Xbox Community Network ci ha fornito una serie di domande e risposte a George Pigula, produttore di The Sims 3: Animali & Co. in Maxis. Ve le proponiamo di seguito, in inglese.

 

---

Can you tell us a little about how ‘The Sims 3 Pets’ is unique in the series and offers something new in terms of gameplay and content to users?
The best place to start is with the incorporation of pets themselves. We have over 100 breeds of cats and dogs in the game and have built deep customization tools so players can create any breed they wish. Also, pets are fully controllable by the player. If you don’t want to play as a Sim, feel free to just send them to wander the streets as you focus on your cat or dog. The pets can even get their own jobs and be the breadwinner of the household. For example, professional diggers and hunters collect rare items which offer the most money. The Sims 3 Pets also contains new skills, mysteries and challenges for your Sims to complete. Unique to Xbox 360, Kinect-enabled players will be able to use voice commands throughout the game. This will help to navigate through creation menus, issue orders to every household member and direct your Sims to interact with each other, all with the power of your voice. 

Can you briefly summarize the key differences in features between the PC/Mac and console editions of ‘The Sims 3 Pets’ – Are there any major new features that are console specific?
I know a lot about the console specific Pets features so I will focus on those. We’ve brought back a console fan favorite this year, Karma Powers! Some former Karma Power favorites are back, and you will also find new Pets-specific Karma Powers. Transmogrify is a great power that allows you to change your Sims into a cat or dog or vice-versa. 
There are also five different mysteries to complete which will take you through the story, such as a cat trying to take over the world, a dog hunting pirate treasure and even an inventor looking to solve a mystery in the past.
There are also hundreds of challenges added to the game. From “Have a first Kiss” to the more odd “Dance with the Reaper” challenges, there is something for everyone. Completing these allows you to unlock and upgrade Karma Powers.
Also new to console is the town, Sugar Maple Coast. This New England coastal town has a lot of Victorian-style architecture, beautiful vibrant trees, a rocky coastline and plenty of history. There are great places for a cat, dog or Sims to explore.

‘The Sims 3 Pets’ allows users to control, and play as their pets for the first time – What can you tell us about this feature and how it differs to the ways that users can control Sims?
Previously in The Sims you would control pets pretty much like you do in real life. You would train them and try to manage their actions, like picking your cat off the counter at home and house training it. Now you can actually be the pet. You can jump in and make the decisions as the pet. If you want to head across the street to the park and tackle the neighborhood children from the bushes, go for it. Highly skilled cats can even use telekinetic powers to influence what the Sims do. Why not command your Sim to make your food and clean your house as you play as a cat overlord?

Another new key feature of ‘The Sims 3 Pets’ is the introduction of Horses to the game – What was the motivation for this and how will it differ to the way that users experience the game as a cat or dog?
I’ll pass this question along to our PC team producers who can tell you more. The consoles focus only on the cat and dog experience.
Ryan Vaughan, Producer on The Sims 3 Pets PC team: “The racing and jumping skills are two of my favorite new features for horses that differ from cats and dogs. There are also really cool objects specific to horses that you can place on your lot in Buy Mode. These objects are quite different from the ones available for cats and dogs.

What changes can we expect to see in the ways that Sims and pets interact with each other – In what ways will this be effected by the pets own unique personality traits?
Sims and Pets will be influenced by how you play them; but if left on their own, their traits will kick into play. I personally like to make pets with neat traits because they will pee outside. It saves my Sim from cleaning up messes. Other Pets would have to be taught to pee outside or in a litter box first. Lazy cats and dogs like to lay around and tend to take longer to learn tricks. But they can be much more comfortable sleeping companions on your Sim’s bed overnight. Natural hunters and diggers will find better items and learn those skills quicker which can be great way to speed progress through Mysteries or to make more money.

Can you tell us about the new ‘Mysteries’ goal based style of gameplay and the kind of exclusive content that users will be able to unlock?
There are five different mysteries in the game. These can be completed at any time by the player, provided that they have the right household members. They are also structured so that you can complete them at your own pace as you continue to tell the story of your household. One of my personal favorites requires a Sim to become an inventor and to create a time machine. The Sim is trying to solve a mystery in the town’s lore. 
Each mystery has three different awards that can be unlocked as you progress through them. One of my favorites is unlocking the Goth Mansion. Once unlocked I can move my household into this incredibly large and well-made lot. The rewards are hidden so I don’t want to give too many of them away here.

What does the ‘Mysteries’ feature mean in terms of new neighborhoods? Can we expect to see big changes in the way in which Sims can explore and interact with their environment?
Completing mysteries rewards your household the most. You will explore much more of the town and go through some interesting content in the completion of each one. How you choose to interact with that content is up to you. New areas of the town can be unlocked to move into and new tools can be discovered at be used to build your own lots. Pets will also collect relics while solving mysteries. Every relic collected ends up in the town museum and gives the player a simolean reward. It is a challenge to the player to fill up the museum with every relic.

What new features does ‘The Sims 3 Pets’ offer users in terms of the customization of pets, homes and the environment?
The Sims experience is all about customization. Pets are just as (if not more) customizable as Sims. You can start out with any of our base breeds (over 100) or create your own from scratch. Players can even take advantage of pet breeding to see what new types of dogs or cats will be created through mating. The game uses the genetic make-up of the cats or dogs that breed resulting in the offspring that combines features of both animals that mate. Of course, only dogs can mate with other dogs and cats can mate with other cats. 
There are also dozens of pet-specific items in the game to customize. Cat towers, pet beds, chew toys and even automatic pet-washing machines.
All of your customized content can be shared over the Sims Exchange directly from your game as long as you are connected online. You can also download content from other community members on The Sims Exchange. It is great to flag content creators as favorites so that you always get updates when they upload their latest creations.

What can users expect to see in terms of downloadable content?
We just launched The Sims 3 Pets and we have not announced any other plans at this time.

What was the funniest (printable!) thing that happened during development?
The team has a lot of very funny screenshots from the development stages on The Sims 3 Pets. When we first introduced kittens and puppies to the game, they sometimes became stretched out to the full size of adult dogs and cats in certain animations. So your Sim could be petting a kitten and then nuzzling the kitten, and all of sudden the kitten would become stretched out and looked smashed. I also remember puppy ears being quite humorous for a while. In the beginning stages, puppies all had full-sized dog ears. It made all the puppies look like they could take off by flapping their ears too quickly.