This could be a good game, but EA will ruin it by making it kid friendly; they've done this to every Sims game to date. I see there's a screenshot titled "Knight Kills Witch" or something. Don't be fooled, you probably can't take of the gloves in this game either; witches have been killed in G-rated Disney movies since Snow White. Kill a witch? Don't care, next game. Draw and quarter unruly peasants? I'll preorder.
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According to the producer, there is an execution system (something like that pit creature from Return of the Jedi), and a sword-fighting system sometimes resulting in fights to the death. I remember seeing a demo where the player controlled wizard zapped the monarch. I don't know if its possible to kill the monarch that way, but it certainly was entertaining.
There better be more to the executions than just throwing them to "beasts"; I'm hoping they'll throw in beheadings, but that's doubtful. At least allow me to hang some people. On the other hand, electrocuting a king almost makes me want to preorder...
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I'm excited by it, too, but I'm doing my best to temper my excitement, because there is just no way it could possibly live up to my hopes. It looks like an amazing combination of Sims 3 and Fable III, and it seems unlikely that it will actually be so amazing. I might preorder for the extra throne rooms, though...I wished you could have more options for decorating your castle in Fable 3. At first it looked like you wouldn't be able to customize your characters at all, but since you seem to be able to change the appearance and gender of each now, it will be fun. I will go through and create Sim-versions of various PCs and NPCs from past tabletop games, and probably have better luck with it than I did in the standard Sims games.
My friends is planning to get it, too, and I get, like, puppy-dog excited when she is into games that I like. I will most likely purchase Sims: Medieval so we can geek out or complain about it together, as the case may be.
Having played Sims games religiously since the first game came out 10 years ago, my guess is that the violence will be not graphic (very little blood and gore), fights will not last long (no epic 20 minute long boss battles), and it will not be the only or primary focus of the game (which as always will be a wide-ranging life simulation wherein you can pick many goals in terms of advancement, item creation, socialization, etc.). BUT likewise, that there will be combat and combat-related death. The creators of the Sims occasionally miss the mark but in my experience they generally stay true to their themes and since it wouldn't make sense to have a fantasy/medieval setting without some combat and danger, they will incorporate that into the game.
Death has always existed in the Sims and in some cases it's been rather unpleasant. Just go to Youtube and watch the many videos of all the ways you can die--burning to death, ravaged by swarms of flies, drowning, electrocution, being gobbled up by a giant cow shaped venus flytrap, etc.
Combat has only existed to a limited degree, true. I can't remember if you can actually beat someone to death, but I reckon it's possible (albeit behind the cloud of dust that fistfights stir up). And of course in the Sims 3, if you get attacked by a mummy, you turn into one. The Martial Arts in the Sims 3 I don't believe is deadly (it is done "tournament style", but it is very well animated.
Don't mistake "low violence" or "not graphic" for "kid friendly." None of the deaths I would call "kid friendly," and of course the rated T game also features sex, theft, and drunkenness--again, depicted in a non-graphic manner (although some of the "make out" animations are pretty steamy IMO), but it's there, and there obviously, and frequently. Some would consider the fact that all Sims are essentially bisexual (and same sex Sims can marry) also a non-kid friendly theme as well. More accurately, I'd say that the Sims is usually a very lighthearted and comedic game (violent deaths by fire and fly swarms aside), and thus not going to depict a lot of grit and "edginess." And it doesn't need to.
Personally, I don't want to see massive combat in the Sims because I like what the Sims has to offer in its own often very goofball way; likewise, when I play Fallout 3 and am busy shotgunning supermutants' heads into tiny smears of bloody goo, I don't want to stop my rampage to make sure my Lone Wanderer gets to his mail clerk job on time (although I WOULD love to be able to convince that cute gallie behind the counter for a quick WooHoo in the bathroom stall, which strangely is far more easy to achieve in the rated T Sims than in the rated M Fallout).
I reckon that if you like the Sims in ALL of its capacity (or even like strongly any one part)--the building, the designing, the social interaction, the skill building, the skill challenges, the minigames, the item creation tasks, the exploration, etc. etc. etc.---you will like the Sims Medieval. But if what you want is Fable III or the Elder Scrolls V, then wait till those games come out, because the Sims will not be an RPG replacement---nor fantasy RPGs a Sims replacement--any time soon.
I would also reckon that this is going to be an awesome game, and makes me think I may just dip into my savings account to get that new gaming PC sooner than I thought. They had a cool little dungeon crawl mechanic in Sims 3 World Adventures, and based on the design elements I've seen them able to incorporate into existing Sims games, Sims Medieval should be beautiful with tons of things to do (beheading witches one of them).
Afterthought: I probably could use this game to build my players' adventuring party, and then make hilarious music videos about them. Hmmmmm.....
xD
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According to the producer, melee combat in Sims: Medieval is much more detailed than in other Sims game. I believe there's a video of a duel between the Knight and the Monarch out there. (Fight to the death is possible), but what I was impressed about was that the Knight sim could actually plan out which moves to make.
The only thing I'm a little upset about is the absence of generational play which has always been what kept the game going storywise for me. I plan to introduce mandatory sim death after a certain time period, using cheats if necessary, so that the sims will be required to make choices for their precious time.
From the Pre-Alpha Demo:
The Knight Video:
Thanks, Stardust, those were incredibly informative! The Q&A videos for the same townhall also have some really good info on it (and Night Life for the Sims 3).
I understand your disappointment about the generational thing, but I can see why they chose to go with the "old school" Sims 1 style lack of aging---since, now that I've seen the videos, the main focus of Medieval seems to be fulfilling quests with each hero-type character, you wouldn't want to work on leveling up your wizard only to find your king had grown old before you could do anything with him. The idea seems to be to be able to play with every facet of the quest and storymaking, and the "everybody ages and is on the same timetable" aspects that is part of the Sims 3 would actually complicate that in a possibly frustrating way. They could do it Sims 2 style, where people only aged on the active lot, but that creates its own problems (I always hated it in the Sims 2 when you moved someone's grown-up child out of the house, played them, they got older, but then their parents stayed the same age because you weren't playing in their lot any more).
Unfortunately, for people who just want to have families who live daily lives, Medieval has less to offer them, based on what you linked to. (Looks like a great game to me, though.)
After watching the videos, I feel a little better about the game. I still don't see why a massive beast is needed for executions when a simple rope and sturdy tree worked fine in the past.
I hadn't even heard about this game until now (thank you Stardust for the info)... I've played all the Sims, SimCities and off shoots... I can hardly wait for it to come out.
you guys are ignoring the most important feature...
"Fishing - yes there will be fishing"
Awesome!
My wife and daughter love it!