Petz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petz (Dogz and Catz) is a series of games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets.
Petz were the world's first virtual pets, first released before Tamagotchi. They were among the first 3D characters, rendered in a non-photorealistic cartoon style. Petz has sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and appeals to both children and adults.
The player starts at the Adoption Center, where they may choose a dog or cat to adopt of a breed and gender of their choosing. Once they have found a pet they like the user can adopt and name the new puppy or kitten. After around three days (real time) the petz become adults. Adult petz can then breed and have kittens or puppies of their own in Petz 3, Petz 4, and Petz 5 (this was not available in the first two lines). Cross-breeding can create different types of petz, called 'Mixed Breeds'.
There are a number of toyz, food/water bowls and treats available. Petz can learn tricks with positive rewards such as tickling and treats, or trained not to do something using the punishment (water) spray bottle. Petz must be looked after properly; abused or neglected petz may run away.
Players may share their petz with others who have the game. Each version allows the importing of petz from all earlier versions. There is also a camera feature, permitting snapshots of petz to be taken and saved as .bmp files.
One can choose to adopt dogz, catz or both depending on the version installed, and play with a small selection of other animals including pigz and bunniez. Later versions of the games included a Petz Web Fun Pack, Petz Publisher and a Petz Player web browser plug-in, allowing players to publish their petz online in playable webpages.
Users soon learned how to reverse-engineer the system, and began producing additional breedz, toys, playscenes, clothes, and developer tools for the games, as permitted by PF Magic, Mindscape, and Ubisoft Entertainment.
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[edit] Game history
The game is available in many different versions and, for all but the first pair of the PC titles, installing both Dogz and Catz combines the pair into a single game where dogz and catz can play (or fight) together.
[edit] Dogz and Catz
Dogz was released by PF Magic in the fall of 1995, published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment. There were five dogz breedz available and a small number of toyz in a supply shelf. The game, although quite simple, was the first of many titles in the series.
A year later, in the spring of 1996, PF Magic released Catz, with improved graphics and a wider selection of toyz. The game's main two addition features were a screensaver and "Desktop Mode" in which the pet could live on the computer desktop instead of their normal playpen. These items were included in the following games as well. The later Dogz version included a demo of Catz and another series called Oddballz. Both games were available for Windows and Mac.
Petz aged from puppy/kitten to adult, changing in both physical look and behavior. Every time the game is launched, they aged a little more, typically over the course of several weeks of play. If the game is not launched, the Petz do not age.
[edit] Oddballz
Oddballz was created by PF Magic in Autumn 1996 as a wacky alternative to their Dogz and Catz titles.
[edit] Petz II
Petz II, published 1997 by Mindscape, had five dogz breedz and five catz breedz, expandable to ten breedz per game with the Dogz II Catz Add-on Pack. It also offered a huge range of toyz in a new toy box, of which twenty items could be transported around in the supply shelf. As the first game in the series to combine Dogz and Catz if both titles were installed onto the same computer, the user was allowed to have two petz of any species out at any one time; other adoptions had to play in an off-screen garden or area.
The same year, Dogz and Catz plush toys were introduced into the toy market by Trendmasters Inc. under a licensing agreement with PF Magic.
[edit] Petz 3
In 1998 Mindscape purchased PF Magic and Petz 3 was released. Among its new elements was the ability for petz to breed and produce offspring that could age from baby petz to adulthood. A new clothes closet was added in addition to the toy closet, allowing pets to be dressed in shirts, trousers, socks and hats. The Beach, Backyard, Family Room and Kitchen rooms were also introduced. The game was packaged with the Petz Web Publisher and Web Fun Pack, a website making tool and a collection of clipart, banners and other items that could be freely used in player's website. The Petz Web Publisher and Fun Pack were included in all Petz games from this point on.
[edit] Petz 4
Petz 4 was released in 1999 and allowed the petz to travel the world, with a range of themed rooms set in different worldwide locations. The new playscenes - Arabia, a Gypsy Circus, a Snow Scene, South Seas Island and the Wild West - each had a guest pet character and Pigz and Bunniez were added, though they were unable to breed like Dogz and Catz. This game was the only title to have support for voice recognition, so the petz could be trained to respond to the user's voice commands. It had an updated Petz Web Publisher and the Petz Player (previously offered as a download), which meant that any adopted pet could be exported into a new webpage applet. If the Petz Player was installed, the applet showed a playpen with a bottle of milk, toy and the pet in, able to walk around, play and interact with the user as if still in the game. However, there was a problem with new versions of Internet Explorer.
