If someone still remembers: Some months ago, you were given the possibility of sending us questions about The Sims 3: Pets. Now, we got the answers. Huge thanks to SimguruRyan, SimGuruGraham and especially SimGuruShannon for answering them!

1.) Will there be any other pets than dogs,cats,horses,turtles and the other announced pets? If, what kind of pets?
You’ll discover many different types of pets for the Sims to interact with. In addition to the cats, dogs, and horses that players can take direct control over, you’ll find smaller critters like turtles, snakes, lizards, rodents, and birds that Sims can find and bring into their homes. There are lots of great interactions with each one, including things like teaching your bird to talk!

2.) Except horses, cats, dogs and other home pets, are we getting racoons and deers making mess all over the town?
There are different types of wildlife that you’ll find roaming through the world as you play The Sims 3 Pets. Raccoons and deer may visit your hard, spilling trash cans or eating from your garden. Stray cats and dogs can stop by from time to time as well. My favorite though is the herd of wild horses which you can actually befriend, ultimately breaking one so that it will join your household!

3.) What’s the name of the new neighborhood?`
The new neighborhood is named Appaloosa Plains. It’s a great Midwestern ranching themed world, perfect for horse owners to gallop around and explore the countryside.

4.) Will we have new professions for Sims like hairdresser for animals?
There aren’t any new careers for the Sims as we really wanted to focus our attention on bringing the pets to life in The Sims 3 Pets. There are so many great new things you can do with your animals now that you’re able to play as them and see the world through their eyes! Additionally, each type of pet has its own way of earning money to contribute to the household, so there’s definitely new stuff to discover even if they aren’t official jobs.

5.) Is there a new way how Sims can die?
When we added Pets to The Sims 3, we really wanted to focus on all the positive ways they can contribute to a Sim’s life, and emphasize what innocent creatures they truly are. While there aren’t any new types of deaths, the pets do have some unique moments with the grim reaper where they can save their owners.

6.) Are there different ways how pets can die? Or only of age-penalty?
As pets are such innocent creatures, and they need care from the Sims similar to our pets in real lives, they will only die from old age in The Sims 3. We want to encourage people to take good care of their animals in addition to having the lighthearted and fun gameplay that pets bring to the series.

7.) Do we have new ‘old’ Sims like Don Lotario from Sims 2 who was added in Riverview?
Appaloosa Plains is a brand new world that introduces an entirely new cast of Sims for players to discover. There are lots of interesting intertwining stories within the town for players to guide the different families through!

8.) Is it possible to keep more than one bird in a cage?
Birds are limited to one per cage, but one of the really cool things that they can do is fly around and land on a different perch. If you have multiple birds in your house, you may see them fly from tree to tree and end up in an entirely new location from when you last checked up on them!

9.) Is there a new ‘magic person’ like vampires from Late Night? If, which? Maybe a werewolfe?
The Sims 3 Pets introduces Unicorns to the Sims series for the first time ever! We’re extremely excited to have these magical creatures in the game, along with all the cool gameplay opportunities they provide. Now that we developed the ability for players to directly control and play as animals, we thought it was the perfect chance to include an animal as the special new life state for fans to discover! From blessing other Sims to starting fires around town, Unicorns are as friendly or devious as players want them to be.

10.) Are you going to give us interactions between pets and kids – just like Sims 2 has?
There are lots of great interactions between pets and children in The Sims 3 Pets. In addition to many of the interactions that the adults can perform, there are some unique interactions that are only for the kids. One of my absolute favorites is when a big fat cat jumps on a toddler and knocks them over; it’s adorable!

11.) Will you give us clothes for the pets?
Cats and dogs can wear collars, but when it came to accessories for the pets we really wanted to focus on adding authentic horse tack. You can set up outfits for different events involving the horses, and you’ll find everything from English saddles to Old Western saddles to create just the right look.

12.) Can we buy horses in ‘stores’?
There are a variety of ways to add horses to your household, and one of those includes purchasing horses from the local Equestrian Center – a new location that you can visit in The Sims 3 Pets. You’ll find a variety of horses to buy there, and if you’ve taken up horse breeding, it’s a great place to sell your horses as well!

13.) Can children also ride on horses?
Children have a number of cute social interactions with the horses so that they can start to form friendships with them, but they’ll have to wait until they’re teenagers before they can begin riding on them.

