The Sims Medieval Pirates & Nobles Review

NEW SIMS ADVENTURE PACK - REVIEW
After a new load screen you’ll notice that a new, unlocked ambition called Peacemaker is available. It is only 40 QP and requires the goals shown in the image below.

A major disadvantage is when you create a new kingdom there are no pirate or noble themed throne rooms. If you enjoy interior design then this is perfect for you, however if you’re like me then we’ll just have to get over it and be creative! Despite this, there are lots of pirate and noble themed items for your throne room, I focused on the pirate side decorating the castle with items such as skull and cross bones flags and X marks the spot rugs. There is only one pirate themed throne available (shown below).

When creating my first monarch (male) I soon realised there was a lack of new pirate or noble clothing (three new outfits) despite there being four new hats and one new eyeliner. When I created a female sim I found there was even less additional items including two new outfits, two new hats and three new eyeliners. I am hoping new clothes get unlocked when you complete the new achievement levels. 

Talking of achievements, in the achievement book you will find 42 new Pirate & Noble achievements indicated by two crossed swords. To view a list of these new achievements and to keep track of which ones you have completed, please visit: 

http://www.platinumsimmers.com/the-sims-medieval/watcher-achievement-guide

In CAS there are a two new traits and one new fatal flaw:

• Call of the Sea (enjoys being at sea, can go on a fishing trip and dislikes being on land)
• Entitled (believes themselves to be above everyone else)
• Guild Enemy (will pay any price - opposite to haggler)

The first Pirate & Noble war quest is automatically available without having to complete ‘First Steps’ and is called Ominous Tides and is an introduction to why the pirates are there and where they are based within the kingdom. 

The second quest gives you subtle opportunities to choose either the pirates or the nobles. Once you have completed the quest a window appears with a level meter showing which side you are leaning towards. You are then given three war quests at once to choose from, one being Pirate orientated, another Noble orientated and the other somewhere in the middle. The choice you make here may well influence the end result of the war. This is where you can replay the ambition a few times and just pick the quest you haven’t played, therefore influencing a different end result. 

Another thing you’ll notice is new responsibilities. I can only comment on the Monarch as I haven’t played any other heroes yet. A major difference to the base game is one responsibility in particular requires you to carry out a few interactions before the responsibility is fully completed. This adds to the storyline of the Kingdom and especially for the Monarch, makes you feel like the hero is carrying out more duties that would be expected at that time in real life. 

If there’s pirates there’s got to be parrots! By buying a perch or aviary you can then purchase a parrot and/or a falcon from the Village Shoppe and various interactions are available between hero and bird, such as; feed, pet, talk to, send hunting and my favourite, send to attack! (see picture)

Something small I noticed was the icon on Mac for Pirates & Nobles hadn’t changed from the base game. I was expecting a change because The Sims 3 expansion packs had their own unique icons. This may well be because Pirates & Nobles is an ‘Adventure Pack’ and is more like a ‘stuff pack’ rather than an expansion pack. Talk about pointing out the small, insignificant things!

I WILL ADD UPDATES AS I DISCOVER NEW AND INTERESTING THINGS.

Camping @ Ruda '11 [Part 2]

WEDNESDAY

We got up early and set off to find the nearest Tesco, we ended up coming across a Saltrock outlet store and went to explore. Everything was at a discounted price so I got myself a warm cuddly hoody! (They also did 10% student discount, woo!) In the evening we played bingo again and were disappointed when the amount of tickets sold were less than before, meaning the prize money was also less. However, it happened to be on this night that me and Gabby won a line, however another person also won on the same number and therefore we had to share the prize money (which sucked)! This meant we did not win very much, although it did cover the amount of money we had spent on bingo tickets the previous nights. 

