Funny to read so many different takes on this EP. I wasn't very eager to get it, because I didn't really focus that much on pets in TS3, but got it on sale mainly because I wanted the world and a few pets might be good for story telling, which I love. I've not played it a lot yet, but my impression is that these animals feel more unique than in previous series, and what I like the most is that I'm not sure what triggers their different behavior. Also sims react differently, although none of my sims have the new cat- or dog person traits. And I like that we can't control pets.
I am in the same boat Simmerville, - In a sort of small trial of the Pets ep - I did play one sim who adopted a stray just to try it out for a bit. I was impressed with how much easier it was to adopt a stray this go round and the dogs behavior was pretty spot on to experiences I have had with strays over the years that also graduated to family members - lol. So yes - I disagree with the poster as I saw realism and not like pets of the past that just engaged in out of the norm behaviors for many pets.
Like someone mentioned jobs in past games and how some pets have real jobs. True some pets have years of professional training to do job like police work, acting, etc - but believe me not like in the Sims 2 at all. They don't in real life go off to work and then come back home after work and just be the family pet. A pet trained to do a job is just that - that's all they do pretty much for a scant few years and then they are retired. It is not easy or anything like Sims 2 and when aiming for realism - well I can see why pets do not have jobs in Sims 4 - that did pretty much go with realism in pet ownership. I don't see anything in Sims 4 C & D that is much different than our actual pets. So for me much of pet ownership probably could be considered boring to people wanting to just play a game and fill their time with excitement and constantly competing and meeting goals. Some people just don't really want realism in their game because on average real life is boring if portrayed in a game - even if we enjoy our mundane - quiet - boring existences, some people do not want to actually play their own lives in a game.
That is why I believe the OP found it boring. But really we each need to examine our own everyday living and think how fun would we all be - really - if our lives was in the Sims 4. For some people they want realism and when they get it - they are bored.
If they want excitement well there is always the Vamps... is my suggestion - as lets face it the more real the sims get the less exciting the excitement seekers will get.
Post edited by Writin_Reg on
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
Here's objectiveness, there are no pets running in other neighborhoods, pets can go inside gyms and bars something I never seen in TS3
You're lucky to have never seen them anywhere! Pets definitely could go places they shouldn't in TS3. On the first day I played the EP a cat walked past the bouncer at a bar and scratched up a barstool
Actually I would have gotten a kick out of that if said bouncer attempted to forcefully eject the trespassing feline and it in turn scratched his eyes out. That would definitely liven up any game.
I've actually enjoyed the pets expansion pack. The only thing I didn't care for was not being able to click on them to see their needs or to be able to direct them to a spot I want them to go with clicking. Then a brilliant modder came out with a mod to be able to do just that and I've been pretty pleased with it all. For the most part, I let them do their thing and treat them like I would with my real life pets. My sims interact with them on their own and it is entertaining to me. I'm not expecting "perfection" but I can understand why some people may not enjoy it based on what they have posted.
I wish there was more for pets to do, and more interactions with them because in that area, I feel the gameplay is lacking. They often feel more like an accessory than a living thing that doesn't really affect gameplay. But other than that I feel it's decent I guess
I wish there was more for pets to do, and more interactions with them because in that area, I feel the gameplay is lacking. They often feel more like an accessory than a living thing that doesn't really affect gameplay. But other than that I feel it's decent I guess
I agree. It's a shame that the developers hadn't coded the objects that came before the pets pack to be something that the pets could interact with. An example would be dogs playing with their human children's toys or getting into the closets and "stealing shoes" to gnaw on and play with. Another example would be the cats being able to go into the closets (because every cat I've ever had LOVES closets) and playing in them and shedding all over the clothes while doing so. Cats like to play with human toys too so that would have been nice. But yes, although there is stuff for them to do it would be nice if there was more. Perhaps this might be something they can patch or add later? Who is to say since that would just be speculation with a dash of wishful thinking ;-).
I wasn't eager to get Cats & Dogs either, but it went on sale and I figured why not I'll break down and get it eventually. I've been very pleased with it. I can't compare it to Sims 3 but I did have everything in the first two sims games and this one to me is the best Pets EP so far for the way I play the game. I always uninstalled the others because of how irritating the pets got ... especially when you didn't want to focus on them in every household. I do remember playing out a couple of the careers in Sims 2 but I quickly tired of that.
