The Sims Medieval Official thread.

[clc]

“We didn’t try to take the same gameplay from The Sims 3 and just transport it to the Middle Ages. We asked ourselves, ‘What’s really the heart of a game starring the Sims?’ and the answer for us is storytelling, the stories that players are telling in their own heads about these people in their world. And we wanted to create a game where they would tell different stories that felt medieval in their nature, rather than just transplant the same modern day stories into a different time,” explains senior producer Rachel Bernstein.

When you start the game, the very first thing you’ll do is choose a Kingdom Ambition, which will guide your choices and play-style as you build your city up. You could try to develop a very secure, military-type kingdom. Or you could turn your swords to plowshares and try building a more spiritually rich society. By emphasizing the importance of medicine and science, you could also try developing a more health-oriented kingdom, granting good health and plague-free lives to all your citizens.

But even though your Kingdom Ambition is the overarching goal, The Sims Medieval won’t be a city-building simulator. Your Kingdom is full of special Hero Sims, individuals with quests, goals, and ambitions of your own. Of course, the most important Hero Sim of all will be the monarch, the leader of your kingdom who resides in the city’s castle. He’ll have a wide array of kingly (or queenly) duties to deal with, like writing proclamations, entertaining visiting dignitaries, or even improving his skill with a broadsword.

Your monarch lives upstairs, above the throne room. And this is where Sims fans who like customizing their living quarters can let their inner designer run wild. The pre-alpha build we saw had a menu system that looked very similar to the one featured in the Sims 3, with options to select different types of furnishings.

But your monarch is just one of the many Hero Sims who has a story to tell The Sims Medieval. There are priests and monks, that need to tend to their flock. There are blacksmiths sharpening their metallurgy skills, and physicians crafting potions and tending to the ill.

These individual Sims aren’t just living in their own little bubbles; they’re all a part of your organic kingdom and often interact with each other. During our demo, we saw a Hero quest pop up saying that the king is ill. This is where your choices really come into play. Bernstein opts to use the kingdom’s physician to cure her monarch’s malady. But before she can get started on her quest she needs to have the physician cure the sick.

Each Hero Sim has responsibilities that need to be taken care of. In the physician’s case, her responsibility is to keep your kingdom’s populace well. If she doesn’t fulfill her duties, she could face a fine, time in the local stocks, or even be executed. We jump to the physician’s clinic, fully decked out with a waiting room, an upstairs living area, and a space where she tends to the sick. There, we watch the physician cure a commoner’s illness with leeches to drain the bad blood out.

With her daily duties done for the day, the physician moves on to the palace to investigate the king’s illness. It turns out that he has poisoned blood. The physician will need to do some research to discover the cure for poisoned blood, find the materials necessary to create an angel balm potion, and deliver it to the king to make him well.

“Completing quests earns you a variety of rewards, including Kingdom Points. Kingdom Points lets you expand your kingdom, bringing in more buildings, and more Hero Sims, which opens up more quests that you can take on. So you’re constantly choosing from quest-to-quest, which Hero Sims you want to control,” explains Bernstein. The Sims Medieval is an achievement-oriented game, with platinum, gold, silver, and bronze achievements for each quest you choose to take on. Completing quests at the platinum level will help you with more Kingdom Points to help you satisfy the requirements for your Kingdom Ambition and meet your goals.

“We’re not historians,” explains Bernstein when talking about the art style for The Sims Medieval. “Our idea of what ‘medieval’ looks like, comes from storybooks and movies – and we wanted to capture that fantasy storybook look that we’re all familiar with,” says Bernstein. She points to fairy tales and even films, like The Princess Bride and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as sources of inspiration for The Sims Medieval’s art style. She also points out sub-surface scattering, a technology that the studio is using to give the Sims a rosy glow beneath their cheeks, making characters look warmer and more inviting.

The Sims Medieval is scheduled to release in early 2011 and I’m a little worried. If playing god with an individual Sim in The Sims 3 was engrossing, then obsessing over a kingdom full of Hero Sims while questing and achievement just might be the end of me. Expect more details as The Sims Medieval’s release draws nearer.

:yayfox:

Discuss here people and let me know what you think

[clc]

Your welcome Pierre :couples1:

I've done some more digging and here is the official site:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A small trailer for the game:



And where you can buy it from amazon:

Here

[clc]

More info on the sims medival is now available, the site has more info now, we also have a Producer Walkthrough of the game - heres the vid:



More info on kingdom ambitions:

Kingdom Ambitions

* For the first time in The Sims, decide the fate of an entire kingdom and all its citizens
* Build your realm according to your ambitions, using castles, churches, towers and workshops

New Beginnings

Everyone has to begin somewhere and the first ambition of any Monarch is to populate their kingdom. A kingdom full of buildings and Sims is just what a budding ruler needs.