THURSDAY

Today we decided to drive into Croyde, and to our amazement the car park right in the middle of the town was so cheap; 20p for one hour, 70p for two hours and £1.20 for three hours, if only it was that cheap everywhere! When back at the camp site we decided to spend the afternoon bodyboarding as it was our last opportunity. It wasn’t particularly sunny yet it was very muggy and warm. The waves weren’t massive to start with so Gabby was enthusiastic and wanted to go out further. I however was skeptical and stayed back a little and proved myself right when the surf suddenly turned nasty and the tide strengthened. Gabby, therefore, was trying to paddle back in but failed as the current kept dragging her further and further out. Luckily, a lifeguard was sitting on his board beyond the waves and Gabby attracted his attention and asked for help. She had to get on his board and he started to paddle them in. The waves were so big they knocked Gabby and the lifeguard off of the board! Eventually Gabby was dropped off into shallower waters and despite me finding the whole incident rather funny it was still a moment of panic and at one point I seriously considered going out to rescue her myself! That night we spent ages in the arcade playing obsessively on the 2p machines and managed to win ourselves twelve key rings! It reminded me of being little and the thrill of when all the pennies drop!

FRIDAY

On our last day we checked out of the camp site, went into Croyde to get the family some little presents and then drove home in good time. 

To sum everything up we had a great time and had lots of laughs and were very lucky with the weather (no rain!) Despite being awake at 7.30am every morning (because of the light) and the noise of the seagulls as they destroyed bags of rubbish and proceeded to scatter it everywhere, it allowed us to make the most of every day. I can’t wait to go again and I wish we did not have to return to reality so soon. 

MissRocketScientist

Camping @ Ruda '11 [Part 1]

THIS BLOG MAINLY INVOLVES FUNNY EVENTS THAT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE AWAY! APOLOGIES FOR THE LENGTH BUT THERE WAS SO MUCH THAT HAPPENED!

Me and my partner Gabby spent four nights at Ruda Holiday Park, Croyde Bay, Devon. It is the closest camp site to the beach and has a great view of the bay. We stayed in a three man Tesco value tent! Despite previous conceptions it has faired very well and to date has not let in any rain (touch wood)! We also slept on an inflatable bed which in my opinion is a MUST when camping. Luckily, we had a pitch with electric and my Dad sorted us out with a cable and adapter so we could charge our phones etc, (he’s great)! 

MONDAY

After packing the car up we backed out of the drive and was waved off by my parents and sister as if we were embarking on a trip around the world! It was sweet though. We arrived at the campsite, checked in and attempted to follow instructions (and a map) to our pitch. However, we managed to get lost and had to ask for directions. Once we found the pitch we began setting up the tent and windbreak. It wasn’t long before a car pulled up beside us, four young people (possibly uni students) got out and prompted to unload their car and laid out the ground sheet for their MASSIVE tent. We suddenly realised we’d put up our tent right in the middle of two pitches and their was no room for the people beside us. As our tent was so small and light we only had to lift it up and drag it a few feet sideways. Next doors tent however turned out to be a twelve man tent (for 4 people!) and took up much of the space. Luckily they were nice, friendly people. As we had to move over a little I also had to move the windbreak so as I was knocking in the posts for a second time I managed to smack my hand with the mallet and ended up cutting and bruising my knuckle, and my goodness it hurt! 

We spent the afternoon bodyboarding and then used the shower facilities for the first time which I have to say were more than satisfactory. We decided to have our first meal at the on site restaurant as it looked nice with sofas and tv screens. I ordered lasagne after seeing a picture of it on the menu and thought it looked really nice. However, the food arrived and my lasagne looked NOTHING like the picture, but was what only could be described as in a jacket potato dish, topped with an inch thick of cheese. After scooping it all off I found two layers of pasta sheet surrounded in severely runny bolognese type sauce. As you can probably tell I wasn’t very impressed yet ate as much as I could to be polite. (I so should have complained!) We then went to enjoy the evening entertainment by playing bingo of which I hadn’t done many times before and therefore resulted in quarrels with Gabby over the rules, as she seemed to know everything but I couldn’t get my head around why out of a book of four you only had to get a ‘line’ to win on three of them and a ‘full house’ on the last! To top the evening off we didn’t win, yet was lucky enough to have a slush puppy splashed all over us because the little girl on the next table decided to throw it on the floor. Oh and then neither her or her parents had the audacity to apologise to us, but instead the Dad offered me some napkins!!! Nice one!