With Cat's and Dogs I've been rotating households, some households have pets and some don't. They haven't been too hard to take care of although trip to the vet days have been more time consuming then I want, mostly because it happens pretty frequently. I got some of the health treats (forgot what they are called) and hoping that will make them get sick less often. Usually though it's just really nice. I like to watch them and the interactions are very cute, delightful even. I've had more than a few "awww" moments. I think they animated them well. It's more like when I have a pet in real life than in the past games. You don't have to interact with them constantly.. well I haven't chose traits that I think might encourage that type of behavior anyway. I haven't explored everything yet and it will probably be some time before I do but I am enjoying them when I do play with them.
I like the new world and the "stuff" also.
My biggest disappointment in this pack is that they aren't playable mostly because I wanted to try to play from the perspective of the pet at times. I know many don't feel that way though and that's just something that isn't going to be.
I like the levels of interaction with the pets in this pack. They seem to have more options interacting with their people and with other animals. And the option to go to the vet is great! I do wish our Sims could gain skills to help their sick pets themselves, at home. They should be able to do simple first aid with enough skills.
I am in the same boat - In a sort of small trial of the Pets ep - I did play one sim who adopted a stray just to try it out for a bit. I was impressed with how much easier it was to adopt a stray this go round and the dogs behavior was pretty spot on to experiences I have had with strays over the years that also graduated to family members - lol. So yes - I disagree with the poster as I saw realism and not like pets of the past that just engaged in out of the norm behaviors for many pets.
Like someone mentioned jobs in past games and how some pets have real jobs. True some pets have years of professional training to do job like police work, acting, etc - but believe me not like in the Sims 2 at all. They don't in real life go off to work and then come back home after work and just be the family pet. A pet trained to do a job is just that - that's all they do pretty much for a scant few years and then they are retired. It is not easy or anything like Sims 2 and when aiming for realism - well I can see why pets do not have jobs in Sims 4 - that did pretty much go with realism in pet ownership. I don't see anything in Sims 4 C & D that is much different than our actual pets. So for me much of pet ownership probably could be considered boring to people wanting to just play a game and fill their time with excitement and constantly competing and meeting goals. Some people just don't really want realism in their game because on average real life is boring if portrayed in a game - even if we enjoy our mundane - quiet - boring existences, some people do not want to actually play their own lives in a game.
That is why I believe the OP found it boring. But really we each need to examine our own everyday living and think how fun would we all be - really - if our lives was in the Sims 4. For some people they want realism and when they get it - they are bored.
If they want excitement well there is always the Vamps... is my suggestion - as lets face it the more real the sims get the less exciting the excitement seekers will get.
I agree with a lot of this, I just am not happy about it because I like he slightly more action based game style.
A side note on pet jobs,
Not all of them mean the animal is just a working dog. Companion pets, animal actors, vermin control pets, are all basically house pets when they aren't working.
I particularly can speak for companion pets as I have personal experience with them and how they are trained, all of them have normal family homes to go to in their spare time and are normal family pets.
Animals actors same thing, they live with their trainer normally.
The vermin control pet I know works for a family owned greenhouse, and have a food bed and other supplies in the families house
This might change by region, but police dogs in my city are actually owned and cared for by their K9-officer. The officer has to go through a bunch of tests and training then they get a dog to work with and care for. I think this was to help dog stress levels and encourage loyalty from them. When the officer leaves the k9 unit the dog retires and goes with them (unless they refuse, but the guy I know was quite fond of his dog)
I suspect rescue dogs are similar to k9 although I don't know any myself.
So yes living with a working dog is very different and some are not pets at all, like guide dogs, or any animals that their training can interfere with interactions/their job. Also living with an police dog is different then one that was only a house pet, t has a job to do, so you can't spoil it or let it get lazy, but it isn't unrealistic to have a working pet at home. I'll agree it isn't normal, but if looking for game-play, I don't think it stretches reality by much for people who want the realism.
It would have been cool in my mind actually that if your sims was a firefighter or cop they could take their dog to go work with them.
Maybe I'm the only one who thinks like this but what bothers me most is how this expansion pack lacks depth. What I mean by that is that, for example, the inheritance of coats and features is awful. The parents can be the exact same dog yet the puppy can have a completely different coat and completely different features. That's not how it should work! A puppy between two white german shepherds should be a white german shepherd, not a brindle boxer with a fuzzy coat. Then there's not even an option to save coats separately so if you make a nice coat for your cat and then want to use it on your other cat your only option is to duplicate the first cat. The color wheel is only available in paint mode but the place it's most needed is when changing the colors of the base coat - the choices there are very limited! There's examples of this in gameplay as well, technically everything for a great expansion is there but it's just shallow and unpolished.
Also, the paint mode in create a pet has no layers. Even TS2's create a pet had layers, they're vital because they allow you to change a small portion of the coat instead of having to erase and redo everything at the same time. It could've been great but it's just lacking.
