Petz Tips & Tricks

[ArellaEliora]

Ok, here are some good tips and helps info for Petz games. Most of them I did not discover on my own, so I don't take credit for them. I only post them here in hopes that they will help someone who comes here.
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#1 Tip
Petz comes with a wonderful help file located in the Petz game folder called Petz Help File. This can answer many of your questions and also help to troubleshoot some game problems.

GENERAL:

Q. What are the system requirements for Petz?

A. Please see this page. www.dmwright.com/html/petz.htm

Q. How can you run Petz on Windows XP?

A. Petz 5 is designed to work on Windows XP, however earlier versions are not. There is a patch available for Petz 4, but none for Petz 3.

Q. My game stops loading, what do I do?

A. Reset the registry.

Q. How do I reset the registry?

A. Hold down the CTRL+SHIFT key then start the game at the same time. When asked if you wish to do this, click “yes”. Your game will then revert back to its beginning stage and all should be in order. This will not harm downloaded breedfiles or your adopted Petz.
*note* In Petz 5, however, you will lose all of the toyz you played games for. See under “Petz 5: How can I get all of the toyz in Petz 5?.”

Q. What is the difference between the Petz games?

A. 1 and 2 = no breeding
3 and 4 = breeding(can have 1 kitten/puppy at a time)
5 = breeding(1-4 kittenz/puppyz at a time)
3/4/5 all have a number of Playscenes that you can play with your petz in; 5
has more then 4; and 4 has more then 3; same with breeds, clothes and toys.
Petz born or adopted in 3 can go into 4 or 5.
Petz born or adopted in 4 can go into 3 or 5.
Petz born or adopted or put into 5, can only go to other people with 5.

Q. My Petz food bowl keeps moving when it tries to leap up to eat. How can I fix this so that it can eat?

A. Feed your petz on the desktop, the food bowl stays put there.

Q. My Petz are mute! How do I fix this?

A. Speedwagonz Unmute Utility for petz is great.
www.geocities.com/speedwagon75/unmute.html

Q. I want to download special Breeds, Playscenes, etc., but I don’t have WinZip. What do I do?

A. Don't worry about getting WinZip; if you have Windows XP (also works in Windows 98) all you have to do is right-click on the zipped file and choose "Extract All..." and follow the wizard that comes up.

You can also do the opposite and ZIP up a folder if you want to make special downloads for others. Simply right click the folder you want to zip and go to “Send To...” Then choose “Compressed (zipped) Folder”. You then have a neatly packaged file ready to upload to your site.

Q. How do I use the downloaded Petz?

A. Most of the time, files you download will come in zipped format. To unzip them see the instructions above.
If you are adopting a .pet from another Petz user, just put the NAME.PET file in your Adopted Petz folder... the .pet will be available on the "pick-a-pet" menu next time you start the game.
If you are downloading breed files, they need to go in the Resource/Dogz or Catz folder. Then you can adopt a .pet from them at the Adoption Center, just like
you can with the standard breeds.

Q. Are there any cheats for Petz? If so, what are they and what do they do?

A. No cheats, like with other video games... but we do have PetzDebug for turning on and off hidden registry values within Petz 2 to 5. This will allow you to alter the age, happiness and other aspects of your pets.

Q. How do you install and use PetzDebug?

A. You can put the PetzDebug.exe file anywhere. Make sure Petz is not running.
Then double-click to start it, select your version of Petz and click “set”. Click the "Show Slider Brain" option, then click "Set Values" and then close Petz Debug.
...next time you take a pet out in your game, you will get a selection of sliders for changing age, happiness, etc...

Q. What if I'm going to be busy or go on vacation, and can't play with my Petz. I don't want to take them back to the Adoption Center or to run away?

A. A launch day is a day that you launch your Petz program. You cannot speed up the process by re-launching your program more than once on the same day; it doesn't make "time" go by faster. An actual day must go by for a launch to count as a day. So, you're Petz won't worry if you don't open the game for 5 weeks. They'll never know you've been gone more than a day.

Q. Can my Petz die?

A. No, Petz can’t die. However, their files CAN be lost or corrupted, which some people would call “dying”. That is why it is a very good idea to back up all of your Petz to a floppy disk or a CD. Then you can always reinstall them if you need to.

Q. If my petz run away, can I bring it back with a saved copy of my petz?

A. If your Petz run away, there is a program called Runaway Rescue that can bring them back. To download it, go to: www.dmwright.com/oddpetz/html/programs/runaway_rescue.htm

Q. Why Am I Not Seeing The Whole Playscene?

A. It is probably your monitor's screen size. The higher the resolution, the smaller your game will be. It really is nothing to be alarmed about. If you want to have your game full screen then go to your Display Properties and set your resolution to 1024 x 768. That is the screen size Petz was made to run on. Don't forget to turn the resolution back if you share the computer with other people - unless, of course, they like that resolution better.