[edit] Petz 5
Petz 5 was developed in 2002 by Studio Mythos for Ubisoft Entertainment, who had recently purchased the Entertainment Division of The Learning Company (after they in turn had purchased Mindscape). The highlights of Petz 5 were that petz could then have litters of offspring, simple "mini-games" which could be played to obtain toyz, weather effects and day & night cycles, along with the usual new breeds, playscenes, toys and clothes. The toy closet was built into the supply case. Once a Petz 3 or Petz 4 pet is placed into the Adopted Petz folder (through importing or manually placing it there), the game converts the pet for Petz 5 and it cannot be converted back, it will no longer work in previous versions of the game.
[edit] Petz 2006
Petz 2006, or Petz as it was re-dubbed, was developed by Ubisoft Entertainment for the PC, Nintendo DS, Playstation 2 and Game Boy Advance.
[edit] Petz 2008
Petz 2008, or Petz 2, was Ubisoft's (2007) sequel, available for the PC, Nintendo DS, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii and Game Boy Advance.
[edit] Babyz
Babyz was created by The Learning Company in 1999 as an alternative to the Dogz and Catz titles.
[edit] Dogz and Catz
The Dogz and Catz games, along with a small number of other animal-based games were released by UbiSoft and signalled the end of the first Petz era. These games are drastically different from Petz 1 - 5 and are not part of the original series, they are new games that are reusing the names of the old ones. This has caused backlash in the Petz community which is still incredibly active considering that the last installment was released in 2002.
In 2000, Mindscape produced Dogz and Catz for the Game Boy Color. Each game offered a choice of three petz to adopt and had three rooms - the playpen, adoption center and toy cupboard - that the user could move between. You can play with your dog, feed it, walk it, and give it baths.
Dogz and Catz for the Game Boy Advance were released by Ubisoft in August 2005. They hit the market at around the same time as Nintendo's Nintendogs. Many more people have preferred[citation needed] Nintendo's Nintendogs over this. But this game was designed mainly for users who do not have a Nintendo DS, and therefore is popular among GBA owners.
Dogz and Catz were released by Ubisoft for the Nintendo DS in November 2006.
"Dogz" and "Catz" (PC) have been released by Ubisoft for the PC on November 2006. There are 5 breedz in the game, features 3D graphic rendering, and the Petz can be trained to do tricks. The animals cannot be bred as only one can be out at a time.
Dogz and Catz has also been ported to cellphones supporting the Java language by Gameloft who licensed the games from Ubisoft.
[edit] Creature Design
Body: (Ball style design) The petz are modelled as a set of balls joined by lines with variable parameters. The concept for this was developed in an early PF Magic title, the fighting game Ballz for Sega Genesis.This model was scrapped in the 2006 games "Dogz" and "Catz" for the PC for a more "realistic" look.
Colours: There are 10 default colours that occur naturally in the game. These are white, black, 2 shades of grey (known as blue and silver), cream, brown, red/ruddy/sorrel, orange, tan and dusty. In addition to these coat colours is the pink found on some Poodle variations. Eye colours are not limited to these 10, although shades of brown, green and blue are most common, particularly in low generation petz.
Textures: Textures cover the balls, imitating fur.
Paintballz: Some Breedz have splotches of colour on their bodies called Paintballz. The spots on the Alley Cat and Dalmatian are examples of this.
[edit] Breedz
Each Petz breed has its own body shape, personality and colour variations.
Petz 2 began with 5 Breedz per game, and new ones were introduced through downloads the PF Magic website. In addition to what became 10 Breedz, avid Petz fans began using a hex editor to modify the 10 Breedz to form new ones. This hexing continued through Petz 3 as well.
Petz 3 and 4 contain 10 Breedz per game, referred to as the Original PF Magic Breedz. For Catz these are the Alley Cat, Black & White Shorthair (B&W), Calico, Chinchilla Persian, Maine Coon, Orange Shorthair (Oshie), Persian, Russian Blue, Siamese (Meezer) and Tabby. For Dogz these are Bulldog, Chihuahua, Dachshund, Dalmatian, Great Dane, Labrador Retriever, Mutt, Poodle, Scottish Terrier (Scottie) and Sheepdog.
