I've done a search of the forum and seen no mention of music, so here's my two groats worth...

The Stronghold games would always have been good, but what made them great is the music. Robert Euvino's compositions are brilliant and gave the games a charm and atmosphere that worked better than I have seen in any other game.

He also seems to be a very nice bloke - I traded a few forum messages with him years back (Sir Flying Poo if I remember correctly) and he has a genuine affection for the games that comes through in his work.

Every few years I go back to the original Stronghold and Crusader just to get that great Brit humour, the gentle reminders ('how about a snack, my lord?' and my favourite 'only ten shopping days till Christmas, my lord' ), and of course the music.

You can see it coming of course - I hope that Sir Flying Poo will be back to do the music for Stronghold 3.

The voice acting is another important one - Stronghold 2 was, I must say, awful in that department. What a let-down from the previous games.

My final point is - I see a lot of posts about graphics and tricky game play etc. which of course is important, but I hope the devs keep sight of the charm and character of the originals. Good design, music and dialogue will rescue a graphically challenged game - but a graphically brilliant game without those things will be a disaster.

All that said, I can't wait...

I couldn't agree more. Voice acting is more important to me though than music. I usually don't hear the music when I'm focussing on the game, but bad voice acting is really annoying.

Can't wait either.

Music is an important aspect for all games and I think the Stronghold series stands out for its' small, yet fitting soundtrack. I also think it's important for game series' to have the same composer to the end. When Total War got a new composer, the quality of music (therefore game) dropped.

Does this sound any different from the original version? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePiim5ktjU&feature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NvdneVd6P0

According to the title, it's a remix. But actually listening, there wasn't much, if any, difference. But the point I was making was that a new game generally consists of new music and when new composers are selected, the quality generally drops because they have a different approach and each person is used to the original form.

I agree completely. The music from Stronghold 1 and Crusader were awesome; I even use Mr. Euvino's music for a Medieval II: Total War mod because it fits so perfectly. I hope he's back to compose the pieces in Stronghold 3; in fact, I hope Stronghold 3 goes back to a Stronghold 1 feel overall (great music, excellent voice acting, grittier/darker atmosphere (even to the point of being darkly humorous), but with the good features from the recent Stronghold games.) Plus minimal performance problems and smooth UI/visuals.

If it turns out like that, though, it'd be the perfect game, so I won't get my hopes up.

The music makes 10% of a game.

Music affects the mood the game has. If its dark, the played might feel bored or even depressed, get it too fast and youll tire the player even if the tune is good. I´m not sure, but I think Stronghold was the first game that used different music for different scenarios. When theres no military action, this nice music adds to the positive feeling of the game.

I must say, I was somewhat not very optimistic about SH2 music, it was different, first one definitely rocked and I learned everything there was.

Music affects you, if this is "10%", then these cents are very important. The game has to have everything good to outstanding, it will last very long if there is no area that is lacking.

SH1 set the speech and sound standard high, the second one dropped it, everyone expects to never go below the set standard and if possible, make it better. I wasnt really happy with SHC music, but it wasnt bad.

Just compare how peasants react to you in SH1 and SH2. I liked church where it wrote about those to get married so much fun, it was mostly lightherted humor, even when you didnt burst in laughter, it was something that kept you in the game and brought it feeling which many games ... lack. The feeling was definitely positive. SH2 graphics and mood were dark, the mood was much more serious, the peasants were no longer fun imho. Quality voice acting in SH2 I think wasnt present, or I might be blinded by other negatives

TomaSkTemplar wrote:

QUOTE:
Music affects you, if this is "10%", then these cents are very important. The game has to have everything good to outstanding, it will last very long if there is no area that is lacking.

SH1 set the speech and sound standard high, the second one dropped it, everyone expects to never go below the set standard and if possible, make it better. I wasnt really happy with SHC music, but it wasnt bad.

Just compare how peasants react to you in SH1 and SH2. I liked church where it wrote about those to get married :-) so much fun, it was mostly lightherted humor, even when you didnt burst in laughter, it was something that kept you in the game and brought it feeling which many games ... lack. The feeling was definitely positive. SH2 graphics and mood were dark, the mood was much more serious, the peasants were no longer fun imho. Quality voice acting in SH2 I think wasnt present, or I might be blinded by other negatives :-)

Agree. People often scoff at music in games, saying it's unimportant, and then complain that some games are "missing something, but I can't explain what." It's the atmosphere. The feel. Y'know what contributes to that the most? Music. Then other things, like the peasant reactions in SH1 vs. SH2 and the overall visual atmosphere.