Overall, I enjoy the pack. I've had great luck with my pets having very distinct personalities, regardless of what traits I've given them. I like that they're not controllable - I thought I was really going to miss that aspect, but I have to agree that they're so much more unpredictable/spontaneous without being able to see their every move. Now that I've learned how to read them a little bit, I don't miss not being able to see their motives. I love Brindleton Bay - it's my favorite world to date. I'm not bothered by the size of it, I even use the empty lot in Magnolia Promenade for a house all the time. Loading screens are annoying but they don't take long and switching between worlds is pretty easy/seamless so I don't mind that I don't have everything I could possibly want in one world or another. I add a pet to just about every household I play. When my sim's children grow up, I move them into a place of their own and get them a pet. I love having them as part of the families I play just like I love my own real life fur babies. And the toddler/pet interactions, while few, are so cute and a huge step up from TS3.
Having said all of that, I 100% agree that the game feels unfinished. The vet career in particular was such a disappointment. I enjoy the skill, I enjoy playing with the equipment, I enjoy performing the exams and all of that. But I HATE that it's not an actual career. I was really hoping for an interactive career like what GTW had to offer and I was really disappointed to find it wasn't even close. I have never been a fan of running my own business in the game, so this is such a bummer for me. I played with it for a bit at first when the pack came out but I haven't touched it since and that makes me so sad. I was so pumped for it and I was pretty disappointed with the final product.
And the wall decals. So. Many. Wall. Decals. As I scroll through the seemingly endless display of wall decals, I can't help but think of the movie Elf. Anybody remember the scene where Buddy is sent to test the Jack in the Box toys because he's not a great toy maker and can't keep up? I can't help but wonder if there wasn't someone on the team that was responsible for the vet career but couldn't keep up/wasn't doing well with it so they sent that person off to make decals because they could handle that better. So the person just sits there making decal after decal while people are standing over him going "YOU'RE DOING GREAT, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! WE'RE USING ALL OF THESE IN GAME!" just to keep him from feeling bad about himself while some of the other "elves" are in the back trying to clean up the vet career the best they can and what we got was their result.
And puppies/kittens. Cute? Absolutely. LOVE watching them run and tumble over and just be. Boring? SO BORING. I wish you could do more with them. Again, another piece that feels so unfinished. Yeah, it's cute/fun to watch them wander and such but only for so long. I wish you could take them for walks. I wish you could watch them try to climb stairs and watch their little legs dangle off the stair/watch them fall off a couple times before finally getting the hang of it. I wish they could cuddle with their mothers - I miss that so much from TS3. (If they can do this, please correct me - I've not seen it nor have I seen an option but I've only played with breeding once.) I wish that they could play tug of war together with a little toy. I wish adult dogs could do that too. Just so much opportunity. I was absolutely fine with them only including cats and dogs in this pack - horses were a fun addition in TS3 but I hardly play them. But I sort of feel like, with them only focusing on two pets, they could have done so much more and really fleshed out the interactions like they did with toddlers and I feel like it sort of fell short.
It's enough for me to still enjoy it and not regret the purchase. I use the content, I include the pets in my families, and I enjoy being able to do so. But there are definitely some pieces that I feel could have been so much better and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed in the final product. Makes me a little hesitant on future content. I try to avoid spoilers, I try to wait and form my own opinions, but I feel like I may need to look into those things in the future to at least know what to expect. At least that way, if I choose to buy it anyway, then it's my own fault if I'm disappointed.
Overall, I enjoy the pack. I've had great luck with my pets having very distinct personalities, regardless of what traits I've given them. I like that they're not controllable - I thought I was really going to miss that aspect, but I have to agree that they're so much more unpredictable/spontaneous without being able to see their every move. Now that I've learned how to read them a little bit, I don't miss not being able to see their motives. I love Brindleton Bay - it's my favorite world to date. I'm not bothered by the size of it, I even use the empty lot in Magnolia Promenade for a house all the time. Loading screens are annoying but they don't take long and switching between worlds is pretty easy/seamless so I don't mind that I don't have everything I could possibly want in one world or another. I add a pet to just about every household I play. When my sim's children grow up, I move them into a place of their own and get them a pet. I love having them as part of the families I play just like I love my own real life fur babies. And the toddler/pet interactions, while few, are so cute and a huge step up from TS3.
