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When you start on the first ambition, "New Beginnings," you begin with a monarch that you either pre-select or make in Create-A-Sim (I made all my heroes in CAS, though I gave more attention to some than others). You then do quests. You build up your kingdom. You create other heroes and then use them in new quests and such. It's pretty cool, I think. The quests are like the ones in Sims 3 World Adventures or the new professions in Sims 3 Ambitions, except longer and more complicated. That said, if you didn't care for those aspects of World Adventures or Ambitions, then let me just say it flat out, right here and now: stay far away from The Sims Medieval, because that is pretty much all there is to it.
The main problem, such as it is, is that there's no free play mode, really (at least not at first, and even then... well, see the paragraph after this one for more on that). You always have to be on a quest. Always. And you're on a time limit as well on all quests. It's fairly laid back, though, and doesn't put too awfully much pressure on you. In fact, for most quests it doesn't even really come into play at all, because if you want to get the platinum rating for them (and you will want to, because it gets you more Resource Points, money, XP, and aspect points), you actually have to kind of draw it out and ignore the quest goals for a while, so that the rating meter will fill up. The rating meter fills up slowly and pretty much constantly, as long as you keep your mood bar (renamed to "Focus" in TSM) in the green and don't get too far behind on completing quest objectives. My only real problem with the timed aspect of the game is that once you do start falling behind some, it's difficult to get caught back up again. This is because when you complete a section of a quest, it doesn't reset the timer completely. It just seems to push the timer back a little bit is all. So, if you do somehow get really far behind, you might find yourself scrambling to try to do three or four steps of a quest at once and then, before you know it, the quest is over and you're stuck with a silver rating or whatever. But you'd have to really suck at the game for that to ever become an issue. The only quest I ever got less than a platinum on was the very first one, and that's because I kind of rushed through it and didn't let the bar build up enough.
So yeah, the game is pretty cool... up until you run out of quest points, that is. Then it's like, well, okay then. You're done with this kingdom now. You do have the choice of free play... (YAY! FINALLY!) ...but we're going to turn off all XP gain so that you can't build your Sims up anymore. So basically you're frozen in whatever state you were in when you completed the last quest. (What? That blows.) OR. You can move on to one of the new unlocked ambitions... (Okay, that's sounds cool, let's do that.) ...but you have start over completely with a new kingdom, new monarch (though I suppose you could just load in the same level 1 monarch you had before, if you saved him/her), new everything, from the very beginning. (Ugh.) There also appears to be another option of taking one (1) of your hero Sims and having them go off and start a new kingdomin the same ambition, but that's kind of lame too if you still have to restart the kingdom itself and all of the other heroes. (EDIT) Okay, I was wrong about how this works. You pick one of your heroes to go off and start a new kingdom in one of the new unlocked ambitions (or, I would presume, the same ambition, if you wanted to play that again for some reason). The thing is, however, they get imported to the new kingdom as Monarch. All inventory is lost, except for the default armor and sword. All skills that they may have had before (such as Wizard spells, for example) are gone. They're just a Monarch at whatever level they were in their old profession, and the old profession is completely forgotten. This is even more lame than when I thought you were importing them in as whatever profession they were before. There's not much point in exporting anyone other than the old Monarch himself, in that case, and why should the Monarch abandon his kingdom to go off and start a new one? (/EDIT)
Anyway, that's where I've stopped for now. I'll probably go back to playing it again later, but the thought of restarting completely on a new kingdom doesn't really enthuse me at the moment. I hope that when you complete all of the ambitions, it finally unlocks a True™ free play sandbox mode. (EDIT) I've since gone on and played one of the two new unlocked ambitions... but it's pretty much just the same old stuff all over again. Granted, there are quests that I didn't play the first time through, and different versions of the same quests with different heroes, and even different branches of the same quests with the same heroes as before, but still... I don't know if there are enough unique quests to keep it interesting enough for the other 10 remaining ambitions, though. :/ And starting over with yet another new kingdom is just... ugh. I just wish that they didn't turn off XP gain in free play mode. That is so retarded. I guess on my final kingdom when I finish the last ambition (assuming I ever bother to get that far), I'll just have to make sure I have all my heroes maxed at level 10 before I run out of quest points. One of the ambitions is to do that, actually, so I might save that one for last. (/EDIT)
Also, children, in this game, are completely uncontrollable and are not customizable at all. They have a limited amount of interactions compared to adults, and the most unique thing you can do with them is tell them to go to the village shop so you don't have to do it yourself, which I never used beyond the one time just to see what it did. Also, they never age into adults, apparently. No multi-generational dynasties for you in this game, like you can have in other Sims games. Sorry. This doesn't really bother me that much, since when I play the Sims, I usually tend to use the Elixirs of Life or Ambrosia or whatever to keep my Sims alive forever anyway, but I know a lot of people like having huge extended families and such. Nope, not going to happen in Sims Medieval. It does still kind of irk me that you get no control whatsoever over your kids, though.
