The Sims 3: Pets
Encyclopedia
The Sims 3: Pets is the fifth expansion pack for The Sims 3
on PC and Mac, and is the second console game in the series. It was released on October 18, 2011 in North America.
Unlike in Sims 2: Pets
, the player can directly control pets. Pets, unlike sims, do not have jobs or a 'lifetime wish'. Included in the expansion pack is a new town 'Apaloosa Plains'. The limited edition of The Sims 3 Pets, which must be pre-ordered, includes a pet shop which will not be included in the normal edition of the game.
It has also been proven in a patch for the game that the new creature will be a unicorn unless changed.
On June 8, 2011, Ben Bell gave a presentation and demonstration previewing Pets that was streamed over EA's website. He also answered questions regarding the Expansion Pack. The demonstration contained parts of the game that had never been seen before by the public. The event took place on Wednesday June 8, 2011 at 17:00 UTC. In their E3 hands-on preview with the Pet Creator Tool, GameMarshal was able to uncover that your pets can mate and produce off-spring, although no cross-species breeding is allowed, genetics would be passed down to pet offspring, and you'll be able to assign unique characteristics to your pets.
. The expansion comes with new rabbit holes, as well as old rabbit holes with new designs. Every pet will have its own special needs. Sims can also play with laser pointers for playing with cats. Unicorns, if found, in the game are magical and can be added to a sim's household. They can set things on fire, teleport, curse or bless sims. They can breed with both unicorns and horses. Sims up into their teenage years can ride with horses. Dogs can swim in swimming pools, but they can not drown, as pets can only die by old age. A user can have up to 6 pets in one household. This also extends the maximum amount of sims in a household from 8 to 10.
There are new professions for sims such as "Horse Handler". Pets also comes with wildlife, but they cannot be added to households. There are also ways for sims to interact with their pets. Players can use their horses as a form of transportation. Sims can adopt and bathe pets. They can also have dogs and cats go around town and sniff for collectables. These collectables can be sold or stored in terrariums. Pets can learn skills. Cats and dogs can learn to hunt, dogs can learn to locate collectibles, and horses can learn racing and jumping. There are over a hundred breeds of dogs and cats. Players may have a poodle with short hair, or you may also have a Poodle with Dalmatian spots. Pets can meet, fall in love and reproduce. They can try to have puppies, kittens, or foals, and will also have family trees. Players can adopt horses and train them to run in races. The PC version will be bundled in a package with the base game as The Sims 3 Plus Pets.
. There is no height slider for pets, due to animation conflicts in the game. Players not only get to choose the dominant pattern but they also get to pick an accessory pattern and both can be colored. In horses, the mane and tail color are independent of the main color of the horse. Players can also add colorful markings on their fur and slide them around on their Sims' pets bodies. Markings are also in layers and can be placed in any order.
, cat jungle gym, and parks. There is also a small Dive Bar, however it requires the Late Night
expansion pack. Appaloosa Plains was a cowboy ranch town in the Midwest, on the edge of the highway, and is named after the Appaloosa breed of horse. On the edge of the town can be found a dinosaur skeleton where dogs can collect bones and search for treasure.
Dog
Cat
Horse
There has also been some issues regarding user-created mods that stopped working properly on the expansion pack. This has been attributed to the developers switching to an in-house animation engine from the proprietary Granny 3D
toolkit that they used in the earlier versions of The Sims 3. There are also some problems regarding glitches in the game. Some reported are, problems creating a pet, problems involving graphics, and crashing.
The Sims 3
The Sims 3 is a 2009 strategic life simulation computer game developed by The Sims Studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims 2. It was first released on June 2, 2009 simultaneously for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows...
on PC and Mac, and is the second console game in the series. It was released on October 18, 2011 in North America.
Development
On June 3, 2011, EA confirmed the rumors with a press release and a game trailer which was released on their Official YouTube Channel. The Sims 3: Pets expansion pack is focused around adding animals to the game. The player creates their pet in a similar fashion to the 'Create A Sim' feature. The 'Create A Pet' feature allows the player to customise their pets in various ways, including selecting a breed and a set of traits for their pets.Unlike in Sims 2: Pets
The Sims 2: Pets
The Sims 2: Pets is the fourth expansion pack in The Sims 2 series of games, as well as a stand-alone game for several consoles. It is published by Electronic Arts...
