Pets: First Impressions

[Ephriam10]

I've had Pets since this morning.

Mind you I've only been playing for a few hours but I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be thus far.

First of all the first thing I did was hit the new town. It was alright. It didn't thrill me as much as I had anticipated. I explored a bit, looking around. I then went and adopted a horse. As soon as I did, my memories of the Sims 2 issues started to come back. I told him to brush the horse and so on and after a moment of standing around the horse moved towards him and somehow managed to wedge himself into a small gap in the barn he had been in at the time. Then it started. The no path complaint. The horse would move a step, he would move, the horse, him until finally I just crossed out the animation and tried something else.

When he finally got on the horse I chuckled to myself because I had been waiting for this, but it was a bit anti-climactic. He rode a few steps (the horse walked because he hadn't built his riding skill up enough to trot, etc.) He went to the end of the road and stopped. Turned around and walked back a few steps. Finally after a few minutes of watching this play out I had him get off the horse and go to pet it. He moved a step. The horse adjusted himself. Another. Another.

I gave up and clicked to mount and go home. (By the way I should put in when you go to mount you can saddle and if the saddle is not on the horse will spin like the sims do before the change clothing to put on it's saddle). I should also add that this can take a while. I sat there for quite a while before the horse did his magical spin and put it on. Then he mounted and started the long walk home. Like I said, the sim's riding skill was low so it was a slow pace.

Halfway there - because he lived all the way across town - I got annoyed and dismounted calling a taxi.

I decided to try a new family then. Husband and wife - Animal lover trait. (You can not pick cat, dog or horse lover trait if you have animal lover trait becuase it includes them all.) I made him a want to be a Jockey - a cool career choice - and created his wife and the horse. After moving them into a house I had him work on his riding skill. Of course, since you can control the animal now I saw the horses needs as well. It's basically just like having another sim in your household if you choose to control it. Like every other sims in the game you can leave them to their own devices and they will eventually take care of themselves, but many sims in this game don't appear to be too bright on that front, so I have little faith in the animals.

So, he was out riding and his wife adopted a cat via the phone - or paper. At the time there was only 2 choices, an elder cat or an aggresive kitten. She took the kitten. It arrived shortly thereafter like an adopted child. She awwwwwwwed and held it in her hands like a little football, sitting on the couch and watching TV. Meanwhile the husband reached his next level in riding and could trot. So he is riding around the town and she decided to hit the sack. As soon as the kitten was on her own the furniture started to take a hard hit even though I had bought the scratching post (Considering I have 7 cats IRL, I should have seen this coming). Not wanting to bother to have my sim get up and scold it since she was sleeping I allowed the cat to desimate the couch. It then promptly ran into a a bag my sim had bought for it and stayed there until her husband came home where it scratched him in greeting when he went to investigate the new addition to the family.

Before this, however, he came home and I told him to lead the horse into the makeshift corral I had made for it. A ton of path problems later the horse was napping and my sim who was saddle sore as well as I was only too happy to be done with it.

Since everyone was sleeping - except the slightly brain damaged kitten, I promptly got rid of the family and made another. This time he was just going to be a chef. I would do the Jockey thing later.

So, a short while later, his wife is sitting on the couch and a deer pops up outside her house. YEAH! Excited, I clicked on "Watch deer." She ran outside the house, back in, back outside, around the corner and onto the next lot to do this. After that I clicked on "Pet Deer." Of course, the deer wanted nothing to do with that but that didn't stop it from walking a few feet away, turning, walking away, turning, turning, and turning once more before it stopped and she walked up to it. Face to face it turned again and continued to do so, apparently trying to find a path to run. I sighed and made her go to bed while the deer eventually disappeared into the brush.

I've only been playing for a short time, but am a little less excited then I had been this morning. I've also noticed several lag issues cropping up. It has got smoother with time, but the freezing came back again like it did when I had the Late Night expansion in. I'm in no way giving up because I've waited too long for this.

I'll just wait and see what happens in the future.

[loveSims]

Welcome to the forum! When you interact with a horse make sure they are on a open space and the ground is leveled. Horses is big and there are pathing issues on a slope.

[Ausette]

Whew, there's so much to take in! I'll see if I can keep this concise. I was given the Pets expansion pack for Christmas, and overall my impression is very positive. I've played two games in Appaloosa so far: a horsewoman with a cockatoo, and a writer with two cats.

Appaloosa Plains is very beautiful and very player-friendly. Not too big, nicely laid out, plenty of affordable lots and houses. I really like how the previous expansion packs were worked into the town. My only issue is the lack of young single Sims after I weeded out the vampires and celebrities, but given the size of the town that can't really be helped.

