General TS3 Gameplay Tips

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Intro/Thread Concept:

This is an idea I've had for a long while, having a place to collect various tips that aren't necessarily limited to any specific mod (there's enough info on Passion/KW in those mods' download threads).

I'd rather this not turn into a repeating of info, but I'd also like it to slowly grow to a fairly complete list of tips. My hope is that we might all be able to learn something from each other.

Edit: Apologies in advance (at least for further readers) for any opinionated comments/posts that may come out of this OP. I'm striving to do better, so feel free to PM me ways to make delivery better.

That said, what are some things you've learned over the months/years/decades of playing TS3? Do you have a base set of mods you can't live without? Do you have a save-strategy? Do you find doing X or Y is better than Z? Have you learned to never do A, B, or C? Have you tested out various game options?

Edit: Some of the posts had this article (or, rather, the more popular song based on it) as inspiration. The meter and choice of words I used failed to reflect such inspiration, but it was there. (also trying to lighten the mood a bit)

ToC:

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Biggest tip I could ever suggest is: make backups!

Definitions:

"program directory":

C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\

etc.

"game directory":

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\

"save directory" or "saves" or "save game":

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves\_______

My preference is to use a completely separate drive for backups (whether that is internal, external, or network storage will depend on your own system setup/skill/budget).

I keep a complete* copy of the program directory as well as a rolling** copy of the complete game directory and a separate*** backup of all saves.

Quote

*complete = everything, select folder, do copy, go to target location, do paste... or even better, select folder, right-click, choose Add to "The Sims 3.7z"

**rolling = copy folder, then use a directory comparison/synchronization tool to copy the changed files every day/few days. Really geeky would be to use something like rsync, robocopy, xcopy. I personally use "Beyond Compare" or rsync, depending on backup target.

update: After some further research, it looks like the best Windows-y command prompt (batch file friendly) command would be robocopy. It looks to be a near drop-in replacement for xcopy, which is older and more limited.

***separate = I don't keep all past saves in the game directory. There are purported performance issues if you keep do. (See this thread for some info: https://www.nraas.net/community/chatterbox/topic8200)

Saves: I use NRaas Saver to remind me to save, and to auto-increment the save folder name. You could do the same with an egg-timer and use "save as". Currently I've got it set to prompt saving every hour of real-world time. But found sometimes I needed to drop that to every 45-minutes. I also keep everything.

Benefits of keeping "all" saves (or, at least a very large number) that I've found:

I can go back to do a timeline branch, if the game starts going in a direction I don't like
I can go back and recover a lot/outfit/sim, that is later lost to time
I can go back and check settings, if I later make changes and start wondering why things aren't working as "expected"
I can go back and figure out what the heck I did to break the current world

Other views on this: https://www.nraas.net/community/post73735?sid=b04ef1eb448e5945cff74a838c28305f#p73735

Most of the time, I wind up having to go back a week or two to get to where I had the ___ I was looking for or remembering. If I only kept 4 saves, I'd barely be able to get back to breakfast of the current day. But I've also been running TS3 anywhere from 8-20 hours a day, almost every day, for the last 2 years. A save an hour for 8 hours, but only keeping 4, wouldn't even get me "yesterday".

NRaas Saver does also give the ability (or it claims to) to save in build/buy mode. I personally don't trust that feature enough to try it out. So I wind up exiting build mode often to do a save.

edit: Oh, and if you ever try using rsync to synchronize backups between computers... or to a backup server... be extremely careful of using the --delete option. :'( 2+ years of backups. Gone. In one swift stroke of the 'enter' key. le sigh.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Memory:

There's a theoretical maximum for any 32-bit application of 3.7 GB of memory usage (per multiple sources).

It's been my own personal experience that the game starts to have issues when it reaches 2900 MB memory usage, and that it's pretty much "guaranteed" to either crash or cause save errors (err12) when it hits 3200 MB memory usage at any time, for any length of time (even a second). There have been a very rare number of times that I have been able to successfully save while at (or slightly above) the 3200 MB level, but those are usually elicit pure shock of amazement that it actually saved instead of erroring out.

It's for this experience, that I always keep Task Manager running -- and visible -- on a 2nd screen when I have TS3 running. I didn't for a long while, and then would get caught off guard by save errors or crashes. And, no, having 64 GB of system memory (like I do) is irrelevant when it comes to old 32-bit programs, like TS3. (The extra memory just helps with having the ability to run TS3, a browser, music player, video player, and several other programs, all at the same time. The "why so much" is I deal with large photos, and have actually ran out of memory on some Photoshop operations with only Photoshop running. Ever try stitching together 40+ full res photos? Takes a lot of system resources.)

Edit: If you've been using computers to play games since the DOS days, then you probably remember having to edit your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to change/control what was loaded to make it possible to run certain games. Some required the CD drive, so that driver had to be loaded, others needed more memory, so you had to not load drivers like that (CD drive). Some required the mouse, others wanted more memory so you had to give up your mouse as well. It was a balancing act that sometimes just wasn't winnable. Back then, there was only 640 KB of memory. (1.5-ten-thousandths of the limit TS3 has.) But there's still the need to do a "balancing act" with TS3. Choosing which mods you use, what combination of mods, how many sims, how big of a resolution, how much detail, how many objects, how detailed the lots are, how big or detailed your world is, all factors in. If you have trouble with crashes or save errors, it's a good indicator that you need to compromise somewhere. Add something big, you might need to remove a few small things, or another big thing.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Mods (part 1):

I've found that it is "better" to actually know what version of mod X you have installed, than to have to either guess or remember separately. So, if a mod is not released with an actual version number in either the package name or (for mods that are archives containing multiple packages) archive name, I'll rename the package/folder name to retain the version info.

Why is this important? If you ever need support, you'll be asked what version you are using. If your game isn't even starting, and you were only relying on being able to look at version info in-game, how are you going to know you are remembering the right info -- so you can get the right help?

Also, it helps with quickly being able to replace a collection with a new version. For example: KW has had a few releases, over the years, that added packages for temporary fixes. If you only ever unzipped to the same folder, then you'll have to manually remember to remove those packages when they're later removed. If, however, you use the archive name for the folder name, you can just remove the old folder and pop in the new one, and know that you have all the correct files for that mod. Trusting "unzip" and "overwrite" is, well, something that probably bit me on the ass several times over the decades.

If you're scared of opening cmd.exe, don't read this.

Spoiler

What I've come to do, since I like being able to have a copy of my game for testing various incompatible mods, but also not have to "waste" drive space by having many copies of the same "base" mods, is to make use of the "mklink" command-line tool to make symbolic links to where my "base" mods are.

This required a bit of testing, research, reading, and altering of the Resource.cfg file that floats around.

So, my Mods folder is like this:






<DIR>          Overrides
<DIR>          Packages
<DIR>          Probation
<SYMLINK>      Resource.cfg [C:\Games\Electronic Arts\Mods\Resource.cfg]
<SYMLINKD>     Shared [C:\Games\Electronic Arts\Mods\Shared]
<DIR>          Test

"Shared" looks like this:






<DIR>          Overrides
<DIR>          Packages
<DIR>          Probation
<DIR>          Test

"<DIR>" is a real directory

"<SYMLINK>" is a symbolic link to a real file

"<SYMLINKD>" is a symbolic link to a real directory

When it comes to actual disk space usage, a symbolic link is basically only going to be a pointer size (4k minimum block size for NTFS formatted drives)... might be "technically" different, but think this "4k x 3 vs 2gb x 3" and you'll see why I did this... hopefully.

The "C:\Games\Electronic Arts" folder is a personal file organization strategy.

Spoiler

I've been dealing with computers since long before I had Windows, and definitely longer than "My Documents" (or, now, "Documents") existed. So I personally loathe any company sticking anything that is not actually a document in "My Documents". A also ? hate that Microsoft ever tried forcing saving into one location. Us users should have control and be able to think on our own. But, whatever... if you don't have such a visceral response to big brother-esque corporate standardization, then pretend that is in the "Documents" folder. ?

My Resource.cfg is here -- for reference only. If you don't go the same route as what I have, you'll not need this, but it'll (hopefully) shed some light on what things mean if you see a heavily modified version. (disclaimer bs: you use this & f-up your game, don't come crying to me. there's plenty of info out there on what each of the lines in that file mean. But, it probably isn't gonna f-up anyone's game... just know you can figure out how to fix it yourself. If not, see earlier post in this thread about backups. [I hate feeling the need to have to add disclaimers.])

Resource.cfg

Some changes:

I increased the tree depth to (IIRC) 10 sub-directories. I think the "normal" one that's floating around only had 4 or 5 levels. (NOTE: there's the potential that this could cause issues, as 32-bit applications have a shorter "maximum filename" limit than modern applications.)
I added in the ability to load mods from the above shown "Shared" folder.

