Advice for sorting out which mods to install

[Sojourner]

I'm a little confused by all that I've read here and elsewhere.  So any advice would be helpful, mostly I don't want to end up with stuff that conflicts or duplicates function.

I have a 2.7 GHz quad core with 6 GB RAM which I had been thinking was plenty powerful enough but maybe not as someone suggested to someone else with a faster CPU, more RAM, and a better video card (mines ATI Radeon 3400 series) that they couldn't run Story progression.

Should I be considering upgrading my RAM?  I always meant to upgrade the video card but not sure I can afford that right now.  I did try running Sims on my son's computer but was actually experiencing MORE lag there with his faster system and better Video card which I assume may be related to how he has it configured - so I basically just stopped trying to run it in there.  Besides which it's not really a very portable game anyway. 

Anyway I think system RAM is pretty cheap right now, and I'm pretty sure (though not positive) that I made them install the RAM at build time so I could just add instead of having to replace it all ... but I think I'd have to crack the case to check (which I ought to do anyway to add a half-terabyte HD in anyway)

My goals are basically improved game play and better organization overall.

To that end I've seen several ways mentioned to control bloat - I'm pretty sure some of these are really needed and some just duplicate function, and some I'm not sure are still safe since they seem to have been abandoned (I don't think any of Delphy's stuff has been upgraded in over a year, maybe going on 2 now):

PS3e
Delphy's Dashboard
CUSTARD
CC Magic
Twallon's Packer?

I have Delphy's multi installer though I'm not sure I've been using it correctly (do you have to turn simsPack3 files into .package files or not?  It seems I've seen it both ways ...)

I have more custom content than I thought, but most of it I don't load up all the time.  The stuff I do use regularly are Nouks braid, Nouk's wavy hair, a bunch of stuff related to glass floors, doors, walls, and whatnot, some stuff for spiral staircases and half-landings - most of this is stuff I thought should have come with the game.  I have a whole SLEW of landscaping plants I'd like to add in but haven't yet in the interests of (1) figuring the game out overall first, and particularly with regard to landscaping and (2) not turning my game into a buggy mess because I have 200 plants loaded up. 

I have some elder and kid's clothing because there's next to nothing in the game and I'm nowhere near ready to start churning out meshes on my own for that.  But the idea of being able to load custom content selectively is very attractive to me, so I can mess around with some of the available CC for furniture and some architectural stuff without impacting my mainline games unless and until I'm ready to include some of that more permanently.

I also have fairly ambitious plans to recreate the proper settings for the Taj Mahal set and the palace at Udaivilas set, both of which are extensive and not needed cluttering up my main game lines.

So something to keep all that stuff organized is really necessary.  It seems like CC Magic is almost a requirement for me but I'm a bit concerned that it hasn't been updated in over a year, maybe 2.

What are your recommendations for keeping things organized and compacted? 

Then for game play, Twallon mods suggested here:

Animator - I'm not really sure what this does, but it doesn't seem to be anything that would enhance my game play - I don't think I need it

AntiMagicScroll - I'm not sure of the advantage to this?  What difference does it make whether a recipe disappears after I learn it?

Careers - This sounds interesting, if I understand it correctly - it expands jobs available?  But I didn't understand the download instructions:  to "download the Base Mods for this first ... if you ever intend to download Custom Careers" - what's "the Base Mods" and what is "CUSTOM Careers" (as opposed to just "Careers")

Consigner - Fixes issues with the Consignment Store and allows you to sell more items.  Question being - what's the "Consignment Store"?

DebugEnabler - Unlocks Debugging commands to fix corrupted, stuck, or otherwise harmed Sims. Debug Commands are created by EA.  What would I do with this as I don't understand what "debugging commands" are?  If I just install ErrorTrap is there any real need for me to have this?

Decensor - absolutely see no need for this.  I REALLY don't need to watch Sims peeing in all the gory detail!

Dreamer - This sounds interesting - do I understand correctly that it will get rid of the 4 hour decay for unselected wishes even for active Sims? 

Dresser - I don't see the need for this - I already control what MY Sims wear so I don't care if town sims wear stuff I don't like - am I missing some advantage to this?

ErrorTrap - If I understand correctly most people consider this a MUST HAVE - so unless someone tells me otherwise I'm assuming I should have it too.

GoHere - I guess this fixes some glitches so I should probably get it?

HomeOpener - not being able to see inside (and finding my Sim is hidden by building parts) is fairly annoying, so I think I'd like this one unless there's some reason not to

MasterController - this apparently comes in 4 parts and I don't understand what the differences are.  Also something was said about one or more parts requiring Story Progression, which I would like to have but have some inkling my system may not be powerful enough to handle, so any help sorting this out would be most appreciated.

Mover - I don't care about this one as I don't see the need to fill the neighborhood with gigantic families.  8 seems like MORE than enough to me, so I'd pass on this one if at all possible.  I WOULD like to have the capability of having a teen without having to have his parents - is Mover required if you already have Master Controller?

