The fur and hair meshes for cats and dogs doesn't look very real. Some dogs look like they're just fat dogs because you can't see individual strands of their fur or hair. If they can make the horses's hair decent, why couldn't they do it for cats and dogs? I can actually see hair strands in a horse's tail, but why not in dogs or cats?

Because that would be silly, as you usually don't see every little strand of hair on a cat or dog unless you're looking really close. Even on my dog, who has a very long fluffy tail (like this), I can't see individual hairs of her tail unless I look very close.

I would have liked to see more fur textures though - it's hard to make dogs with silky textures (like Yorkshire Terriers) that don't just look fuzzy.

But if you zoom in closer, you could see hairs. I think I also mean it needs more fuzzy textures. A yorkie and other similar breeds should have hair parted on it's head, and even it's back. The game just looks like it's just the skin. A pom or a spitz should also have fuzzier tail. I personally think they did not put much effort on cats and dogs. The horses look a lot nicer with their more defined hairs. I'm a bit disappointed, but what can I do anyways?

Well, I just zoomed in close on my real life dog with my real life face and I had to be about 2 feet away from her to see individual hairs. It would be REALLY rare to play at that distance, and having the textures have that kind of detail would be kinda silly since you're rarely, if ever, going to see it, and texture size is a performance concern (especially in a game that doesn't run that well or look that pretty to begin with). Soooo yeaaah. Individual hairs... not that big a concern. Overall look and feel of the textures could definitely do with some improvement and options though.

well, what I mean was for the dogs and cats to have atleast hair meshes like sim's hair. It doesn't have to be every single individual hair strand, but at least not look like a lump. sometimes they just look like molded clay. well most of the time.

I TOTALLY agree. They look like clay, those were my exact thoughts when I first ran the new EP. Last night I popped in the Sims 2 Pets for my PS2 (for the first time in years) and was saddened to remember my dog had shiny long fur with little semi-transparent tufts on her chest, belly, and tail. If they can do it on the PS2, SURELY they can do it in TS3 for PC. They just didn't try. I can't even make her fur shiny, its just a blob with a hair pattern...

I'm actually having a problem with dogs and cats, but it's not hair texture. The hair is see through. Yes, see through. WHAT THE HECK!!!!! I CAN SEE THE WHOLE DOG'S OR CAT'S EYEBALL THROUGH THE FUR!!! It makes me think of the zombie dog from Mythbusters, and when I am trying to recreate one of my pets, I do not like seeing zombie pet. Is someone else having this problem? If so, do you know of any mods that can fix it? Or are you hopeless, like me?

minimogut - Most likely, your computer doesn't meet the requirements for TS3/Pets. This is a common issue with underpowered, unsupported graphics. Please see the Help section (specifically the System Requirements) to be sure; if you need help, you can always post a new thread in the Help section.

As I said in a different thread:



I'm afraid there's just no way around upgrading your hardware at some point. My computer sucks big time, too. You gotta be aware that Sims 3 requires a semi-decent vid card to run properly, especially with pets fur.

Sims 3 also needs a semi-decent fur mesh to look properly. Another thing they did on the console that they left out on PC are the clothes and accessories. I really hope someone could make a mod that lets the pets wear hats, sunglasses, earrings, clothes, and shoes.

Seconded. I mean, we're not asking for some insane mesh, just the ability to have a couple of STRANDS for the fur like in TS2. And TS2 (at least the console version) had hats and glasses for pets too, lol.

Hmm? On my computer, I get real fuzz on TS3 pets... that is, I can see individual hair ends if I zoom right in... but I never saw any fuzz with TS2 pets. I would have to agree that maybe it's your graphics card?

As for clothes, I wouldn't use it, but I'm sure the meshers will come up with something. Give them time

i have a ati raedon 4640 HD graphics card and i couldnt see fur and i updated the driver and now i can as you can see!!

