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SNW was invited to a behind-closed-doors Sims presentation at the Gamescom. So I didn't hesitate to buy the Gamescom tickets! In case you are wondering, I didn't go alone. ChEeTaH from The Sims Zone, Steven from Sunset Magazine and I traveled together. We were early, but better too early than too late. We got our wild card at the EA community lounge and decided to wait on the ground. Or at least I did, the other two went to sit in these weird chairs... XD
When we finally were allowed in the presentation room, we learned right away we were not allowed to take any pictures, unfortunately. But then again, I already expected this. Lately, with every event I attend, it's just like this. I do understand why, but I also know the people reading articles also want footage. And there just isn't any.
Producer Aaron Cohen started off with The Sims Medieval: Pirates & Nobles, the new expansion pack for The Sims Medieval. He was quite funny, and started the presentation with a funny voice, decided it was the wrong voice and then it became even funnier, as he sported quite a good pirate voice to introduce the new expansion pack for this fairly new game. I had met Aaron Cohen before in Amsterdam, when I attended The Sims Medieval event there. It's always fun listening to him. Too bad we weren't allowed to take voice recordings either. I'm sure the entire Sims community would have enjoyed this too. But let's get to the bit about the game itself, shall we?
In The Sims Medieval: Pirates & Nobles there are plenty of new features. A really important new feature in the game is the fact that there are animals! Parrots and falcons. I don't think you can really call them pets... They are some kind of accessory to the Sims. Aaron showed us how a pirate woman summoned a parrot and more or less ordered it to attack another Sim. It was quite funny, but also a bit sad for the other Sim! Now we can't say anymore that no Sims were harmed during the demo! More interactions you can do with the parrots, and I assume this also goes for the falcons; A Sim can talk to the parrot, you can give the parrot a name, you can train the parrots, send them on missions and you can feed them. There probably are more interactions, but I didn't see the screen properly.
Aaron showed us some new furniture and clothing for pirates and nobles. You can definitely tell what is for pirates and what is for nobles. I'm not saying you have to be a pirate to use pirate furniture - I don't know this - but there is pirate stuff and noble stuff. According to Aaron, you cannot have a pirate queen without a booty throne. It was surrounded by gold pieces and other treasures. You could tell this was a pirate room!
The story is that the nobles are from up north. The pirates obviously come from the south. The nobles come to the kingdom to make deals with the people in living there. The pirates are basically there because their ship has wrecked, and they don't want to leave. They are somehow convinced their ship has been sabotaged. So they are already in a really bad mood when they arrive. The two parties end up crossing paths in the kingdom. They don't like each other at all. And in the end someone has to "win", it can be just the nobles, just the pirates, or both. It's really up to the player to decide how it all ends.
Now about another feature. The interrogation chair. Aaron pointed out it's not for torturing Sims in the game. But what I've seen actually looks like it is. 
To get information from Sims they are sometimes put in this interrogation chair. A Sim in the interrogation chair has to endure interactions such as being doused with a bucket of water. Well I think it was a bucket... More of these interactions include tickling with a feather, showing the mystery terror box and the "chinchilla", which involved a lot of animations where we don't actually got to see this chinchilla, but it didn't look too comfortable what it was doing to the Sim! The funny thing here is, that you can't really tell beforehand whether or not a Sim will end up being affected by these actions. You're supposed to get some answers. And for that to happen, you have to make sure to drive the Sim's will down but at the same time keep the Sim awake and alert. And some Sims will either hate the tickling, or just laugh it off. It works the same way with the other interactions in the interrogation chair. There's no telling what a Sim will do... And that's what makes the chair a fun little game. You will be using the chair mostly during quests. But you can also use it for fun!
Before I forget... The pirates have a secret handshake, I couldn't help it but it sure reminded me of the secret society handshake in The Sims 2 University. Only pirates know and understand this secret handshake. It looks really funny. Aaron told us the team at EA spent quite some time trying out "moves" to find the right animations for this interaction. Also important to know... The nobles do not have a secret handshake. They're probably too snobbish for this kind of interaction hahaha!
Talking about being snobbish. The nobles are the rich type of Sims. They surround themselves with a lot of art and they are indeed a bit snobbish. I can't help but say I absolutely love the new nobles content in the game - furniture and clothing - but it's the same for pirates. It's just all lovely and I'm sure the people who play The Sims Medieval will be really happy with this new content. You can customize the new clothing, and I assume furniture as well, just like you could in the base game.
About the rivalry between the nobles and the pirates. Both have their own special combat moves! The nobles and pirates can get in a one-on-one fight, you have to choose the challenge to spar interaction for this to happen! The special move from the pirates is called scurvy strike and although we didn't see it in action - the pirate woman didn't seem to want to do it - it's a move where the pirate spits in the opponent's face and then when the opposite party is confused, the pirate smashes the other in the ribs. Now that is what I call a serious relationship downer!
Another new feature in the expansion pack is that your Sim can hunt treasures. Sims can search the land, use a shovel to dig and will be able to find rare items. These items include potions, magical spells and gold bars. In the demo the active Sim also found Grim Reaper armor. This looked amazing. I'm not easily impressed, but this just looked so cool... While wearing this special Grim Reaper armor, a Sim can "woo" other Sims, which is funny. The Sim also jumped into the pit in the ground, and fulfilled a special achievement doing so. It didn't end too well for the Sim, as the pit monster attacked the Sim. Aaron then was presented the option to Stay Away or Move Closer. I'll let you guess which one he chose!
I would like to thank Aaron Cohen for coming to Europe to demo the new expansion pack for The Sims Medieval! And obviously I want to thank EA for the invitation to the demo itself. I can't wait for this game, it seems like a lot of fun and I personally think it will add a lot to the base game. I read on a lot of websites that the game should be released on the 30th of August, however I cannot confirm is this is the actual release date or just a rumor. Either way, it won't be long before the game is finished and on the store shelves!
