How does one get The Sims Medieval version 2.0 / Pirates and Nobles working on Windows 8? We could try thinking laterally..
It is clear EA are not adequately supporting this game. Downloading the game from Origin is ridiculous and a non-solution (are EA paying for our ISP connection? I doubt they would be willing to fork out $1200 for a 3G monthly download bill).
Why does it take 8 months to diagnose a simple Windows 8 compatibility issue - the fact the game is not even displaying should be a dead programmatic give away as to the source of the error. It would take them 2 minutes to derive at least one fundamental problem with the version 2.0 patch; apparently the consumer's time is not worth the effort.
The Sim's Medieval Ultimate Fix appears to work but use it at your own risk. This mod was created in ~2011 by the way, way before Windows 8 (and suggests the error may be DRM related);
1. Install TSM from the DVD
2. Install patch 2.0.113.00001_Update.exe
3. Backup TSM.exe, TSLHost.dll (copy these files from C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims Medieval\Game\Bin\ into a new "backup" folder of choice)
4. Replace TSM.exe, TSLHost.dll, and add rld.dll
If the game then appears dark after installing the mod, then apply one of the following;
1. Windows 8 - Control Panel - Personalisation - Windows Theme - High Contrast (white)
2. Windows 8 - Control Panel - Power options - Change Plan Settings - On Battery/Plugged-in - Dim the display - never
[NB do not attempt to manually up the gamma/brightness/contrast; this will just wipe out/ghost the in-game display. And note also that installation of DirectX 9 off the TSM game disc is probably not required; eg D:\TSimsM\Support\DirectX\DXSETUP.exe]
It appears once one of the following has been set and TSM has been executed, the setting can be undone and the TSM should continue to display properly. For this reason I can't determine which of these solved the dark screen problem (1. or 2.) now that it is fixed.
Note if you want to enhance the texture rendering (eg if the grass looks smudgy), which appears to be a problem related to all versions of TSM, you might want to manually increased the Anisotropic Filtering in your Video Card control center (eg AMD VISION/Catalyst - Gaming - 3D Application Settings - Anisotropic Filtering - untick 'use application settings' - set to 8x).
When I was riding home yesterday even, my attention was caught by what appeared to be a huge medieval dress up gathering (or whatever it is called exactly). I checked out their weaponry and they appeared to be carrying a combination of metal armour and plastic replica swords. Little did I know they were momentarily going to break out into battle. Hundreds of young people marching into field and fighting a medieval skirmish on a public oval (full on combat; taking hits and tapping out). If you can't determine the relevance of this comment then rest assure EA will.
