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Petz |
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Go to HELDENBERG PETZ 3 & 4 ARCHIVE |
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Aspects of a Simulation Game |
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I have been involved in the PETZ Community since 1999. What is PETZ? Something more than action figures; something less than living things. PETZ engages the imagination, encourages the suspension of disbelief as effectively as a good movie, activates passionate arguments and intense collecting frenzies, takes up as much time and energy as gambling, makes you forget the hour of the day or night, and whether or not you've had lunch. PETZ is Art, & the Art of programming. It is the simulation of consciousness, and our willingness to be led along & fooled. Are real animals conscious and self-aware in the same way human beings are? Undoubtedly they are NOT. Are PETZ conscious? No. Is it fun to be fooled into pretending that they are? YES!
PETZ began with CATZ, a screensaver created at PF Magic. Although a few males & a few adults have always participated, the user demographic of PETZ overwhelmingly young & overwhelmingly female.. It is also completely non-violent & eminently hackable. With a little instruction, a hex-editor & lots of practice, PETZ players simply took off on their own, using the small number of original PF Magic Dogz & Catz Breedz to create literally thousands of realistic and fantastic catz, dogz & "wildz." For, perhaps, those reasons (and the underwhelming reception of PETZ 4,) PF Magic stopped bringing out new editions of the game, and PETZ was sold to The Learning Company, who later sold it to game-giant Ubisoft.
In response to player demand, this Fall (2002) Ubisoft promises to introduce PETZ 5 in the USA & Canada. It will run effectively with the new versions of Windows, and have new breedz, new graphics, new scenes, etc. Click the Scottie for the official site. |
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1. On PETZ' PERSONALITIES
by Helden Kline
(From a message board) |
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"It's amazing what the human mind can do. There is a fixed number of personalities programmed for Petz, and within each of these, there is a fixed number of behaviors. These behaviors make up the "personality" of each original Petz Breed. When you cross-breed Petz, it gets either the mom's or the dad's personality program...not a combo of both! And every pure Bulldog (for example)--no matter how much inbreeding--equals every other Bulldog, just like every Siamese Cat equals every other Siamese. What makes your Pets appear to differ is that the behaviors arrive in your game in random order. And, of course, there is a "training effect"--a little bit of artificial intelligence thrown in for fun!--so that to a certain extent, by repetition, you can teach Petz to respond to the treats in pre-programmed ways. (I hope I'm not making this too complicated!!) I always find it amusing when I see careful descriptions of each litter-mate's personality & needs on a Petz adoption site. All those "differences" are being created inside your own fertile little imaginations! Folks, as a friend commented to me a while back: "When you have a BC, you're getting a Dali personality with a changed appearance!" and my comment was "Wouldn't it be great if the next Petz game included a Bovine, Equine, Lizard & Bird Breed, so that the hexers had those personalities to work off of?" (My Bunniez meow, & my big ol' Spinoz jump up into the trees!!)" |
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Go back.... |
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HOME |
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2. On "PETZ ABUSE"
by Helden Kline |
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I don't remember the first time I read the phrase "Petz abuse" on a website, but I do remember making the common mistake: I thought the writer was referring to real pets! I figured it was a "be kind to animals" thing. Here's a little inside info for the non-Petz gamer.... Anti Petz-Abuse is big business. Conscientious little girls are expending a great deal of psychic energy and time worrying about "inbreeding" Petz, breeding too many Petz & overdisciplining their Petz. Many create "Anti-Petz-Abuse" banners and distribute them freely to sympathetic fellow gamers, and some even start websites for the rehabilitation & "re-homing" of abused Petz.
There are three ways a person can aquire a petfile: adopt it from the game "Adoption Center," breed it in the game, or aquire it from a fellow gamer, either by downloading it off a website or requesting it to be sent in an email. When a gamer wants to aquire a file by email, she is often required to write an "adoption application" in some detail before she is approved to receive the Pet. Some who offer Petz require updates on the Pet & pictures to prove that it is getting along and is "happy" in its new home. |
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