Pet Years (Pet Age Duration Hack)

SCREENSHOTS
Downloaded 2,508 times 417 Thanks 40 Favourited 38,244 Views
 Say Thanks!
Uploaded: 3rd Jan 2009 at 11:26 AM
I always thought pet life was way too long. I love pets and I care a lot for them. I'm kind of sad when I loose income... I mean... when one dies. But I hate having my elders caring that very same cat they got as present when they were toddlers.

Again, I tweaked the numbers until I found a figure I liked. I somewhat reduced their adulthood and greatly reduced their silver years. That figure, I think, make their lifespan reasonably realistic in comparison to their human companions.



The Numbers

In short, I slightly cut their baby stage (puppies and kittens are cute, but all animal owners know they don't remain that cute for very long), cut their adulthood by a third and cut their late days in half.

Stage = Default -> Changed
Baby = 3 days -> 2 days
Adult = 21-25* -> 14 days
Elder = 5-10 -> 3-5 days

* I don't know why Maxis shortened life expectancy of large dogs by 4 days (21 days into adulthood) compared to small dogs and cats (both 25 days into adulthood), but in my world they have a similar life expectancy which is determined by their particular race rather than their size. I gave them all 14 days into their adulthood instead without regard to their race.

The duration of each life stage is only calculated as a pet enters that particular stage, either by transitioning from a previous stage or when they settle in their very first family after they were adopted or freshly crafted into CAS. Therefore, existing pets will not be affected by this mod until they transition to their next stage. You could always change their days left in SimPE if desired.


Compatibility Notes

For obvious reasons Pets expansion pack is required for this to have any effect in your game. Other than that, I am confident that this mod should work flawlessly on any EP/SP configuration you may be running. Of course, I would really like to hear of any problem you may stumble upon.


Do-It-Yourself Kit

Since this mod only contains values, it is very easy for anyone to tweak the values as see fit without the need to complete a major. Simply open the file in SimPE and have fun. The labels for the different values are self explanatory.

Process Hour is the time at which age is calculated and age transitions occur. Maxis oddly set that to 11am. Changing it should not have as much impact as it has for Sims, but I didn't bother tweaking it. Feel free to experiment if you like.


Additional Credits: SimPE for making this mod possible
PaintShop Pro 9 for screen capture and editing
Notepad of its exceptional capabilities
Catou, my cat, for teaching me why sleeping 18 hours a day is so important

No animals were turned into bifteck during the creation of this mod