Some explanations:

PackedFile is a directory snippet from underneath "Mods" and is (yay! go EA!) written using the forward-slashes of UNIX, not the "backslashes" of Windows.
Priority is a number that is supposed to tell the game engine which version of a "resource" (akd thing inside a package file) will win if it finds the same thing in multiple locations. Higher number wins.

So, for mine (and I think I'm gonna change this, but will need to re-test), it will look in this order:

Probation *
Shared/Probation *
Test
Shared/Test
Packages
Shared/Packages
Overrides
Shared/Packages

And for each of those, it will look in progressively deeper directories for any package files.

* I've got some questions regarding to whether the negative priority assigned to the Probation folders would still allow the game to find/load packages in that folder, or if it would actively prevent loading those. I think it would just mean that any base-game (meaning from EA) resources would win, if the mod was "modifying" an existing resource, but that if it was a "new" resource (meaning from the mod dev, like some of KW's resources, for instance), then it would still be loaded. But I've not tested this theory yet.

What the "*.package" part means, in reality, is that if you want to quickly "turn off" a mod, (while game isn't running) all you need to do is rename that package file to something other than ".package". How the Sims3Dashboard (https://modthesims.info/d/387006/testers-wanter-sims-3-dashboard-tool-updated-20th-june-2011-v1-2-4167-38743.html) does it, is to add ".disabled" to the end of the filename. I tend to use the same idea if I manually "disable" a package. Just saves me from having to physically move it elsewhere.

What I am considering changing is to swap the ordering of loading Shared vs game-directory-specific packages, to put the Shared ones loaded 1st. I might also adjust the priorities to put the Shared resources at a slightly lower priority.

And if you wanna know more about the things inside that file, read this: http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Sims_3:Resource.cfg

The "autoupdate" line sounded intriguing, but I just couldn't quite seem to get it to do what it sounded like it was meant to do (per that wiki page). What I was hoping for, was the ability to be able to add packages to my Mods folder without having to restart the game, much the same way as we're able to add things via the launcher while the game is running.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Mods (part 2):

Continuing previous post, here's how I structure my Packages folder. (If you read the spoiler in the previous post, these are my "Shared" packages. If you didn't, these are the "base" mods that I use in every game directory.

Spoiler

mods.png.776372a2f608a8d3a3e57ff6d52b3488.png

The "play.*" directories (highlighted in yellow) are the intended main focus of this post.

But I'll take a quick moment to explain the others. (Turned long, so... spoiler!)

Spoiler

The "jdw_custom_tweaks..." packages are from me getting tired of tuning mod creators having good ideas, but either conflicting with other tuning mods, or just not quite using tuning values I'd prefer them do. (The 'values' aspect is why some mod creators have multiple versions of their tuning mods. I've used their work as inspiration, but made each and every resource change [1214 current count] myself, most of these were from finding the tuning files and testing the changes myself. By comparison, there's 9855 resources in GameplayData, which means I've altered about 12% of my game from how EA released it.

The directories starting with "sims" are various parts used by the sims I have installed in my game. These are mostly downloaded sims (I'm not really a huge fan of CAS, since it just feels like it was poorly written with lots of memory leaks, that cause crashes or save errors. I'm also lazy and have the creative imagination of a programmer. ) I just spent 2 months re-finding all the "required" stuff I had downloaded a year or two ago, some of it is starting to be hard to find. (Some sites were Flash-based, and Adobe killed off Flash Player at the start of the year, so even if I do find an archived copy of those sites, they don't work w/o a lot of technical hoop jumping.)

Due to how hard it was to organize the CC, a tip is to keep the CC used for any sims separate from the CC you just think looks cute, but isn't actually used. This way, if you start having memory issues (or drive space issues) you can delete some of the unused CC w/o having issues w/ your sims the next time you load your game.

Another tip is to examine any downloaded ".sim" file (in s3pe -- http://simlogical.com/s3pe.htm) to "extract to package" anything that isn't technically part of a sim... SIME, SIMO, SNAP, and sometimes _XML are all that a .sim should have, everything else is a piece of CC, skin, hair, etc. and I personally believe there's less issues to have those loaded in an actual package out of the Mods folder than having it "side loaded" in a sim. (Also prevents the spread of "bad CC" by each of us taking a hard-line check-it-ourselves stance on anything.)

The "lots" and "worlds" folders have things specific to an installed lot or world. This started to work well, until I hit the same stuff used in multiple lots/worlds, so I've put all "common" items in the "build", "objects", and "clothing" folders. Currently I've got a directory layer for the creator. Examples: "clothing\LadySmoks" or "build\Cyclonesue". When a year or two goes by, you'll start forgetting who/what/where and so embedding that info in your Mod directory structure will help in time. Some creators didn't use filenames that had their username in them, or had initials that could be shared w/ multiple creators, so if the need to find where you got something arises, you'll spend less time googling if you have a folder named, for instance "MTS_Yogi-Tea_1263141_Lowered-Elevator-Shaft", than if you just had something named "Lowered-Elevator-Shaft". (I really wish LL would prefix all downloads with LL, like MTS does, but, well, can't have everything.)

As you might be able to guess from "play", the mods here are things that affect game play (vs being objects for CAS or build/buy modes).

I've found it helpful to separate out by "type" of mod (so I can find things later, or, at least know what I was thinking when I added some mod). So I've classified things as follows:

"fixes" (things that are intended to "fix" EA bugs/mistakes -- e.g., "MTS_simsi45_1707374_Halfwallsfixed-all" which "fixes" the way the half wall railing connects at the ends, especially horrid at right angles).

"annoyances" (things that remove EA stupidity that was either overdone or designed to attract a much younger audience -- e.g., NoBuildSparkles.package, EsmeraldaF_NoCoughingWhileEating_Patch1.38-SN_version.package, and a ton of things from Twoftmama to remove music/noise, and evolublock_hunger_annimation_correction.package).

"enhancements" (things that make game play more enjoyable, or add in niceties -- e.g., Jynx_LN_RabbitHole-Rugs-PetsFix and velocitygrass_AddAnyLotSize.package)

"scripts" (non-tuning/non-object mods that provide additional functionality -- e.g., MTS_icarus_allsorts_1683625_icarusallsorts.Transmogrifier)

"helpers" (basically library mods used by other things -- e.g., Nona_SuperHamperScript.package or "MASSAGETABLE-NEEDED-FILE_if-you-don't-own-the-EAStore-object.package")

"nraas" (all the mods from nraas.net, either things originally from Twallan or Ani_ and are now maintained by NRaas Industries -- full list below)

Full list of which NRaas mods I use. As I think I mentioned above, I rename things to include version numbers. There's so many of these, and there's only 1 package per zip file, that it just got messy to "unzip to archive folder using file name". So I manually moved the version number into the package file name. If you look closely, you'll see a few "*.package.disabled" files in there. Those are from grabbing newer "testing-only" releases and making it easier to find those, as well as pull them out if my game went horribly sideways with the updates. I think I grayed all of them out. The ones I find more "important" I've marked in yellow. Should be obvious that if I'm actually using it, I think it's necessary, but I realize not everyone has the same goals as me, so you might find you "need" some I didn't highlight.

Spoiler

NRaas_AntiMagicScroll_V9.package
NRaas_Careers_Homemaker_V67.package
NRaas_Careers_Mobster_V79.package.disabled
NRaas_Careers_PartTime_V61.package
NRaas_Careers_School_V66.package
NRaas_Careers_SelfEmployed_V66.package
NRaas_Careers_Tones_V66.package
NRaas_Careers_Unemployed_V66.package
NRaas_Careers_V88a.package
NRaas_DebugEnabler_V54.package
NRaas_Decensor_V14.package (TBH, there's some other mods that do similar, I just prefer using NRaas mods where possible)
NRaas_Dreamer_NoTimeOutTuning.package
NRaas_Dreamer_V15.package
NRaas_Dresser_V38.package
NRaas_ErrorTrap_IgnoreList.package
NRaas_ErrorTrap_P167_V100_Steam.package (I have the Steam distro of the game, so I needed the Steam version of this, as it is a Core mod, DLLs needed to match up correctly otherwise the game wouldn't start. If you don't have Steam's version of the game, you'll have a different version of this.)
NRaas_ErrorTrap_Tuning_DisableDereferencing.package
NRaas_ErrorTrap_Tuning_DisableLogCounts.package
NRaas_GoHere.package.disabled
NRaas_GoHere_Tuning.package
NRaas_GoHere_V45.package
NRaas_Hybrid_V10.package.disabled
NRaas_Hybrid_V11.package
NRaas_MasterController_Cheats_V134.package
NRaas_MasterController_Integration_V134.package
NRaas_MasterController_Progression_V134.package
NRaas_MasterController_V134.package.disabled (this is probably the version you want to use, unless you liked what they recently changed)
NRaas_MasterController_V135a.package
NRaas_Mover_V28.package
NRaas_NoCD_V1.package (needed to stop showing the list of installed mod scripts at game start unless you actually bought the disc version of the game)
NRaas_OnceRead_Tablet_V13.package
NRaas_OnceRead_V13.package
NRaas_Overwatch_V123b.package.disabled
NRaas_Overwatch_V123c.package
NRaas_PocketProtectorPotionCase.package
NRaas_PocketProtectorTablet.package
NRaas_Porter_V42.package
NRaas_PortraitPanel_V33.package
NRaas_Register_V81.package
NRaas_RelationshipPanel_V20.package
NRaas_Relativity_V23.package
NRaas_Saver_V21.package
NRaas_SecondImage_V5.package
NRaas_Selector_V13.package
NRaas_SleepFreedom_V21.package (TBH, there's some other mods that do similar, I just prefer using NRaas mods where possible)
NRaas_StoryProgression_Career_V269c.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_Extra_V266.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_Money_V269c.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_Population_V269c.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_Relationship_V267.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_Skill_V269c.package
NRaas_StoryProgression_V269.package.disabled (this is probably the version you want to use, unless you liked what they recently changed)
NRaas_StoryProgression_V269d.package
NRaas_Tempest_V15.package
NRaas_Traffic_V21.package
NRaas_Traveler_V88.package
NRaas_WrittenWord_V10.package

