the button for defragmenting your hard disk.

Disable your antivirus while installing.

Check your CD/DVD for fingerprints and scratches. Fingerprints can be removed with a damp lint-free cotton cloth.

If you have just bought the game do not try the following before you have tried getting the game exchanged with a new copy.

Scratches can be repaired by very gently polishing the scratch with toothpaste, clean the disk, check if the game will install. If it will not install try a little more very gentle polishing. What happens when polishing is that the scratch in the lacquer on the surface of the disc gets leveled out but, if you polish too much you will make things worse so it’s very important to be very careful when polishing.

Q: I removed the check in the Graphics Configuration tool that makes it show up every time I start the game and now I need it. Where do I find this tool again?
A: Make sure you have Stronghold 2 in the drive then click the Start button, Programs, Firefly Studios, Stronghold 2, Stronghold 2 Graphics Configuration. Set a check in the box enabling the tool to start again the next time you start the game.

Q: I can move the cursor at the main menu but I cannot click on anything, what do I do?
A: If you have not done so already, install the newest patch. If that does not help make sure the game is not set to play at a higher screen resolution than what your monitor is set to run at. Sometimes it also works to Alt+Tab a few times.

Q: My Lord and all the knights are just white, what can I do?
A: In the Graphics Configuration tool that shows up when you start the game, turn down the Shader. If the Graphics Configuration tool does not show up when starting the game, see above question.

Q: I installed patch 1.3.1 and now the game will not show up even though I can see it running in Task Manager, what is wrong?

A: Try disconnecting from the Internet before you start the game, that should help.

Q: I installed the 1.3.1 patch but the buildings have become very dark, please help:

A: Download and install the SH2 Shader patch that you can find in the HeavenGames Stronghold 2: Utilities section.

Q: I would like to install an older patch, where can I find the older patches?:
A: You can download all the patches from this site.

Take care that you download the correct patch for your version of Stronghold 2.

Q: My game crashes as soon as I load chapter xx, what do I do?
A: Please go to the Walkthroughs section, there you can download a saved game and see if it can get you past the crash so you can continue playing. If you are using a download accelerator please disable it before trying to download, as we do not support download acceleration programs and the download therefore will not start. The saved game is to be unzipped into your C:\Documents and Settings\”Your Computer User Name”\My Documents\Stronghold 2\Saves” folder.

Q: I downloaded a map from the Stronghold 2 downloads here at HeavenGames, but where do I place it on my computer?
A: Open the zip file (if you use WinXP simply double-click the file, else you will need a program like WinZIP) and then drag the content to your personal Maps folder on your computer, which is in the My Documents folder. The folder can be found here: C:\Documents and Settings\”Your Computer User Name”\My Documents\Stronghold 2\Maps.


Q: When trying to start the game I get this message: “A required security module can not be activated” or “Emulator detected” what do I do?


A:
You get that message because the SecuROM copy protection for the game detects Virtual Drive software on your computer. Disable the software in Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL) so it’s not running on your computer and try again to start the game.
Here’s a list of software that might trigger SecuROM:

Alcohol 120%
BlindWrite
Daemon Tools
Game-Jack
CloneCD
Game Jackal
Xoom Game Clone
CDSpace
Virtual CD
Fantom CD
Anti-Blaxx
GetRight
Virtual Drives
Speaking Clock
Nero ImageDrive

If you don’t have any of above software installed or disabling it doesn’t work, while having the original Stronghold 2 CD/DVD in the drive reboot your computer, then right-click either the Stronghold 2 icon on the desktop or Stronghold2.exe and click Launch Analysis and a file named AnalysisLog.sr0 will be created and placed in C:\. Zip the file (with WinZIP, 7-zip or a similar program) and send the file as an attachment to support@securom.com

Q: How do I make screenshots?:


A:
Press the PrintScreen key on your keyboard, then Alt+Tab out of the game and paste into a graphics program like Paint using Ctrl+V.


Q: I can’t put missile troops on the upper level of the large siege towers, how do I do it?:


A:
Putting missile troops on the large siege towers was an idea that unfortunately didn’t make it to the final game.

Q: Every so often when I want to look in any given direction or place an object, the main view scrolls to the edge of the map in the direction I am pointing at an incredible speed – the game doesn’t freeze, you just can’t keep in the one place. How do I fix this?


A:
This is a problem that sometimes can happen in games where people use both the keyboard and the mouse for moving around. Tabbing the key once that corresponds to the direction the map flies should solve this. So if the map has a tendency of flying off to the left, tab the ‘a’ key once.

Compiled by PCDania