Overall, I like the game for the most part, but people just need to be aware that this is not simply The Sims 3 set in medieval times. It's a lot more structured and goal-oriented than your typical Sims game. I knew that was going to be the case before I bought the game, but apparently a lot of people bought it cold, thinking it was just going to be Sims 3 in ye goode olde days or something. (It's called "research," people. Google exists for a reason, you know.)
Here are a couple tips, for those just starting out:
1) As said above, try to string out your quests as much as you can. Not only will this give you a better rating at the end (from bronze to platinum), it will give you more opportunity to level up your Sims by doing their professional stuff. But don't get too far behind though, or the "Falling behind on quest" moodlets will start sapping more and more from the quest rating meter.
2) A couple of the neighboring territories with which you can ally will give you some good bonuses (less QP per quests and less RP per building) that you should try to unlock sooner rather than later. I don't recall which did what, but you can do the "View political situation" thing on the table in the castle and look at all the various regions and see what bonuses they give you. I'm not sure if you have to do the quest to fully annex them before you get the bonus or not, though, or if just allying with them is enough, because I waited until near the very end before I even began to bother with that stuff. :/
And now, just for the heck of it, here are some screenshots of the 10 heroes I made. (EDIT years later) Every single one of those images are gone now, because Photobucket became a shitpile, and I neglected to resave those images to my own comp before knee-jerk deleting my PB account, alas. All that's left now are the now mostly nonsensical text descriptions, which I don't feel bothered to change now. (/EDIT)
First of all, here's the monarch, Janus, sitting on his throne and trying not to look bored. Has traits "Good" and "Eloquent" and fatal flaw "Weak stomach."
Here's the blacksmith, Cid, doing what he loves best. Has traits "Dedicated" and "Unkempt" and fatal flaw "Glutton."
Here's the physician, Kara, in the process of making a potion. Has traits "Creative Cook" and "Earthy" and fatal flaw "Puny."
Here's Sabin, the knight, sharpening his sword. Has traits "Adventurous" and "Chivalrous" and fatal flaw "Licentious."
Here's Martha, the merchant, trying to make a dollar. I mean, simole. Has traits "Haggler" and "Dedicated" and fatal flaw "Morose."
Here's the bard, Maytag, playing a tune while others look on. Has traits "Jokester" and "Fun-Loving" and fatal flaw "Compulsive Gambler."
Here's Tiberius, the Jacoban priest, giving a fiery sermon. Has traits "Greedy" and "Vain" and fatal flaw "Hubris."
Here's his counterpart, Jillian, the Peteran monk, being a little less fiery. Has traits "Friendly" and "Whale Ate My Parents" and fatal flaw "Insecure."
Here's the spy, Ivana, trying to do something sneaky in the middle of the day while people are blatantly watching. Has traits "Evil" and "Hopeful Orphan" and fatal flaw "Misanthrope."
And, last but not least, here's the wizard, Kane, in the middle of casting a spell. Has traits "Scholarly" and "Solitary" and fatal flaw "Insomniac."
By the way, if they ever make another themed game like this, I hope the next one is The Sims Space Opera.