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Mods (part 3):

If you've never modded your game, then it's imperative that you get your Mods folders et up correctly and know that your game is actually loading & using mods correctly, before even attempting to move on to much more complex mods (like NRaas StoryProgression, Passion, KW). That's why many of the "how to mod TS3" posts out there recommend starting with something like ellacharmed_nointromaxis.package () that kills all the intro "crap". Starting with something like this is good for 2 reasons: 1) you know almost instantly if your Mods folder structure is correct & the game can load your mods; and 2) you get to the menu so you can actually start the game much much much quicker. If you start & still see the ? startup animations & logos, then you need to go back to the beginning & reread & recheck where you put things.

Hey! It happens! I misunderstood what they were trying to say wherever I read the "how-to" guide that I read a couple years ago.

Spoiler

Comes from non-programmers misusing programming terms "framework" is a set of programming libraries and methodologies, not just a directory structure and config file, but, well... apparently that became what it's called... SMH. Still threw me off when "they" were explaining things. Actual frameworks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Framework, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AngularJS. But I digress...

I don't look at LL as a "how to mod" site, but more of a "I know how to mod, so I want to add in XXX" site, but, well... there's tons of posts of people wanting XXX that haven't read the other sites... soooo... this thread was born partly to address this apparent need. But since there's a ton of info elsewhere...

Go read these (more you read, the better you will understand it, so, yes, read multiple, it'll help):

Spoiler

https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=9187.0

https://www.lyncconf.com/install-sims-3-mods/

http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Installing_Sims_3_Package_Files/Setup_and_Files

https://svsims.wordpress.com/other/custom-content/how-to-install-package-files/

https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Installing_Sims_3_Package_Files

https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Installing_Sims_3_Package_Files/Setup_and_Files

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Limiting "Bad CC", Conflicts, etc. (aka: what to check before installing/using something you downloaded):

Base info, read these:

Spoiler

https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/custom-content-cc/bad-cc

https://findingbadccsims3.blogspot.com/

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/HOW-TO-Find-and-remove-bad-custom-content-CC/td-p/2759940

For Sims3Packs:

Spoiler

Check the pack with Sims3Pack Cleaner (https://modthesims.info/d/390235)
Extract/Unpack the Sims3Pack with either s3su (https://sourceforge.net/projects/sims3tools/files/s3su/) or Delphy's Multi Extractor tool (https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=364038) -- I use s3su.
1. If you're expecting one piece of CC, but see several packages, that should be a huge heads-up that something unwanted is trying to tag along for the ride in your sims3pack. Check them all with s3pe (http://simlogical.com/s3pe.htm). Most of the time you can quickly find a "THUM" or "ICON" to get a picture of the CC in that package.
  Example:
  
  Spoiler
  
  You can also look in the "_XML" (with an Instance ID of all zeros) to see what the name/description of the item is.
  Example:
  
  Spoiler
2. If you're adventurous, learning how to recognize bad/unwanted things by looking at packages with s3pe is exceedingly useful. (An example is checking the "fallback to hex preview" output of any "UNKN" tagged files for "DBPF" towards the start of the output. That would be another package embedded inside the package you have open and is often unwanted. The Cleaner almost always catches these, I just like double-checking manually.)
If the Sims3Pack is a Sim, see below.

For Packages:

Spoiler

Put the package in the "Mods\Test" folder.
Check with Sims3Dashboard (http://www.modthesims.info/d/387006) -- More info, read this: https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/03/tutorial-delphys-dashboard.html
1. Filter for any Sims 2 Packages
2. Filter for any Conflicts
3. Filter for any Duplicates
4. Filter for any Corrupt Files
5. Refresh, then scroll down the list to look for any entries that are colored. (The Dashboard considers CC marked for "invalid" age combination "corrupt", but not so corrupt as to show those in the corrupt filter. These would be things like shoes marked for teen, young adult, and adult, since the teen and adult meshes aren't technically the same and could cause "odd" display "issues" in-game.)
6. Lastly, if you had any error popups when opening the Dashboard, that means some package is probably a Sims 4 package that the Dashboard just can't read. Unfortunately, the only way I've found at finding which it is (and this is why adding many at once is a bad idea), is to click to select the top package, and then hold the down arrow key down until you get the error popup again. Click the option that does not exit, then click the up arrow one at a time until you get the error again. That package you just selected is the bad one. Remove it. Oh, and go back out to where you downloaded it to re-read. If you're like me, you googled for something & completely missed that you wound up on a TS4 page.

For Sims:

Spoiler

If they're a Sims3Pack, do the above steps 1st.
Quite often you will have multiple package files after the unpack step. One of those packages will have SIME, SIMO, and SNAP tags (you'll see during the look inside the packages step). That package is really a ".sim" file.
Extract to package all non-Sim parts (as mentioned in previous post: SIME, SIMO, SNAP, and sometimes an _XML tagged file are all that should be in a .sim file, everything else should be extracted to a package and put in your Mods folder).
How I handled 90+ sims:
Unpacked the sims3pack files
Found the .sim file by checking all packages with s3pe.
Renamed that file from .package to .sim, and from the instance/group number filename to the name of the Sim. (Example: 0x0143134152351515235123513513.package to John_Doe.sim)
Extracted to package all the non-sim parts, named it the name of the Sim plus "_extracted" just so I knew how I got that package in a month when I wind up confused. (Example: John_Doe_extracted.package)
Put that package into Mods/Test/sims/{name of sim} along with all of the other packages, if any others existed. (Example: "Mods/Test/sims/John_Doe")
Check with Sims3Dashboard. Disable the duplicate packages (under Mods/Test/sims/{name of sim} that are skin/hair/CC I already have.
1. I wind up doing some extra stuff, like checking versions, file dates, and other stuff (below) for any conflicts that the Dashboard finds. Sometimes the "conflict" is simply that one version had different categories allowed than the other. (If you do the below and change the name, as suggested, then you'll know what the "conflict" is, if it's something you've already "fixed" and won't have to spend extra time checking.
Once the Dashboard shows no issues, I've been moving things around at that point. I started to have too many "commonly used" packages, so I gave up & created those "sims.hair", "sims.clothing", etc. directories, the major deciding factor of what goes in what directory came from the category shown in the Dashboard.
I then move the .sim file into {game directory}\SavedSims
(see below for world link) I then open up the game, create a new game, choose the "CAS" world, then "create household" and find the newly added sim, choose it, and then check that skin, hair, eyes, makeup, and all clothing categories, are error-free (aka: the skin isn't pure black -- an indication the skin package is not installed).
Archive off the original Sims3Pack, it's not needed, your Sim is fully installed at this point. And you've prevented any "bad CC" from tagging along with that Sim.

For CC (aka things that have CASP). This will prevent wanting to throw your mouse across the room when some Sim winds up wearing "stupid stuff".