Having said all of that, I 100% agree that the game feels unfinished. The vet career in particular was such a disappointment. I enjoy the skill, I enjoy playing with the equipment, I enjoy performing the exams and all of that. But I HATE that it's not an actual career. I was really hoping for an interactive career like what GTW had to offer and I was really disappointed to find it wasn't even close. I have never been a fan of running my own business in the game, so this is such a bummer for me. I played with it for a bit at first when the pack came out but I haven't touched it since and that makes me so sad. I was so pumped for it and I was pretty disappointed with the final product.
And the wall decals. So. Many. Wall. Decals. As I scroll through the seemingly endless display of wall decals, I can't help but think of the movie Elf. Anybody remember the scene where Buddy is sent to test the Jack in the Box toys because he's not a great toy maker and can't keep up? I can't help but wonder if there wasn't someone on the team that was responsible for the vet career but couldn't keep up/wasn't doing well with it so they sent that person off to make decals because they could handle that better. So the person just sits there making decal after decal while people are standing over him going "YOU'RE DOING GREAT, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! WE'RE USING ALL OF THESE IN GAME!" just to keep him from feeling bad about himself while some of the other "elves" are in the back trying to clean up the vet career the best they can and what we got was their result.
And puppies/kittens. Cute? Absolutely. LOVE watching them run and tumble over and just be. Boring? SO BORING. I wish you could do more with them. Again, another piece that feels so unfinished. Yeah, it's cute/fun to watch them wander and such but only for so long. I wish you could take them for walks. I wish you could watch them try to climb stairs and watch their little legs dangle off the stair/watch them fall off a couple times before finally getting the hang of it. I wish they could cuddle with their mothers - I miss that so much from TS3. (If they can do this, please correct me - I've not seen it nor have I seen an option but I've only played with breeding once.) I wish that they could play tug of war together with a little toy. I wish adult dogs could do that too. Just so much opportunity. I was absolutely fine with them only including cats and dogs in this pack - horses were a fun addition in TS3 but I hardly play them. But I sort of feel like, with them only focusing on two pets, they could have done so much more and really fleshed out the interactions like they did with toddlers and I feel like it sort of fell short.
It's enough for me to still enjoy it and not regret the purchase. I use the content, I include the pets in my families, and I enjoy being able to do so. But there are definitely some pieces that I feel could have been so much better and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed in the final product. Makes me a little hesitant on future content. I try to avoid spoilers, I try to wait and form my own opinions, but I feel like I may need to look into those things in the future to at least know what to expect. At least that way, if I choose to buy it anyway, then it's my own fault if I'm disappointed.
I try searching for criticism of stuff before I get it.
I go looking for all the ugly and decide how likely it will bug me compared to what the pack should add.
I tend not to have anything really spoiled on me when I do this and I rarely am disappointed by a pack I get this way.
Of course if you are easily disenchanted it may not work well as a technique. I always think even the most love things get criticism though, so I don't take my reading to mean it's bad.
Just a suggestion if you are looking into packs more, but want to avoid spoilers.
I am into the Pets EP for the clinic and neighborhood, I am not too much into the pets and was never into them for Sims 2 and Sims 3 and never had had an problem with them. I will say this for Sims 4 Pets I do find it a little better than the previous versions.
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I agree. It's a shame that the developers hadn't coded the objects that came before the pets pack to be something that the pets could interact with. An example would be dogs playing with their human children's toys or getting into the closets and "stealing shoes" to gnaw on and play with. Another example would be the cats being able to go into the closets (because every cat I've ever had LOVES closets) and playing in them and shedding all over the clothes while doing so. Cats like to play with human toys too so that would have been nice. But yes, although there is stuff for them to do it would be nice if there was more.
One reason that they tend to limit interactions with previous items is that they don't want people who buy Cats & Dogs, for example, to have to own other packs to get full use out of the pack. So you'll see a few things that tie in with other packs but not too many.
I'm sure people could come up with dozens and dozens of interactions and things to do they'd like to see added....but just like most of the other things, they'd be novel for the first or second time, and then people would be over them. A dog grabbing a kid's toy or a cat wreaking havoc in a close isn't going to be all that entertaining the 100th time it happens.
One reason that they tend to limit interactions with previous items is that they don't want people who buy Cats & Dogs, for example, to have to own other packs to get full use out of the pack. So you'll see a few things that tie in with other packs but not too many.
You could see it from a different angle too: Mixing the packs' interactions might motivate people to buy more packs.
For example in The Sims 2 I really enjoyed the fact that you could mix different supernatural creatures and that your witch and wizard could have their own magical pets.
I'm sure people could come up with dozens and dozens of interactions and things to do they'd like to see added....but just like most of the other things, they'd be novel for the first or second time, and then people would be over them. A dog grabbing a kid's toy or a cat wreaking havoc in a close isn't going to be all that entertaining the 100th time it happens.