Efficient Expander

Expanding an empire can take time, but it's always worth it to do it in style. Expand the Renown of your kingdom, but keep as much KP in reserve as you can. Sure, you might have to make some sacrifices, but what historical figure hasn't?

Hard Workers

What makes a kingdom great? What raises it from the dungeons of obscurity to the hallowed halls of history? Toil! Put your Sims to work and level them up to reach their full potential.

Imperial Domination

Ruling a kingdom is fun, but you know what's more fun? Ruling an empire! It's time to take manifest destiny by the horns and ride it into the outlying territories, expanding your lands as far as you can reach.

Legendary

Fatal flaws may be great for tragic plays and historical epics, but they don't belong in a successful kingdom. Have as many of your Sims as possible transcend their flawed past and acquire Traits that are nothing short of Legendary.


More info coming soon

[clc]

Another two Trailers:





Also have some screen shots for you:





















I hope you have found this update useful and I will update again soon!

[pierre]

thank you very much for this new info clc my bfff

[White Lily]

Thank you for posting this great info clc, I may get medival as it is a stand alone will depend on how much space it takes up!

[clc]

You are very welcome Pierre and Lily! Sorry Lily I don't know how much space it takes up but will let you know as soon as possible!

Now for the next update!!!!!

We have some more screenshots!





















And just to keep your excitement upI will be posting another update on wednesday and there is about 7-8 days left till medival comes out

[Bdh]

Thank you for posting more screenshots clc, not long to go now

[clc]

Another update for you all!

More screen shots:



















Another update coming tomorrow!

[Bdh]

Wow clc! you are spoiling us with medival updates at the mintue, thank you for sharing this clc, I pre-orderd my copy today, I think it come out here on the 27th.

[clc]

Your welcome Bdh, I have some more updates for you, first off some fun:



Last of the pictures:











and lastly:

Frequently Asked Questions About The Sims Medieval
Q: What is The Sims Medieval?
Developed by the award-winning The Sims studio, The Sims Medieval is a new stand-alone game offering a fresh setting, a new look, an exciting new set of features gameplay mechanics, and all-new features.

The Sims Medieval lets you experience the medieval era with Sims you create and control: kings, queens, knights, wizards, spies, blacksmiths, merchants, bards and many more. You will create heroes, choose quests, build your kingdom, and create epic tales full of drama, romance, conflict and comedy.

Q: What are the features of The Sims Medieval?
Built with 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
Heroes

Create Hero Sims and 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
Kingdom Building

Start with an empty field and build up your kingdom, deciding its ultimate ambition and working to achieve its destiny
Diving in a bit deeper:

The Sims Medieval offers Achievements to reward you for your skill in reaching your ambitions and completing your Quests.
The Sims Medieval allows you to play every Hero Sim in your kingdom, not just the Sims in one household.
There is a magic system, and your wizard will learn a variety of powerful spells.
There is a crafting system, allowing your blacksmith to forge weapons of varying quality and physician to create cures for a variety of ailments.
There is a diplomatic system, allowing you to negotiate trade and declare war on surrounding kingdom.
The objects your Sims will interact with rangefrom profession-oriented objects like the Blacksmith's forge and anvil and the Physician’s operating table to medieval food-preparation objects such as a roasting spit and cook-pot hanging over a fire.
The buildings are custom-crafted for each profession, from the Monarch’s Great Hall in the castle to the Tavern for the Bard to the Wizard’s Tower.
The art style is painterly, with a hand-crafted look to befit the medieval setting.
And yes, there is fishing.
Q: This game seems very new and different for The Sims. Why make such a big change?
Because to create a game devoted to the medieval age, we needed to create a new art style, new features, new stories and new ways to interact with your Sims.

Let’s start with the art. The world we’ve created is more stylized and painterly. It’s a bit more moody and dramatic. Where The Sims 3 is designed to represent modern life, we wanted our game to be more dramatic, romantic and slightly fantastic. We have cultivated a more illustrative look, with textures meant to look hand-painted, and objects and outfits mean to look handcrafted.

