I saw this was released this week. I am kind of intrigued. Has anyone played it or heard much about it?
Here's some standard OP Stuff:
GAME INFO
The Middle Ages come to life with The Sims.
Introducing next-gen Sims tech and features
A world of Sims filled with stories, adventures, romance, drama and comedy
Enhanced environment and character graphics, lighting, and gameplay
Rich dramatic medieval setting
Experience epic stories of the age, full of drama, fantasy, conflict, comedy, romance, and intrigue
New Features: Heroes, Quests, Kingdom-Building
Create Heroes - Build up their skills and send them on epic quests
Quests - Drive your kingdom’s story - Good or evil, cruel or kind, romantic or warlike
Build a Kingdom - Start with an empty field and build up your kingdom, deciding its ultimate ambition and working to achieve its destiny
Other Features
Achievement system – Be rewarded you for your skill in reaching your kingdom ambitions and completing your quests.
Magic - Your wizard will learn a variety of powerful spells that will help him complete quests and carry out his duties to the kingdom.
Crafting system - Your blacksmith will forge weapons of varying quality and your physician will create cures for a variety of ailments.
Diplomatic system - Negotiate treaties, conduct trade or declare war on surrounding kingdoms.
Fishing - Yes, there is fishing
I'm a sucker for kingdom-building type games, so I may have to try this at some point.
http://www.ea.com/the-sims-medieval
Posts
I hope it's like Crusader Kings with 3D graphics
Hoping that it gets a console release like The Sims 3 did.
Edit: I lawl'd at the features list. It lists all these cool things and at the end its like "If that doesn't get you fired up, there's also fishing if you can believe it!"
I know he quit in frustration at least once but's that's all I've heard about it.
I've been playing Sims3 because I found a copy, and I've been semi-mildly obsessed with it.
I'll wait for reviews for this as well.
It's probably a little telling that this flew under the forum's radar, not having a thread until it got released.
Which might as well be a euphemism, the way my girlfriend gets sucked into Sims games.
The Sims can be a very man-centric game. At least when I play... lesbians errywhere
Quit because of frustration. He said he had to change two Sims into two different jobs to fulfill a quest and they were really hard to learn to do or something.
Maybe the reason it flew so under the radar is because people have just gotten sick of it.
HAHA, Yeah. it is one of the most bizarre things i've seen in a while.
I'm having fun so far. It's a lot more goal oriented than any of the normal Sims games. To the point where I'd no longer call it a sandbox game, but a carrot chasing game.
A quick rundown would be...
Manage your Sim's needs (Hunger and Sleep) so your Sim's mood/focus will be high enough to do quests.
Complete more quests to get more Resource Points.
Spend your Resource Points to build more buildings (Market, Blacksmith, Clinic) which give you access to more Sims.
More Sims means quests can be completed in different ways.
Basically, you are just always on the go and have something to do. Aside from managing your Hunger and Sleep, each Sim also has two timed Daily Tasks based on their job. These are relatively simple, but in between them, eating, sleeping, and questing, at times you just get overwhelmed and feel restricted.
Other than slight bugs (eat the fucking food you cook.... you're hungry.... don't just set it on the floor and walk away) and a very restrictive and horrible implemented camera system I like it well enough to recommend getting it at a lower price.
So yeah.
I'm not a big fan of the game holding a gun to your head, forcing you to do quests at their pace lest you get a penalty. I've heard there's a sandbox mode after you beat the game once, which is dumb. That sort of thing should be available from the get go, it's a Sims game for fucks sake.
It's A Sims game but not THE Sims. If you want complete sandbox, the Sims 3 is still making expansions. This is a different game.
That also happens occasionally when I watch my sister play Sims.
You have hero Sims in it and they can go on adventures and quests, put people in the stocks, do battle against enemies, level up and get skills, even equip armour and weapons. It still also has the sims building mechanic where you build castles and such, and there are neighbouring kingdoms around you you can do political stuff with. Not sure if i like it really but i've never been big into the sims..
