Jabbie
Petz Petter
Posts: 43
Petz Versions: 4
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Post by Jabbie on Aug 25, 2020 8:41:23 GMT -5
Hey! So I have the benefit (I suppose) of starting from scratch - I've only had Petz downloaded for a week and none of my 20-year-old files survive.
I've poked around the forums a bit and read some similar discussions from the past, but I'd love any and all advice on how to keep my new children organized.
I know PetzA profiles are a thing, right? What else do you use to keep track of who you have, where you got them, who bred with whom, what breed files they need, etc?
And relatedly (perhaps this is a naive question, especially since we're talking about code and pixels here), is breeding and deleting frowned upon? I know I see a bunch of breeding project freebies, but based on my own quick experiments I have to assume there are some that don't even make it there. Or else I am just Doing It Wrong.
I'd appreciate as much detail as you're willing to go into about your setup (I'm a bit of a sucker for process, so bring on the spreadsheets).
Of course, I'll also take "Just use folders, you twit" as an appropriate response.
THANK YOU
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Post by Rho on Aug 25, 2020 11:01:57 GMT -5
Kudos to you for trying to stay organized from the start 😂 I definitely went breeding bazonkers as soon as I discovered PetzA.
As far as I’m concerned— it’s a game. Play it in a way that makes it the most fun for you. Some people keep every single pet they breed and try to find a home for it— presumably that’s fun for them! Myself, if I breed a pet that’s just not great, I don’t want to spend my tiny amounts of free time trying to rehome it.
For organizing, I do excel spreadsheets for my “official crew” and to keep track of show points. And folders within “Adopted Petz”. Works for me, anyways!
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Post by shaina @ kizmet on Aug 25, 2020 12:46:58 GMT -5
I don't use PetzA profiles because I read that they're glitchy. Right now I keep my petz in separate folders separated by species, breed, color, and then a separate folder for each of my petz with all their pictures, awards, and pet files. Some have text files for any notes I might need to make, but I usually put all information like origin, rules, genetic/personality information, show name/points/title, likes/dislikes, friends/mates/enemies, etc. in their profiles.
I'm actually in the process of re-doing this a bit, where everyone is just going in my Breeding Stock folder, and they're being divided based on their genetics, so it's easier to see at a glance what I have and what I'm able to breed. Then I'm just going to do separate folders that I'll rotate into and out of my game with my actual petz that I've adopted and bred myself, which I feel will be a lot better than just copying individual files into the game when I want to play with them - now I'll know everyone is getting played with regularly. I haven't decided how many folders or how many petz per folder yet - but I want it to be a manageable number so I can play with all the petz in that folder whenever I put them in the game. And I also plan on putting all my petz on my website sorted by breed and then phenotypic color so I can tell at a glance the types of petz I have already, because the way the Breeding Stock folder is organized doesn't really allow for that.
I have a notepad file for my show petz divided by titles then underneath that their show name and their placements and points. When I get back into showing I'm going to be putting that information in an Excel file so it can add up the points for me. ^^
Breeding and deleting is fine. I sometimes delete things if they don't have any interesting traits, but if they have some features I like but not enough where I would consider keeping them myself, I put them in a folder to do grab bags later.
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Jabbie
Petz Petter
Posts: 43
Petz Versions: 4
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Post by Jabbie on Aug 25, 2020 13:51:50 GMT -5
For organizing, I do excel spreadsheets for my “official crew” and to keep track of show points. And folders within “Adopted Petz”. Works for me, anyways! So you keep your folders in the "Adopted Petz" folder, and then just pull the .pet files in and out when you want to access them? That actually makes a lot more sense than the copying and pasting I've been doing so far. shaina @ kizmet - I think using the profiles makes a lot of sense, I should probably start doing that once I begin to collect my "crew". Thanks for your detailed response!
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Post by KeyGlyph on Aug 25, 2020 14:13:03 GMT -5
As far as I’m concerned— it’s a game. Play it in a way that makes it the most fun for you. This is the ultimate wisdom! For organization, I do a few things. I have a spreadsheet with a few pages in it. There's a page for all Dogz 4 petz I currently own, a page for all Dogz 5, a page for all Catz 4, and a page for all adoptions regardless of game version. The adoption information is duplicated, since each of those petz appears both in their specialized adoption page as well as the appropriate "all Dogz/Catz" page, but I do this because it's handy for me to have them documented in both places. For each entry within those sheets, I document the following: - Name
- Previous Name
- Birthday
- Adopted Date
- Sex
- Breed
- Personality (breed)
- Description (the Notes field in-game)
- Parents
- Mate
- Adopted From
- Version (4, 5)
I do use PetzA profiles, and mostly just to keep straight what I have planned for different petz. I have a profile for each of my major family branches to keep everyone I'm not using in logical groups, then things like "Kids' Rooms" for puppies I'm actively raising and "Maternity Wards" for pregnant petz and/or moms with infants. This has really helped me more quickly recall my long-term planning goals, like who still needs growing, who is pregnant, and who I'm actively trying to pair up. This is all stuff I'd forget after stepping away from the game for a while. I also have nested folder structures for my petz snapshots, and have been updating a master family tree graphic for the past few months. The master tree has been a huge source of joy for me. For whatever reason, I'm always trying to do things that help me remember family lines. I get all sentimental about who is descended from/siblings with/cousins of whom, and with visually tracking the passing of traits.
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Post by shaina @ kizmet on Aug 25, 2020 15:42:53 GMT -5
So you keep your folders in the "Adopted Petz" folder, and then just pull the .pet files in and out when you want to access them? That actually makes a lot more sense than the copying and pasting I've been doing so far. Just a note on this - if you decide not to copy-paste your petz, make sure you keep backups somewhere just in case the game decides to corrupt your file. For me, I copy-paste my petz into the Adopted Petz folder when I want to play with them, and then after I'm done I check the file by opening it in LNZ (if it's corrupt it will not open). Then I paste it back where I took it from. This allows your pet file to be updated with any new things they've learned or experienced.