Following this argumentation you don't need any expansions at all. Everything might become boring after some time - or enrich your gameplay.
I do love that pets can walk under beds, under tables and sit on various furniture. They open up the home a bit more, not being restricted to the sims' normal routing.
I think there must be something wrong with my game tbh. I feel like a lot of people are saying how good the pet AI is and how realistically pets behave, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. Just got the pack yesterday and had my sim adopt a cat and a dog and neither of them do much. They mostly just sit and do nothing.
I purchased the most elaborate cat tree and two scratching posts. I think I’ve seen the cat actually jump onto the tree once, and she has not touched a scratching post in close to a sim week. I also purchased one of those pet toy boxes and a few extra toys to put in in and neither the cat or dog will autonomously play with any. They won’t take toys out of the box, nor will they play with any toys I’ve tried to leave laying around. The only time they will touch a toy is if I use that “give toy to” interaction. Them they play with it for a few minutes and then leave the toy laying around and wont. ever touch it again. Occasionally the dog will pick up one of the balls and look like he’s trying to place it back in the toy bin but he just drops it right outside of the bin. I’ve tried making sure paths aren’t blocked and moving the box to different spots to no avail.
Also there doesn’t appear to be any training necessary. Maybe it’s because I just rolled two adult pets.? Neither pet has ever done any negative behavior. The dog came already knowing to go outside to do its business, the cat never attempts to scratch the furnoture (and like I said, won’t even use the scratching posts).... it’s just nothing.
I felt the pet AI in sims 3 was a little off and hoped I’m this game since thru were developing it with the idea that the player wasn’t going to be controlling the pets that the AI would be better this time around, like at least as good as it was I’m sims 2. But it’s just so so bad in my experience. At least in sims 3 pets would autonomously play with their toys, and untrained cats and dogs would exhibit some unwanted behaviors like scratching the furniture or peeing in the house.
I think there must be something wrong with my game tbh. I feel like a lot of people are saying how good the pet AI is and how realistically pets behave, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. Just got the pack yesterday and had my sim adopt a cat and a dog and neither of them do much. They mostly just sit and do nothing.
I purchased the most elaborate cat tree and two scratching posts. I think I’ve seen the cat actually jump onto the tree once, and she has not touched a scratching post in close to a sim week. I also purchased one of those pet toy boxes and a few extra toys to put in in and neither the cat or dog will autonomously play with any. They won’t take toys out of the box, nor will they play with any toys I’ve tried to leave laying around. The only time they will touch a toy is if I use that “give toy to” interaction. Them they play with it for a few minutes and then leave the toy laying around and wont. ever touch it again. Occasionally the dog will pick up one of the balls and look like he’s trying to place it back in the toy bin but he just drops it right outside of the bin. I’ve tried making sure paths aren’t blocked and moving the box to different spots to no avail.
Also there doesn’t appear to be any training necessary. Maybe it’s because I just rolled two adult pets.? Neither pet has ever done any negative behavior. The dog came already knowing to go outside to do its business, the cat never attempts to scratch the furnoture (and like I said, won’t even use the scratching posts).... it’s just nothing.
I felt the pet AI in sims 3 was a little off and hoped I’m this game since thru were developing it with the idea that the player wasn’t going to be controlling the pets that the AI would be better this time around, like at least as good as it was I’m sims 2. But it’s just so so bad in my experience. At least in sims 3 pets would autonomously play with their toys, and untrained cats and dogs would exhibit some unwanted behaviors like scratching the furniture or peeing in the house.
Sadly your experience is my experience. You aren’t alone.
I think there must be something wrong with my game tbh. I feel like a lot of people are saying how good the pet AI is and how realistically pets behave, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. Just got the pack yesterday and had my sim adopt a cat and a dog and neither of them do much. They mostly just sit and do nothing.
I purchased the most elaborate cat tree and two scratching posts. I think I’ve seen the cat actually jump onto the tree once, and she has not touched a scratching post in close to a sim week. I also purchased one of those pet toy boxes and a few extra toys to put in in and neither the cat or dog will autonomously play with any. They won’t take toys out of the box, nor will they play with any toys I’ve tried to leave laying around. The only time they will touch a toy is if I use that “give toy to” interaction. Them they play with it for a few minutes and then leave the toy laying around and wont. ever touch it again. Occasionally the dog will pick up one of the balls and look like he’s trying to place it back in the toy bin but he just drops it right outside of the bin. I’ve tried making sure paths aren’t blocked and moving the box to different spots to no avail.
