Author Topic: Pets: First Impressions  (Read 53258 times)

Offline Seabody

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #90 on: November 07, 2011, 03:39:41 PM »
Before Pets, Haystacks had no use, they were just there to be there, so to speak. Woohoo in a haystack is totally new.

Offline Hosfac

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #91 on: November 07, 2011, 04:24:49 PM »
I thought it was funny as that EA thought it necessary to put the blur on the horses when they pee!! That cracked me up. I do think they could have done a little better with that thought - as it is they look like they just let it run all down their legs. In RL they stretch out so they don't get it all over themselves!

Right! Like for real! Haha! And the blur is like huge! It's silly but if they think it's necessary then  ;)

You're confusing necessity with tradition.  Sim games have a long standing history of tradition and 'in-jokes' related to it.  Two of the biggest are llamas and "reticulating splines."

Since SimCity was first released (that's the earliest I remember, although it may even go back farther), the sports team that came with the stadium that you put in your towns was "The Llamas."  Why?  Because it's an animal not typically associated with sports teams, and because it sounded a bit silly.  Maxis' sim games were always a bit tongue in cheek.  Llamas became an 'in-joke' in the franchise, and since The Sims was loosely based on the concept of SimCity, it carried over.  Even now, the local sports team still bears the name (and it was used to identify the notification pop-ups as well), and it has become synonymous with Maxis created titles...despite the fact that you almost never see an actual llama in the game.

"Reticulating Splines" is another one that comes from SimCity.  As the game would load, it would list notification of what the program was doing as it loads, and this was one such notification.  This also became an 'in-joke,' since at the time nobody but Maxis and people with a background in either mathematics or computer graphics really knew what this meant (it basically means that it is assembling the polygons necessary to render the textures upon).  This was carried over into The Sims as well, with the notification often being altered slightly to fit in with the theme of the particular expansion being used.  I recently saw one such notification appear in relation to the new Pets expansion.

The pixelation of biological functions has become yet another 'in-joke' that is based on tradition, albeit with a limited audience.  Honestly, there is nothing more going on when a Sim uses the bathroom than there is when a Sim is sitting on a dining room chair.  But despite this, Maxis saw fit to pixelate the action anyways, most likely in a mock effort to bestow a measure of privacy and dignity to the Sims involved (after all:  you'd feel a bit self-concious yourself if there was someone you barely knew about watching you use the bathroom).  While a lot of Simmers missed the joke, there are a few of us who saw it for what it was.   ;)
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Offline amyrose

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #92 on: November 07, 2011, 04:44:17 PM »
Hosfac, I found your post really interesting. It's nice to know that EA included running jokes, it makes me want to look for more.

Sorry for being off-topic!

Offline Monolito

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #93 on: November 08, 2011, 07:30:32 PM »
I'm thinking about getting Pets  but I found some pots on the internet stating it's very buggy. Can I get any feedback on that? I've already had frequent 10s game freezes and a Consignment Store that wouldn't sell my stuff so I'm a bit annoyed with the possibility of even more bugs :/

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #94 on: November 08, 2011, 07:43:10 PM »
You're confusing necessity with tradition.  Sim games have a long standing history of tradition and 'in-jokes' related to it.  Two of the biggest are llamas and "reticulating splines."

Since SimCity was first released (that's the earliest I remember, although it may even go back farther), the sports team that came with the stadium that you put in your towns was "The Llamas."  Why?  Because it's an animal not typically associated with sports teams, and because it sounded a bit silly.  Maxis' sim games were always a bit tongue in cheek.  Llamas became an 'in-joke' in the franchise, and since The Sims was loosely based on the concept of SimCity, it carried over.  Even now, the local sports team still bears the name (and it was used to identify the notification pop-ups as well), and it has become synonymous with Maxis created titles...despite the fact that you almost never see an actual llama in the game.

"Reticulating Splines" is another one that comes from SimCity.  As the game would load, it would list notification of what the program was doing as it loads, and this was one such notification.  This also became an 'in-joke,' since at the time nobody but Maxis and people with a background in either mathematics or computer graphics really knew what this meant (it basically means that it is assembling the polygons necessary to render the textures upon).  This was carried over into The Sims as well, with the notification often being altered slightly to fit in with the theme of the particular expansion being used.  I recently saw one such notification appear in relation to the new Pets expansion.