TUESDAY

Today we decided to have a cooked breakfast at the on site restaurant, however I’m not keen on full English and therefore wanted something along the lines of a bacon roll. So Gabby asks a lady wiping tables do they only do the one breakfast (a full English) of which she says yes. So Gabby just says get one and eat what you can. So we’re sat there after finishing, Gabby’s plate empty, mine half full, when a manager walks around placing a ‘breakfast menu’ on all tables including ours with a list of NUMEROUS breakfast choices (including a bacon roll!) As you can imagine we were not happy and almost complained! We walked into Croyde and passed a group of children riding horses. A little way up the road where they had come from was horse droppings, and a lot of it! A van then proceeded to drive straight over it and the only way for us to carry on walking was to tip toe over it whilst holding our breath! During the evening entertainment an announcement was made that a nine year old girl had gone missing from the building and for around an hour people were coming in and out searching the room, asking children for their name and where their parents were etc. On our way out I asked a security guard whether they had found her or not and he said yes they had and she was found in the tent next to hers despite her parents being adamant that she “would not leave the entertainment building!” All jokes aside, I was actually really worried when they couldn’t find her and got a horrible feeling in my stomach! 

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2...

Yes I am a Rocket Scientist!

Many women are entering into what’s traditionally known as “a man’s world”. I am one of them. I am currently training to become an aerospace engineer, which is an industry predominantly dominated by men. Now many people don’t understand when I tell them what I do, I’ve had many answers resembling, “so you’re becoming a pilot?” or “oh, an air hostess?” These are of course rather far off the mark. I am actually learning to fix aircraft and this requires an intellect capable of combining maths and physics with design and hand skill. Oh, and I have also had people refer to me as a “mechanic”, this is not true as I am an engineer and the two are different. So just to clear that up, I am not a mechanic! 

As stated above, yes I am still in training. This means I am a poor student, still living at home and have to remember my books and pencil case every day! As I am primarily based in a classroom 95% of the time it still feels very much like school, there are still the particular people that act like kids and disrupt the lesson. As female engineers are scarce, I am the only woman in my class. This itself creates opportunities but also problems. The men are there to help me when I need it and vice versa, however I can be subjected to female jokes and jibes. I let as much as I can sweep over my head and not take them personally as to work in an environment surrounded by men you need to ‘become one of the lads‘ and this is what I try to achieve. I am not trying to ‘fit in’, I am merely being myself and I feel very comfortable in that setting. I have always been a tomboy and therefore get on well the guys and we have a lot in common. 

I know I shouldn’t admit this but of course I feel intimidated by the guys if I do not understand something mechanically, or have trouble performing a particular task in the workshop. However, I am there to learn and the truth is not all the guys know what they’re doing either! I help them out with any classroom work and they help me out with any hand skill work. At the end of the day we are all in it together and we are all travelling down the same road to find success. Everyone finds particular things difficult or hard to understand and therefore we must all help each other rather than putting other people down. 

Of course, as the title suggests, I am not actually a rocket scientist but the mention of “aerospace engineering” gets many impressed looks and the maths and physics content proves how intellectually challenging it actually is. Therefore, as rocket science is considered to be the most intellectual job in the world I thought it suited! 

I do not consider myself to be incredibly intellectual, however I do consider myself to be hardworking, diligent and willing to learn at every avenue. I can achieve many things if I put my mind to it and I must work very hard in order to achieve those things. It does not just come naturally to me, especially in a new setting such as engineering. At school I took the normal GCSE’s and chose other subjects I enjoyed. Then at A Level I chose the subject I was the best at, English, and two other subjects I was curious about, Psychology and Philosophy. As you can see these do not reflect engineering in any way and I count myself lucky to have been given the opportunity to join the course I am on. Maybe it was a gender thing, but even if it was I wanted to be on the course and I got on it! I did however do some work experience at an airport and learnt new skills and demonstrated I had some ability to use tools and ‘make stuff!’ Maybe it was the lesson my Dad gave me before I started the week at the airport. He got his tool box out and showed me and named all of the tools he had and I had a go at drilling, hammering and sawing! I will always be grateful to my Dad for being there when I need him most.

Anyway, I could go on for hours about my experience so I will leave it for another blog :) 

MissRocketScientist