Also there doesn’t appear to be any training necessary. Maybe it’s because I just rolled two adult pets.? Neither pet has ever done any negative behavior. The dog came already knowing to go outside to do its business, the cat never attempts to scratch the furnoture (and like I said, won’t even use the scratching posts).... it’s just nothing.
I felt the pet AI in sims 3 was a little off and hoped I’m this game since thru were developing it with the idea that the player wasn’t going to be controlling the pets that the AI would be better this time around, like at least as good as it was I’m sims 2. But it’s just so so bad in my experience. At least in sims 3 pets would autonomously play with their toys, and untrained cats and dogs would exhibit some unwanted behaviors like scratching the furniture or peeing in the house.
Sadly your experience is my experience. You aren’t alone.
Hy Personally i dont think this an ai is any better than sims 3 or 2.
I think there must be something wrong with my game tbh. I feel like a lot of people are saying how good the pet AI is and how realistically pets behave, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. Just got the pack yesterday and had my sim adopt a cat and a dog and neither of them do much. They mostly just sit and do nothing.
I purchased the most elaborate cat tree and two scratching posts. I think I’ve seen the cat actually jump onto the tree once, and she has not touched a scratching post in close to a sim week. I also purchased one of those pet toy boxes and a few extra toys to put in in and neither the cat or dog will autonomously play with any. They won’t take toys out of the box, nor will they play with any toys I’ve tried to leave laying around. The only time they will touch a toy is if I use that “give toy to” interaction. Them they play with it for a few minutes and then leave the toy laying around and wont. ever touch it again. Occasionally the dog will pick up one of the balls and look like he’s trying to place it back in the toy bin but he just drops it right outside of the bin. I’ve tried making sure paths aren’t blocked and moving the box to different spots to no avail.
Also there doesn’t appear to be any training necessary. Maybe it’s because I just rolled two adult pets.? Neither pet has ever done any negative behavior. The dog came already knowing to go outside to do its business, the cat never attempts to scratch the furnoture (and like I said, won’t even use the scratching posts).... it’s just nothing.
I felt the pet AI in sims 3 was a little off and hoped I’m this game since thru were developing it with the idea that the player wasn’t going to be controlling the pets that the AI would be better this time around, like at least as good as it was I’m sims 2. But it’s just so so bad in my experience. At least in sims 3 pets would autonomously play with their toys, and untrained cats and dogs would exhibit some unwanted behaviors like scratching the furniture or peeing in the house.
Sadly your experience is my experience. You aren’t alone.
Hy Personally i dont think this an ai is any better than sims 3 or 2.
I have to admit, I am not the biggest fan of the pets expansions. This one feels like the worse for me. I thought not being able to see the needs and such would not bother me but it really does. I want to see their needs and what skills they are trained in. I played the Delgatos and I hated the pets so much I deleted the heckings and the cat lady. I don't want to play with the pets anymore. When the Delgatos pets die, they will not get another pet.
As for BB, I am not too much of a fan of the layout. I do like the fish market stand and the food vendor there. I put Justin Delgato in the political career so he can "expand" the town and attract people to move there. Each town has a politician in my game which is why the Delgato did not get hit with the delete button.
That's the biggest mistake of this expansion pack. Nobody asked for pet info panel (that displays needs, age, skills, etc.) to be disabled. They could have simply left it to be enabled. Nobody would get mad, and it would be a win-win situation (Don't wanna see these walking creatures motives and thus experience the challenge of guessing? Than don't plum click on their icon/portrayed to open the pane that shows all that). Now that they did the opposite, half/most of the players are dissatisfied of the development they made, or shall I better say cut. And no, I won't be buying any "time restraint, budget problem" excuse, since a modder unlock that whole pet-control option like what, a few (1-3 days) days after the release of the expansion pack.
I agree. That to me is something I can’t overcome with this pack. I think it would be more immersive if I could see their needs, relationships etc. I don’t want to control them but don’t hide basic information either.
Also they really could developed a controable pet cheat. For thoes who want it.Like hey there not contrable at default, but you csn still see needs. Also can you this cheat
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Like someone mentioned jobs in past games and how some pets have real jobs. True some pets have years of professional training to do job like police work, acting, etc - but believe me not like in the Sims 2 at all. They don't in real life go off to work and then come back home after work and just be the family pet. A pet trained to do a job is just that - that's all they do pretty much for a scant few years and then they are retired. It is not easy or anything like Sims 2 and when aiming for realism - well I can see why pets do not have jobs in Sims 4 - that did pretty much go with realism in pet ownership. I don't see anything in Sims 4 C & D that is much different than our actual pets. So for me much of pet ownership probably could be considered boring to people wanting to just play a game and fill their time with excitement and constantly competing and meeting goals. Some people just don't really want realism in their game because on average real life is boring if portrayed in a game - even if we enjoy our mundane - quiet - boring existences, some people do not want to actually play their own lives in a game.