The main problem, such as it is, is that there's no free play mode, really (at least not at first, and even then... well, see the paragraph after this one for more on that). You always have to be on a quest. Always. And you're on a time limit as well on all quests. It's fairly laid back, though, and doesn't put too awfully much pressure on you. In fact, for most quests it doesn't even really come into play at all, because if you want to get the platinum rating for them (and you will want to, because it gets you more Resource Points, money, XP, and aspect points), you actually have to kind of draw it out and ignore the quest goals for a while, so that the rating meter will fill up. The rating meter fills up slowly and pretty much constantly, as long as you keep your mood bar (renamed to "Focus" in TSM) in the green and don't get too far behind on completing quest objectives. My only real problem with the timed aspect of the game is that once you do start falling behind some, it's difficult to get caught back up again. This is because when you complete a section of a quest, it doesn't reset the timer completely. It just seems to push the timer back a little bit is all. So, if you do somehow get really far behind, you might find yourself scrambling to try to do three or four steps of a quest at once and then, before you know it, the quest is over and you're stuck with a silver rating or whatever. But you'd have to really suck at the game for that to ever become an issue. The only quest I ever got less than a platinum on was the very first one, and that's because I kind of rushed through it and didn't let the bar build up enough.
So yeah, the game is pretty cool... up until you run out of quest points, that is. Then it's like, well, okay then. You're done with this kingdom now. You do have the choice of free play... (YAY! FINALLY!) ...but we're going to turn off all XP gain so that you can't build your Sims up anymore. So basically you're frozen in whatever state you were in when you completed the last quest. (What? That blows.) OR. You can move on to one of the new unlocked ambitions... (Okay, that's sounds cool, let's do that.) ...but you have start over completely with a new kingdom, new monarch (though I suppose you could just load in the same level 1 monarch you had before, if you saved him/her), new everything, from the very beginning. (Ugh.) There also appears to be another option of taking one (1) of your hero Sims and having them go off and start a new kingdom
Anyway, that's where I've stopped for now. I'll probably go back to playing it again later, but the thought of restarting completely on a new kingdom doesn't really enthuse me at the moment. I hope that when you complete all of the ambitions, it finally unlocks a True™ free play sandbox mode. (EDIT) I've since gone on and played one of the two new unlocked ambitions... but it's pretty much just the same old stuff all over again. Granted, there are quests that I didn't play the first time through, and different versions of the same quests with different heroes, and even different branches of the same quests with the same heroes as before, but still... I don't know if there are enough unique quests to keep it interesting enough for the other 10 remaining ambitions, though. :/ And starting over with yet another new kingdom is just... ugh. I just wish that they didn't turn off XP gain in free play mode. That is so retarded. I guess on my final kingdom when I finish the last ambition (assuming I ever bother to get that far), I'll just have to make sure I have all my heroes maxed at level 10 before I run out of quest points. One of the ambitions is to do that, actually, so I might save that one for last. (/EDIT)
Also, children, in this game, are completely uncontrollable and are not customizable at all. They have a limited amount of interactions compared to adults, and the most unique thing you can do with them is tell them to go to the village shop so you don't have to do it yourself, which I never used beyond the one time just to see what it did. Also, they never age into adults, apparently. No multi-generational dynasties for you in this game, like you can have in other Sims games. Sorry. This doesn't really bother me that much, since when I play the Sims, I usually tend to use the Elixirs of Life or Ambrosia or whatever to keep my Sims alive forever anyway, but I know a lot of people like having huge extended families and such. Nope, not going to happen in Sims Medieval. It does still kind of irk me that you get no control whatsoever over your kids, though.
Overall, I like the game for the most part, but people just need to be aware that this is not simply The Sims 3 set in medieval times. It's a lot more structured and goal-oriented than your typical Sims game. I knew that was going to be the case before I bought the game, but apparently a lot of people bought it cold, thinking it was just going to be Sims 3 in ye goode olde days or something. (It's called "research," people. Google exists for a reason, you know.)