, the player can directly control pets. Pets, unlike sims, do not have jobs or a 'lifetime wish'. Included in the expansion pack is a new town 'Apaloosa Plains'. The limited edition of The Sims 3 Pets, which must be pre-ordered, includes a pet shop which will not be included in the normal edition of the game.
It has also been proven in a patch for the game that the new creature will be a unicorn unless changed.
On June 8, 2011, Ben Bell gave a presentation and demonstration previewing Pets that was streamed over EA's website. He also answered questions regarding the Expansion Pack. The demonstration contained parts of the game that had never been seen before by the public. The event took place on Wednesday June 8, 2011 at 17:00 UTC. In their E3 hands-on preview with the Pet Creator Tool, GameMarshal was able to uncover that your pets can mate and produce off-spring, although no cross-species breeding is allowed, genetics would be passed down to pet offspring, and you'll be able to assign unique characteristics to your pets.
Gameplay
In Pets, there is a new town, called Appaloosa Plains. The new town comes with every building in the base game, as well as new stores and shops. In the Limited Edition, the town also comes with a pet storePet store
A pet store or pet shop is a retail business which sells different kinds of animals. Pet stores also sell pet food, supplies, and accessories....
. The expansion comes with new rabbit holes, as well as old rabbit holes with new designs. Every pet will have its own special needs. Sims can also play with laser pointers for playing with cats. Unicorns, if found, in the game are magical and can be added to a sim's household. They can set things on fire, teleport, curse or bless sims. They can breed with both unicorns and horses. Sims up into their teenage years can ride with horses. Dogs can swim in swimming pools, but they can not drown, as pets can only die by old age. A user can have up to 6 pets in one household. This also extends the maximum amount of sims in a household from 8 to 10.
There are new professions for sims such as "Horse Handler". Pets also comes with wildlife, but they cannot be added to households. There are also ways for sims to interact with their pets. Players can use their horses as a form of transportation. Sims can adopt and bathe pets. They can also have dogs and cats go around town and sniff for collectables. These collectables can be sold or stored in terrariums. Pets can learn skills. Cats and dogs can learn to hunt, dogs can learn to locate collectibles, and horses can learn racing and jumping. There are over a hundred breeds of dogs and cats. Players may have a poodle with short hair, or you may also have a Poodle with Dalmatian spots. Pets can meet, fall in love and reproduce. They can try to have puppies, kittens, or foals, and will also have family trees. Players can adopt horses and train them to run in races. The PC version will be bundled in a package with the base game as The Sims 3 Plus Pets.
Create a Pet
In Pets, players are able to create, customize and control over a hundred different kinds of cats and dogs and can breed and share them with friends. Create a Pet and Create a Sim are all in one mode, with different dressing room backgrounds. Players can customize the pet’s coat, shape, pattern, and color. They can change the ears, tail, snout, eyes, and much more. Pets allows players to go even further than customizing their pet’s look. A pet's behavior patterns and traits are also fully customizable. There is also an Advanced Mode for the Create a Pet mode. In it, users can put different layers on the body of their pets, such as dots and/or stripes. Pets have the same age sliders that were introduced with GenerationsThe Sims 3: Generations
The Sims 3: Generations is the fourth expansion pack for The Sims 3, which EA announced by press release and video trailer on April 5, 2011. The game was released on May 31, 2011...
. There is no height slider for pets, due to animation conflicts in the game. Players not only get to choose the dominant pattern but they also get to pick an accessory pattern and both can be colored. In horses, the mane and tail color are independent of the main color of the horse. Players can also add colorful markings on their fur and slide them around on their Sims' pets bodies. Markings are also in layers and can be placed in any order.
