I finally did something I've wanted to for a while. Do a pet based legacy. So this will be a few pics of my very first DOG legacy and then some other fun pet pics (from a different family).
The founders, Napoleon and Marilyn Bowser. (these pics are so dark--didn't get enough lights into the house at this point--I've always been bad at that.
Both are just slightly recolored versions of the EA breeds (effed up as they may be). I love Napoleon's GIANT head and bug eyes (which are different colors). I was keen to see if sims 3 pet breeding really would mix small and large breeds, so why not pair up a Chihuahua and a Dalmatian. Dalhuahhuas for everyone!!
Napoleon is a good little dog. Getting the paper and making new friends.
Though he does get stinky which forces Francine (who is neat) to practically twist off her legs to bathe him. I went back to my roots (so to speak) with the Bowser legacy. The house didn't have enough room for the tub so out in the yard it went. I was really bad for that in sims 2. I blame it on being a hillbilly. We just put stuff out on the porch or in the yard like it's no big thing (because it isn't).
I've mentioned it before and will most likely keep saying it. Sims 3 pets is a HUGE improvement over Sims 2 pets. HUGE. Not only can you control the pets but they're less needy overall. They don't have a hygiene meter but will get smelly which gives a negative moodlet but really, negative moodlets aren't that huge a deal since pets are EASY to keep happy. When they get hungry they roll the want to eat from their pet dish (easy +150 ltw points) and they roll wants to chew their toys when they need to fill their "destructive" need. They also have a lot of other easy wants like sniffing other pets/sims and such.
Francine, being a neat sim, rolled the want to bathe Napoleon when he got fleas (and Napoleon wanted the flea bath). Win/win.
Francine takes a very preggo (though you can't tell) Marilyn on a Death March to the beach (I didn't realize how far away it was from their house) which draws the ire of a wild foal. It also sends Marilyn into labor. Poor dog couldn't take the cab (with Francine) home, so she had to walk all the way. It took her a few sim hours, the poor dear.
PUPPY!!
The first born of generation 1. Thugnificent Bowser.
Marilyn cuddling in the dog bed with Thugnificent (he kind of blends into the bed, but he's really there). How dang cute is THAT?! Sadly, they can't sleep in the bed alone, only cuddle with a baby in it, so it ended up in the family inventory to make room for the buttload of chew toys. The house is a routing nightmare with all the random toys and dogs running around.
Dogs?
Yes, Marilyn and Napoleon quickly had another litter right after Thunificent was born. Thanks to fertility treatment, it was an actual litter.
Slickback and Ruckus Bowser.
I'm wondering if pets will only have a single baby at a time if you don't give them fertility treatment. Marilyn had fertility treatment for her second pregnancy. I'm going to have to test that out a bit more.
It was at this point I realized the puppy lifestage was WAY too long so I cranked it back. Really, it only needs to be about 2 days. Puppies can't climb stairs, so they get underfoot being in the same area and they wee all over everything. That was kind of a hidden bonus for Francine (who routinely rolled wants to mop up the pee but then would get miffed when a dog or dog toy was in the way of the puddle).
OH, another good thing, the pets sleep right on the floor so you don't need to litter the house up with dog beds.
They also frequent the furniture. The Bowser house has a "dog couch" where I have them sleep (to get them off the first floor and out of the way). Marilyn prefers the bed where she can not only cock block Francine but can quietly intimidate Kenji.
Napoleon gets in on the act, too.
Perhaps the dogs knew something neither Francine or I did.
Napoleon: I'm keeping my eye on you, Kenji. *does the point at your eyes then at the person "watching you" move*
Yeah, Kenji turned out to be (no offense to the Bowsers) a dog. Francine was trying to woo him (despite how it looks they didn't get it on, just slept together in their undies) then while they're already "romantic interests" he up and gets a girlfriend. ASSHOLE.
