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GameSpot got their hands on an updated version of The Sims Medieval and brings to us their report of what has been added/changed since their last time of playing the game.  They also share 3 new images and a video showing off new gameplay.

We then capped our demonstration session off with a quick hands-on demonstration of crafting, which will also play a significant role in Medieval. We played as a pre-generated blacksmith and embarked on a quest to find an apprentice, though to begin with, the first few steps required us to remain at our smithy and build a few basic components. Smithing, like Medieval’s other crafting skills, requires that your characters possess all the necessary items in their inventory (such as raw materials and tools), and it also requires you to use the proper environmental fixtures–in this case, a red-hot forge and an anvil for pounding out metal. In order to begin smithing, we had our smith, equipped with the proper tools and raw metals, first approach the forge and selected the option to begin crafting, which pulled up a glowing, two-level meter onscreen. As our crafting metal got hotter and hotter, the heat level on our crafting meter got closer and closer to our target heat level–but also closer to the slightly higher “overheat” level (which, if reached means that your project is ruined). We ended our heating session right at our ideal heat level, then canceled the action to heat the metal and sent our smith over to the anvil to begin hammering away. This process also took a certain amount of time, but while our smith hammered away, the crafting meter gradually declined, indicating that the metal was cooling–and if it got too cold, the project would be lost. Fortunately, we’d heated our materials up sufficiently to finish our crafting project on time and were soon the proud owner of a pair of apprentice’s tongs.

preview here