Spoiler

Open the package in the CASTextureUnitool (https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=364926) -- more info here: http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Sims_3:Delphy's_CAS_Texture_Unitool
Arrow right twice/select "Part Category"
Look at the selections to make sure they actually make sense to you. (Dunno about you, but I find jeans as "naked" outfit evidence of a CC creator who was too lazy to bother to think.)
Correct any wrong category assignments, ages, gender, etc.
1. Seriously think about whether that piece of CC is something you want to allow random assignment or not, and make adjustments if needed.
2. Seriously think about whether that piece of CC is "revealing" or not, and make adjustments if needed.
3. Seriously think about the categories and make adjustments if needed.
4. This is also where'd you go to "fix" the age options (mentioned above), but you'd have to know if the CC creator created it initially for teens, and then added adults, or vice versa, as if you uncheck the wrong one (for the mesh they used -- the 1st tab on the left might show you enough info to know which is correct, but don't hold your breath that it will) then you'll still have the in-game display "oddness", it's just that the Dashboard won't show it as a conflict any longer.
Click "Commit"
Click File, then Save As, then add something to the file name so you'll remember you "fixed" that file. I add "_FIX" or "_fixed" to the end of the name (that'd be before ".package" of course).
Rename the original package to end in ".disabled" (that way you can undo your "fix" if it turns out to have caused other issues).
Check for issues with the Dashboard... you don't want to go and introduce issues, right? So it's best to check after any change to any file in your Mods folder.
If you use NRaas Dresser, and felt like you wanted to control random CC (above) be sure to change it to not ignore "random" flags. It sadly doesn't work 100%, but it does a good deal better than allowing it to always ignore that flag. (There might be something in NRaas Master Controller | Settings | General Settings | CAS that you'll need to check, as well.) Just know that Dresser's checks/limits don't apply to NRaas Register created NPCs for Role Sims. But if you have everything set correctly, you can click on the Role Sim, in-game, choose NRaas, Dresser, Check Outfits, and it'll remove the "invalid" parts and randomly choose a "correct" part... not 100% but a good 80-90% effective.

Those steps will prevent/deal with 90-99% of all bad/frustrating things before they get into your game. Sometimes things still slip through so you'll have to do a bit more:

Spoiler

Make a fresh backup of your game directory
Delete all but your base collection of mods (unless you really do want to see those Maxis/EA loading animations again)
Slowly add back in collections of CC until you can reproduce the issue. (This is another reason I like smaller, more category-based, directories of packages... if I have an issue with a piece of hair, I can focus on the hair directory, not all the others.)
Checking in a small, fast loading, world helps speed up this process. I love this world for that reason:
When you find the directory which contains the issue, remove half the files (don't worry, they're all backed up, right) and re-test until you find it. Sometimes, when it gets down to a couple handfuls of files, it's possible to guess which it is.
Remove that package, curse the name of the creator if it helps, figure out how to fix it, or find a "fixed" version elsewhere, but whatever you do, don't put it back into your game as-is. (Kinda would make all that time finding it a waste, right?)

And, yes, this all is boring-ass crap, but it's better to do it one or two at a time, as you add things, than to have several thousand files, one of which is causing an issue and then having to check all several thousand. (That was my January, BTW.)

The CC steps, in particular, can prevent a whole lot of mental anguish

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Sliders not working:

Do you have NRaas Master Controller installed? Have you been in its settings changing things? If so, go check that "Override Custom Core Sliders" is disabled. (https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController-Interactions#Override-Custom-Core-Sliders)

Also, check that NRaas Master Controller's "Max Sliders" value is set to a number at least equal to the number of sliders you have. By default it's only 100. I have 297. So I increased it to at least 300 (actually I think I did 500) but either way it gives me a little room to add a few others in the future w/o having to change that setting again. (https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController-Interactions#Max-Sliders)

I found, and it took a few hours testing, that if that is enabled then it will essentially make any custom sliders no longer work. As in, slide them back and forth all you want, and there won't be any adjustment made whatsoever.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Populating Worlds with your Sims:

If you've gotten to where you're just plain tired of the stock EA sims, don't like how they look, or just want to have more control over things, here's some tips.

Get NRaas Porter. (https://www.nraas.net/community/Porter) This mod was created for the purpose of relocating families from one town to another, but keeping all relationships/skills/inventory intact.

To use:

Spoiler

Go into game.
Pause game.
Click on roof or wall of the active household's primary residence. (Yes, must be either the roof or the wall, ground or floor won't work. They limited where they exposed this mod.)
Choose NRaas, then Porter, then Pack.
The NRaas forums discuss warnings of issues doing the whole town, yadda yadda yadda, so you might want to read the docs & discussions... I've never had issues, but, I've got a fairly fast computer. Memory is still limited by it being a 32-bit game, but CPU/GPU speed & graphics memory might all help me out. tl;dr - YMMV so know the limits.
Choose any households you want to move off. Since we're discussing the whole town, of "our" sims, select any household that is of the "Household Name - Head of Household" format
Example:

Spoiler

The selected households are in light yellow. The other households are NPC households. I've noticed that the "head of household" doesn't seem to be shown/set for NPC households, so it makes identifying them in this screen easy. The 1st listed household will be in parentheses and that is the active household.
Click the checkmark button
Either click "(All)" or go through the whole (probably very long) list and select each sim individually.
Click the checkmark button
Give it a name that will help you know it's not just 1 household, but the whole town. I tend to include the count information that this dialog window shows (e.g., "UC-202102221-60f-129s" was the last packed town I did, from the "Union Cove" [UC] world on 21-Feb of this year, [files sort by name better in YYYYMMDD ordering if you actually want them to have a date in the name & be chronologically sorted... it's just how things work.]. This packed town had 60 families/households and 129 sims. Those numbers help me to know how many empty residential lots I'll be needing for this set of sims. The import selection box will show the sim count, but not the number of households.)
Click the checkmark button and go get dinner, some coffee, watch some TV, *gasp* talk to family. Basically if you're doing a whole town, it's going to take quite a while, depending on your hardware.
Exit the game.
Start the game. (Kinda helps clear the memory that just got flooded with a ton of stuff, some of which doesn't get cleared at the end so you'll have more luck restarting).
{Gonna assume you're wanting to start a new world, instead of replace the population of an existing save.)
Start a new world. If the world is populated, go into "Edit Town" and remove all-but-one households. Yes, you need to keep one household to start the world, and you need to do the next desired Porter-related step in a started world. I tend to leave a household that is only a single sim.
Choose that last remaining household and start the world.
Immediately pause the game.
Go find an empty house. I tend to keep track, while I'm clearing the town, of which is the "biggest" house, or, at least which has the most pre-made sims in it and then I use that one. Size of house is, really, irrelevant, but doing this next step on a very small lot causes weirdness.
Click on that empty house's roof, or a wall, choose NRaas, then Porter, then Unpack.
Choose the save you just did (you do remember the name, right? if you forget and include the date, you can pick the biggest date... had days like that).
Click the checkmark and go get some snack, talk to someone, etc. This will take almost as long as the "pack" process.
When it finishes, save your game, quit, restart. (Same reasons as #13)
Load your new save, go into Edit Town, go to the house you used for the "Unpack" process. Click it, you'll see the household name is "NRaas Porter (your exported name)". Click properties. Fix the household name. (You might need to use the "split household" to see the names of who the heck is in that house.)
Move households around as you see fit. If you have NRaas Mover (probably NRaas Master Controller and the Cheats and Integration packages as well), then Porter seems to apply some logic to figuring out where to put families, but it's probably wise to check yourself, just so you can make sure there's enough beds for what fits your views of the world.
NOTE: Porter will not unpack a household into an empty lot or a lot without at least one bed and one fridge.
NOTE: If Porter didn't find enough lots for the number of households in the pack, then that "NRaas Porter...." household will have all the "extra" sims. You would've noticed that the "finished" pop-up would've said something like "40 succeeded, 20 failed". That would mean you have 20 households in the one house you used for the "unpack" operation. ? Probably not what you want. Build some more houses, remove some sims, etc.
NOTE: Porter will also bring in any unselected households, if that household is necessary to maintain relationships between sims you did select.
NOTE: Porter will also export the Sims' inventories, and I'm pretty sure household inventories, but can't recall. So, the file can become kinda large. It also might mean you will want to use NRaas Master Controller to Sell Item (City Hall|NR|MC|Sim|Basic|Sell Item|'esc' aka no filters|"(All)"|"(All)"... or check just the things you want to get rid of).
NOTE: Porter will wind up giving households "FamilyFunds" that are extremely large. This seems to be a reflection of it "selling" the house (maybe household inventory as well, again, not fully sure) during the "Pack" operation. So you'll probably want to use the "FamilyFunds" cheat to "correct" that, since it's a new world, you might not want families to be starting off with several hundred thousand simoleons.
NOTE: The household (if all succeeded) that is in the "NRaas Porter..." household is not (oddly) the active household from when you did the "Pack". I haven't found any rhyme nor reason as to which household winds up in that house. But it is consistent, meaning if you unpacked this file into 4 different worlds, it seems to always be the same household winding up in that house.

Some other settings that you may want to change, will be:

NRaas Story Progression:
- Lot settings - Immigration settings (there's a lot... I'll let you figure that one out, I have it disabled)
- Sim settings - Immigration settings - Replace NPC Roommates or Service Sims with Immigrants.
NRaas Register:
- Allow Immigration
- Allow Resident Assignment

I don't actually use any of those, besides letting Register "Immigrate" people (aka generate NPCs). I had mixed results telling it to use residents (I expected no NPC role sims, but still had several -- and a whole lot of unemployed/retired residents) so YMMV. These settings are just things you may want to play around with, if you're trying to replace a town's whole population.