That is why I believe the OP found it boring. But really we each need to examine our own everyday living and think how fun would we all be - really - if our lives was in the Sims 4. For some people they want realism and when they get it - they are bored.
If they want excitement well there is always the Vamps... is my suggestion - as lets face it the more real the sims get the less exciting the excitement seekers will get.
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Now that could have been fun
I agree. It's a shame that the developers hadn't coded the objects that came before the pets pack to be something that the pets could interact with. An example would be dogs playing with their human children's toys or getting into the closets and "stealing shoes" to gnaw on and play with. Another example would be the cats being able to go into the closets (because every cat I've ever had LOVES closets) and playing in them and shedding all over the clothes while doing so. Cats like to play with human toys too so that would have been nice. But yes, although there is stuff for them to do it would be nice if there was more. Perhaps this might be something they can patch or add later? Who is to say since that would just be speculation with a dash of wishful thinking ;-).
With Cat's and Dogs I've been rotating households, some households have pets and some don't. They haven't been too hard to take care of although trip to the vet days have been more time consuming then I want, mostly because it happens pretty frequently. I got some of the health treats (forgot what they are called) and hoping that will make them get sick less often. Usually though it's just really nice. I like to watch them and the interactions are very cute, delightful even. I've had more than a few "awww" moments. I think they animated them well. It's more like when I have a pet in real life than in the past games. You don't have to interact with them constantly.. well I haven't chose traits that I think might encourage that type of behavior anyway. I haven't explored everything yet and it will probably be some time before I do but I am enjoying them when I do play with them.
I like the new world and the "stuff" also.
My biggest disappointment in this pack is that they aren't playable mostly because I wanted to try to play from the perspective of the pet at times. I know many don't feel that way though and that's just something that isn't going to be.
I do wish our Sims could gain skills to help their sick pets themselves, at home. They should be able to do simple first aid with enough skills.
I agree with a lot of this, I just am not happy about it because I like he slightly more action based game style.
A side note on pet jobs,
Not all of them mean the animal is just a working dog. Companion pets, animal actors, vermin control pets, are all basically house pets when they aren't working.
I particularly can speak for companion pets as I have personal experience with them and how they are trained, all of them have normal family homes to go to in their spare time and are normal family pets.
Animals actors same thing, they live with their trainer normally.
The vermin control pet I know works for a family owned greenhouse, and have a food bed and other supplies in the families house
This might change by region, but police dogs in my city are actually owned and cared for by their K9-officer. The officer has to go through a bunch of tests and training then they get a dog to work with and care for. I think this was to help dog stress levels and encourage loyalty from them. When the officer leaves the k9 unit the dog retires and goes with them (unless they refuse, but the guy I know was quite fond of his dog)
I suspect rescue dogs are similar to k9 although I don't know any myself.
So yes living with a working dog is very different and some are not pets at all, like guide dogs, or any animals that their training can interfere with interactions/their job. Also living with an police dog is different then one that was only a house pet, t has a job to do, so you can't spoil it or let it get lazy, but it isn't unrealistic to have a working pet at home. I'll agree it isn't normal, but if looking for game-play, I don't think it stretches reality by much for people who want the realism.
It would have been cool in my mind actually that if your sims was a firefighter or cop they could take their dog to go work with them.
Kennel | SIKC | Tumblr
Kennel | SIKC | Tumblr
I agree though the pack lacks depth. Sadly though its a common them with the Sims 4.
Having said all of that, I 100% agree that the game feels unfinished. The vet career in particular was such a disappointment. I enjoy the skill, I enjoy playing with the equipment, I enjoy performing the exams and all of that. But I HATE that it's not an actual career. I was really hoping for an interactive career like what GTW had to offer and I was really disappointed to find it wasn't even close. I have never been a fan of running my own business in the game, so this is such a bummer for me. I played with it for a bit at first when the pack came out but I haven't touched it since and that makes me so sad. I was so pumped for it and I was pretty disappointed with the final product.
