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Home / How to Upload Mods to Sims 3

How to Upload Mods to Sims 3

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Custom content has always been a part of The Sims series, at least for the PC and Mac games in it. However, how to install it has varied from game to game, and has not always been obvious.

Readers who are unfamiliar with compressed archive files (zippo, RAR, and 7z), should read the section on annal files.

File paths given in this guide use the Windows-standard "\" ("backslash") separator. Macs may use a "/" instead.

Contents

  • 1 The Sims
  • 2 The Sims 2
    • 2.1 Sims2pack files
    • 2.2 Enabling Custom Content
  • 3 The Sims 3
  • 4 The Sims four
  • 5 Archive files
  • 6 Identifying file types
  • seven Notes
  • 8 External links

The Sims [ ]

In The Sims, unlike types of custom content are placed in dissimilar folders, depending on their file type. At that place is no demand to do anything to the content files other than identify them in the correct folders. Sub-folders are not recognized, except in the Downloads binder used for objects.

It is best to prepare Windows and so that file extensions are always shown. When installing content for The Sims, file icons and listed file types should not be considered reliable, every bit many of the extensions The Sims uses for custom content are likewise used by other programs, and those extensions may be associated with those programs.

The file paths given below presume a default PC installation to C:\Program Files .[one] Macs may or may non have a Program Files folder. Regardless of install location, and regardless of whether the game is on a PC or Mac, the role of the file path later on "The Sims" will be the same.

Objects ordinarily accept the extension .iff, just occasionally use .far . They are normally placed in:
C:\Programme Files\Maxis\The Sims\Downloads, and may be placed in sub-folders. They may as well be placed in:
C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\UserObjects

  • Some objects, such as default replacements, may have specific install instructions.
  • Files which modify aspects of game behavior besides use the .iff extension, and may accept specific install instructions.

Skins, for both Sims and pets, have the extensions .skn and .cmx for meshes. The textures are BMP files, and have the extension .bmp. These files are placed in:
C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Skins

  • Custom animations, which use the extensions .cfp and .bcx.cmf, are also placed in this binder.

Roof textures are 32x32 BMP files, and have the extension .bmp. They can be distinguished from skin textures by their minor size. They are placed in:
C:\Programme Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Roofs

Walls, including murals, have the extension .wll. They are placed in:
C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Walls

Floors take the extension .flr. They are placed in:
C:\Programme Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Floors

Lots are a special case. Their filenames have the form HouseXX.iff, where Xx is their lot number. They are placed in:
C:\Programme Files\Maxis\The Sims\UserDataXX\Houses
The Xx is a two-digit number representing the neighborhood. For example, Neighborhood ane is UserData01, Neighborhood 2 is UserData02, etc.

The Sims 2 [ ]

In The Sims 2, custom content has been simplified. There is one main extension, .package, and ane main folder, Downloads, whose location does not depend on the install location. The location of the "Downloads" folder is:
Windows XP:Documents and Settings\(Your User Business relationship)\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\
Windows Vista, Windows seven, Mac:Users\(Your User Account)\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\

If Nightlife or afterwards is installed, the Downloads binder may contain sub-folders.

As a rule, .package files will not be associated with a program unless a programme designed to read them, such as SimPE, is installed.

There is no need to do anything to the package files other than place them in the Downloads binder, or a sub-folder of it. However, information technology is often necessary for players to manually create the Downloads folder. When doing this, in that location are two things to go along in heed. I is that, every bit far every bit The Sims ii is concerned, the name of this folder is instance-sensitive. The first letter must be an upper-case "D", and all other letters must be lower-case. Besides, if the base game was installed by way of a compilation, the base binder name in Documents may be the proper noun of the compilation instead of "The Sims 2". For example, in The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection, the Downloads folder is placed under:
Documents\EA Games\The Sims™ two Ultimate Collection\ .

Players should annotation that some content needs to be placed relative to the game's install folder, or relative to the folder for the latest expansion pack. For Ultimate Collection this is e'er
C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\ [1] [two]

Sims2pack files [ ]

Some content for The Sims 2 if delivered in files with the extension .sims2pack . A sims2pack file is a course of annal file; the format was designed to work with an installer programme[three] that is included with all versions of The Sims 2. The sims2pack format can exist used for whatever type of content, and is the standard format for delivering lots, Sims, and custom pet breeds. This is considering the installer is designed to place the lot, Sim, or breed in the proper bin.

By default, double-clicking a sims2pack file will invoke the game's installer. Information technology will open up a dialog showing the names and descriptions of all custom content files contained in the sims2pack. (A packaged lot or Sim will commonly incorporate custom content used past that lot or Sim.) The dialog has two buttons, "Install" and "Cancel". Clicking the Install push button volition install everything in the sims2pack, regardless of whether it is already nowadays. It cannot be told to install to a sub-folder of the master Downloads folder, and may requite an installed package file a "nonsense" filename that is a seemingly-random string of letters and numbers.

An alternative to the game's sims2pack installer is the Sims2pack Make clean Installer from Mod The Sims. This program "associates" the sims2pack extension with itself, so information technology will launch whenever a sims2pack file is double-clicked. It allows players to see what content is in a sims2pack, and to select which parts to install. When installing to the Downloads folder, it allows the role player to select a sub-folder. Players tin choose to override the default install folder and scan for the folder they wish to extract to. Players with Ultimate Collection volition need to do this if they have a version prior to i.6.22.0.[2]

North.B.: Despite what Make clean Installer'southward main page says about needing to install the .Internet framework, this should not exist necessary with Vista and later versions of Windows.

