Petz

Petz is a game where the player raises, cares for and breeds virtual pets. One can choose to look after dogz, catz or both. Pigz and Bunniez were also available. Later versions included a Web "Fun Pack", which would let you publish your petz to be played in a web browser using a special Petz Player plug-in.

Third party developers produce additional breedz, toyz, playscenes, clothes and developer tools for the games, as permitted by PF Magic, Mindscape and Ubisoft Entertainment.

Contents

1 Overview 2 Games 2.1 Dogz I 2.2 Catz I 2.3 Petz II 2.4 Petz 3 2.5 Petz 4 2.6 Petz 5 3 Design 4 Other Titles 5 Related Topics 6 External links 6.1 Papers

Overview

A player starts by visiting the Adoption Center, where they choose their preferred breed and then a pet, of random gender, will come outside to play. Once they have found a pet they like the user can adopt and name their new puppy or kitten. After around three days (real time) the petz become adults. Adult petz can then breed and have kittenz or puppyz or their own. Cross-breeding can create different types of petz.

There are a number of toyz, food and water bowls and treats available. Petz can learn trickz 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 petz may run away.

Games

The game is available in five different versions and, for all but the first pair of titles, installing both Dogz and Catz combines the games in a single game where dogz and catz can play together.

Dogz I

Dogz was released by PF Magic in 1995 with Virgin Interactive Entertainment as their publishers. 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.

Catz I

A year later, in 1996, PF Magic released Catz, with greatly 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 two items were included in the following games as well.

Petz II

Petz 2, published 1997 by Mindscape, now had ten dogz breedz and eleven catz breedz. 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 both Dogz and Catz, the user was allowed to have two petz out at any one time; other adoptions had to play in an off-screen garden.

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 Web Fun Pack were included in all Petz games from this point on.

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. This game was the first, and last, 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, 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.

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, who had purchased Mindscape. The highlights of Petz 5 were that petz could then have litterz of offspring, Mini Games, weather effects and day & night cycles, along with the usual new breedz, playscenes, toyz and clothes. The toy closet was built into the supply case.

Design

The petz are modelled as a set of balls joined by lines with variable parameters. The concept for this was developed in PF Magic's first title, the console fighting game Ballz.

Other Titles

• Ballz
• Oddballz
• Babyz

Related Topics

See also: OddballPetz

External links

• Petz official website (http://www.petz.com/)
• Carolyn's Creations third party site (http://carolyn.thepetzwarehouse.com/carolyn.htm)

Papers

• Socially Intelligent Virtual Petz (http://web.media.mit.edu/~benres/verbiage/Socially%20Intelligent%20Virtual%20Petz.htm)pt:Petz