NOTE: There are (kinda sorta) 6 types of sims in TS3, some you will have more control over than others.

Active Household

Inactive Households (aka "Residents")

Service Sims (always NPCs, mods seem to have very little control over these -- they're the type that show up to do repairs, deliver mail, etc. Thus named, because they are the ones from the Phone's Services | Call for Services interaction.)

Role Sims (sometimes NPCs, mods do seem to be able to control these easier -- they're the ones that fill a "role" such as bouncers, bartenders, or cashiers.)

Tourists (they're "mini-Sims", if they are an "Inactive" sim from another world, like if Elvira Slayer, from Bridgeport, visited Twinbrook while you're playing Twinbrook. She's "selectable" if you're playing Bridgeport, but if you're not, then she's a "Tourist" and "unselectable". I tend to not think of these as role or service, but they're kinda in between. )

Aliens (I look at these as "tourists" from another planet. Maybe they're "residents" of "Lunar Lakes", but since I don't have that world, can't quite fully check myself.)

For a "whole population" replacement, you'll have more mental success if you go into it with the expectation of replacing only the active/inactive households. Using NRaas Register's "Resident Assignment" and then manually selecting the desired resident for the specific roles will give better results than just letting it do things randomly.

Using Porter, I can get an unpopulated town populated in just a few minutes. Also, since I already went through and made sure all of these sims have "good" outfits (and aren't missing anything), I don't have to worry about inappropriate CC choices from the random CC engine the game uses to generate sims. That generation process does still fire off in my worlds, since I'm not using residents for role sims, and I've noticed the memory usage spike as well as game get "jerky" (pauses here and there) while it's running.

Last part of this tip: Once you get everyone where you want. SAVE! And you probably should be saving after moving every 5 or 10 households, too. It really sucks to move 50 or 60 households only to have f'd up and "used too much memory" thus causing an Err12 when trying to save, making you have to go thru all that again.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

Use a Batch File to Start TS3:

Q: Why on earth would I want to do that?!

Spoiler

A: Know those 5 cache files everyone always says to delete when changing CC/adding mods/having issues/breathing? Batch Files (as the name implies) allow doing a "batch" of things. You can set up one to delete those cache files before starting the game for you.

Q: What do I need to know to do this?

Spoiler

A: How to find the full path to the actual TS3W.exe file run by the Launcher. How to edit a text-based file. Read (https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-where-are-my-files-installed.html) for more help in finding the correct path.

Q: Can't you do it for me?

Spoiler

A: Yes and no. There's too many potential paths, operating system versions, etc. This is what I use -- it is provided as-is no warranty as a guide to help you figure this out on your own. It might work, I provided a "best guess" for common paths, but review and edit to fit your own system. This version "works for me". ~~It's not the version I use, since I have no need for all those extra paths. I just wanted to make sure it did run before sharing.~~ Decided to just use this version, myself. One less file to maintain.

Updated 8-Mar-21:

StartTS3WClean.bat

NOTE: There does seem to be an insignificant "pause" after running this where you're left wondering "Did I run it? Is it working? What's going on?!?" Just be patient, you probably had those cache files that it's cleaning up, and don't have a disc-based install of TS3 on a 64-bit version of Windows (so it's having to look at several potential paths).

NOTE: If you run this and get a black window with light gray/white text on it... ?‍♂️ Read that text! I thought the output if it couldn't find the exe made perfect sense. (See below about support.)

Q: So, what exactly does your batch file do?

Spoiler

A: Checks to see if TS3W.exe is running, if it is not, then it checks for the existence of, and if it finds, deletes, these:

compositorCache.package
CASPartCache.package
scriptCache.package
simCompositorCache.package
socialCache.package
Completely removes the CurrentGame.sims3 directory and recreates an empty folder of that name. This cleans-up from any crashes or forcefully ending the game via Task Manager. (The recreate step really was unnecessary, but it helps me out when I sync the game dir to my backup location by not showing that folder as a change.)

Q: OK, I have a batch file, now what?

Spoiler

A: Read (https://winaero.com/pin-a-batch-file-to-the-start-menu-or-taskbar-in-windows-10/) for a good how-to, with photos.

In short, it's create shortcut with "cmd /c your-batch-file.bat" as the target and then pin that shortcut to your start menu. (Gee thanks a ton, M$ ? for making Win10 sooooooo much "easier" to use than older versions of Windows... I think back in the WinXP days, you could just pin a batch file to the start menu directly.)

Quote

A "bonus tip", unrelated to game play is that winaero site. Tons and tons of useful how-to info on there for us Win10 users. Lots there on how to "fix" Win 10 to be, in short, usable.

Q: Yeah, but where do I put it?

Spoiler

A: Anywhere safe, that you won't later delete thinking it's garbage or unused. I personally use C:\utils for all the little "utility" type programs and batch files that just don't fit nicely anywhere else. (But then, I have to remember to back that folder up if I do a system backup.) You could just toss it into your user profile directory (open windows explorer, click your user name in the left nav bar).

Q: OK, I saved your example batch file, now what?

Spoiler

A: Sorry, it is provided for information only -- no support! Figure it out!

image.png.8770d53787aeda8257855bd0f03aea65.png

Q: No, really, I'm stumped, help!

Spoiler

A: I'm sorry, could you rephrase that in the form of a question?

Spoiler

what-part-no1.gif.b672330402a663a03717483d54d66a3f.gif

Bonus knowledge: This phrase came into the American lexicon by way of a California newspaper back in the 80s. Read (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/what-part-of-no.html) for more.

The "could you rephrase..." phrase probably has origins in the gameshow "Jeopardy!" but I couldn't find extra info on it. (didn't look too hard, though)

Q: OK OK. But I found a typo, can you fix it?

Spoiler

A: Well, now that I might be able to do. Provide details.

~~Q: Wait, does yours prevent running the game or deleting those files if the game is running?~~

Spoiler

A: Uh... kinda sorta NO. Why would you run the "start" thing when it's already running? (OK, so I've done that by mistake a time or two.) Windows does report a "file lock" on the cache files, so it prevents their deletion (even with the "force" flag "/f"). The "CurrentGame.sims3" folder, I think, is also "locked". But if you do accidentally run this while the game is running. Do what I do: quit the game immediately and do not save. Then start the game again and re-do whatever it was you were just doing. (See next Q&A.)

Q: Any suggestions on doing other things, or things slightly different, than how you did it in your file?

Spoiler

A: Well, some things I thought of (thus this Q&A) are:

Deleting the cache files after the game quits, but that would require leaving a Command Prompt running while the game is running, and I didn't like that idea. (It's why the checks are before, and why I start the game via the "start" command, with its weird syntax.)
Updated to do this. Figuring out a good way of checking that the game is already running and prevent any clean-up or attempt at starting the game again. (Some potentially useful info here: https://superuser.com/questions/18830/is-there-a-command-in-windows-like-ps-aux-in-unix) This is something I've been considering doing, so if I figure it out, I might update the batch file posted here.
Deleting/archiving/moving any ScriptError or other files created by mods or game errors. (These are sometimes useful/wanted, but maybe cleaning up any before game start would be helpful to know which new ones are created by this run of the game, vs a previous run.)
Automatically backing up any Saves folders that aren't already backed up. (This might be something you want to do, just in case something happens during gameplay that messes up your saved game, but if you're keeping multiple saves, you sorta have backups already.)
Automatically backing up the whole game folder. (You really don't want to do this, it'll take too long and you'd rather be playing the game. But you could do this sort of backup in a batch file that you put a shortcut to on your start menu.)

Additional techie details that may be useful:

Spoiler

Per (https://gist.github.com/aromig/19871c003952b04f6c78299b816e98b7) the switches to robocopy for copying a whole directory tree, including empty folders, but skipping any existing files (which might be useful for a few of the potential additions to a 'start' batch file) is



robocopy c:\Sourcepath c:\Destpath /E /XC /XN /XO

This command (robocopy) looks pretty useful. Unfortunately there's not a "skip existing" option, so you have to exclude changed, newer, and older files as separate options. If you're automating the backing up of your save game folders, for instance, you probably don't want to automagically overwrite things w/o first checking or knowing what is being done.

jdw6 · March 8, 2021

*landess* · March 8, 2021

15 hours ago, jdw6 said:

Aliens

Thought I'd add a tidbit here.

Many times when a sim has an interaction with an Alien during an abduction, when they return the Alien is immediately flagged to depart again, therefore keeping any Sim from interacting with it. An abduction doesn't register a relationship event - so if you want your sim to be able to contact an Alien after an abduction, use the menu to cancel interaction on the Alien and then immediately select it for some interaction. Now it will be added to the relationship panel.

jdw6 · March 9, 2021

1 hour ago, landess said:

relationship event

Thanks! I wondered about that. I think I've aborted/cancelled the few abduction attempts with my own household after the 1st time. And I've triggered it for inactive households a time or two, but that didn't let me see the aftermath.

