Virtual Pwnies

Virtual Pwnies
Delving into the overlooked world of horses in media and video games.

Monday, October 31, 2011

VP IRL All Hallow's Adorable (Happy Halloween!)



Inspired by true events.
See larger version on DA here.



This really happened at the hayride I went to with my friend. No offense to cute little chestnut sabinos, but they aren't the scariest thing while their flashy chrome markings daintily trot towards you. I think the Friesian was off that day.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

More Sims 3 Pets Demo and Youtube Roundup!

Ok, I'm just going to stop planning what I'm posting. Otherwise it's going to make me a liar when I end up posting something completely different. XD

Without further delay the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Sim ponies! Had to do a bit of tweaking with the markings options, but for what was available I'm glad I could get them this close. Controlling precise marking locations in the pet maker is a sketchy and hard to control when the markings get tiny. I'm thinking it will only be a matter of time before the MLP fan masses create Sim modifications to make horses exactly like the cartoon.




Rarity


LinkFluttershy


Dr. Whooves!

I also fiddled around with the breeding options in the demo. If you're looking for genetic accuracy don't look here. It uses the blending inheritance theory. A long disproven belief held in the 19th century that offspring are a resulting mishmash of mom and dad. Dominants and recessives be darned!

Behold, a puggle.

It's totally understandable that this game would use this method of making offspring. You can make completely unrealistic colors and markings. What would the inheritance of a lightning-rainbow-cloud marking be anyway? And the color purple. Is it recessive, or the result of the blue modifier working on a red-based coat? Are teal and green eye color co-dominant?

Confused yet? Yah, accurate genetics would fail in this uber-customizable setting.

That said I performed something blasphemous and attempted a breeding between Rainbow Dash and Dr. Whooves. It illustrates the game mechanics of inheritance fairly well. The first offspring looked like a pretty even split of both parents, while the second looked exactly like rainbow Dash but inherited the Dr.'s eyes. So the degree of how mixed the offspring become varies.




Sims 3 Pets also has had a whole bunch of commercials for it recently. Some of them are exclusive only to the internet. Do you know Randall? You might. Because honey badger don't care. (Language warning. Not that you guys who still watched the Equus Retrospective after being warned will care anyway).

The Sims got Randall to do a commercial for them explaining all the animals you can get by pre-ordering S3P. Sadly, no unique pre-order horse designs. Sigh. I wanted a robo pony.




Also how cute is this commercial tribute to the Old Spice guy for Dreamwork's Puss in Boots movie?




Also...



Cowboys and Equestrians
We have come full circle.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sims 3 Pets Demo!

So the comic is delayed further due to family hospital emergency. Everyone is alright thank goodness. I spent the weekend with my grandmother and when I had some down time I checked out the demo for Sims 3 Pets.

The blame for this week goes to ThirdPeppermint and Krickette from Color Genetics Info Forum! Peppermint posted about the S3P release and how it includes horses, and Krickette assured me that I could avoid unwanted EA Games spam when I downloaded the demo. Thanks to both of you! ^_^

The demo only has the pet creator and you can't actually interact with anything you make in it. But dang have I wanted insane custom colors for horses in a game. I might do a quick video on the demo but there are some already on YouTube from other players.

In the mean time I'll share the unusual colored horses I was able to create based on real unusual colored horses. I apologize to any owners who find these silly Sim versions of your lovely horsie color oddities. ^_^


Trabag, a manchado overo Arabian.

Le Tigre a chestnut brindle roan mustang mare.

Riverdance's Marble Tigress. A smoky black brindle roan.
I couldn't make her into a mini!

Dunbar's Gold a red dun chimera (He's his own twin!)

The late Catch A Bird, a likely brindle roan and founder
of a new roan mutation in thoroughbreds.

Natal Clasi a likely extensive rabicano brindle.

Nimir a gray brindle Arabian.

Litningur frá Möðrufelli a confirmed chimera.
His front half is flaxen chestnut and his butt is black.
(I dare you to say that name 10x fast if you can't speak Icelandic)

Stetson's Mister Blue a likely chimera like Litningur Whatshisname.

Simply Striking, a Saddlebred with fungal scarring.

And lastly Uniquely Destined a very fun missmarked leopard appaloosa.

I highly recommend trying out the free demo.
Be warned, I may be attempting My Little Ponies next. (click here)