Revision 3

Running a settlement in Stronghold 4 means balancing several interlocking systems. Food keeps the population fed, taxes raise income from the people, and honour returns as a resource earned through the life of the court. These inputs feed into one another through supply chains that the player must keep flowing.

Core resources

Honour and rank

Beyond paying for court life, honour drives a rank system. Raising honour, by building higher quality living quarters, hosting banquets, and similar means, lifts the castle through a series of ranks, and each rank unlocks access to new buildings, units, and options. Progression through these ranks gives a graded route to expanding a settlement across a mission.

Production chains can run several steps deep. Cow farms, for instance, produce milk that has to be turned into cheese before it feeds the population, rather than yielding food directly as a simple dairy farm would. Keeping each step of a supply chain connected is part of running the economy.

Keeping subjects content is part of the challenge. Push taxes too high or let food run short and a settlement suffers, so players weigh the demands of war and construction against the wellbeing of the people who make the castle work.

The economy is tied directly to castle design: workshops, farms, and stores have to be placed and connected sensibly, and the seasons can help or hinder production from one part of the year to the next.