Here are a couple tips, for those just starting out:
1) As said above, try to string out your quests as much as you can. Not only will this give you a better rating at the end (from bronze to platinum), it will give you more opportunity to level up your Sims by doing their professional stuff. But don't get too far behind though, or the "Falling behind on quest" moodlets will start sapping more and more from the quest rating meter.
2) A couple of the neighboring territories with which you can ally will give you some good bonuses (less QP per quests and less RP per building) that you should try to unlock sooner rather than later. I don't recall which did what, but you can do the "View political situation" thing on the table in the castle and look at all the various regions and see what bonuses they give you. I'm not sure if you have to do the quest to fully annex them before you get the bonus or not, though, or if just allying with them is enough, because I waited until near the very end before I even began to bother with that stuff. :/
And now, just for the heck of it, here are some screenshots of the 10 heroes I made. (EDIT years later) Every single one of those images are gone now, because Photobucket became a shitpile, and I neglected to resave those images to my own comp before knee-jerk deleting my PB account, alas. All that's left now are the now mostly nonsensical text descriptions, which I don't feel bothered to change now. (/EDIT)
First of all, here's the monarch, Janus, sitting on his throne and trying not to look bored. Has traits "Good" and "Eloquent" and fatal flaw "Weak stomach."
Here's the blacksmith, Cid, doing what he loves best. Has traits "Dedicated" and "Unkempt" and fatal flaw "Glutton."
Here's the physician, Kara, in the process of making a potion. Has traits "Creative Cook" and "Earthy" and fatal flaw "Puny."
Here's Sabin, the knight, sharpening his sword. Has traits "Adventurous" and "Chivalrous" and fatal flaw "Licentious."
Here's Martha, the merchant, trying to make a dollar. I mean, simole. Has traits "Haggler" and "Dedicated" and fatal flaw "Morose."
Here's the bard, Maytag, playing a tune while others look on. Has traits "Jokester" and "Fun-Loving" and fatal flaw "Compulsive Gambler."
Here's Tiberius, the Jacoban priest, giving a fiery sermon. Has traits "Greedy" and "Vain" and fatal flaw "Hubris."
Here's his counterpart, Jillian, the Peteran monk, being a little less fiery. Has traits "Friendly" and "Whale Ate My Parents" and fatal flaw "Insecure."
Here's the spy, Ivana, trying to do something sneaky in the middle of the day while people are blatantly watching. Has traits "Evil" and "Hopeful Orphan" and fatal flaw "Misanthrope."
And, last but not least, here's the wizard, Kane, in the middle of casting a spell. Has traits "Scholarly" and "Solitary" and fatal flaw "Insomniac."
By the way, if they ever make another themed game like this, I hope the next one is The Sims Space Opera.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-26 12:54 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-03-26 06:41 pm (UTC)From:But as far as the game is concerned, this is how it defines the two.
Chivalrous:
- If in a relationship, your Sim can only have romantic social interactions with their significant other.
- If not in a relationship, romantic overtures are more successful.
Licentious:
- Your Sim's romantic interactions are of a more seedy nature.
- If your Sim hasn't kissed or Woohoo'd in a while, their mood will go down significantly.
As far as I can tell, he has the same interactions as everyone else under the Romantic menu, but it does add the "Compliment Ankles" interaction under the Traits menu. Most Sims tend to react badly to that, though. Also, if he hasn't kissed or Woohoo'd lately, he gets the "Dry Spell" moodlet, which is described as "Licentious Sims more acutely feel the effects of not having kissed or Woohoo'd in a while. Time to get Sabin some action! (From Licentious Fatal Flaw) -20 Focus"
So, no, it's not very realistic at all. I actually kind of wonder if it might not actually be a bug that Chivalrous and Licentious don't disallow one another, since there are other Traits and Fatal Flaws that do so. For example, you can't have the "Good" trait combined with the fatal flaws of "Bloodthirsty" or "Cruel" at the same time.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-26 06:43 pm (UTC)From:actuallyI use that word way too much. -_-