Aaaaaaand here ya go http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=459422

This might be helpful regarding the 'no fluff on your dogs' thing:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/451611.page

Oh Spode... Dogs in sweaters, it's started... the horror... the horror...

dogs in sweater? and no pants? it's completely the horror. I hope meshers would make pet clothes that are not only tops but also bottoms combined, like these:


with a skirt

or with pants

Odd. My graphics card is maybe 4 months old max (my computer's new), and even with every setting in my game all the way up, still, all I get is blob pets (my graphics card may not be the best in the world, but my sims, lots, water, etc all look VERY detailed). >.< I can see individual hairs in the created pets' little headshots in the bin, but when I load the pet, they have no definition whatsoever.

Side note, here is what I got in TS2 Pets for Playstation 2: (sorry, its a terrible camera phone picture...)



I'd be happy if I could at least make my dog's fur have an illusion of sheen, rather than poofy or dull... Of course, I guess at this point it doesn't really matter anyway, since, in-game, my dogs appear invisible, and my cats all periodically skew to frightful proportions without provocation.

Keep in mind the console games and the PC games are VERY different. It's quite possible the PS2 can handle graphics requirements the PC can't, or the PS2 game has lower requirements, etc. They're very different games.

And yeah, you probably have a graphics card too weak for the game. That stretching cats thing is a graphics issue.

Wow, that makes me sad. Just bought my computer brand new, and when I did, those lying sales people SWORE it met TS3 requirements just fine. thing I don't understand though is, if its my graphics card, how come with all my settings maxed out and advanced rendering switched on, it can display everything else very detailed and running smoothly? D:

Either way, I've been told by others with the fat pets problem that some have updated their drivers and corrected the problem, while others have been told by EA that its a glitch they are working on a patch for right now... So maybe ancient console capabilities versus brand new PC capabilities might not be the problem... ;P

Update: Just took CC out of the picture by renaming the 'Sims 3' folder in My Documents. Stretched out dogs and cats stopped, so I don't think THAT was my graphics card at least...

^ It could be possible that because Pets has more requirements, it met the BASE requirements?

But what do I know? I fail at times turning on my computer.

I just got TS3P yesterday (limited edition.. what JB-HIFI(VE) it's been out ages :P.. kinda. (Aust)) and I'm quite happy with my pets and my PC was higher mid-range in like.. '07 when I first bought it.

TS3 reqs =/= Pets reqs. Pets is much more intensive.

Maybe the graphics card couldn't handle the game + all your CC? I don't know, I'm no expert. But the stretchy pets has consistently been a graphics issue.

You know what's funny? I systematically readded all my CC, and as soon as I got to my 'NoRandomPuking' mod (stops sims from barfing around heated vampires), of all things, it started again, within a second of my load game. Removed and re-added it several times over with conclusive results; with the mod installed, my pets distort instantaneously, without it, they don't even after half an hour of game play. Weird, huh?

Edit: Looks like its not just me... At least one comment on this video isolated that mod as the cause as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-s8LVxplo D: Sucky, I was looking forward to being able to have my vampire sim still have a day job without making others sick, lol.

That's bizarre. How would that even affect it? I'm no programmer but basic common sense would say it's an entirely different area of code.

Basic common sense and code blocks are rarely linked (it's easier to reuse old code blocks than rewrite them to improve efficiency, especially when under a release date constraint). Add to it some XML hack and the effects can get really weird. I had an issue of the horses' distorting when saddling/unsaddling that resulted from an old mod that altered skill times. How that mod could effect a horse animation made zero sense, but, it did.

One thing I have noticed is that the EA pet hair textures behave like some bad hair cc I've gotten in the past pre-Pets. When you zoomed out past a certain amount, the mesh was lost, and a generic flat colored scalp appeared. I wrote it off to the work of the hair mesher, as most custom hairs looked fine regardless of zoom level.

Apparently, EA must have opted to use the same buggy mesh tool as the hair cc maker selected, as when I zoom out, the "fluffy" hair is replaced by a flat generic color, which of course alters the shape of the pet. I'm not sure this is the same glitch described by others, but it is consistent for me, and I'm using an HD 5750 with the latest drivers. Not top end these days, but hardly a graphics card slouch. If third party hair modders solved this problem way back, why couldn't EA, with all their "resources"?