By default, the base chance of abduction is 0.01 per night. If anyone in the household has used a telescope, there's a bonus of 0.14 added. And there's another bonus of 0.15 added for each space rock collected by a household member, with a max rock bonus of 0.60.

0.01 + 0.14 + 0.60 = 0.75 max? The comments on the telescope bonus didn't make it sound like it was "per member", just "any", which sounds like only 1 of those is possible, but I haven't verified that.

For a visit from an alien, there's a base of 0.08 with a 0.15 bonus if the household has 5 space rocks.

It's possible to tweak these with NRaas Retuner (https://www.nraas.net/community/Retuner). Which I'd not mentioned yet. I used to use it, but after figuring out how to do my own tuning mod, didn't need it any longer.

Pros? From their FAQ: "A primary benefit is you can tune based on season or hour of the sim-day [ or town-by-town basis ], something that is unavailable using traditional means."

Cons? From their FAQ: "The mod adds overhead to the game, in the form of a hard pause for 10-30 seconds when the world first loads". I have enough other things that slow down my games, but this might not be a concern for many. It certainly wasn't for the original dev.

Abduction tuning fields:

Spoiler

kAbductionBaseChance

kAbductionTelescopeBonus

kAbductionSpaceRockBonus

kAbductionMaxSpaceRockBonus

kAbductionLength
kAbductionReactions

Alien visit fields:

Spoiler

kAlienHouseholdLatestVisitHour (it's midnight to this value, unfortunately. Personally I'd rather change it to during the day so my sims could sleep.)

kAlienHouseholdVisitChanceActive

kAlienHouseholdVisitChanceActiveHighLTRMod

kAlienHouseholdVisitChanceActiveSpaceRockMod
kAlienHouseholdSpaceRocksForBonus

kAlienHouseholdVisitChanceRandom

Thought I'd add this. I made a few changes, preventing abductions and tweaking visit chances some.

Spoiler

BulleCore · March 9, 2021

On 3/8/2021 at 1:12 AM, jdw6 said:

Intro/Thread Concept:

This is an idea I've had for a long while, having a place to collect various tips that aren't necessarily limited to any specific mod (there's enough info on Passion/KW in those mods' download threads).

I'd rather this not turn into a repeating of info, but I'd also like it to slowly grow to a fairly complete list of tips. My hope is that we might all be able to learn something from each other.

That said, what are some things you've learned over the months/years/decades of playing TS3? Do you have a base set of mods you can't live without? Do you have a save-strategy? Do you find doing X or Y is better than Z? Have you learned to never do A, B, or C? Have you tested out various game options?

Ok, I take the plunge, I take advantage of it since you "left" with the aliens ?... First this is a great idea, even if it makes me going deeper into my researches in order to understand and to play better with the game and I can feel sometimes I'm going crazy, it is indeed a very interesting path.

Spoiler

I also have the opportunity to see that I don't really know my own computer, even if I starded with windows XP years ago and with the Amstrad and Atari devices when I was a child... spending summer holidays coding instead of being bullied with my best friend by some stupid little bourgeois villagers playing rugby and loving to harass anything that contains a pussy and who does not really know how to defend themselves

The first thing I have learned over the years (a decade now) of playing TS3 has been how to crack a game because it was the only game I have ever wanted to play, so I found the way by myself and started with the edition they were sharing on GFTW before it becomes weird. Then I discovered the Nraas mods and then I learned how to install them without noticing all about them. I was used to play with SP but I'm grateful it's not necessary anymore with the latest version of MC...

Spoiler

During this time with my old xp 32 bits and 2 gigas motherboard I spent whole days and nights (waiting) and playing with this too heavy game for my configuration but it was giving me time to speak with my family because it was very difficult to play and only play in this situation. I stayed 2 years without any computer at home, forcing me to buy TS4 on my XBox One (I spent something like 500 euros spread over several months). We have been able to buy a new computer for me and even another one for my (smart) son last september and while I was still on the Sims 4 I decided to try them on my new device. I came here on this forum like this, first downloading sex mods for my sims 4. Then I saw the Sims 3 section ... And I don't want to criticise the TS4 because it helped me a lot to endure the pains due to my nascent rheumatoid polyarhtritis and in remission today . I just precise I'm found of the Sims 3 and of the whole Sims concept.

The mods I cannot play without are some of the Nraas, the sliders and everything about the esthetic of a sim. I thought I was pretty tidy with my folders and mods organisation but I've learned more in 5 months here in LL than anywhere else on how to manage Mods, saves, and every file that constitue every folder of the game (not the root one I don't touch that one but to replace fixed worlds) . My save strategy is freshly to have a The Sims 3 folder in C:/Documents for each manner to play and even for each version of KW for example (I have 2 of them), I've been helped here to do this. So I have new ways to organise myself, now I sart to collect new sims I create, I don't know yet what I will do with them but I find it nice . I also start to learn how to create CC ... . I managed yesterday how to use S3pe and Sims 3 Object Cloner to dissociate some big packages files I didn't create and that are between 1,27 and 1,32 gigas . I have 5 of them and they contain some store files. I have to understand how to make them playable in the game and I don't even know if I won't break my current installation.

So I have a question: Can we ask for tips here? (the Delphy's board is going n*ts with these big packages files and there are conflicts inside of them)

I've read that it could be necessary to make some changes into the resource.cfg file (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,19170.0.html )

I must admit I'm a little bit lost but I'm ready to take all the time it would need to understant things better.

And about this:

16 hours ago, jdw6 said:
Use a Batch File to Start TS3:

Q: Why on earth would I want to do that?!

Reveal hidden contents

A: Know those 5 cache files everyone always says to delete when changing CC/adding mods/having issues/breathing? Batch Files (as the name implies) allow doing a "batch" of things. You can set up one to delete those cache files before starting the game for you.

Q: What do I need to know to do this?

Reveal hidden contents

A: How to find the full path to the actual TS3W.exe file run by the Launcher. How to edit a text-based file. Read (https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-where-are-my-files-installed.html) for more help in finding the correct path.

Q: Can't you do it for me?

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A: Yes and no. There's too many potential paths, operating system versions, etc. This is what I use -- it is provided as-is no warranty as a guide to help you figure this out on your own. It might work, I provided a "best guess" for common paths, but review and edit to fit your own system. This version "works for me". ~~It's not the version I use, since I have no need for all those extra paths. I just wanted to make sure it did run before sharing.~~ Decided to just use this version, myself. One less file to maintain.

Updated 8-Mar-21:

StartTS3WClean.bat 2.85 kB · 0 downloads

NOTE: There does seem to be an insignificant "pause" after running this where you're left wondering "Did I run it? Is it working? What's going on?!?" Just be patient, you probably had those cache files that it's cleaning up, and don't have a disc-based install of TS3 on a 64-bit version of Windows (so it's having to look at several potential paths).

NOTE: If you run this and get a black window with light gray/white text on it... ?‍♂️ Read that text! I thought the output if it couldn't find the exe made perfect sense. (See below about support.)

Q: So, what exactly does your batch file do?

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A: Checks to see if TS3W.exe is running, if it is not, then it checks for the existence of, and if it finds, deletes, these:

compositorCache.package

CASPartCache.package

scriptCache.package

simCompositorCache.package

socialCache.package

Completely removes the CurrentGame.sims3 directory and recreates an empty folder of that name. This cleans-up from any crashes or forcefully ending the game via Task Manager. (The recreate step really was unnecessary, but it helps me out when I sync the game dir to my backup location by not showing that folder as a change.)

Q: OK, I have a batch file, now what?

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A: Read (https://winaero.com/pin-a-batch-file-to-the-start-menu-or-taskbar-in-windows-10/) for a good how-to, with photos.

In short, it's create shortcut with "cmd /c your-batch-file.bat" as the target and then pin that shortcut to your start menu. (Gee thanks a ton, M$ ? for making Win10 sooooooo much "easier" to use than older versions of Windows... I think back in the WinXP days, you could just pin a batch file to the start menu directly.)

Q: Yeah, but where do I put it?

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A: Anywhere safe, that you won't later delete thinking it's garbage or unused. I personally use C:\utils for all the little "utility" type programs and batch files that just don't fit nicely anywhere else. (But then, I have to remember to back that folder up if I do a system backup.) You could just toss it into your user profile directory (open windows explorer, click your user name in the left nav bar).

Q: OK, I saved your example batch file, now what?

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A: Sorry, it is provided for information only -- no support! Figure it out!

Q: No, really, I'm stumped, help!

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A: I'm sorry, could you rephrase that in the form of a question?

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Bonus knowledge: This phrase came into the American lexicon by way of a California newspaper back in the 80s. Read (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/what-part-of-no.html) for more.

The "could you rephrase..." phrase probably has origins in the gameshow "Jeopardy!" but I couldn't find extra info on it. (didn't look too hard, though)

Q: OK OK. But I found a typo, can you fix it?