No biggie, Francine can clearly do better. She gets a laptop solely for the purpose of online dating. Only to find out the men on offer are pretty crappy. A mix of elderly men with long hair (almost as bad as elderly men with ear rings) and young jerkwads obsessed with fancy cars and thievery. And one guy who was, literally, a LOSER. Good thing the site is free. Francine sends out some feelers and don't you know the guys were RUDE to her. Listen, I get it. Francine's not a classic beauty but you don't have to be MEAN when you turn her down. Then, don't you just know, a few days later those guys that turned her down were messaging her. Guess they'd worked their way through the other women on offer and Francine was all that was left. Asses. But Francine's meets up with a few here and there. I'm only going to pair her off to somesim she's attracted to, and so far that hasn't happened with the internet dating scrubs. Hey, this is a DOG legacy, not a sim one.
Thugnificent finally ages up.
(sidebar: I love animal thought bubbles--sometimes they are so random and fabulous it makes me cackle with joy)
Wait. . .wait. . .wait. . .is Thugnificent really a MIX of his parents?
*heavenly hosts singing*
My lack of photo skills aside (this was before I remember about camera mode--duh!) how freaking wonderful is Thugnificent.
Oh, sims 3, you really DID do right by pets fans with your version of this EP.
*happy dances*
Life is kind of uneventful while I wait for Slickback and Ruckus to age up. Francine works on her internet dating and the dogs learn to hunt. Hunting is pretty lucrative, especially if you get the LTW perk (forget the name of it but it helps them find better stuff). OH, Francine also starts exploring the LTW perks, too. Observant and attractive seem to help her (and me) get a hold of the damn socialization aspects of this game. Though when you're sim is socializing with guys from the online dating service, you already know their personalities and likes and all. But if nothing else, it's good practice for other games where I'm trying to do a sim based legacy.
Slickback and Ruckus finally age up.
Both are small dogs. Slickback (on the left) looks a lot like Marilyn while Ruckus is clearly more like Napoleon. Honestly, I love how the genetics mix with pet breeding. I wish it was that good with sims in sims 3. I still don't like the "pudding" look compared to the tighter/sharper features of sims 2 sims. It's harder to see the blending as you breed (unless you have extreme features on your sims).
Napoleon: SLICKBACK!!
Well, Napoleon, not all of your children can be as considerate as Thugnificent, who digs his own latrine.
Yeah, the dogs still pee in the house from time to time. There's no housebreaking like sims 2 but you can encourage good/bad behavior. Most of the time the dogs do pee outside.
*snerk* Napoleon and Marilyn are such an old married couple, going to the bathroom in front of each other. (for the record, I'm totally against that--it's wrong to crap in front of your spouse, WRONG I TELLS YA!)
(sidebar: Marilyn's crinkled up "pee tail" makes me laugh--just so true to life, like when cats squint while in the cat box)
Ok, enough with animals going to the bathroom. I'm so immature.
Napoleon and Marilyn get back to the baby making.
This time, Marilyn gets her revenge (from the labor inducing death march before) and heads to the shrubbery to give birth. So I had to move it all so I could see what was afoot.
TWINS!
A boy (Gin Rummy).
And a GIRL (Jazmine).
The house was now packed with dogs so it was time to send a few off to new homes.
Goodbye, Ruckus and Slickback.
And once again, I applaud sims 3 pets. There are no theatrics a la sims 2 when you give up a pet. That used to simultaneously break my heart and piss me off. But they do play a bit of "sad" music when it happens, which did get me the first time I heard it but I'm getting more used to it. The pets are excited to go off with the adoption fella and it's a fairly positive moment.
Of course, it bothered me that I couldn't give them directly to a sim in the game and I didn't want them languishing in the adoption pool (and, I'll be honest, taking up space that could be used to bring fresh dog faces into the legacy), so I switched to town view and installed a family just to adopt some of my spares.