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Post by Rho on Aug 25, 2020 19:32:38 GMT -5
Yes! Always backups for sure!
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Post by stancymckatt on Aug 25, 2020 23:38:00 GMT -5
I always enjoy threads like this. Half of my fun playing petz is organizing... *shrugs*
I have a folder named Petz in My Documents that is the folder I work out of. (This is backed up onto a fresh DVD every few months.)
Inside of that I have: 2020 copies of Petz, and back up copies of Petz. Catalog folder My Hexed Petz (my WIP and finished breeds) Programs (Petza, Petz Workshop, Lnz pro, Petzflux, PetzPics Factory, etc) Resources ( Downloaded Breeds, toys, clothes,etc) Breeding Project folder And petz to adopt out. I also keep find it banners, old awards from petz pose shows, and stamps I collect here as they're related.
Pet folders
I disliked petza profiles... I did try them for awhile, but I prefer copy and pasting. Give them a try if you want, just keep extra copies of your petz in case something goes haywire.
I keep petz randomly sorted into groups of 10 or 12 as that's about all I can play with in one slot of time. Not the best thing organization wise, but it keeps me from getting bored.
I have a folder for breeding projects, not that it's gotten worked on lately, but it's there. I'd put a sub folder for each project. Then a folder for each Generation.
Catalog Folder:
I have to have a picture of the pet with the info, so I use open office to make an info sheet for each pet. My larger files (one for dogs, one for cats) were getting to be very slow to load. I also use my website/blog as a supplemental catalog depending on what I'm looking for.
The main things I make sure are in the pets document: Name, Show prefixes, main breed, what folder they 'live' in. Who they're related too. With some of my catz.. That's a long list.
Things I no longer bother to keep up with... Hexed lines, Inbred or not, Trimmed or not, How many Generations the pet is. I just don't refer to any of it. Most of my adoptions are either freebies, or grab bags, so it's not as important.
Resorces..
I have my Overwriting breedfiles sorted by what they overwrite. (Alley Cat, Calico, Dalmatian, etc). Then each file is stored in a sub folder formatted I.e AcidTrip_LisaFrankDali, PDH_BcDali, etc. Sticking a picture in the subfolder is helpful too. Usually I grab one off of the hexer's website.
Please keep track of where you downloaded the file, or who made it. It will save you a lot of head scratching later. I have almost a dozen versions of border collies that are so old I have no idea how to find where they came from.
Then one Folder that's just Non OWBF as I don't have many of those.
Breeding and/or deleting:
Each to their own on that one. They're just pixels after all.
I like to make up grab bags so I drop everything I'm not keeping into a folder for that. The point of a grab bag is that you might get a 1st gen, or you might get a weird 300th gen. That's part of the fun. :-) Some of my favorites from grab bags have been unusual 2nd gens.
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Post by Audaxity on Aug 26, 2020 15:35:08 GMT -5
I personally really like PetzA profiles and haven't had much trouble with them (except for the game hanging when loading sometimes when you switch between profiles) but still always have backups! I organize mine in all kinds of crazy ways, so it's just whatever works for you. As for deleting, also up to you. I make that call for each pet whether I think they could be adopted out or if not. Just a personal thing!
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Jabbie
Petz Petter
Posts: 43
Petz Versions: 4
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Post by Jabbie on Aug 28, 2020 8:16:56 GMT -5
Thank's all for your answers! I really like the detailed breakdown stancymckatt, thank you for putting in the time. I do really love that everyone uses this game differently and that theres more ways than one to put everything together. Audaxity - good to hear another perspective on profiles, seems like its a pretty mixed experience (fine for some, trouble for others). I did play with them a little since this post and while I see the utility for sure, I might be too impatient to click through the menu every time! But I can see them becoming more useful later when I have more to work with, since right now I really only have a handful of "for keeps". And thank you Rho and shaina @ kizmet for the reminder on backups, I'll be archiving everything for sure... possibly multiple times... possibly in a very poorly organized manner, despite all of this... So far my updated gripes are: I REALLY wish there was a way to create thumbnails for the files... It would be so much easier than having to remember names, or else I need to just... get better at naming haha. My other issue so far is that I keep not remembering which file is the "active" one, but I think that will be cleared up once I come up with a better system. EH?
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Post by Rho on Aug 28, 2020 9:34:25 GMT -5
I REALLY wish there was a way to create thumbnails for the files... It would be so much easier than having to remember names, or else I need to just... get better at naming haha. Oh! Try this little utility, I think it should do exactly what you need. It changed my Petz life! www.sherlocksoftware.org/page.php?id=36
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Post by stancymckatt on Aug 28, 2020 10:07:09 GMT -5
Thank's all for your answers! I really like the detailed breakdown stancymckatt , thank you for putting in the time. I do really love that everyone uses this game differently and that theres more ways than one to put everything together. My other issue so far is that I keep not remembering which file is the "active" one, but I think that will be cleared up once I come up with a better system. EH? It helps me to write it down... If I can't explain it logically, then the system may not be working as well as I think. The simple anwser to that is put your inactive one in a folder named Archive_ Whatever it is.. For instance...I have 2_ArchiveCatalog I sort folders by categories 0_ in front of the most important ones so they're at the top. 1_ in front of the next most important and so on. Z_ on the other end of a short list is important too as that will show up first if you look at the bottom of the list. I bury archives into the middle somewhere.. Usually 2_whatever for some reason. It could just as easily be A_ B_ or C_ or M_ Etc.
It's like a website.. The less layers you have to click though, the better sometimes.
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