Petz 5 saw the addition of 5 new Breedz per game, referred to as the UbiSoft Breedz. For Catz these are the Desert Lynx, Egyptian Mau, Honey Bear, Japanese Bobtail and Scottish Fold. For Dogz these are the German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Jack Russell Terrier, Papillon and Pug.
[edit] Hexies
Hexed breedz and petz -- called "hexies" -- are petz that have been modified to appear or act a certain way -- colour, size, behaviour, sound, shape, fuzziness, texture, paintballz and much more can be changed in this way. This can be particularly useful when creating new breedz and unique petz. Not surprisingly, hexies are very popular.
The term comes from "hexadecimal code", which is the coding that is modified to create a hexie.
[edit] Breeding and Petz Genetics
Petz in the game can become attracted to one another and breed to produce offspring, much like in real life. This feature was introduced in Petz 3 and has also appeared in Petz 4 and Petz 5. In Petz 3 and Petz 4, a petz couple could only produce one kitten/puppy per breeding, but in Petz 5 a mother can bear up to 4 offspring and have litters.
The user can encourage petz to fall in love by squirting them with love potions and perfumes and giving them food with aphrodisiac-like qualities, as well as using other means. When petz have mated, a heart will appear on the screen informing the user of the female's pregnancy (which generally lasts 3 - 5 days).
Petz' genes carry through to their offspring but can mutate (very easily in Petz 5, less so in previous versions), resulting in different fur and eye colours to that of the parents. Crossing small and big petz can also result in odd-looking offspring, and it is possible to selectively breed overly large or small Petz. Shape, fuzziness and texture will never "mutate" within the petz game, no matter how many generations are bred.
There are 10 coat colours a pet's body colour can be. These are the default colours listed in the Creature Design section. The eye colours are not restricted to these colours.
When two different breeds of Petz are bred together, the offspring will have the base personality of one parent (or ancestor). The base personality can be determined by the pet's voice, their personality and behaviour (eg. if the pet trembles when it walks, it has an Orange Shorthair personality) and how they pose if they are a cat (different breeds pose with different expressions, and some pose more readily than others).
Dogz and Catz cannot breed together as they rely on different base files that determine their movement and behaviour.
[edit] Petz Life Cycle
When petz have babies, the player is asked to name the offspring. During the first few days of a pet's life, it is blind, small and cannot walk as it would be in real life. They cry when they are touched or picked up (which can irritate the mother). The mother feeds her infant and the user can do so with the milk bottle.
In Petz 5, the mother is confined to "The Nursery" at all times and the father is unable to visit his mate or offspring.
The newborn will later become an infant, or toddler. Its eyes have opened and it is able to walk around, jump onto ledges and has stopped suckling. They can eat from food bowls but cannot swallow treatz.
Eventually, the offspring will separate from their mothers as they grow to kittenz and puppiez.
As a result, many generations and colors may occur in the game, even in purebreds. The differences can be enormous. A maximum of 8 generations can be recorded in the pet's file and family tree, although Petz can obviously be bred to much higher generations.
Naturally occuring homosexual petz have also been reported, typically in female petz.
[edit] Petz Community Jargon
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The Petz community has developed jargon that refers to various activities in the community as well as certain types of Petz.
Hexer: A Pet or Breedfile modder. Toys and clothes can also be hexed, but are more difficult to do so and hence are less common.
Pet Show: Showing is a popular activity in the Petz community. Players pose their Petz and enter them in shows, and the Petz are judged on their pose.
Tamsin: A mixed breed dog with Dalmatian body and mutt patches.
Hound: A mixed breed dog with a Great Dane body and Dalmatian ears.
Cali: A Calico cat. Cali mixies are very popular, particularly if they have the Cali face.
Oshie: An Orange Shorthair cat. Oshies are known for their skittish attitude.
Meezer: A Siamese cat. The Meezer pose is a Siamese-only Catz pose.
Chinchie A Chinchilla Persian cat.
Meezer Pointed Calico (MPC): A mixed breed cat with a Calico body that has a base coat colour, and a second colour for the points (jowls but not chin, paws and often the tail tip).
Gypsy: A mixed breed cat with a Calico body that has a base coat colour and a second colour for one jowl, one paw, one ear and usually part of the tail. (All gypsies have at least 3 coloured markings.)
BC Border Collie, a popular hexed Petz breed.
Sheepie A Sheepdog.
