Comparison between The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval

The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval use the same engine, so they may seem somewhat alike, but they are very different games.

The basics
The Sims 3, like previous games in The Sims series, is set in a modern era. While players have always been able to use custom content to simulate a medieval setting, at least to some degree, the games themselves presume a modern society with refrigerators and stoves, computers and telephones, etc.

The Sims Medieval, as its name implies, is designed to simulate a medieval setting. Therefore, it does not have modern features such as carpools, taxicabs, and telephones that would need to be disguised or worked around.

Lots and homes
The Sims 3, like The Sims and The Sims 2, distinguishes between residential lots and community lots. The player can enter Build mode to freely build on these lots, or to modify existing buildings. Players can also enter Buy mode to add, remove, or move furnishings. Houses in The Sims Medieval are ready-made, and placed in the Kingdom mode. Most Hero houses contain a chamber for the Hero Sim, as well as a community area (e.g, the Throne Room in the castle). The Sims Medieval renames Buy mode as "Furnish mode", but there is no Build mode.

Create a Sim, Sim appearance
When creating a Sim in The Sims Medieval, one major difference from The Sims 3 is the clothing and hair that is available.

Medieval Sims have one set of clothes, depending on profession. Each profession has several styles of clothing. Each Sim wears pajamas while sleeping and visiting the Physician. Sims can also buy armor to be worn in combat, but there are no other categories of clothes (swimwear, formal wear, sportswear etc).

In The Sims Medieval, only adults can be created, but there is a slider for skin aging. Male Medieval Sims have a slider for facial hair.

Life Stages, Marriage & Families
In some ways, life stages in The Sims Medieval are a throwback to The Sims. Babies become children, not toddlers. Children don't grow up, so there are no teens. Likewise, Adults never turn into elders. In The Sims Medieval, NPC Sims do not become selectable when they join a household, even if they marry a selectable Sim. Also, all children are NPCs. This is a major difference not only from The Sims 3, but The Sims and The Sims 2.

Personality and Traits
The Sims Medieval keeps the trait system that was introduced in The Sims 3, and adapts the traits to the medieval setting. There are fewer traits than there are in The Sims 3 base game. While Sims in The Sims 3 have between two and five traits, depending on their life stage, Hero Sims can only be given two traits and one fatal flaw, which can be considered as a very negative trait.

Motives
In The Sims Medieval, the number of motives has been reduced to two, Hunger and Energy. Potties and bathtubs can still be used to increase focus, but these are optional.

Jobs
In The Sims 3 and earlier games, the pre-made careers were modern careers for a modern era. While careers could be modified, and custom careers could be created, the basics remained the same. Sims would enter a career, get paid on the days they worked, and gain promotion by building skills, making friends, and having good job performance.

In The Sims Medieval, the jobs that are available to playable Sims appear to be linked to the various classes of Hero Sims. Hero Sims are created to a fixed job, such as monarch, blacksmith or spy. All jobs have a medieval tone and flavor. For example, physicians use leeches to treat their patients.

One notable difference is what happens to Sims who skip work too much, or who have bad job performance. In The Sims 3 and earlier games, that could result in demotion or firing, but nothing worse. In The Sims Medieval, it could result in fines, being put in stocks and pelted with food, or even execution in "The Pit of Judgement".