I bought the game today (only $15 this week at Circuit City stores), and only played it with one newly created owner/cat for about two hours so far. So I have very little to contribute so far, except that it’s looking like the pets (cats, anyway) are quite nicely independent, and as long as you keep food in their bowl and do one or two play/praise/teach trick actions per day, you’ll have a happy kitty.
I’m guessing dogs are a little more consuming, but haven’t tried one yet. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet on cats.
There are also some minor (but greatly appreciated) building improvements such as diagonal roofing, and the ability to adjust roof slope on sections, not just the house as a whole. Some of the new objects and item skins are pretty damned useful (and fun) too.
One thing I’m a bit disappointed over: there doesn’t seem to be any new career paths in this expansion. I was hoping for a Veterinary Medicine or Animal Trainer/Zookeeper career path or something. So far, I don’t see signs of any.
I haven’t purchased it yet, and wasn’t planning on it until the next EP came out and the price went down a little, but for $15? How could I turn it down? So thanks for the info, Only Mostly Dead.
The pets expansion for regular Sims was my favorite one, so I’m definitely looking forward to this. Especially the werewolves.
Yeah, I saw it in the Circuit City ad this morning, but I had to work today, so I didn’t get a chance to head out and pick it up. But at that price, I’ll be picking it up this week.
I was going to wait until all the Sims 2 sites had all the bugs posted and the modders had some fixes for the crap Maxis always screws up but if I can get it for $15 I might have to go ahead and pick it up. Thanks for the heads up.
This one looks the most appealing to me of all the expansion packs so far. As for careers, I’m sure one of the modders will have one eventually. There probably is one in existence but it most likely needs to be updated for Pets.
I got it on Wednesday and I think it’s totally fun. I love the amount of customization you can do when you’re creating the animals. I made a few cats based on some of my friends’ cats and they look pretty similar.
My dogs keep getting into fights with each other. I’ll think they’re playing nicely and then bam huge dust cloud. The Sims stand around and cheer for their favorites during a dog fight just like they do for people fights!
The training is easier than I thought it would be. Whenever I see the little circular arrow on the pet’s icon, I make a Sim run over to scold or praise them for something. One little dog I decided to train to be a total terror by having his owner praise him no matter what he did. She went to work one day and he peed in the living room and destroyed a chair (it was just scraps left!). The environment score was waaaay down when she came back.
I played with the breeding a little bit. The puppies don’t have all their markings (stripes and spots and such) until they become adults, so it was fun seeing how they looked when they got big. I liked that different dogs within the same litter looked different. When you get one you really like, you can register that breed using the telephone. After three generations, I got a dark brown dog with white and black spots. I called her breed “Rocky Road.” You can also save breeds in the Create-a-Sim screen.
The pet careers are interesting. I like unlocking the wild coat colors (you get a new coat or collar color every time your pet gets promoted, I think). I wish there were more tracks for them, though. I think there’s only three. How many vermin chasers does one neighborhood need?
Some other things that pop into mind:
*There’s more toys for the cats than the dogs, but I don’t mind because I have more cat families than dog families.
*I was relieved that the pet food does not appear to go bad and get a green cloud like Sim food does. I can have my Sims fill it before they leave for work and the pets can munch all day.
*There are so many breeds! Maxis really outdid themselves. I was kind of sad that there was no dachshund, though, because they are my favorite breed of dog. There doesn’t appear to be away to make a really realistic one, either, as you can’t adjust the leg length. I made a long-legged dachshund, but it’s not the same.
*The “pounce” action by the cats is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in the game. They get themselves all determined and ready, then run full speed at a Sim or animal, and squeal, “Rowr!” as they leap straight up in the air. I turned on the control pets cheat (boolprop ControlPets on) just so I could make one cat pounce everybody.
*The cats can be trained to use the toilet. The Sim demonstrates and everything.
*I like that the cat equivalent of “friend” is “mine.” So true.
*I’ve been hoping for diagonal roofs for a long time. Yay!
*I was relieved that the animals (except babies) can climb stairs. I didn’t want to have to rework all my houses. I haven’t checked if they can use elevators (would they jump to press the buttons?).
Overall, it’s definitely fun if the thought of Sims having pets is appealing to you. There isn’t much for the non-pet-person (except for some cool new build tools), but the pets themselves are really well done.
Man, I’d forgotten this was coming out. I haven’t played the Sims at all since my kid was born. Partly because I’m playing games that are easier to pause and quit on a moment’s notice (or that I can play while holding a sleeping baby), but mostly because it just doesn’t feel the same now that I have the real thing.
I really like the lady with cats. We played her, and training 2 cats and a kitten at once is not easy. It is also challenging to play someone who doesn’t know anyone at first and doesn’t have very much money.
It is a great deal of fun, and so far the bugs don’t seem too terribly bad. A few freezes, but not that many.