Q. How long will newborn Petz stay with their mother?

A. Your newborn baby Petz will stay with their mother in the Nursery until they are able to take care of themselves. At this point the newborn will be a Puppyz or Kittenz and have its own image and title in the Petz Picker and its own place in the Petz Profile. This should happen within seven launch days. A launch day is a real-time day that you launch your program, not just a re-launch of the program on the same day.

Q. Why don’t Toyz stay in my created Play Scenes?

A. Custom Play Scenes act a little differently than regular Play Scenes, so often Toyz and flowers will not remain in the Scene. This is normal.

Q. Does it matter which bowls my Petz eat out of?

A. Not really. In the Petz games what the food is called, or what it looks like, is merely cosmetic. The food satisfies the hunger of any type of Petz because it's not like real-life food.

Did you know...?

CTRL+A = Adoption Center
CTRL+R = Arabia
CTRL+Y = Back Yard
CTRL+B = Beach
CTRL+C = Clothes Closet
CTRL+F = Family Room
CTRL+K = Kitchen
CTRL+P = Playpen
CTRL+E = Playscene Editor
CTRL+S = Snow Scene
CTRL+T = Toy Closet
CTRL+W = Wild West

***More to come***

[ArellaEliora]

Tips for PETZ 1 – 4:

Q. I got my Dogz 4 reinstalled on my computer. Now it is asking for a serial number on the back of the box?

A. Dogz 4 doesn't require a serial number...just leave the serial number box blank.

Q. How do I reset PetzDebug for Petz 4?

A. Click the start button, click run and enter REGEDIT in the box, click ok.
Navigate to the 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PF.Magic\Petz 4' folder and delete it.
Restart Petz 4 and every thing should be back to its default values, close Petz 4... then you can run PetzDebug to reenter the slider brain value and then restart Petz 4.

[ArellaEliora]

Tips for PETZ 5:

Q. What if my Petz 5 CD is gone and I keep getting an error message stating I need the disk to run Petz?

A. If you had the version of Petz 5 that required the CD be in the CD drive to play the game, you can get a patch at Odd-Petz so you can run it without the disk: www.dmwright.com/oddpetz/html/programs/p5_no_cd_exe.htm

Q. When I try to install Petz 5, the program asks me for a serial number.

A. You should have no problem getting in the game by clicking "Cancel" when asked for a serial number.

The cause for the problem:
If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must make sure you are logged on as the administrator on that computer. If your XP account does not have Administrative privileges, you will be asked for a serial number when starting Petz 5. If you are not comfortable with making a user account with admin rights, you can assign full access to the Petz directory. To do this in Windows XP Professional:

1. Go to where the game directory is located (c:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\)
2. Right-click on the Studio Mythos folder and select Properties.
3. Click on the Security tab and highlight the Users account listing.
4. In the permissions box below, check the 'Allow Full Access' box.
5. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Next time you start Petz, you should not have any more trouble.

Q. While starting the program, the yellow progress bar located at the bottom of the screen freezes up.

A. Please do the following to reset the Catz/Dogz 5 registry key:

1. Press and hold the SHIFT and CTRL keys.
2. Double-click on the Petz icon while holding SHIFT+CTRL.
3. Click ok/yes to delete the Petz registry entry.
4. Continue to load Petz.

If the above fix doesn't work or apply, try removing some of the petz from the Adopted Petz Folder. If you have too many adopted petz, the computer's resources could be running low. It is not a good idea to have more then four adopted pets at one time.

To do this:
1. From the desktop, double-click on the My Computer icon.
2. Double-click on drive "C".
3. Double-click on Program Files folder.
4. Double-click on the Ubi Soft folder.
5. Double-click on the Petz 5 folder.
6. Double click on the Adopted Petz folder.
7. Now move half of the petz from this folder into another folder (Just create a new folder for your moved Petz).
8. Run the Petz program. If the problem persists, repeat the steps again to find your limit of adopted petz.

Q. When in a Playscene with a mini-game, a box pops up over and over telling me to play the mini-game. The window pops up in a cascade, eventually locking up my computer. What is causing this?

A. If you are using Windows XP Professional, you must make sure you are logged on as the administrator on that computer. If your XP account does not have Administrative privileges, you may see this problem. If you are not comfortable with making a user account with admin rights, you can assign full access control specifically to the Petz directory. To do this in Windows XP:

1. Go to where the game directory is located (c:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\)
2. Right-click on the Studio Mythos folder and select Properties.
3. Click on the Security tab and highlight the Users account listing.
4. In the permissions box below, check the 'Allow Full Access' box.
5. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

You will also need to give permissions to the Studio Mythos key in the registry.
1. Click Start --> Run --> type: REGEDIT and click OK.
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Studio Mythos
3. Right-click on the Studio Mythos key and select 'Permissions...'
4. Click on the Security tab and highlight the Users account listing.
5. In the permissions box below, check the 'Allow Full Access' box.
6. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Next time you start Petz, you should not have any more trouble.