Jennifer and Pablo Martinez promptly adopt Slickback and Ruckus. I make sure there are filled pet dishes and a toy box in the house so the dogs will have what they need/want (and I give the Martinez's a baby bed, should story progression make them breed--hey, I look out for sim babies just like pets). The Martinez family seem nice. The only negative things I can say are Jennifer has BAD makeup (which I left on her) and Pablo might be a bit of a man-whore. He did try a pick up line on Francine when she was out getting her "date" on (they're technically "outings" but I call them dates).
DEATH SNOWMAN.
Just had to show that off. Some random sim must have made it, I didn't see who. Oh, and I see you there, Konoa Parrot. He's a dirty dog sim, too. I know he likes to step out on his wife (he's the one that macked on Frank Enstine in his game and then had all kinds of romance drama--bitch).
For the record, Francine hasn't hit it off with any of the guys from the internet but. . .BUT. . .while she was out with one of them (I think it was a guy name Bertram--love the name and he totally was a "bertram"--dork-tastic and not in the good way) she met a guy she was attracted to. I'll have to see how that plays out.
But first, the last of generation 1 needs to age up.
Ladies first. . .
Jazmine is a bit of alright. I decide she (being the only girl) can stay.
So now it's a toss up between Thugnificent and Gin Rummy.
EEEE!!! I got a small dog. A mixed size set of twins. This gives me such joy you don't even KNOW. THIS! THIS is what I wanted from sims 2 pet breeding. This. . .THIS. . .is what makes sims 3 pets superior (note, I'm comparing only the two eps, not the games as a whole).
Gin Rummy is cute as hell but he's really just a tiny version of Marilyn so. . .
Gin Rummy has to go. Don't fret, he's off to live with his brothers. He's now Gin Rummy Martinez.
He had to leave so I'd have room to get Thugnificent a mail order bride (and get Francine some easy LTW points).
Come and sing with me. *clears throat*
LOOK at MEEEE, I'm Sandra Dee. . .
Now I'm not sure she's "lousy with virginity" but she is FABULOUS. Look at her Don King inspired hair. I adore her.
Her original name was Sandy but I've never been a fan of that as a pet name. It makes me think of "Annie" (the movie) and how shrill Annie's voice is when she whines "Saaaan-deeee!". Gag.
Since I've been lady-bonering over sims 3 pets all through this, let me just keep it going by noting relationship/breeding with sims 3 dogs is SO MUCH better. They can just go and breed on their own (no having to have a sim be good enough friends with them to demand they hump--yeah, that's so NOT how nature works at all, silly Maxis) as long as they have the romantic interaction available and their mood is good enough. I had Thugnificent play with Sandra Dee a bit and they became friends very easily and then off to the dog house and lullaby time. SUPER easy. I'm sure it will be more of a trick with different personality mixes (Sandra Dee is friendly and so is Thugnificent). Hell, it was way easier than sim relationships (as it should be--animals should be more biologically driven, so easier to get breeding).
I think you can only have 6 pets total in an un-modded house, so I'm only expecting one puppy from Thugnificent and Sandra Dee. I'm cool with that. Once it's born I think Thugnificent and Sandra Dee will move out to a new home so I have room to work on breeding Jazmine with. . .I'm not sure yet.
One thing I am sure of is Napoleon and Marilyn are not moving out of the household. They are there for life. Both are about to turn to elder, so they can just hunt and play and have a good life from this point on.
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NOW, for some cat action
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This fine fella, scratching his hairs off onto the waffles, is Hypnotoad Vanilli.
He's a big fan of tables and counter tops.
And hunting.
(bad photo--again, before I remember about "tab" mode)
He stalks his womrat prey, using the shade dappled sand as camouflage.
WHAT?! Womrats can't FLY!!
RETREAT!!
Millie Vanilli is a better hunter. How cute is this budgie!! I have instant budgie envy (even though I know birds are too messy for my lazy self--but budgies are so freaking cute!). Of course, since I have budgie love, I keep this cutie. I think his name (randomly generated by the game) is Dodo. Love that!
