Stronghold: Definitive Edition Export and Map Editor
Export a square Stronghold map with real terrain, water, forests, boulders, iron ore, marsh, and oil, then finish it in the game Map Editor.
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Prepare the project
Stronghold export is available for a Project V2 project whose game is Stronghold: Definitive Edition. Import the DTM and vectors into the Editor and save before exporting. Imagery is not required for this target.
In the Editor, select the Ground Textures layer, choose Boulders, Rocks, Iron ore, Marsh, or Oil in Objects, and draw a polygon for each area. Boulders supply quarry ground; Rocks are decorative. Draw Marsh for wet ground and Oil where you want pitch rigs. Oil carries marsh with it in the exported map. Select the Water layer and choose Sea for open-water areas, including lakes and bays, or Rivers for waterways. Both become game water. Forest shapes become trees, and buildings and roads only receive earth.
Choose the map size
The export dialog offers the native map sizes in metres: 640 m, 800 m, 1200 m, and 1600 m. Each size must fit inside the project area. The dialog shows the matching tile grid, and larger maps cost more task units.
Terrain height uses one metre per game height step above the lowest sampled ground and is clipped at the game ceiling. Open the game settings in the export dialog and turn on Autoscale to compress the complete relief into range instead. Sea, rivers, marsh, and oil sit at ground level, and nearby land is ramped down so their edges stay walkable.
Understand automatic content
Trees follow the game rules: large trees keep a three-tile spacing and shrubs fill the ground between them, so the Map Editor keeps every tree instead of thinning dense forests. A map holds a limited number of trees; a very large forest is spread evenly rather than filled from one corner.
Boulders, iron ore, and oil are the three resources. Any resource the project does not author is placed automatically: boulders and iron on high ground, oil inside marsh on low ground near water. Authored shapes for a resource replace the fallback for that resource only; drawing Marsh without Oil still allows automatic oil deposits.
Boulders are walkable quarry ground, iron ore is walkable mine ground, and Oil marks marsh where pitch rigs can be built. Decorative Rocks are impassable and receive a loose boulder rim.
Add the map to the game
Download and extract the archive. Copy the .map file into %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Firefly Studios\Stronghold 1 Definitive Edition\Maps. Create the Maps folder if the game has not created it yet.
Start the game, open the Map Editor, choose Load, and pick the map. The stored preview matches the in-game view with north at the top of the screen.
The export contains no keeps, lords, walls, units, or buildings. Place the player keeps where you want the castles, set the scenario type and details, and save. The map then appears in the skirmish, custom, and multiplayer map lists.