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A: Well, now that I might be able to do. Provide details.

~~Q: Wait, does yours prevent running the game or deleting those files if the game is running?~~

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A: Uh... kinda sorta NO. Why would you run the "start" thing when it's already running? (OK, so I've done that by mistake a time or two.) Windows does report a "file lock" on the cache files, so it prevents their deletion (even with the "force" flag "/f"). The "CurrentGame.sims3" folder, I think, is also "locked". But if you do accidentally run this while the game is running. Do what I do: quit the game immediately and do not save. Then start the game again and re-do whatever it was you were just doing. (See next Q&A.)

Q: Any suggestions on doing other things, or things slightly different, than how you did it in your file?
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A: Well, some things I thought of (thus this Q&A) are:

Deleting the cache files after the game quits, but that would require leaving a Command Prompt running while the game is running, and I didn't like that idea. (It's why the checks are before, and why I start the game via the "start" command, with its weird syntax.)

Updated to do this. Figuring out a good way of checking that the game is already running and prevent any clean-up or attempt at starting the game again. (Some potentially useful info here: https://superuser.com/questions/18830/is-there-a-command-in-windows-like-ps-aux-in-unix) This is something I've been considering doing, so if I figure it out, I might update the batch file posted here.

Deleting/archiving/moving any ScriptError or other files created by mods or game errors. (These are sometimes useful/wanted, but maybe cleaning up any before game start would be helpful to know which new ones are created by this run of the game, vs a previous run.)

Automatically backing up any Saves folders that aren't already backed up. (This might be something you want to do, just in case something happens during gameplay that messes up your saved game, but if you're keeping multiple saves, you sorta have backups already.)

Automatically backing up the whole game folder. (You really don't want to do this, it'll take too long and you'd rather be playing the game. But you could do this sort of backup in a batch file that you put a shortcut to on your start menu.)

Additional techie details that may be useful:

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Per (https://gist.github.com/aromig/19871c003952b04f6c78299b816e98b7) the switches to robocopy for copying a whole directory tree, including empty folders, but skipping any existing files (which might be useful for a few of the potential additions to a 'start' batch file) is
robocopy c:\Sourcepath c:\Destpath /E /XC /XN /XO
This command (robocopy) looks pretty useful. Unfortunately there's not a "skip existing" option, so you have to exclude changed, newer, and older files as separate options. If you're automating the backing up of your save game folders, for instance, you probably don't want to automagically overwrite things w/o first checking or knowing what is being done.

Wouldn't it be better to be able to create our own batch file before creating a shortcut from the launcher?

And about populationg a new world with the Porter, it's also great. I used this mod on my last computer but it was really much more fierce. I don't know if I would try again but would be more comfortable now for sure!

So here I stretched a stick a bit to get beaten up but who does not try anything...

*landess* · March 10, 2021

Using the NRaas 'traffic' plugin has helped decrease inherent lag in my games because Taxi's are added as eye candy which serve no 'purpose'.

The Sims 3 will just generate them to run around and try to make the world seem more 'alive'. Also when Sims exit taxi's, sometimes they just sit there....

There is a setting within the Traffic plugin called - Traffic Delta. I set this to -500. It helps! Sims will still use taxis but this is the only time you will see them, and they tend to de-spawn rather quickly afterwards.

Also for anyone playing a world where they don't want any traffic, including personal vehicles - there are also settings allowing the player to limit or eliminate the majority of that as well. I also use a mod which eliminates school buses and carpools for the active household. One never sees school buses for other sims.

>>Now if I could find the equivalent plug-in for cell phones I'd be overjoyed: kinda kills those medieval/roman save series when they start surfing the web.

jdw6 · March 10, 2021

14 hours ago, BulleCore said:

used to play with SP but I'm grateful it's not necessary anymore with the latest version of MC

This is an interesting idea. I've just gotten so used to "always" putting SP in (far too many forum responses read touting how great SP is and how horrible the base-game's is) that I've actually never even considered that maybe what I wanted could be done with a smaller set of mods. (I kinda doubt it could be, for how I have mine set at present, but also how I have things set seem to be being ignored either by SP or something else.)

I'm guessing you didn't make use of the caste feature of SP to try to set different options for different types of sims (that's what I'm more using it for at present, with some frustration... I'm trying to get it to stop pushing vampires during the day, yet something still seems to doing that, since I have an 'enhanced vampire' mod installed that causes them to burst into flame much much quicker if in the sun too long.)

So, how are you using MC to replace, or do some of what SP did?

14 hours ago, BulleCore said:

Can we ask for tips here?

Sure. I know a lot of the base stuff might be already over on MTS, Carls, NRaas's site, or *gasp* even the official game forum. (Their forum mods seem a bit too draconian.) So maybe what people can do is do a summary and then point to the further info. I've been trying to do that sorta thing.

I've been hoping that some longer-term players would start posting in here. So thanks.

14 hours ago, BulleCore said:

Wouldn't it be better to be able to create our own batch file before creating a shortcut from the launcher?

Not sure I'm understanding? There isn't any way to create a shortcut from the launcher. Maybe I went too technical. Lemme see if I either dig the hole deeper or dig my way out.

When you install the game, it creates shortcuts in your start menu. I bought my game during one of Steam's massive sales (so I got everything for basically $5 each). The shortcut Steam created points to "steam://rungameid/47890". Gee thanks! What the heck is that?!?

There's 2 ways to go about finding out what actually should be run. One is to "simply" run it. Look in Task Manager. Find "The Sims 3". Right-click, choose "Go to Details". It highlights the actual program being run. Ahhhh! So that is what it runs. But that's the Launcher. Click start game. Repeat. Ah, so that's the exe for the game. Can I actually run that directly? (Tries it... yep.) The other (actually, probably how I did it) is to do a ton of searching online & reading from people who already did the 1st. This can be hit-or-miss as some search engines restrict/change what results you see based on past searches, geographic area, their desired ad revenue...

Anyway, there's 4 exe files in the (scrolls way up, WTH did I define it as? oh, that) "program directory" (Program FIles... The Sims 3\Game\Bin). Two Sims3Launcher and two TS3. One with a "W" the other without. Kinda doubt it means anything, these days, but (cue old-man voice) back in the day the Windows version of programs had a "W" and the DOS version didn't. If you run TS3.exe and check Task Manager's Details tab, you'll find it actually ran TS3W.exe. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference, but the forums I read suggested using TS3W.exe, so that's what I've done.

Similarly, if you run Sims3Launcher.exe, you'll find Sims3LauncherW.exe in task manager. Starting the game from it will again get you actually running TS3W.exe.

(One of the memory and/or performance improvement tips out there involves not playing the game with the Launcher running. So skipping it makes the most sense. Another involves playing offline, and for a while for my own installs, it seemed that the Launcher was auto-logging in, but if I ran the game directly it wasn't... this could've been from me running the Steam shortcut to the Launcher, though.)

So what that all boils down to is that I was trying to say: most people don't actually start TS3, they actually start the Launcher and that starts the game. Because when are using a batch file, you're replacing the Launcher.

I hope that makes sense.

Sorry, went way off the rails... and wound up deleting an hour's worth of typing... Anyway... trying to ignore all the "hate" that site spews & trying to curtail my highly negative emotional response those ???? (I can't even call them "people") cause & trying to piece together what they were trying to say, and rereading your question. I think the best answer I can give on a need to modify the resource.cfg is a resounding : maybe. I don't see why you would need to do any edits to that file if all you're doing is combining and compressing (doubt that's worth the time either) packages.

Spoiler

My views of Delphy were already pretty low, due to the naming of things & arrogance some of it entailed, but if that forum is run by them... I have zero respect for them. Delphy did figure out quite a bit of things, but I'd use someone else's tools if any existed. The people behind s3pe (and associated tools) have always seemed much better human beings than Delphy ever will.

If the MATY people truly were, they wouldn't be using a default theme or using a stock install of SMF or even using SMF at all. Maybe if they spent a little less time promoting hate, they'd have some time to learn how to create a custom theme, or research the other (much better) forum options out there. Can't all go the LL route & use a very nice, but pricey, forum package, but sheesh, SMF isn't really all that good. After all, it's designed for "novice programmers". sigh.

Sadly, it's one of the bigger TS3 forums...

... I guess, at times, all developers come across as arrogant, rude, and hating of users. Lately my loathing has been, maybe evident, maybe not, towards people who don't even try to fix their own games. "It don't work" is about as useful as the default TS3 sim is hungry animation. Gee, if you're hungry, go to the ? fridge and get some food. It's not a hard concept. WTF was EA thinking?!?

Now I'm gonna worry that I come across with as shitty of an attitude as those on that forum sounded....

jdw6 · March 10, 2021

8 hours ago, landess said:

Traffic Delta. I set this to -500.

Same setting I use.

