Game guide:Installing custom content: Difference between revisions

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[[Custom content]] has always been a part of [[The Sims series|''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 (zip, RAR, and 7z), should read the section on [[Game guide:Installing custom content#Archive files|archive files]].

 

 

==The Sims==

It is best to [[Game guide:Installing custom content#Identifying file types|set Windows so that file extensions are always shown]]. When installing content for ''The Sims'', file icons and listed file types should '''not''' be considered reliable, as many of the extensions ''The Sims'' uses for custom content are also used by other programs, and those extensions may be associated with those programs.

 

 

Objects normally have the extension '''.iff''', but occasionally use '''.far''' . They are normally placed in:<br />

<code>C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Floors</code>

 

<code>C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\UserDataXX\Houses</code><br />

The XX is a two-digit number representing the neighborhood. For example, [[Neighborhood 1]] is

 

Players should note 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 always<br />

 

===Sims2pack files===

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

 

 

'''N.B.:''' Despite what Clean Installer's main page says about needing to install the .NET framework, this should '''not''' be necessary with Vista and later versions of Windows.

In ''The Sims 2'', it is not enough to install custom content correctly. It must be specifically enabled by way of a dialog that appears when the game loads. For players with ''Nightlife'' or later, or any stuff pack, this dialog will not appear unless it is enabled in [[Game option#The Sims 2 and Expansion Packs|Game Options]]. Also, custom [[buy mode]] and [[build mode]] objects will not appear in the catalogs unless the [[Game option#The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories|game option]] "Catalogs Display Custom Content" is set to '''On'''. Fortunately, these things only need to be done after the game is first installed, or after adding a new [[expansion pack]] or stuff pack.

 

 

==The Sims 3==

 

 

==The Sims 4==

Windows Vista, Windows 7/8, Mac:<code>Users\(Your User Account)\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\</code>

 

 

Most content uses the '''.package''' extension, though the format is different from that used in ''The Sims 2'' and ''The Sims 3''. As in ''The Sims 2'', installing package files is simply a matter of placing them in the Mods folder, or a sub-folder of it; there is no need to do anything to the files other than place them. However, the archive file should not be placed in the Tray folder.

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

 

 

==Archive files==

''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 zip files in the Mods folder, it also appears to expect anything in them to be part of a script mod. Therefore, when downloading any Sims content other than a script mod for ''The Sims 4'', the archive files should '''not''' be downloaded to any game folder, but can be downloaded to any non-program folder the player chooses. Also, it is not necessary to keep the archive files once the custom content files have been extracted; they can be deleted or moved to an external storage device such as a thumb drive.

 

 

==Identifying file types==

==Notes==

<references />

[[Category:The Sims game guides]]

[[Category:The Sims 2 game guides]]