The pets themselves are very well-done. I love the massive variety of animals and non-animals you can keep as pets (my pirate Sim is so getting a macaw!). In particular, EA really outdid themselves on the new mannerisms and animations. Sometimes the fur or eyes will look a little bit fake, but then a cat will sprawl over exactly like a real one or adorably nuzzle its mate. It's those little details that keep them out of the Uncanny Valley and make them so endearing. Not to mention the new animations for Sims, my horsewoman's first ride was hilariously inept.

Create-A-Pet was complex at first, but quickly became intuitive as I worked with it. Some of the breeds are spot on (the Bull Terrier and Australian Cattle Dog spring to mind), and the ones that aren't were easy enough to adjust. I was able to make a non-floppy beagle and a reasonable representation of my retriever without too much fuss. I would have liked more body sliders though, particularly for the tails.

There's only four or so new hairstyles, but there are tons of new clothes for all genders and ages. I love the frilly skirt in particular. The new furniture is great and varied, although it seems to reference a lot of recent fads and memes (Lolcats, Nyan Cat, Twilight etc). I'm not inherently against pop culture references, but it doesn't speak well of EA's intentions that they're willing to date the game like that.

In short, it's a pretty good expansion pack. Now here's a kitty!

[ZapKid]

 The new furniture is great and varied, although it seems to reference a lot of recent fads and memes (Lolcats, Nyan Cat, Twilight, etc).

Please tell me where I could find this! My title (above avatar) says it all.   

[TallStar]

Please tell me where I could find this! My title (above avatar) says it all.   

I know I'm not Ausette, but there's a picture of a Nyan cat. It's a small painting you get through buy mode.

[ZapKid]

I know I'm not Ausette, but there's a picture of a Nyan cat. Its a small painting you get through buy mode.

Must-go-check!

EDIT: Ahw, it's a spoof. I thought it was going to be a real Nyan Cat...

[Pam]

These things may date the game, but they make me laugh.  I especially like the poster of Happy Cat of I Can Has Cheezburger fame.  Except he's thinking of Grilled Cheese. 

[wednesday21]

Must-go-check!

EDIT: Ahw, it's a spoof. I thought it was going to be a real Nyan Cat...

There is a Nyan Cat for Sims (a cat created to resemble the cat in the internet meme) up at the Exchange. I downloaded it for my game and it's very well done. I don't know if it uses CC but I think it doesn't. If you want I can send you the link to its download page in a personal message. It's called "Nyan cat the pop tart".

[Hitlazar]

Glitches. Too. Many. Glitches. That's my first impression. No EA bashing intended, but I honestly don't know how the game got through the testing phases, and the dropping of certain graphics cards is a major issue.
In terms of gameplay though, I dislike that you can't buy a pet from a store and design it yourself, unless you start with one made in CAS you are stuck with what the shelter offers.
I also dislike the one small animal per cage thing, makes it too hard to collect them when you have to clean 50 cages every few days.
I have noticed there are very few stray animals, and unlike sims 2 you can't add to the strays by having pets run away.
I like the new neighborhood, and there seem to be more animals in AP then the other towns.
I like everything about the horses mostly, I just wish you could actually participate in the competitions/races rather then it being based on luck.
I think the 6 pet limit is too small - with cats/dogs it is fine but with them plus horses it limits everything too much. Especially if you want to breed horses, and never have any room.
I hope they make a patch to fix the issues with the graphics cards, this is really my main complaint and I am truly very annoyed that I can hardly play the game at all

[jeanamariex3]

This is defiantly my favorite expansion pack so far in Sims 3. It was my favorite in Sims 2 as well! I do have to say though, I'm very disappointed that pets don't have their own careers and that the human Sims don't have a vet career.

[doblea2]

My first impression of the game was real. The game is awesome!

[MoMoll]

I finally got to play Pets for the last 2 days (had to wait to receive the expansion as a Christmas present; then had to wait until my daughter and family returned to the US after a 3 week stay; then my computer crshed and I had to buy a new one).

I must say I am thrilled with the horses! I took a ranch from Appalossa and placed it in Bridgewater where the resort was. I upgraded it to modern and bought a horse. My simand her horse became BFF after a few days of brushing and riding. Then I noticed a falcon always on the lot, so she caught it and is presently good friends with it (this is after 1 sim week). So far she has won every competition (3 in beginner jumping, 1 beginner racing and 1 beginner cross country) without being at level 10. I'll breed both her and her horse soon and then see where I go from there.

Just loving it!

[SimNike]

I have gotten every single Sims 3 Expansion Pack except for this one, and believe me, I'm doing my research, seeing what people are saying about the Pets Expansion from on here and from other game review sites, but I just don't seem intrigued enough to buy this expansion. Did anyone else feel like this, ended up buying it anyway and have ended up totally enjoying it? If so, please share your thoughts.