What do OW and non-OW mean?
OW = OverWriting
non-OW = non-OverWriting
non-OW = non-OverWriting
There are two kinds of files you can make when hexing (modding) things for the Petz games. These are either files that replace originals that came with the game (OW) or files that are separate additions to the game (non-OW).
Generally speaking, most toys, clothes, playscenes etc that you download will have been made to be non-OW. There are some exceptions but generally there is no benefit to having OW files of this type.
However, you will find that breedfiles are the exception to this and many downloadable breedfiles will be OW files - or some creators will offer two versions so you can choose. You may also notice that older websites with downloads tend to have more non-OW breedfiles on them than more recent websites. There is a reason for this and depending on your interests, you may prefer one or the other.
Generally speaking, most toys, clothes, playscenes etc that you download will have been made to be non-OW. There are some exceptions but generally there is no benefit to having OW files of this type.
However, you will find that breedfiles are the exception to this and many downloadable breedfiles will be OW files - or some creators will offer two versions so you can choose. You may also notice that older websites with downloads tend to have more non-OW breedfiles on them than more recent websites. There is a reason for this and depending on your interests, you may prefer one or the other.
What are the benefits of OW breedfiles?
At first glance it seems like non-OW breedfiles are the way to go and everyone in the community will know the draw of downloading All The Files to experience them in their own game. We all did it!
It's certainly a lot of fun to see what people have made over the years, breed wacky mixies etc. However, if you stay in the community for long enough, you'll discover that there's actually a strong preference for OW breedfiles and that many people will not adopt any pets that require non-OW breedfiles to work.
The Petz community as it exists now revolves around the trading and adopting of pets. This aspect of the game was always part of the developers' vision and was encouraged by P.F. Magic with online adoptions. We don't play Petz in isolation - the community aspect comes about in large part because of this feature; the ability to swap and trade our pets!
Because OW files are read by the game as one of the original breeds, you don't need any extra breedfiles to play with unique hexed pets or pets bred with OW files. For example ALL the pets below are considered by the game to be 1st generation Orange Shorthairs. This means I can have all of them in my game at once AND I can send them to anyone who has the base game without sending any breedfiles with them.
It's certainly a lot of fun to see what people have made over the years, breed wacky mixies etc. However, if you stay in the community for long enough, you'll discover that there's actually a strong preference for OW breedfiles and that many people will not adopt any pets that require non-OW breedfiles to work.
The Petz community as it exists now revolves around the trading and adopting of pets. This aspect of the game was always part of the developers' vision and was encouraged by P.F. Magic with online adoptions. We don't play Petz in isolation - the community aspect comes about in large part because of this feature; the ability to swap and trade our pets!
Because OW files are read by the game as one of the original breeds, you don't need any extra breedfiles to play with unique hexed pets or pets bred with OW files. For example ALL the pets below are considered by the game to be 1st generation Orange Shorthairs. This means I can have all of them in my game at once AND I can send them to anyone who has the base game without sending any breedfiles with them.
This is great because I never need to worry about clashing breed IDs or slowing down my game with too many breedfiles and I don't need to send out an entire breedfile when I adopt out a pet. This matters to me because my main interest is in hexing and trading completely unique pets - so OW files are my bread and butter!
How does breeding work with OW and non-OW files?
When you breed pets from non-OW files, their offspring will inherit characteristics from the non-OW file and they will require all the non-OW files in their ancestry (or most) to work in your or anyone else's game. This means that the number of required breedfiles can add up pretty quickly! This is something to keep in mind if you ever want to be able to adopt out pets.
It is also a consideration when adopting pets because occasionally non-OW breedfiles will have the same ID. When this happens, it is not possible to keep both files in your game at once so you can end up needing to swap breedfiles in and out for specific pets who have the clashing breeds as ancestors and it will never be possible for those clashing pets to meet.
It is also a consideration when adopting pets because occasionally non-OW breedfiles will have the same ID. When this happens, it is not possible to keep both files in your game at once so you can end up needing to swap breedfiles in and out for specific pets who have the clashing breeds as ancestors and it will never be possible for those clashing pets to meet.
When you breed pets from OW files, their offspring will inherit the characteristics of whatever file is currently in the game for that breed. So if you were to breed two of the hexed Orange Shorthairs above to each other with the original Orange Shorthair.cat in the game, their kitten would come out looking fairly ordinary.
The opposite is also true - you can breed 'ordinary' cats with an OW file in to get more interesting results. For example, the cat below was bred by crossing two 'natural' mixies while I had an Orange Shorthair OW in the game. The parents of this cat looked very ordinary but the kitten inherited some of their appearance from the OW file. This is something people take advantage of to breed more interesting pets that are compatible with all games. Even though this kitten looks unique, they do not require any extra breedfiles to work.
The opposite is also true - you can breed 'ordinary' cats with an OW file in to get more interesting results. For example, the cat below was bred by crossing two 'natural' mixies while I had an Orange Shorthair OW in the game. The parents of this cat looked very ordinary but the kitten inherited some of their appearance from the OW file. This is something people take advantage of to breed more interesting pets that are compatible with all games. Even though this kitten looks unique, they do not require any extra breedfiles to work.
There are two disadvantages to OW files. One is that you must be organised enough to move OW files in/out of your game if you want to breed pets with the OW file's characteristics. This may sound daunting at first but it'll be second nature in no time!
The other is something you may have already worked out. Even though I can have ALL those hexed Orange Shorthairs in my game at once, if I breed them to each other, I will only get results that look like whichever Orange Shorthair OW I currently have in my game. That means I can never truly 'cross' two of them unless they overwrite different original breedfiles (e.g. one is an Orange Shorthair OW and the other a Calico OW).
The other is something you may have already worked out. Even though I can have ALL those hexed Orange Shorthairs in my game at once, if I breed them to each other, I will only get results that look like whichever Orange Shorthair OW I currently have in my game. That means I can never truly 'cross' two of them unless they overwrite different original breedfiles (e.g. one is an Orange Shorthair OW and the other a Calico OW).
So which should I use?
There is no right or wrong way to play Petz or engage with the community.
The path from collecting non-OW files to switching to OW files is a very well-trodden one but it isn't the only option. If you enjoy having a wide variety of downloadable breedfiles in your game and adopting a pet from each to breed and create crazy mixies from for your own enjoyment, then non-OW files are probably the way to go. If you are interested in engaging more with the community itself, you will probably find yourself switching to OW files more and more. Or you can go for something in-between and enjoy the best of both worlds - there's nothing stopping you from using both!
The most important thing is to have fun - hopefully now that you understand OW/non-OW files a little better, you can make choices that help you in doing so!
The path from collecting non-OW files to switching to OW files is a very well-trodden one but it isn't the only option. If you enjoy having a wide variety of downloadable breedfiles in your game and adopting a pet from each to breed and create crazy mixies from for your own enjoyment, then non-OW files are probably the way to go. If you are interested in engaging more with the community itself, you will probably find yourself switching to OW files more and more. Or you can go for something in-between and enjoy the best of both worlds - there's nothing stopping you from using both!
The most important thing is to have fun - hopefully now that you understand OW/non-OW files a little better, you can make choices that help you in doing so!