Castle building – the foundation of the franchise – has been significantly improved, providing players with unprecedented control over the placement of buildings.This allows them to create their kingdom with a precision that compliments their carefully planned tactics. What’s more, village planning is no longer confined to a grid system; players can now create castle walls that flow gracefully... until they’re blasted to pieces by the enemy.

Fans of the title on Facebook can have their input in development by choosing which dead animal will become the new, rather grisly, ammunition for trebuchets in the game... yes, you read that correctly.

“Medieval sieges were often just long periods of people doing nothing,” explains Simon Bradbury, Stronghold 3’s designer. “The besiegers would sometimes catapult all manner of things over the walls, in the hope of causing disease and panic, or possibly just to relieve the boredom. Traditionally we’ve had a deceased cow as alternative trebuchet ammo but in Stronghold 3 we’re taking massive development leaps by offering several dead animals to choose from. Once again, I must stress they’re already dead before being launched skywards. They’re no more. They have ceased to be. Bereft of life.”

From today, the Stronghold community can vote for one of four creatures to be launched from trebuchets, with the winner appearing in the finished product. When launched, the dead beasts will cause a cloud of disease that seeps through castles, killing anyone in its path – depending upon the size of animal, the cloud changes in size or splits into multiple foul fogs.

he options available include:

1. Senile donkey
2. Cage of rabid otters
3. Retired dancing bear
4. Sack of diseased badgers

On top of Stronghold 3’s innovations in castle construction, night sieges have been introduced, opening up a range of new possibilities and tactics. Players will have to hunt enemy soldiers cloaked in darkness and carefully choose their weapons in order to survive the dark hours.

A new state-of-the-art graphics engine lets you view your buildings in stunning detail. From villagers going about their everyday lives, to soldiers preparing for war or people suffering from the plague, players are given a highly-detailed snapshot of medieval life.

Additionally, a refined physics engine with procedural destruction adds intensity and drama to siege warfare as you watch your castle - or that of your enemy –crumble into ruin before your eyes.

Key Features:

• Improved building system allowing unprecedented levels of realism and intricacy in castle and village design
• Realistic physics and cutting-edge graphics bring siege warfare to life in stunning detail
• Story-driven gameplay engages players across two campaigns: combat or economic
• Dramatic nighttime sieges add a new dimension to the Stronghold franchise
• Besiege other players’ castles or defend your own in a range of action-packed online multiplayer modes
• Play through accurately re-created sieges from the pages of history. Will you succeed where others failed?