The Sims is arguably the biggest name in the life simulation video game genre. The games are famous for offering nearly unmitigated control over the lives of the titular Sims, virtual people whose jobs, homes, and way of life are entirely at your discretion. But while the main Sims series has largely iterated on the same core concept, spinoffs like The Sims Medieval have taken the franchise in some very surprising directions.
As the name suggests, The Sims Medieval brings the classic life simulation of the franchise into a medieval fantasy setting. It focuses on building up a kingdom of player-managed Sims (referred to as “Heroes” in this game) and fulfilling your “Kingdom Ambition,” a goal chosen at the start of the game. These goals include building a set number of structures, annexing foreign territories, and keeping your Heroes wealthy, among others. Your Heroes have access to a variety of setting-appropriate professions, such as monarchs, wizards, and knights, and each job has its own unique advantages and skills. There are also quests that you can pursue to further ensure the success and prosperity of your kingdom.
Of course, building and maintaining a kingdom is hard work. If you’re looking to pick up The Sims Medieval and start a new nation for yourself, you might want a leg up in ensuring your population of Heroes prospers. Unlike The Sims 1, The Sims Medieval is still available for purchase on EA’s own storefront, so you can jump in right now if you want. If you’re new to the business of kingdom building, here are some vital tips and tricks to help you get the most out of The Sims Medieval, as well as some cheat codes to give you a leg up in running your empire.
Staying Focused in The Sims Medieval
There are some very important things to keep in mind if you want to maximize productivity and success in The Sims Medieval. One of the most significant mechanics in the game is Focus. This stat indicates how a Sim is feeling overall, and it’s necessary to determine how well that Sim performs their task. It’s also important for completing quests. To that end, you should focus on maximizing Focus as quickly as possible. One of the best ways to do this is by upgrading your Heroes’ beds. Better beds will provide better Focus buffs and keep that vital bar in the green as long as possible.
You’ll also want to avoid Gruel. This food doesn’t require any resources to produce, and to that end it’s a tempting way to keep your Sims well-fed, especially in the early game. However, eating Gruel incurs a serious debuff to a Sim’s focus, which will make it much harder to complete those all-important quests. Keeping your Sims both well-rested and well-fed on higher-quality cuisine will go a long way toward ensuring success. Another vital way to increase Focus is by paying attention to things like personal hygiene and general quality of life. While these things have their own bars to keep full in mainline Sims games, in The Sims Medieval, they, too, provide important Focus buffs.
Getting the Most Out of Quests
Quests are a major pillar of the gameplay in The Sims Medieval. Completing them not only advances your kingdom but earns experience for the Heroes who undertake them, paving the way for new skills, abilities, and even income. This is one of the most important reasons to keep your Heroes’ Focus high at all times; a Sim with high Focus will complete a quest with ease, while a Sim with low Focus will actually lose progress on the quest unless their Focus can be restored.
But maintaining high Focus isn’t the only technique that will help you maximize your success with Quests in The Sims Medieval. You should also be aiming to complete them as slowly as you can get away with. This is a counterintuitive strategy; after all, if you go so slow that your performance rank falls below Bronze, you can fail the quest entirely. But if you breeze through it too quickly, the quest won’t have time to progress up to the highest performance rank, Platinum. This, in turn, will prevent you from getting the most rewards out of a completed quest. It’s important to find a reasonable pace for quest completion that will prevent you from failing while ensuring that you get that platinum tier.
It’s also important to take a break from quests sometimes. Letting your Sims participate in normal life events like starting a family will provide a huge bonus to Focus, which will pay dividends when it comes time to send them on a quest once again. Paying attention to your Heroes’ particular traits and quirks is another important strategy to maximize Focus and keep your Sims happy and productive. For instance, you should make sure a Sim’s traits fall in line with the job you want to give them. A cowardly knight won’t be much good on the battlefield. Remember that The Sims Medieval is still a life simulation game, and that aspect should not be neglected.
Gear & Security
Another important thing to keep an eye on in The Sims Medieval is your Security level. If it gets too low, muggers will infest your kingdom, robbing you of valuable money and injuring your Sims. It’s important to get your Security level up as high as you can get it early on so that your citizens are safe. Another thing that will help is making sure your characters have high-quality gear. Your Fighters will be more likely to successfully repel muggers if they have top-notch weaponry, and your Wizards will be more likely to successfully cast spells if you get them the highest quality staves.
The Sims Medieval Cheat Codes
Of course, sometimes you don’t have time for tips and tricks. Sometimes you just need a quick boost to get you going, even if that boost isn’t strictly legal within the mechanics of the game. Luckily, The Sims Medieval features a robust list of cheat codes. By holding Control+Shift+C, you can activate the cheat console and freely enter codes. There’s a sizable list of basic codes you can enter in The Sims Medieval, but there’s also another list of testing codes. These codes are generally used for debugging purposes, and can cause some drastic changes to the game. In order to access testing codes, you first need to go to the INI folder in the game’s install directory. Change the “commands.ini” folder off of “read only” so you can edit it, then change the line “TestingCheatsEnabled=0” to “TestingCheatsEnabled=1” and you should be good to go.
Basic Cheat Codes
- disableSnappingToSlotsOnAlt: Prevents objects snapping to slots while you hold the alt key.
- enableLlamas: Toggles Llama Mode.
- fadeObjects: Toggles whether or not objects fade when the camera gets close to them.
- Fps: Toggles frame rate display.
- Fullscreen: Toggles full screen and windowed modes.
- Help: Displays command listing.
- hideHeadlineEffects: Removes plumbobs and thought balloon effects from above Sims’ heads.
- Kaching: Adds 1,000 Simoleons to household funds.
- Maptags: Toggles maptags on and off.
- Motherlode: Adds 50,000 Simoleons to household funds.
- Quit: Exits the game.
- Recordvideo: Starts a video recording.
- RerollQuests: Randomizes which quests are available.
- ShellState: Sets buildings’ shell visibility.
- slowMotionVis (value): Puts visuals in slow motion. 0 is normal speed, 8 is the slowest.
- Speed (value): Sets game speed. 0 is paused, while 4 is ultra speed.
Testing Cheat Codes
- DisableClothingFilter: Disables Clothing category filters.
- DisableRespos: Turns Responsibilities off.
- EnableRespos: Turns Responsibilities on.
- moveObjects: Removes limitations for moving and placing objects.
- SetKingdomPoints: Gain as many Kingdom Points as you want. This code affects both Resource Points and Renown.
- Setmood: Allows you to precisely set a character’s mood meter.
- SetQP: Set the amount of Quest Points for a given quest.
- ShowAllQuests: Unlocks every quest in the game and makes them infinitely replayable.
- ShowAllValidQuests: Shows only potentially available quests.
- ShowAllValidQuestsNoAspect: Shows only potentially available quests but ignores Kingdom Aspect requirements.
- videoMakeModeEnabled: Toggles the video maker ability.