NoCD - I've got digital version so no advantage here

OnceRead - this sounds like a good idea too, assuming it's not going to increase the load on my system much (doesn't sound like it should)

Overwatch - This is another one that seems like a no-brainer to go ahead and have.

Packer is more like S3PE - What is Packer? 

Porter - I don't think I've played long enough for this to give me an advantage, if it only applies across "worlds", unless I'm misunderstanding what a "neighborhood" is - I thought the terms were interchangeable.  Would this fix it so I could switch active Sims within the same world (Sunset Valley for example) without losing their connections, wishes, etc?

PortraitPanel - again, not an issue - I don't need gigantic families

Register - Sims who perform roles (Tattoo artists, Stylists, Bouncers etc) can keep their role and have careers. You can also choose who you want to perform roles around town.  I don't understand what this does at all.  What's the advantage here?

Relativity - Alters the passing of time in game. If this means that it will no longer take an hour for my Sim to walk up the stairs, and they don't have to spend 2 hours on the toilet or in the tub, I'm all for it!

RelationshipPanel This is another one I don't understand what advantage it gives you, if any.

Retuner - Ditto, don't understand what this does.

Saver - Probably should have?  I tend to play for HOURS at a time.

SecondImage - Again, despite the description give, still no clue what this does

Selector - yet again, no clue here.

Shooless - don't care, don't see a need to bother with it.

SleepFreedom - This one actually sort of creeps me out.  I'll pass.

StoryProgression - this one I'd REALLY like to have - may I?  Please?

Tempest - Probably not.  I'm just as happy to see my sims in a happy sunny world all the time, at least for now.

Traffic - it says you need another mod to enable this, but it didn't say which one.  Also, do you need Late Night installed for this to work?  I don't think I care all THAT much about it, but if my machine can't handle Story Progression I'm kinda thinking it can't handle this either ...

Traveler - again, I don't get this one - I assume you have to have more than one "world" installed for it to work and right now I'm lucky to manage Sunset Valley.  Is this something that helps if you're simultaneously playing in more than one neighborhood?

Vector - Disease introduced into my world?  No, thank you!

Woohooer - eww, no, please!

WrittenWord - I'd really REALLY like to have this one.  It seems like such a shame for all those books my Sims are generating to just disappear... to bad we can't get something similar for paintings as well ...

I hope that's not too long, but probably it is.  FORGIVE!  And please help me straighten myself out on all this.

[cndneh]

AntiMagicScroll - I'm not sure of the advantage to this?  What difference does it make whether a recipe disappears after I learn it?

Consigner - Fixes issues with the Consignment Store and allows you to sell more items.  Question being - what's the "Consignment Store"?

Decensor - absolutely see no need for this.  I REALLY don't need to watch Sims peeing in all the gory detail!

Dresser - I don't see the need for this - I already control what MY Sims wear so I don't care if town sims wear stuff I don't like - am I missing some advantage to this?

ErrorTrap - If I understand correctly most people consider this a MUST HAVE - so unless someone tells me otherwise I'm assuming I should have it too.

HomeOpener - not being able to see inside (and finding my Sim is hidden by building parts) is fairly annoying, so I think I'd like this one unless there's some reason not to

MasterController - this apparently comes in 4 parts and I don't understand what the differences are.  Also something was said about one or more parts requiring Story Progression, which I would like to have but have some inkling my system may not be powerful enough to handle, so any help sorting this out would be most appreciated.

Overwatch - This is another one that seems like a no-brainer to go ahead and have.

Relativity - Alters the passing of time in game. If this means that it will no longer take an hour for my Sim to walk up the stairs, and they don't have to spend 2 hours on the toilet or in the tub, I'm all for it!

Saver - Probably should have?  I tend to play for HOURS at a time.

StoryProgression - this one I'd REALLY like to have - may I?  Please?

Traveler - again, I don't get this one - I assume you have to have more than one "world" installed for it to work and right now I'm lucky to manage Sunset Valley.  Is this something that helps if you're simultaneously playing in more than one neighborhood?

I only know some of them so I can help out with a few.

AntiMagicScroll - once you learn a recipe/music the book vanishes and other family members have to buy it again to learn it.  This stops it from happening and then you can add it to your book shelf like other skill books.  I like it, not necessary if you've got a ton of money and can buy books whenever.

Consigner - the consignment store comes with AMBITIONS expansion pack (also Supernatural has a type of consignment store) you take stuff there and give it to the shop keeper to sell.  This mod makes it so you can sell just about anything at the consignment store Paintings, Sculptures, inventions (which were all normal selling items) gemstones, potions, written books, bugs, fish, fruits/veggies, flowers etc.

Decensor - no you don't need it, but some people like to see them in their 'birthday suit'

Dresser - not necessary  I like it to get rid of horrible hairstyles or the speedo and flippers that shows up for athletic wear.   

Errortrap - recommended.

Homeopener - love it, but I've heard it messes with the "trick-or-treat" interaction that came with the SEASONS expansion pack.

MasterController - recommend it.

Overwatch - recommend it.