Hypnotoad works to e a lover as well as a fighter.
Of course, cat's socialize at night. Duh!
Aww, his little (potential) girlfriend is afraid of birds of prey. Understandable. I wonder if the small dogs also have this fear.
Sing with me (again): Caaaan you feeeel the looooove tonight. . .
I need to go back to this family and explore this a bit more. I'm not sure how it would work to breed a male (playable) pet with a non-playable female. Can they "try for kittens" on a community lot? Hmm, yes, I need to investigate this further.
Why didn't I just do that at the time I was playing?
Oh, well, because THIS happened.
Millie has a husband, French. French was just minding his own business playing his guitar inside the house and don't the aliens come a calling. I wasn't actively trying for this to happen but. . .hey, go with the flow, y'all.
French is freaked out by it.
But I have to wonder, is he freaked out by the abduction or by the fact that he was probed by a MALE alien? French, do you have issues we need to discuss? Should I be concerned?
Hypnotoad is not concerned.
(and once again, using his camouflage--and I hate having to type that word--dumb spelling).
In fact, he seems quite pleased with himself.
Millie's darn happy, too. HELLO!? Am I the only one that notices the CAT is on the TABLE while you are EATING?! HIS BUNG IS PRACTICALLY ON YOUR FOOD!! And this is coming from a pet owner who had a cat sit on her face once (yes, my sister's cat sat on my face and I could feel her bung on my cheek--SICK!).
While this offends me in real life, it amuses me in game. Hypnotoad rules the roost, that's for damn sure.
Awww, he's giving Millie one of the things he's caught.
It's a potato chip bag. Oh, did I forget to mention he's not much of a hunter yet. He catches a lot of feathers and leaves and chip bags which are (as you'd expect) worthless. But I (and Millie and in a round about way, French) still love him. (for the record, French doesn't hate him or anything but Millie is clearly Hypnotoad's number one fan).
"Who's mumma's little chip bag killer. . .who's a cutie boy. . .cutie boy. . .cutie Hypie boy!"
What? That's totally how I'd be if Hypnotoad was a real cat of mine. Cutie little Hypie boy!
But Hypnotoad wants to be a stone cold KILLAH.
Whiska Faced Killah!
Womrat, we meet again!
Horse: What the. . .oh, that cat thinks it's going to catch that womrat. Doesn't he know that womrats can fly? Oh, this should be good.
Horse: OH, OH did you SEE that. . .oh, it made me pee myself. That cat got his tailless ass HANDED to him. So, so rich. Damn, now I'm going to have to head off to the spa to get cleaned up. My hooves could use a good picking any way.
Yeah, Hypnotoad has more losses to small pets than wins. He even got his butt handed to him by a TURTLE. Let me type that again for you. A TURTLE. I think he caught ONE bug, but to his credit it was a high value one. And since Millie and French are unemployed (I hate doing regular jobs with sims) the funds were very welcome.
I still want to breed Hypnotoad but. ..well, with French's abduction things went a bit pear shaped. French and Millie both had wants to have their first kid and I kind of hoped the alien spawn would fulfill it but it only did for French (which makes sense) so I had them have one pregnancy which resulted in twins *headdesk*. So now they have three kids so I was side tracked by all that.
BUT. . .
Stella Luna Vanilli is now a child and she's taken a shine to Hypnotoad. I'm thinking they can have some fun together, Dr. Evil style.
Yes, Stella Luna is my first evil sim. I can hear it now. Ooh, you made an alien evil, way to play into negative stereotypes about aliens *snerk* but hey, all aliens can't be E.T. (meaning BORING!) so. . .yeah, I have an evil alien girl child.
(I slapped some hair on her, too--she's super cute now).
And that's all I got for now.
I'm loving pet legacies.