The Sims 3 Medieval

cherryghost

So, 2 months until this pops up in the shops.

I think out of every expansion from the Sims series, I'm looking forward to this the least. I heard about the quests and levelling up and it sounded good, but apparently it's a bunch of crap.

The expansion is also home for a new Sims 3 patch which increases laptop/pc performance, so there might be a downgrade in minimum specs, patch pending.

I do however, like the idea of building a kingdom within the Sims. I just hope if they are going to do it, make a fully fledged Medieval experience, rather than just some extra Medieval themes to the existing 'Sim in a town' formula.

Thoughts?

humanji

Well, it's a full game and not an expansion I think. If so, then there's going to be a lot of work gone into it. At first I thought it would just be The Sims in medieval times, but the more I read about it, it sounds like it's more of a strategy RPG. I'm kind of confused as to the whole thing.

It'll be interesting to see it in action.

Sabre0001

Oh good, I thought it was just me imagining that it was a new game


Finding it hard to get excited about to be honest. Seem to have changed dynamics altogether...I might avoid this one - the concept doesn't appeal to me as much. Nearly sounds like mixing Sims with SimCity / Age of Empires.

starflake

Could anyone tell me if this is released tomorrow in Ireland? I was gonna chance stopping into Game to get it if so... or would it be sold out do ye think?

Thanks!

humanji

Apparently it's released tomorrow. Although some places might leave it to Friday as it's not a major release. And since it's not a major release, I'd say you'd be ok picking one up if you pop in. Might be an idea to ring ahead, just in case. I'm near a Gamestop, so might pop over at lunch to see if they've got it.

starflake

great stuff thanks! Gonna try Dub tomorrow thanks

humanji

Even though I had a few reservations, I got this today. It's not bad at all. But if you're expecting The Sims 3 set in medieval times, you're going to be disappointed.

Now, I've only played it for a few house so I don't know all the ins and outs of it. How it plays is, you start your game and name your kindgdom and create your king or queen (pretty identical to how you create in The Sims 3, with less options though). You begin in a view mode of your kindom which you can pan and tilt the camera, but can't move (and the game is paused). You choose a quest from a list, then choose who you want to complete it. Some quests can only be completed by one person and others will play out differently depending on what characters you've unlocked.

After that, you start the game proper, which looks a lot like The Sims 3. You only have two stats now: hunger and energy. And these seem to fly down fairly quickly. There's no skills, but as you complete activities, you gain XP which level's you up and opens up new interactions with people and items, as well as making your chances of succeeding in certain things better. For example, levelling up the monk will give him the option to Evangelise and also give him a better chance of converting people to his religion.

You don't have wishes in this. Instead, each day you have two duties to complete and a time limit. An example would be the Monarch has to write 3 laws (ie, go to the desk and choose the option "Write law" three times). Completing your duties give you a boost to your quest points and also to your fullfillment/mood thingy. Failing to complete them gives your a negative mood.

The quests themselves are fairly basic. The nearest thing to them in The Sims 3 are the detective quests. You go to a place a talk to someone, then head somewhere else, have to complete a couple of jobs for people, talk to a few more etc. At times you're given a choice as to what you want to do next, (such as giving someone money, or telling them to sod off), and the quest may play out differently depending on what you choose.

There's no time limit on the quests, so as long as you keep your hunger and energy bars full and complete your two duties, you can bum about the kingdom. I haven't really done this yet, so I'm not sure what there is out there.

And that's pretty much the game. When you complete a quest you are sent back to the paused kingdom view where you can use resource points to build a new building. But you don't actually build them, you just select what type (wizard tower, church, blacksmith) and it's automatically built in a specific spot. You then create the sim associated with that building (wizard in the wizard's tower etc.).

I know I didn't make it sound too brilliant there, but I am enjoying it. There's variety in how you complete the quests depending on who you have unlocked. For example, you can build a church with a firebrand preacher, or a monastery with a kindly monk. So one of the quests I'm doing had me try and get rid of a prophet who came to town. Choosing the monk had me trying to logically out talk the prophet and choosing the preacher would have me bully him. There's little things like that that make the quests play out differently.

Also, the game is very well written. There's a fair amount of dialogue to read and it's often very funny. All in all, it's a grand game. Not what I had hoped for and not a standard Sims game. But it's enjoyable so far.

cherryghost

So I picked it up this week after much contemplation. Reviews were very good so I decided to give it a whirl. Its by far the best Sims expansion I've ever played, let me tell you.

I was a bit doubtful of the things the developers said that would go into the game, but I didn't think they'd pull it off. Quests can be fun, but the entire style and the attention to detail in this expansion is great. I'd recommend it over any other expansion in The Sims 3 series so far!

Contessa Raven

I got this for my birthday a few weeks ago. I had read the reviews, most of which were very "meh" but I figured I'd give it a go. I have to say, I really like it. It's very different to the Sims 3 (which is now gathering dust on a shelf somewhere!)

The only things I don't like are the fact that there is no ageing and that the genetics are a bit weird when you have kids. Otherwise, I think it's great!

Laura_lolly87

I just got this on sale for €25, I hope it as good as you guys say it is.

kmmh58

Laura_lolly87 wrote: »

I just got this on sale for €25, I hope it as good as you guys say it is.

What do you think of the game Laura? I have been looking at this contemplating over whether or no to get it. I just bought the newest expansion pack so up until now I was not fussed about this stand alone game. Let me know what you thought.

Laura_lolly87

kmmh58 wrote: »

What do you think of the game Laura? I have been looking at this contemplating over whether or no to get it. I just bought the newest expansion pack so up until now I was not fussed about this stand alone game. Let me know what you thought.

I like it. It is very different to the sims 3 but that makes it better. I haven't played it as much as I would have liked because life got in the way . Where the sims 3 is open ended this is centered around quests and while they are easy enough, you find yourself losing hours playing it. As well as quests there are daily responsibilities that have to be done, for example a monarch might have to write new laws or 'hold court'. Nothing really happens if you don't do them, you just get a negative moodlet. As you complete quests you get points that you use to place new building in the kingdom.

If you like the building aspect of the sims 3 , you might not like this game as much. You don't plan the builings, they come ready made and you can only change the furniture inside.

I was like you. Every time I saw it i'd stand there thinking about it for a while and then walk away, but when it was on sale I had to buy it and i'm glad I did. I hope this helps a bit.

kmmh58

I might buy this at the weekend sounds interesting, although I am still discovering loads with the new expansion pack generations, so maybe i'll leave it for a bit until I get bored with sims 3