Relativity - great you can turn night time into 5 minutes and day much longer... so now the kids have time to go to school, after school activity, homework, eat, shower AND play before bed.

Saver - best thing ever.  Mine prompts me to save every 20 minutes and I save under 4 different names (sunset 1, sunset 2, sunset 3, sunset 4) then if the game glitches, crashes or breaks I've saved recently and not on top of a previous same.

Story progression - awesome!

Traveler - allows you to treat other worlds like those in WORLD ADVENTURES expansion pack.  You can live in Sunset Valley and vacation in Bridgeport, Riverview, Monte Vista etc.  Example - Your Sims can then go to Bridgeport to learn bar-tending instead of you having to build a nightclub/bar in your hometown.

I don't know if any of that helped.  I would download those that you think you want (storyprogression, saver etc) and see how it goes

[NonaMena]

Every program you've listed, including CCMagic, is safe to use   However, some of them are only necessary if you want to poke around in package files. CC Magic was actually updated about 6 months ago, and Grant is currently working on a new and improved version, it just got delayed because his real life has been too stressful.

As for discussion about Sims3pack versus packages, it's really a user preference. I personally only install Store content as Sims3 packs because I greatly dislike the launcher and find it difficult to organize my content with it. However, using packages means you might give yourself more work because you'll end up having to either merge the packages yourself or learn how to use CC Magic (which some people find a little overwhelming). There is a discussion about this at Simlogical, so take from that what you will: http://www.den.simlogical.com/denforum/index.php?topic=1647.0

I don't know what to recommend for you because I don't know how comfortable you are with third party programs, but I can tell you what I do:

• I only install Store content as Sims3packs. Any other Sims3packs are installed through CC Magic. CC Magic extracts the package file from the Sims3Pack and merges it with my other packages for me.
• I use Custard and the Delphy's Multi-Installer whenever I want to check lots that I've downloaded.
• I use Delphy's Dashboard to scan my Mods\Packages folder for duplicates, conflicts and corrupt packages. Some people scan their entire Sims 3 Folder with it. See: Understanding Mod and CC Conflicts with Delphy's Dashboard
• I use S3PE to make mods, tune other people's mods, and check the inside of some custom content or lots etc.
• I generally don't use Packer, but that's because I don't need it. It's a good package editor if you only want to alter tuning files like the ones for Twallan's mods (or for Buzzler's mods, or my mods)

As for NRaas mods, I use nearly all of them, but I don't use HomeOpener, or Relativity. Personal preference

[Pam]

• I only install Store content as Sims3packs. Any other Sims3packs are installed through CC Magic. CC Magic extracts the package file from the Sims3Pack and merges it with my other packages for me.

I took a peek at this and it looks like third party custom content, not a mod.  Please be aware that, while we do allow discussions about mods, we do not allow discussion or links for third party custom content.  If this is indeed CC, please remove the link from your post.  Thanks very much.

[TheTripWasInfraGreen]

CC Magic is a program for organizing custom content, but it's not CC itself.

[NonaMena]

Indeed, CC Magic is a program used for organizing all kinds of custom content (sims3pack/packages), whether they are mods or objects/clothes/accessories etc. It automates the process of merging package files, which one would otherwise have to merge manually with S3PE. It is not actual content for the game.

Edit: Whoops. I seem to have linked a wrong thread about sims3pack vs. package discussion. Try this: http://www.den.simlogical.com/denforum/index.php?topic=1565.0

[MoMoll]

Just to add to what has already been responded to:

Custom careers are mods made by others. but, you need the base-mod to get them to work. I have a modelling one I downloaded.

Traveller, as mentioned, lets you visit any world you have downloaded. It also fixes bugs from travelling, such as missing fish, etc. when your sim returns home.

Mover has fixes some of the glitches people were having with married sims not moving in together. I also find it handy when moving someone out because you can use "free relestate" to get them home. great when your married kids need a place to live and don't have enough money.

Mastercontroller, Errortrap, Overwatch, traveller and Story Progression are a MUST have for me. My game is so much more enjoyable with them.

Retuner, I'm just starting to fiddle with since it deals with tuning. You should read what is dicussed on the NRaas site, where people ask questions. I have gotten some info about retuner and am going to give it a shot. That and CCMagic.

Tempest I will be downloading soon. I want some worlds not to have winter (Egypt) and I want to decrease the amount and intensity of rainstorms.

[Seabody]

Don't download Packer if you're not planning to go into .package files. If you don't want to make a Mod, don't download it. If you do, then by all means download it. It's also useful to merge package files, which (as I understand it) reduce lag.
If you're focused on reducing Lag, then I recommend you download these Mods from twallan: ErrorTrap, Overwatch, Saver (will make you save more often, so if something does go wrong, you can recover easily)

[NonaMena]

Well, packer is useful if you want to edit the various tuning files for NRaas mods, or other creators's mods (many of my script mods have optional tuning files). In fact, in my tutorial about creating invalid parts tuning, I use packer. I just find that it is not really worth it for someone to download and use s3pe if they only want to make invalid parts tuning.