Look, we all have dreams. I dream of a world where RTS games release on consoles more. Don't ask why. Despite this, in a recent interview we had with Firefly Studio co-founder Simon Bradbury he claimed that, while he'd like to, there were no plans to port Stronghold: Warlords to consoles.
So why not? Well, the main reason given was control issues. Simon noted that the lack of an ability to lasso troops was one of the biggest problems that the team was met with when looking at a console port.
But the annoyance is the fact that you haven't got a mouse. Because without a mouse you can't lasso troops. You can do the rest of it, you can do the building part. You can probably just about get the walls in. But if you can't lasso your troops and click around to get them to move, you're done.
Simon went on to say that there are other RTS games, even those he's enjoyed, that managed console ports just fine. However, the combination of speed and precision necessary with the lack of a mouse just makes it unlikely.
I think, for something like Stronghold where you need precision, you need speed. You got to do so much in Stronghold in terms of building walls, lots of changing your rations, going over there and looking at what they're doing, minutely positioning a few troops, making a siege kit. Now with Warlords going to the warlords screen and making some strategic tactical moves. I just don't think you have the controls on consoles to be able to do it. It's a shame. I think if it was more of a builder, or a simpler game like Battle for Middle-Earth, which is a great game actually, but I don't think it's something we could ever do for Stronghold.
Interestingly, at E3 I got a chance to try another RTS called A Year of Rain and asked the developers if they would consider a console port, and they responded with a similar statement: that the lack of the precision a mouse offers means players wouldn't go for it.
This is just part of our interview with Simon. The full interview will be going up tomorrow, so be sure to check back in on TechRaptor to see.
Stronghold: Warlords is set to be released on PC sometime in 2020.
How do you feel about this news? Are you really surprised by it? Did you want to see Stronghold on consoles anyway? Let us know in the comments below!
