Mods and CC

[Carl]

I've just finished a quick guide to Mods and Custom Content installation with links to download sites. It's up to every individual whether they want to use these things, but I see my role as to educate people in all things Sims. I'd love some feedback on my instructions and even suggestions for mod/cc sites to add to the list. Thank you as always, everyone.

[Playalot]

Maybe Kijiko. There is really awesome hair there! http://kijiko-catfood.com/

[RandyH]

Well done. Your guide is a lot friendlier than a lot of the stuff I’ve read out there.

The "tray" is new and it confused me at first but I think you covered it well. It’s sort of like the “library” where the game would store households and lots in Sims 3.

One thing I only recently learned is that it doesn't matter what the package files are named so long as the file extension (.package) is there and that they are in the correct folder(s). That resource.cfg file is just a text file telling the game where to look and what priority to give to the contents of the different folders. The game reads the header information and the embedded xml code out of every file in the specified folder(s) that have the expected file extension (.package) in order to determine what’s in them. You can safely rename one of those hexadecimal filenames to something you'll understand. And it helps to use some sort of naming convention so you can identify things by creator, type of object, etc.

I doubt that you're looking to promote any particular product out there, but it's a good idea to start using some sort of tool like TS4 Mod Manager to help keep custom content organized and backed up, with the ability to activate and deactivate package files (individually or in groups) easily, BEFORE going on a custom-content-binge.

Personally, I’m very weary of the free custom content out there. All it takes is one baaad little bit of it to ruin your day – and your current game. And bad objects propagate like viruses attached to the sims and lots that they get bundled into. No thanks. The content I pay for from EA isn’t always perfect or come in 25 flavors but it was made to fit the vision that they have for the evolution of this very young game. I remember early on in Sims 3 when some people decided it didn’t have all the right kinds of harvestables that they wanted, so they created, without the support of Maxis, incompatible things like Oranges and Bananas ahead of their time in order to fix the game that didn’t live up to their expectations yet.

It is a game of playing God, isn’t it?

[Carl]

It is a game of playing God, isn’t it?

Yes it is! I guess this does go all the way to the fact that we can make what we want in the games, from the innocent to the deplorable content that exists.

This is really good advice on the naming. I think people would appreciate knowing they can name things however they like, so long as .package is still there, so I'll mention it where I talk about making folders.

I'm not against informing people about the existence of Mod Manager, so I suppose I will. For people who end up with dozens of things downloaded, it's surely helpful.

Clothing, etc. is not as important to me so I basically had to find some content creators who look like they know what they're doing and were recommended elsewhere. I totally get where some people are coming from when they say they would rather just use what is offered by EA. In this case, without the store, it seems there might end up being less content available from them though. It is usually enough to satisfy me, since I did not need stuff packs before to be happy.

@Playalot thank you I will add Kijiko to the list If others have favorite CC creators they would like to give some exposure, I'm happy to put them on the list as well. Eventually, I will make a list of mods but think it's not a bad idea to wait a little longer. For one, people will put things in that EA may have plans to incorporate and I do not care to go back and remove those things from the mod list, and it will also give any fresh ones time for further development.

Edit: got those recommendations added to the guide and gave RandyH credit for the rename files tip.

[Crazylittleloon]

This is MUCH different than modding Skyrim. 

[Carl]

Yeah, modding Skyrim is much easier from the user's perspective. I suppose the mod manager we linked to might help with that, but it's nothing like using the Steam Workshop or Nexus Mod Manager to handle everything for you

[Crazylittleloon]

I usually install bigger Skyrim mods manually because the Nexus Mod Manager and I have a love-hate relationship. That's what you get when you run three operating systems on a computer that never really was good to begin with.

[Carl]

Ok now you've got my curiosity piqued, just what are the three OS? I've had a linux/windows setup in the past but never quite needed 3!

[Crazylittleloon]

I have Mac OS X, Windows 7, and MS-DOS. I have Mac OS X because my computer is a MacBook Air, Windows 7 so that I can play all of my other video games that I own, and MS-DOS because it came with SimCity 2000 when I got it.

I had a difficult first semester of college because my roommate at the time was a terrible person (but I got away from her and live alone now, so it's all good), so I finally got around to learning the ropes of how to work computers. I had Windows installed professionally, but I installed MS-DOS by myself, fixed a major hard drive failure and saved my computer, and I've beefed the poor thing up so much that my friends call it the "Frankentop."

[Carl]

I wasn't expecting that. Major respect for you installing DOS (and even more with working sound!). I didn't even know Simcity 2k came out for that. I remember the days of installing from floppies and how long that took. These days, I use DOS Box if I want to play something really old, but admittedly have moved on to the point that I doubt i'll ever use it again. Just too many games to play!

[Crazylittleloon]

I'm a junkie for old computer games. I got my first computer for Christmas of 1998 and I still have parts of it that I cannibalized for my current laptop. Most of the games I played back then won't work with anything on my current computer, but I have all five Elder Scrolls video games that get plenty of use.