But that's just it, it HAS a sandbox. They just decided to hide it for reasons that only make sense to the gibbering lunatics at EA.
Yeah, I don't really get that either. ALL the console Sims games did the same thing: complete all these tasks and then you can just play regular Sims. They just end up feeling like ridiculously long tutorials.
I should just say, I don't even mind the quest system and using different sims, etc. I think it adds a bit of flavor and keeps things interesting. I just don't enjoy time pressure, especially for the sims that have to collect things like herbs. Trying to track down ingredients to complete your daily tasks while making sure to eat and get enough sleep as well as having your quest hanging over your head... it gets a bit much. Forget trying to socialize and make friends with other sims. I'm hoping some intrepid modder finds a way to get around this.
The "virtual dollhouse" factor is part of it but there has to be more to it than that.
I didn't like it at first because I thought it was a dollhouse, but it's like, a real house man. Just with little stupid people, and really are they any stupider than us man?
"Congratulations on your marriage! His Majesty has invoked the right of Primae Noctis."
Ambition: "Have Bread"
Ambition: FREEEEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMM!!!
Edit: Total War: The Sims
You just nailed my reason for not really liking it so far. It seems there is a lot less freedom and the game keeps wanting you to do like 10 things at once with timers placed on them instead of just letting you do whatever you want. And yes, trying to keep fed and rested while running across the countryside on quests becomes almost impossible.
Very much worth it. Everything works very well on the console, plus there are "Karma Powers" on the consoles that can do things like instantly raise all your sims needs, instantly grant you alot of money at once, etc. There are even evil powers like haunting someone's house, or casting a bad luck hex on them.
If you rely on Karma powers too much bad things can happen though. My house has caught on fire and all the plumbing broke numerous times. If you've ever liked the sims at all I recommend it :^:
Honestly, I really like the game so far.
You know you don't have to rush through the quests, right? The only time you get penalized is if you go for more than a day not doing any steps in the quest. In fact, you're better off taking it slow and letting high focus get you to a platinum rating before doing the rest of the quest. Right now I only have 5 buildings, so maybe things get tougher later on. So far, it's been no trouble at all.
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
But it doesn't come with the expansion packs that the PC version has, does it?
Anyway, I'm really enjoying Sims Medieval. The Sims games are a guilty pleasure of mine, but even so, it has felt a bit pointless and tedious playing them. You often spend a lot of time doing rather mundane, time consuming things. Medieval seems to have a lot more of a focus, however, and more interesting things to do with your time. I will agree, though, that I wish I had more time to do some of the tasks. Heck, only a few more hours for the responsibilities would suffice.
Hah, but in order to keep your Focus high you need to make sure you complete your 2 daily tasks in the time window they give you, otherwise you get a mood reduction....
While also managing your hunger and sleep bars, otherwise you get a mood reduction....
While also making sure to you don't go too long without performing your bad trait, otherwise you get, you guessed it, mood reduction....
Now multiply that by the number of Sims you have to control during the quest you're working on.
If that sounds tedious, its because at times it can be. It takes patience and a skill/knack for micromanagement. But like I've previously said, I like it enough to play.
Steam: Noai
Warframe: Fairwoods
I haven't messed with it too much, but the build/decoration mode seems identical to past games.
That there are a lot of girls who would like games in general if they tried them, and The Sims has a low enough entry barrier to be a popular choice, as opposed to the dual-stick buttons-everywhere clusterfucks of Generic Manly Shooter no. 34?
I progressed through the common route of guys my age of 2d platformer -> strategy/adventure -> kbam FPS -> console, but for someone who jumps in at the deep end fairly late in life and gaming development, it's a harsh learning curve. The Sims stands out on the shelf as low conflict, high intuitiveness, with a pleasing aesthetic and a genuinely good game behind its presentation. It's a lot more rewarding having a tastefully decorated house after an hour's gameplay than attempting a Halo deathmatch, spinning around in a circle aiming at the sky before your boyfriend/son/brother finally takes pity on you and shoots your character in the face.
Sources for this late-night ramble: my parents, my sister, my girlfriends past and present