Q. Does anyone know where I can find the ________ toy in Petz 5?

A. In Petz 5 all toyz appear in the carry case, if you don't have the a specific toy yet, it's because you haven't found it, or won it in one of the mini games.

Q. How can I get all of the toyz in Petz 5?

A. Go to www.dmwright.com/oddpetz/ and look under the link Petz 5 Hidden Toyz. There is a download at the bottom of that page that allows you to get all of the toyz in your toy case at once. It can be used as often as you may need. Be sure to read the directions before using.

Q. What are Mini-Games?

A. There are 5 Mini-Games for you and your Petz to play and earn toyz by winning. You'll be able to keep track of the scores for each of your Petz to see whose best at what games.

Q. Does anyone know how to beat the Gopher?

A. In order to win, you MUST go first. If you don’t go first, I don’t believe there is a way to win. Which means you won’t win all the time, but at least you CAN win.
When you go first, choose a corner; then, choose the exact opposite corner; then, choose one last corner (so you have 3 of the 4 corners filled with X's); THEN you can choose any center block between your corners and win!

Q. I took the lid off of the Gift Box Toy and accidentally put it back without the lid. How do I get rid of the lid?

A. With the game closed, take the Surprise.toy out of the 'Resource\Toyz' folder and then launch the game; the lid(s) should be gone. Close the game and put the toy file back in the folder; launch Petz again and it should be back to normal.

OR:

1. Close the game and navigate to the Toyz folder.
2. Change the name of “Surprise.toy” to “Surprise.bak”
3. Open the game and then close it again.
4. Go back to the Toyz folder and rename “Surprise.bak” back to “Surprise.toy”


Q. I was using the paint can to paint my pet. I accidentally put the paint can away without the brush and now the brush is stuck on the screen. How do I get rid of it?

A. Try this:

1. Browse to the Petz directory (c:\program files\ubi soft\studio mythos\petz 5\resource\toyz)
2. Copy the 'paint can.toy' file into another separate folder.
3. Launch petz 5. Close petz 5.
4. Put the 'paint can.toy' file back into the toyz folder.
5. Launch petz 5.

OR:

1. Close the game and navigate to the Toyz folder.
2. Change the name of “Paint Can.toy” to “Paint Can.bak”
3. Open the game and then close it again.
4. Go back to the Toyz folder and rename “Paint Can.bak” back to “Paint Can.toy”

Q. Is Petz 5 based on real time?

A. Yes, the program is based on real time. When it is day in real life, it will be day in the game; night in real life, night in the game.

Q. I installed Windows Service Pack 2 on my Windows XP and now the sounds are all messed up in Petz 5. What do I do?

A. Go to your Petz 5 installation folder and rename setupapi.dll to something like setupapi.bak; Petz 5 will now load without any problems. The problem only effects Petz 5 as Petz 4 doesn't include that file, and providing the game is patched it continues to run just fine on XP SP2. (DMWright)

[HelpingHands]

Or, you could take out the present, open it, put the paintbrush inside, close it again, and put it away, I think it's easier.

[zu]

hello, I've a problem with paint can. I mean, I can't find it ^^''' I just gor petz 5 and there's no paint can anywhere...I've no idea why, cos earlier I played the previous petz 4 and there was no such problem. is it hidden or something? can someone please help me?

[PetzFan]

Hey...I recently got the Petz game and I was searching for some tips when I suddenly realized there are many different types of tips for different types of Petz. I was wondering...how will I know which type of Petz game I have?

[stephdicool]

How do you get the petzdebug?

[providence]

Hi,

I recently had to wipe my hard drive and I'm trying to find the Debugger... Is there a link to it?

Thanks!

[lemonbee]

I know these forums aren't very active but here are some solutions for people from the future (and possibly the people here if they come back, although that's not as likely):
zu:
Unlike Petz 4, you have to unlock the paint can by playing minigames. Items are unlocked randomly, so it may take you a while to get it.
If you don't want to wait, you can download a tool called Tinker here: www.sherlocksoftware.org/page.php?id=15 which allows you to unlock specific toyz (including the paint can) without having to play the minigames for a long time.
petzfan:
Go to the Adoption Center; the name is shown on the yellow house. If there's a brown house with a newspaper background, you've got Petz II. If there are baskets instead, you've got Catz 1 or Dogz 1. If there's no Adoption Center, you've got either Oddballz (in that case there's only one screen), Babyz, or one of the newer Ubisoft games that I don't know much about.
Other two posts: PetzA at www.sherlocksoftware.org/page.php?id=6 does the same things as petzdebugger and more.