Dogs
Dogs can be obtained when created with the household, or can be adopted by computer or cell phone after the household has already been created. Sims who are giving them away will also put an advertisement in the newspaper. Sims will occasionally encounter stray dogs. These dogs can be befriended and adopted by the player. Most popular dog breeds are offered in the game. Breed has nothing to do within gameplay except the appearance of offspring. The reinforcement social system is used to correct bad behaviors and to praise good ones. Getting by with no punishment for bad behavior can lead a dog to take on that trait. Overeating or using the bathroom in the house could lead to the Piggy trait, and chewing on furniture could make a pet destructive. Dogs can obtain fleas while outdoors. These make them very uncomfortable. When grown up, adult dogs can learn tricks, guard the house, and hunt for objects. They can be taught six tricks: sit, sit up, play dead, roll over, speak, and shake.Cats
As with dogs, cats can be either created with the household or adopted later on in the game. The breed of cats does not matter in gameplay. Scolding and praising a cat will influence the traits it will develop. Like dogs, cats can also hunt. Cats can learn how to hunt using a toy from the animal toy box. When they've got out the small mouse, cancel play and use the mouse to practice hunting. Once you've unlocked the skill, you should have your cat hone their abilities outside.Horses
Horses can be created with the household, adopted using a computer or telephone, or bought from the Equestrian Center. Horses usually die of old age, but fires and meteors can kill them as well. The Jockey is the sole horse related Lifetime Wish in the Pets expansion. To accomplish it, the player will need to max the riding skill as well as earn 40,000 simoleans from your horses (racing, sales, stud services, etc). Horse breeds do not affect sale price. Horses can learn two skills - racing and jumping. Wild horses appear in herds in home neighborhoods, but not in exotic destinations such as Champs Les Sims. Wild horses can be befriended. It's easier to befriend them if the Sim has a high (hidden) Wildlife skill. Horses are the first non-"human" Sims to have their own occult status, appearing also as unicorns. Horses and unicorns can breed together, with a chance of the offspring also being a unicorn. Unlike cats or dogs in the game, horses can be sold. The higher the horse's skills and the more money they have earned racing means a larger amount of money they can be sold for. Elderly horses cannot be sold.Appaloosa Plains
Appaloosa Plains is the name of the new town in The Sims 3: Pets. It is set to be a ranch style town with new farm and barn style items in Build and Buy mode. The new location is set in a beautiful Midwestern ranching town nestled between lush green hills, where players can let their dogs and cats run loose in the park or spend time riding horses at the equestrian center. Players will be able to build their own stable on residential lots. There are new versions of the grocery store, hospital, theater, bistro, stadium, school, spa, equestrian centerEquestrian center
Equestrian facilties are created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use may be known as a barn or stables, with commercial operations described by terms such as a boarding stable, livery yard, or livery stable...
, cat jungle gym, and parks. There is also a small Dive Bar, however it requires the Late Night
The Sims 3: Late Night
The Sims 3: Late Night is the third expansion pack for the strategic life simulation computer game The Sims 3 and is similar to previous expansions The Sims 2: Nightlife for The Sims 2 and The Sims: Hot Date for The Sims...
expansion pack. Appaloosa Plains was a cowboy ranch town in the Midwest, on the edge of the highway, and is named after the Appaloosa breed of horse. On the edge of the town can be found a dinosaur skeleton where dogs can collect bones and search for treasure.
At one point Appaloosa Plains was a sleepy ranching township, its only claim to fame being a garish tourist trap that drew in the occasional passerby. However, a recent influx of city slickers has turned the area into a bustling hub of activity. They keep arriving with their stacks of Simoleons, retrofitting the town with modern amenities while eagerly believing they've acquired their own slice of country paradise. The clash between the old and new is readily apparent, with some elderly die-hards clinging to the remaining vestiges of life as they knew it. Will the town come together in the new era of prosperity, or will the generational clash leave a clear line drawn in the sand?
Age
The amount of days for each stage of life for each animal can be changed to suit the player, but the standard lifespans on each setting are as follows.Dog
| Setting | Animal Baby | Adult | Senior | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | 4 days | 7 days | 6 days | 17 days |
| Medium | 5 days | 14 days | 8 days | 27 days |
| Normal | 8 days | 25 days | 14 days | 47 days |
| Long | 20 days | 54 days | 30 days | 104 days |
| Epic | 75 days | 268 days | 150 days | 493 days |
Cat
| Setting | Animal Baby | Adult | Senior | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | 2 days | 8 days | 5 days | 15 days |
| Medium | 4 days | 16 days | 10 days | 30 days |
| Normal | 7 days | 28 days | 17 days | 52 days |
| Long | 15 days | 60 days | 36 days | 111 days |
| Epic | 75 days | 300 days | 182 days | 557 days |
Horse
| Setting | Animal Baby | Adult | Senior | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | 6 days | 10 days | 5 days | 21 days |
