The Sims Medieval
Preview
Playing Medieval God
by Danielle Harrison
previewed on PC
Priests and Blacksmiths
There are ten types of heroes and players will be able to control them all once they have been unlocked and placed in the kingdom. Each hero will have different attributes and responsibilities to carry out in their daily lives. Monarchs will control the kingdom by negotiating treaties, conducting trade, or declaring war on surrounding kingdoms. They can also take part in duels and marry important NPCs. Wizards will have to learn magic and can enchant or fight using spells they have memorized. Spies can steal for the kingdom or even poison other sims. Priests come in two varieties; Peterans and Jacobians. They both worship 'the watcher', which is the player, but they both have different means of instilling their beliefs. Peteran Priests follow a simple path, like that of monks, and try to convert sims with uplifting sermons, whilst Jacobians use fear as a conversion tool. Blacksmiths use ore mined in the kingdom and with that they craft armor and weapons. Physicians are expected to keep people healthy using the technology available, namely leeches. Knights can train for strength and endurance, whilst Bards can recite poetry and play music for entertainment. Finally, Merchants have access to foreign good and open up trading opportunities.
When creating your heroes you will assign them each two traits and one fatal flaw. Sims have the chance to go on a quest and convert their fatal flaw by overcoming their weaknesses, but if the fatal flaw is not converted, it could be the downfall of your kingdom. If the fatal flaw does get converted, it will turn into a legendary trait which will aid you in the success of your kingdom. Sometimes, specific quests will require a certain skill which only one hero will possess. In this case, you will have to send the hero with the specific skill, and in other cases, heroes may team up to get the best possible outcome from quests. Experience, focus, and the traits of each sim influence their success in each of the quests and the player will be able to chose how each quest is conducted. Unlike Sims 3, the sims in this game will not age, and although there is an option to procreate, young children will not age into adulthood. This is a little disappointing, but with all of the new features, you are bound to find your hands more than full already.
How it Goes
As the game starts, you will pick your first character and ambition. After that, you will place your first building, which will be part of the castle. You will then bring in your monarch, king or queen, to rule your kingdom. You must complete the limited quests in order to earn kingdom points, and once you have done enough quests, you will have enough kingdom points to bring in a second building. The second building will be one of your own choice, which then ties into your kingdom ambition. You will then go on to make decisions based on what kind of stories you want to tell, and which of the professions interests you. You may not end up being able to bring every kind of hero into your game, so it is all based upon what you want to see happen. The more diverse your collection of heroes, the more diverse the stories you will be able to spin.
It is worth mentioning that EA have been working with a new technology called sub-surface scattering, which gives your sims a more realistic look. They will now have a rosy glow under their cheeks and the eyes will look more life-like. Every texture in the game has been hand painted as EA wanted to give a more 'painterly' quality to the game, bringing a rustic feeling. There will be a broad dynamic range which will make sunlit areas appear much brighter, and shadowy areas appear very dark to give a realistic feeling. Simlish speech has been re-worked and voice actors have re-recorded the sounds to make them appear more medieval. Rachel Bernstein said that although it is not set in stone, EA recognise that bringing The Sims Medieval to console would be a terrific fit, so they're not ruling it out.