14.) Do we have any new options in build mode?
We’ve brought back Collections to build / buy mode, which of course was one of the most popular features from The Sims 2 that fans have continually asked for. Collections are a fantastic way for people who love building to quickly organize and access their content!

15.) What kind of new cheats will we have?
There aren’t any new cheat codes that come with The Sims 3 Pets.

16.) Which singer are featured in Pets?
I’ve had the chance to personally meet both Shy’m and Kimbra recently, just two of many talented artists who are contributing their music to The Sims 3 Pets! It’s always exciting seeing these stars visit our studio and record their hits in Simlish. We’re actually introducing three new radio stations with the expansion, covering the Country, Songwriter, and R&B genres. You can look forward to popular artists in each one!

17.) Are you giving us new Lifetime rewards?
Not only are there new lifetime rewards, now that pets are playable they get lifetime rewards all their own! One of my favorites is the Pet Hygienator, a crazy machine that the pets walk inside for bathing and pampering. You see all sorts of mechanical arms extend from it and begin to simultaneously clean the pet with a variety of accessories – it’s wild!

18.) Where do horses live? Just everywhere where they can find grass? Or in special ‘horse boxes’? (shelters)
Players have the ability to build barns now, with large new barn doors for their horses to walk through. Inside those barns you can place individual box stalls for the horses that they can eat, drink, and sleep in. It’s even the place where horses go when they want to woohoo!

19.) Will we be able to keep dogs on a leash?
One of the great advantages we have with The Sims 3 is the wonderful new open neighborhoods that Sims can explore. As part of that, we wanted to encourage players to take their pets out into the world together with their Sims. For the first time, you’ll be able to attach a leash to your dog and have the Sim take them for a walk – it’s a great moment to see!

20.) Can all Sims interact with the animals?
Not only will all Sims be able to interact with the animals, the animals can all interact with each other! Dogs naturally form strong relationships with Sims, but might struggle to get along with cats. Birds may learn ways to trick Sims by imitating the sound of a doorbell. There are all sorts of fun things to discover when you watch how they all behave together!

21.) What traits do the pets have?
Now that the pets are fully playable creatures, we thought it was very important to give them their own personalities that would really bring them to life. A big part of that was adding traits for each type of animal. You’ll find lots of different ones to choose from, and as you mix and match them you’ll see that it has a real impact on your animal’s behavior in-game! There’s everything from the fiercely loyal dog, to the independent and skittish cat, to the ornery horse who may just kick a Sim while they’re being trained.

22.) Is there more than one horse race?
We offer a ton of different breeds for each type of animal in The Sims 3 Pets! Players can select from over 100 different breeds of cats and dogs combined, and approximately thirty different horses are already playable as well. Of course if you don’t see the particular breed you wish to play as, you can use the robust new Create-a-Pet tool to build your own, or download one from The Sims 3 Exchange.

23.) Can we do ‘competitions’ with pets, like in The Sims Pet Stories?
Horses are able to enter into competitions at the brand new Equestrian Center. They’ll first have to train their brand new racing or jumping skills, but once they become more proficient at either one they can compete for the chance to win cash, trophies, or even receive a headline in the local newspaper!

24.) Do Pets get their children on their own will or do the player need to decide if they get some?
Now that the pets are creatures that can be directly controlled by players, you have the full ability to control when your pets woohoo. I highly suggest letting them though, because a litter of kittens or puppies is a bundle of fun!

25.) Why do we see the death on a horse in the trailer?
Each of the different pets has their own interaction with the grim reaper when they die from old age. When a horse passes on, the grim reaper actually mounts them and they ride together through a magical portal into the afterlife.

26.) Are we going to have weather?
We aren’t introducing weather in The Sims 3 Pets.

27.) What new objects do we have for ouru pets?
Each of the pets has their own unique objects that enhance their lives. Horses have a plethora of cool jumping obstacles that players can build unique training courses from before they actually watch their horse run through them. One of my personal favorites is the cat’s jungle gym, where you’ll see a bunch of them playing together inside it!

28.) Can you tell us a little bit more about the new features?
We’ve added a few new things that are just for the Sims in this expansion pack as well. One thing that’s really fun is you’ll see an ice cream truck that drives around the world now, blaring music and enticing Sims with the promise of tasty treats. It’s the perfect way to cool down, just watch out for brain freeze!

29.) How many pets can a family have?
Each household can have a maximum of six different pets, as long as the number of pets does not push the total number of characters in the household over ten. For example, you could have four Sims and six pets, or eight Sims and two pets.