The pixelation of biological functions has become yet another 'in-joke' that is based on tradition, albeit with a limited audience.  Honestly, there is nothing more going on when a Sim uses the bathroom than there is when a Sim is sitting on a dining room chair.  But despite this, Maxis saw fit to pixelate the action anyways, most likely in a mock effort to bestow a measure of privacy and dignity to the Sims involved (after all:  you'd feel a bit self-concious yourself if there was someone you barely knew about watching you use the bathroom).  While a lot of Simmers missed the joke, there are a few of us who saw it for what it was.   ;)
point taken  :D

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #95 on: November 08, 2011, 08:21:49 PM »
I'm thinking about getting Pets  but I found some pots on the internet stating it's very buggy. Can I get any feedback on that? I've already had frequent 10s game freezes and a Consignment Store that wouldn't sell my stuff so I'm a bit annoyed with the possibility of even more bugs :/

The only bugs I really had was from custom content which all had to be updated due to major changes with the Pets expansion (like new animations with doors for pets, etc., that kind of thing).  But once I went through the steps to update it, I've had no real issues.  For me, this is BY FAR the best expansion yet.  I've been glued to my Sims 3 almost exclusively to any other game.

Offline samoht04

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #96 on: November 09, 2011, 02:30:19 AM »
I'm thinking about getting Pets  but I found some pots on the internet stating it's very buggy. Can I get any feedback on that? I've already had frequent 10s game freezes and a Consignment Store that wouldn't sell my stuff so I'm a bit annoyed with the possibility of even more bugs :/

I have found no bugs whatsoever apart from ones in existing games. To me this is the best EP so far - content and quality. There were no major bugs added as far as I know. There are some glitches for some people with certain cards or if you were fishing in a Pre-Pets game you can't fish with bait anymore. Other than that it is amazing.  :)
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Offline Seabody

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #97 on: November 09, 2011, 02:43:50 AM »
...fishing in a Pre-Pets game you can't fish with bait anymore.

Hold on. My Dynasty (Banana's one) hasn't got a fisherman yet - no fishing whatesoever. Does this mean that I can fish with bait? (And I did start it post-pets)

Offline samoht04

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #98 on: November 09, 2011, 02:49:15 AM »
Hold on. My Dynasty (Banana's one) hasn't got a fisherman yet - no fishing whatesoever. Does this mean that I can fish with bait? (And I did start it post-pets)

I don't know. I had a Fisherman Pre-Pets and he can't fish with bait, even though he was around Level 4. It might be a good idea for you to get a Spouse or Spare or someone to try it just to make sure you have a back-up if it has hit you. I'm hoping it will only affect Fisherman pre-pets but I have yet to get another Sim fishing.
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Offline Monolito

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #99 on: November 09, 2011, 05:12:52 AM »
Not being able to fish? Hmmm. I've recently installed Sims 3 from the core up to Generations. I'm not going to risk messing up my game again and I don't want to start it all over due to the fishing glitch. Fishing is one of the funniest features :)

Dellena

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #100 on: November 09, 2011, 06:01:49 AM »
Not being able to fish? Hmmm. I've recently installed Sims 3 from the core up to Generations. I'm not going to risk messing up my game again and I don't want to start it all over due to the fishing glitch. Fishing is one of the funniest features :)

My Sim I created after installing Pets is able to fish and choose bait.  I'd have to hunt up a pre-Pets Sim and see if fishing is glitched at all.

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #101 on: November 09, 2011, 06:42:20 AM »
I don't know if sims in older games can use bait, I always start with a new family after a expansion. Mine can use bait. This time I don't do a fresh install and my game keep crashing, but after a fresh install my game is ok. The pets is the best expansion! I love it :D

Offline samoht04

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #102 on: November 09, 2011, 11:23:38 AM »
Not being able to fish? Hmmm. I've recently installed Sims 3 from the core up to Generations. I'm not going to risk messing up my game again and I don't want to start it all over due to the fishing glitch. Fishing is one of the funniest features :)

No, you can fish. You just can't use Bait. I had to get my Fisherman to Level 10 to catch Deathfish because he wasn't able to use bait to catch them at Level 6. It processes the Action then the moment they reach the Water it just vanishes. I'm sure it will be fixed in the next patch, well it should be since Fishing is rather popular among a lot of people.
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Offline Pam

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #103 on: November 09, 2011, 11:44:45 AM »
All this talk about fishing is rather off-topic for this thread.  If y'all are having problems with the Fishing Skill, search through the Forum for an answer.  If you don't find anything that applies to your situation, start a new topic.
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Offline Katluvr

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Re: First Impressions of Pets
« Reply #104 on: November 09, 2011, 12:08:42 PM »
I love this EP so much more than I expected to.  One of the things that I was especially happy to see was how the game handles it when a pet dies.  I love how kind Grim is to the animal and how he helps them towards the light.  Animals are my weakness (I can't watch those SPCA commercials on TV without bursting into tears) and I would have been exceedingly disturbed if he treated pets the way he treats sims.  Bravo EA for handling a delicate situation with class!

 

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