We didn’t want to allow out-of-place objects, either for their looks or function, into the game. The game play is geared around the professions of the Hero Sims, as are the objects—from the monarch’s throne to the blacksmith’s forge. Objects from contemporary Sims games would not match the art style, and most of them would not fit into the time period.

The Sims themselves look and act in ways suited to the medieval period.. Not only does the clothing have a handcrafted look, but the traits of the Sims themselves suit the time period, from Chivalrous to Cruel, Adventurous to Cowardly. Medieval Sims have two regular traits and a Fatal Flaw. You can send them on Quests to convert their Fatal Flaw into a Legendary Trait.

And lastly, we want the kingdom itself to play a role in the storytelling. We wanted players to be able to build up a kingdom and make important decisions about how to do that. That was the basis for the feature we call Kingdom Ambitions, which is exactly what it sounds like. You decide for your kingdom what it long-term ambition should be –from amassing riches, to conquering neighbouring territories, to developing in the most buildings and Heroes – and how to go about achieving that. Part of that means bringing in new Hero Sims and their buildings as the game goes on that fit specialized roles in the medieval world.

Q: What features are brought over from The Sims 3?
The Sims Medieval is based on The Sims 3 technology, and because of that, it offers some incredible features. For instance, we have Sims with their own little minds and motivations, Create-A-Sim, customizable interiors, a robust item system, a collection and crafting system, a relationship system and much more.
Q: Could you describe a typical Quest?
There are so many Quests, with so many scopes, with so many different storylines! It’s hard to say what’s typical.

In general, here is how the Quest system works:

At the beginning of the game, you select a kingdom ambition. For example, let’s say you want your kingdom to be the richest in the history of the world. That ambition will mean Quests will become available that help you on your way to that goal.
Perhaps you’re making good progress to that goal, but then the king takes ill and that causes a slowdown in revenue. At that point, you can take on a Quest to cure the king.
You will then choose a team to complete the Quest. You’ll choose a team leader and a supporting cast. That’s an important choice because Quests will have many different ways to be solved. Maybe you’ll want to use magic or medicine or prayer to cure the king. It’s up to you.
Once your Sims are working on the steps within the Quest, you’ll face many challenges. You might have to craft items, enter into combat, encourage people in prayer or find a rare spell book. You will simultaneously have to fulfil the Responsibilities of the Sims on that Quest. For example, the physician needs heal sick people every day, and the blacksmith needs to craft swords.
If successful, your completed Quest will give you Kingdom Points, which you can then spend to expand your kingdom. With that expansion – maybe placing the wizard’s tower – you will get a new Hero Sim. The Hero Sims can then be used on new Quests. For instance, if the next Quest you choose is “Punish He Who Poisoned The King” the wizard will be available to lead your team or be a team member.
You create Heroes, and select Quests for them. Completing Quests earns Kingdom Points, which you spend to expand your kingdom. When you expand your kingdom by adding a new building, you unlock a new Hero, which in turn unlocks new Quests. And on it goes as your kingdom grows and you get closer to fulfilling your Kingdom Ambition. And then you start again, with a new Ambition and unfold a new set of Quests and Achievements.
Q: Other than the medieval setting, what are the biggest differences to the gameplay of The Sims 3?
The Sims Medieval is still a game about creating, nurturing and controlling people, about storytelling, about adventure, romance and humor. However, in taking The Sims to a new setting, we have created a new art style and new features that change and expand the way you play.

Overall, the focus of the game, while still on the Sims, has shifted a bit toward the Kingdom as a whole: you can control any of the Hero Sims in your kingdom, not just the Sims in one household. Completing Quests (goal-oriented stories that you craft and customize) earns you Kingdom Points, which you use to expand the Kingdom (bringing in new buildings and new playable Hero Sims). You earn Achievements for your skill in completing Quests and Kingdom Ambitions, which are tracked from one game to the next.

The Sims Medieval transports players to a dramatic, evocative era and lets them experience stories they simply can’t get in any other game, including The Sims 3.



Thats the last pre-view update folks from now on it will be chat from playing the game, so feel free to join in if you have it

[Bdh]

for another fantastic update clc, the vid made me laugh

[clc]

Your very welcome Bdh, my friend!

[Light_House]

Great updates clc, I cannot afford medival at the mintue and I'm busy this month so I may leave it till may/june time.

Does anyone here have the game yet?

[Bdh]

Hi Cora, I have medival but don't have any time to play at the mintue
I have had a look about and created a king the graphics are good - much much more sims 3 than 2. Time will tell about the rest as soon as i have the chance I will post some pictures for you

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