| Medium | 9 days | 20 days | 10 days | 39 days |
| Normal | 14 days | 35 days | 17 days | 66 days |
| Long | 44 days | 112 days | 123 days | 279 days |
| Epic | 114 days | 375 days | 182 days | 671 days |
Pet Traits
As with Sims, players are able to choose traits for their pets. However, unlike regular Sims, a player can only select up to 3. Sims can train their pet behaviors through the pet doing related action to the trait or praising/scolding them. If the pet has been trained well enough they can develop a "trained" trait. The difference between the usual pet trait is a highlighted green box around the trait icon. Trained traits can be lost if a Sim trains their pet the opposite behaviors. It is possible for a pet to have more than 5 traits. Since Horses are not featured in the console version, all pet traits that are exclusive for horses will not be available on the console version. Pets created in Create a Pet can have up to 3 traits. If the player buys the Attitude Adjustment Lifetime reward they can add 2 more traits, in which the total number of traits is 5. If a pet with more than 5 traits moves to another world, they will lose all their "trained" traits. Only the first 5 traits on the pet's bio list will still remain.| List of Traits | Mental | Physical | Social | Lifestyle | Hidden |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pets | Anxious Calm Clueless Destructive Genius Loyal Noisy Non-destructive Ornery |
Agile Brave Fast Hates Jumping Hydrophobic Hyper Lazy Likes Swimming Neat Piggy |
Aggressive Friendly Independent Nervous Obedient Proud Shy |
Adventurous Hunter Untrained |
Unicorn |
| 29 traits + 1 hidden trait |
9 traits | 10 traits | 7 traits | 3 traits | 1 trait |
Reception
Upon release in North America, The PC and Mac versions of The Sims 3: Pets got positive reviews, with IGN rating the game 7.5/10. The console version (360,PS3), also getting a similar score, with IGN giving it a rating of 7/10.There has also been some issues regarding user-created mods that stopped working properly on the expansion pack. This has been attributed to the developers switching to an in-house animation engine from the proprietary Granny 3D
RAD Game Tools
RAD Game Tools is privately held company owned by Jeff Roberts and Mitch Soule based in Kirkland, Washington that develops video and computer game software technologies which are licensed primarily by video game companies. RAD Game Tools is somewhat unusual among middleware companies as they...
toolkit that they used in the earlier versions of The Sims 3. There are also some problems regarding glitches in the game. Some reported are, problems creating a pet, problems involving graphics, and crashing.
Music
The Sims 3: Pets has the following songs in its soundtrack. Please note that these are not the only songs included in Pets. Not all the songs have been discovered yet, as the expansion pack has only recently been released.- Plan B - "Stay Too LongStay Too Long"Stay Too Long" is the first single from British rapper Plan B's second album The Defamation of Strickland Banks. The single was released on 8 January 2010. Australian-British electronic rock and drum 'n' bass group Pendulum also produced a remix, their first in three years, which was used as...
" (original English version is used in the announcement trailer but neither recorded in SimlishSimlishSimlish is a fictional language featured in EA Games' Sim series of games. It debuted in SimCopter, and has been especially prominent in The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. The Sims development team created the unique Simlish language by experimenting with fractured Ukrainian, French, Latin,...
nor added in-game) - The LunabellesThe LunabellesThe Lunabelles are an American country music group consisting of sisters Olivia Arciero , Dominique Arciero and Gabby Arciero , and formerly Alex Kline .In April 2011, the quartet released its debut single "A Place to Shine" through BNA Records...
- "A Place To Shine" - Asher RothAsher RothAsher Paul Roth is an American rapper.-Early life:Asher Roth was born and raised in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. His mother, Elizabeth , is a yoga instructor, and his father, David Roth, is the executive director of a design firm...
- "Another One Down" (featuring D.A.Chester FrenchChester French is an American indie pop band consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Maxwell Drummey...
) - KimbraKimbraKimbra Johnson , known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer/songwriter from Hamilton, New Zealand. She is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Kimbra's debut album Vows was released on 29 August 2011 in New Zealand, and 2 September 2011 in Australia on Warner Bros...
- "Good Intent" - Luke BryanLuke BryanThomas Luther "Luke" Bryan is an American country singer who debuted in 2007 with the single "All My Friends Say", a Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His debut album, I'll Stay Me, was released on Capitol Records in 2007. This album also produced chart singles in "We Rode in...
- "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" - ErasureErasureErasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
- "When I Start To (Break it all Down)" - Cher LloydCher LloydCher Lloyd is a British singer and rapper from Malvern, Worcestershire. Lloyd rose to fame in 2010 when she participated in reality TV series The X Factor, to which she finished in fourth place. Shortly afterwards, Lloyd was signed by Simon Cowell to Sony Records subsidary SyCo Music, releasing...
- "Superhero" - Blush - "Undivided"