Of course, when you don't feel like paying attention to the wellbeing of your populace, you had better make sure you have watchmen, who are your medieval police force. When your peasants become unhappy, they can turn bad and start stealing food from your granary, so the watchmen track down criminals, throw them in the dungeon, and then bring them before you for sentencing. Depending on your lenient or harsh rule, you can set them free or get them purified by means of no less than 10 torture devices such as stretching, branding, and so forth. Certain punishments require more resources than others. For example, the stockade is cheap but has a long rehabilitation cycle, while gallows require you to obtain two executioners, making it rather expensive, but it has a distinct advantage in that it's quick and a dead peasant gets automatically replaced by a new villager.
The ability to open up a building is not just a visual gimmick, but also a strong strategic improvement, as you can now also take the fight indoors, and even in multiple stages, working your way up by means of ladders and stairs. It is interesting to note that Firefly retains a sense of historical accuracy, as in the Middle Ages staircases were built clockwise for a specific reason. Most people are right-handed, and thus defending a stairwell gives a specific advantage, as fending off several intruders is done with ease because attackers will be obstructed by the inside of the upward spiraling structure. This is a useful tactic when your keep is under attack because it allows you to place a few pikemen (they can take a lot of damage) to block an enemy's advance while archers or crossbowmen can be placed on the walls to pick off intruders with ease. Any building remains closed off until it gets occupied by a unit or resource, and only then can you see what is inside.
One of the criticisms with the original Stronghold was that the isometric view sometimes made it difficult to see if one of your walls were breached, and it became frustrating when the enemy infiltrated your castle through a crack that was unnoticeable for you to fix. The new 3D engine allows for more freedom with the camera controls, although apart from the usual rotating and zooming, Firefly wanted to keep the 2D feeling so there will be no tilting of the perspective. There will, however, be a feature to switch to a top-down view, making it easier to construct your buildings and allowing you to have a better view of your defensive integrity so you can apply patchwork where needed. On top of that, there will also be a "Lord's View," allowing you to have a 360-degree first-person view from the top of your keep, which gives you a strategic oversight of your castle's surroundings in order to see an approaching enemy and its possible tactics.
Speaking of defensive walls, the original Stronghold had a rather unrealistic side effect where simple infantry units were able to chisel down massive walls with a sword or pike. This will no longer be the case in the sequel, as walls will now only be susceptible to attack from siege weapons, such as catapult and trebuchets. To counter the heavy damage done to your walls, you will now have engineers to repair them, or you can lead your cavalry to destroy the siege weapons. There will also be friendly fire, making you aim carefully with heavy weaponry if you have infantry nearby waiting to storm the breached walls. Formations will also be available for certain units as cavalry will be able to charge, while foot soldiers will be able to double time to their new location.
The actual construction of your buildings has been a little bit revamped -- they will no longer be scattered all about, clogging up space inside or around your castle. In Stronghold 2, you will also be able to construct the buildings directly related to the Lord (bedchamber, armory, keep, treasury) as part of the wall itself. From the beginning, it is important to think strategically as the layout and design of your walls and castle can be essential to your very survival. Creating fallback positions, choke points, and inner and outer perimeters for easy defending will all play crucial roles when you are under attack, and a well-constructed castle can tip the scales in your favor when greatly outnumbered by the enemy.