And the wall decals. So. Many. Wall. Decals. As I scroll through the seemingly endless display of wall decals, I can't help but think of the movie Elf. Anybody remember the scene where Buddy is sent to test the Jack in the Box toys because he's not a great toy maker and can't keep up? I can't help but wonder if there wasn't someone on the team that was responsible for the vet career but couldn't keep up/wasn't doing well with it so they sent that person off to make decals because they could handle that better. So the person just sits there making decal after decal while people are standing over him going "YOU'RE DOING GREAT, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! WE'RE USING ALL OF THESE IN GAME!" just to keep him from feeling bad about himself while some of the other "elves" are in the back trying to clean up the vet career the best they can and what we got was their result.
And puppies/kittens. Cute? Absolutely. LOVE watching them run and tumble over and just be. Boring? SO BORING. I wish you could do more with them. Again, another piece that feels so unfinished. Yeah, it's cute/fun to watch them wander and such but only for so long. I wish you could take them for walks. I wish you could watch them try to climb stairs and watch their little legs dangle off the stair/watch them fall off a couple times before finally getting the hang of it. I wish they could cuddle with their mothers - I miss that so much from TS3. (If they can do this, please correct me - I've not seen it nor have I seen an option but I've only played with breeding once.) I wish that they could play tug of war together with a little toy. I wish adult dogs could do that too. Just so much opportunity. I was absolutely fine with them only including cats and dogs in this pack - horses were a fun addition in TS3 but I hardly play them. But I sort of feel like, with them only focusing on two pets, they could have done so much more and really fleshed out the interactions like they did with toddlers and I feel like it sort of fell short.
It's enough for me to still enjoy it and not regret the purchase. I use the content, I include the pets in my families, and I enjoy being able to do so. But there are definitely some pieces that I feel could have been so much better and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed in the final product. Makes me a little hesitant on future content. I try to avoid spoilers, I try to wait and form my own opinions, but I feel like I may need to look into those things in the future to at least know what to expect. At least that way, if I choose to buy it anyway, then it's my own fault if I'm disappointed.
I try searching for criticism of stuff before I get it.
I go looking for all the ugly and decide how likely it will bug me compared to what the pack should add.
I tend not to have anything really spoiled on me when I do this and I rarely am disappointed by a pack I get this way.
Of course if you are easily disenchanted it may not work well as a technique. I always think even the most love things get criticism though, so I don't take my reading to mean it's bad.
Just a suggestion if you are looking into packs more, but want to avoid spoilers.
One reason that they tend to limit interactions with previous items is that they don't want people who buy Cats & Dogs, for example, to have to own other packs to get full use out of the pack. So you'll see a few things that tie in with other packs but not too many.
I'm sure people could come up with dozens and dozens of interactions and things to do they'd like to see added....but just like most of the other things, they'd be novel for the first or second time, and then people would be over them. A dog grabbing a kid's toy or a cat wreaking havoc in a close isn't going to be all that entertaining the 100th time it happens.
For example in The Sims 2 I really enjoyed the fact that you could mix different supernatural creatures and that your witch and wizard could have their own magical pets.
Following this argumentation you don't need any expansions at all.
Origin-ID: Tasha1709
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I purchased the most elaborate cat tree and two scratching posts. I think I’ve seen the cat actually jump onto the tree once, and she has not touched a scratching post in close to a sim week. I also purchased one of those pet toy boxes and a few extra toys to put in in and neither the cat or dog will autonomously play with any. They won’t take toys out of the box, nor will they play with any toys I’ve tried to leave laying around. The only time they will touch a toy is if I use that “give toy to” interaction. Them they play with it for a few minutes and then leave the toy laying around and wont. ever touch it again. Occasionally the dog will pick up one of the balls and look like he’s trying to place it back in the toy bin but he just drops it right outside of the bin. I’ve tried making sure paths aren’t blocked and moving the box to different spots to no avail.
Also there doesn’t appear to be any training necessary. Maybe it’s because I just rolled two adult pets.? Neither pet has ever done any negative behavior. The dog came already knowing to go outside to do its business, the cat never attempts to scratch the furnoture (and like I said, won’t even use the scratching posts).... it’s just nothing.
I felt the pet AI in sims 3 was a little off and hoped I’m this game since thru were developing it with the idea that the player wasn’t going to be controlling the pets that the AI would be better this time around, like at least as good as it was I’m sims 2. But it’s just so so bad in my experience. At least in sims 3 pets would autonomously play with their toys, and untrained cats and dogs would exhibit some unwanted behaviors like scratching the furniture or peeing in the house.
Sadly your experience is my experience. You aren’t alone.
Hy Personally i dont think this an ai is any better than sims 3 or 2.
You are right, it isn’t. It’s worse!
Also they really could developed a controable pet cheat. For thoes who want it.Like hey there not contrable at default, but you csn still see needs. Also can you this cheat
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