Enabling Custom Content [ ]

In The Sims two, information technology is not plenty to install custom content correctly. It must be specifically enabled by style of a dialog that appears when the game loads. For players with Nightlife or later, or whatever stuff pack, this dialog will not appear unless it is enabled in Game Options. Likewise, custom buy mode and build fashion objects will non appear in the catalogs unless the game option "Catalogs Display Custom Content" is set to On. Fortunately, these things just demand to be done after the game is starting time installed, or after adding a new expansion pack or stuff pack.

In addition to enabling custom content, players who want to utilize recolors of Maxis purchase and build objects must use the Colour Enable Parcel.

The Sims 3 [ ]

Installing custom content in The Sims 3 requires some framework. Information technology likewise requires following some instructions, which vary depending on the blazon of file being installed. Installation of custom content for The Sims three is covered extensively here, and in linked pages.

There are three main file types for The Sims 3 custom content; .package, .sims3pack, and .sim . The .package and .sims3pack files are equivalent to .package and .sims2pack files in The Sims 2, though they use different formats. The .sim extension is used for custom Sims.

The Sims 4 [ ]

In The Sims 4, there are ii custom content folders: Tray for lots and Sims, and Mods for other content. Both of these folders are located in:
Windows XP:Documents and Settings\(Your User Business relationship)\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims four\
Windows Vista, Windows seven/viii, Mac:Users\(Your User Account)\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\

The Mods folder may contain sub-folders. If the Mods binder does not exist, information technology can be created manually. The Mods folder will incorporate a file named resource.cfg. If it is deleted, the game should recreate information technology.[iv]

Most content uses the .bundle extension, though the format is different from that used in The Sims ii and The Sims 3. As in The Sims 2, installing packet files is simply a matter of placing them in the Mods folder, or a sub-folder of information technology; there is no demand to practice anything to the files other than place them. Withal, the archive file should not be placed in the Tray binder.

Lots and Sims employ several unlike types of files. Both use a blazon known as .trayitem . Lots also apply .blueprint and .bpi files, while Sims use .hhi, .sgi and .householdbinary files. These files can be installed by extracting them from the annal file they are in, and placing them in the Tray folder; there is no need to do anything else to them.

Script mods come in two cases. 1 instance uses the .pyo extension, and must be left inside its archive in order to part (ie. the annal itself is placed in the mods folder). The other example uses the .ts4scriptextension, and is installed the same way as a.packagefile.  Too, script mods must be specifically enabled in Game Options.

Annal files [ ]

Custom content for games in The Sims series is commonly contained in what is known as an "archive" file, usually a .zip, .rar, or .7z file. In some ways, an archive is sort of like a folder; information technology has its own name and location, and tin can contain other files and folders inside of it. However, the files within an archive are compressed, so they take upward less infinite and take less time to download. The files inside an archive must be decompressed and copied to a location exterior the archive earlier they can be used. This is called "extracting", even though the file is not removed from the archive. With custom content, the consequence is knowing which files to extract -- and for The Sims, which folder to place them in.

The Sims, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3 do not recognize archive files and cannot read them. While it appears that The Sims 4 does recognize cipher files in the Mods folder, information technology also appears to look anything in them to be part of a script mod. Therefore, when downloading whatsoever Sims content other than a script mod for The Sims four, the archive files should not be downloaded to whatsoever game folder, merely tin can exist downloaded to whatever non-program folder the player chooses. Also, it is not necessary to proceed the archive files in one case the custom content files have been extracted; they can be deleted or moved to an external storage device such every bit a thumb bulldoze.

Windows and Bone X tin can excerpt from nothing files (which Windows may phone call "compressed folders"), merely users will need a divide plan to extract from RAR or 7z files. There are many programs which can extract from archive files, and most tin can excerpt from zip, RAR, and 7z files.[5] [half dozen] Prices and licenses vary, from commercial, to nagware, to gratuitous or open-source.

Identifying file types [ ]

When installing custom content, it is by and large useful to be able to place the types of files that are in an archive. An archive file may contain files that should not exist extracted. For example, it may incorporate images or text files that are about the custom content, but not role of it.

Identifying a file'southward type is all-time done by looking at the file extension; the part of the file proper name after the final "dot". Other methods, such as looking at the file'due south icon, can be misleading, especially when installing content for The Sims. By default, Windows hides file extensions that are associated with a program, even if the Details view is used. However, this can be inverse:

  1. Open up a folder; it doesn't matter which 1.
  2. Enter Folder Options:
    • In Windows XP: Click on the Tools menu, and then Folder Options.
    • In Windows Vista: The push button at the top left (to the left of the Views button) will say either "Layout" or "Organize". Click information technology; and so click either "Folder Options" or "Folder and Search Options", depending on which i appears.
    • In Windows seven: Click on Organize at the top left, then choose "Binder and search options".
  3. In the "Folder Options" dialog window, click on the View tab. Look in the list for "Hide extensions for known file types". Brand sure that the box by this option is empty, with no checkmark, and so click OK.

Notes [ ]

  1. ↑ 1.0 i.1 64-bit versions of Windows use "Programme Files (x86)" for 32-bit programs.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Game Aid:Ultimate Collection FAQs at Mod The Sims
  3. ↑ This is "PackageInstaller.exe", formally the The Sims 2 Body Shop Package Installer.
  4. ↑ How To Install Custom Content in The Sims iv. SimsVIP.
  5. ↑ The zip and 7z formats are open. RAR decompression is open, though RAR compression is proprietary.
  6. ↑ Version 5.0 of WinRAR, released in September 2013, introduced a new version of the RAR format called RAR5. Older software volition not recognize this new format, and volition not be able to open RAR files that use it.

External links [ ]

  • Game Help:Downloading for Fracking Idiots (for The Sims 2 on Simswiki.info)
  • Game Help:Downloading for Downright Dunderheads (for The Sims iii on Simswiki.info)

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Source: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Game_guide:Installing_custom_content