8 hours ago, landess said:

cell phones

Yeah, that'd be nice. In a medieval world, you probably don't want landlines either, but those you actually can just not put on lots, although maybe some graphically minded person could make one that looked like a carrier pigeon. I kinda am envisioning calling for police or hiring a maid, as using a similar animation to the "send love letter" one, only without the hearts. Maybe combined with the "set free" animation from the bird cage. (Ohhhh sooooo many ideas and soooooo little skill at graphics/animations.)

Some thoughts/research. This actually sounds more fun than continuing to try to get KW to work in my games.

Spoiler

There's 81 itun files in GameplayData for various phone-related activities. Most of those are for the cellphone vs the landline phones. Best guess would be to try to change all of those to have this in there instead of what they do have:



<Disallow DisallowAutonomous="True" DisallowUserDirected="True" DisallowPlayerSim="True" />

Maybe some of these changes as well:


<!-- Default is T,Y,A,E -->
<AgeSpeciesAvail AgeSpeciesValue="" />

<!-- Default is OccultTypesHumanAllowed="True" -->
<Occult OccultRestrictionType="Ignore" OccultTypes="0x0" OccultTypesHumanAllowed="False" />

<!-- Default had all thse as True -->
<Lot AllowNonGreetedSimsIfObjectOutside="False" AllowNonGreetedSimsIfObjectOutsideUserDirected="False" AllowGreetedSims="False" A    llowOnCommunityLots="False" AllowOnAllLots="False" />

<!-- Default was a NONE RestrictionType and empty Types -->
<World RestrictionType="Allow" Types="Future" Names="" />
<!-- or -->
<World RestrictionType="Disallow" Types="Base, Downtown, University, Vacation, Future, Undefined" Names="" />
<!-- or using the Names flag to put in the internal name for the world as a "Disallow" RestrictionType.  This might be the best way to go, if it works the way I hope it works. -->

<!-- Default had True for the 2nd value -->
<Room AllowInTombRoomAutonomous="False" AllowEvenIfNotAllowedInRoomAutonomous="False" />

Maybe adding a very large negative "Fun" value to the Tradeoff...Output section would make them not want to do it.

There's also 31 xml files that set various phone-related settings, a lot of those, however, wouldn't need to be changed. Example: the cost for a photo or size of photo available is irrelevant once using the phone doesn't happen.

Update: I might've prevented autonomous phone usage. Further testing would need to be done, but after observing several large gatherings for a good 5-6 sim hours and not seeing a single sim use their phone, this might have done it. What I did is to only set the DisallowAutonomous to True (left it so users can direct their sims) and went the World Allow Future route. I may have to use this type of thing to disable the whole autonomous jamming that seems to prevent sims from eating when hungry, or gathering in front of doors making it so others can't get inside. I did see one have a thought bubble about their phone, and I'm not so sure if that can be prevented or not.

Anyway, here's the tuning, if anyone wants to play with it further and test out stuff.

phones_in_future_only.package

Spoiler

Sim's menu still does show smartphone options... which I figured would still exist.

1.png.fd77d81dd50f5f6df03943e80a59ffc7.png

Gatherings of sims this size, or larger, is what I observed for phone usage.

2.png.e12254ee61736bd4819687cdc4d5ae47.png

Way too wrapped up in listening to a person play their base to take care of the kid, so it starts crying and no one notices... until the second the player stops. LOL
3.png.4ad217514b5f9659ee775a18023c3f11.png
(An eagle-eyed person might notice that one sim, lower right, is listening to a podcast on her tablet. one of the very few store items that I got, and one that realllllyyyyyyy speeds up learning skills. It seems that's become autonomous in my current world. I don't know if it always was, or if I changed something. But I've noticed she's autonomously started listening to podcasts a few times. My other sims, in previous games, only ever used the table to read or play games. I've caught this sim doing all 3.

One thing on cell phones, if you ever give a sim (via NRaas MC) the "future trait" and played them long enough to get the "holo phone" upgrade. There seems to be no way at all to get rid of the holophone, even if you later remove that trait. I haven't tried using MC to do an "object stats" on it to delete those phones, so that might work. Oh, and does anyone understand why the option to forcibly delete an object is called "stats"? What on earth does statistics have to do with deletion???

BulleCore · March 10, 2021

9 hours ago, jdw6 said:

This is an interesting idea. I've just gotten so used to "always" putting SP in (far too many forum responses read touting how great SP is and how horrible the base-game's is) that I've actually never even considered that maybe what I wanted could be done with a smaller set of mods. (I kinda doubt it could be, for how I have mine set at present, but also how I have things set seem to be being ignored either by SP or something else.)

I'm guessing you didn't make use of the caste feature of SP to try to set different options for different types of sims (that's what I'm more using it for at present, with some frustration... I'm trying to get it to stop pushing vampires during the day, yet something still seems to doing that, since I have an 'enhanced vampire' mod installed that causes them to burst into flame much much quicker if in the sun too long.)

So, how are you using MC to replace, or do some of what SP did?

Back when I was using it, they didn't create the "Tagger" (If I say right, because maybe it was there and I didn't notice it), and I used it to see where were all the sims in the town and to know what they were doing, and how much money they had etc etc ... I also used it to have a more realistic gameplay. But I was upset by the fact that once my sim was going to uni or in an adventure and she was back, things were different into the whole town about sims relations and newborns or loading babies (pregnant sims) etc... I was also bored of the notifications for everything. And I noticed that I didn't remember as well what would be the gameplay without SP... My incompetence made me confusing what were doing SP and MC so I stayed like this. And when I came back to settle my game in september, I had to start over with all Nraas mods : my best friend told me that my old version of the sims and the whole folder containing the game and the mods could be corrupted because it was coming from G4TW and that the site was full of viruses... So I deleted all of them even the game that was in ISO (I may suspect the steam version to be less heavy ok but to also contain less details like for example the trails of "flowers" left by the footsteps of the VegeSims but.. it's too late ) ... That's how I discovered the changes into the Nraas mods. All I can say is that I'm really happy to play without SP, moreover because I discover the same principle into KW but this mod is clearly making a difference at the basis of my gameplay projects... I notice so much similiarities between SP and KW that I still hesitate to use them both (but it could be fun to test) . I may deceive You but I don't remember well about the other things I used in it. I currently still discover the "new" MC as it's possible to open settings while into the CAS with a right click on the 3 dots. I didn't try it yet I prefer to watch the consequences on YouTube before ? ...

You're right I didn't even try to use the cast feature, I'm currently watching long youtube videos about what these options I ignored can do and how to use them into my game. I think I should try this too.

9 hours ago, jdw6 said:

So what that all boils down to is that I was trying to say: most people don't actually start TS3, they actually start the Launcher and that starts the game. Because when are using a batch file, you're replacing the Launcher.

I hope that makes sense.

My fault here, and it's currently the same for me, I use the launcher and I didn't understand what You were meaning.

9 hours ago, jdw6 said:

Sorry, went way off the rails... and wound up deleting an hour's worth of typing... Anyway... trying to ignore all the "hate" that site spews & trying to curtail my highly negative emotional response those ???? (I can't even call them "people") cause & trying to piece together what they were trying to say, and rereading your question. I think the best answer I can give on a need to modify the resource.cfg is a resounding : maybe. I don't see why you would need to do any edits to that file if all you're doing is combining and compressing (doubt that's worth the time either) packages.

Reveal hidden contents

My views of Delphy were already pretty low, due to the naming of things & arrogance some of it entailed, but if that forum is run by them... I have zero respect for them. Delphy did figure out quite a bit of things, but I'd use someone else's tools if any existed. The people behind s3pe (and associated tools) have always seemed much better human beings than Delphy ever will.

If the MATY people truly were, they wouldn't be using a default theme or using a stock install of SMF or even using SMF at all. Maybe if they spent a little less time promoting hate, they'd have some time to learn how to create a custom theme, or research the other (much better) forum options out there. Can't all go the LL route & use a very nice, but pricey, forum package, but sheesh, SMF isn't really all that good. After all, it's designed for "novice programmers". sigh.

Sadly, it's one of the bigger TS3 forums...

... I guess, at times, all developers come across as arrogant, rude, and hating of users. Lately my loathing has been, maybe evident, maybe not, towards people who don't even try to fix their own games. "It don't work" is about as useful as the default TS3 sim is hungry animation. Gee, if you're hungry, go to the ? fridge and get some food. It's not a hard concept. WTF was EA thinking?!?

Now I'm gonna worry that I come across with as shitty of an attitude as those on that forum sounded....

I didn't know about them, I just thought they had nothing better to do at that time than to "bite" each other because Facebook wasn't even in the foreground as it is today like Insta or tiktok ... I thought they were just pissing off like hell and that there was their favoirite way to spend time.. I didn't really make the link lol ...

Btw thanks a lot for this new thread, I won't hesitate to ask here now

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs7JG6cq7EWesFcQ/giphy.mp4

jdw6 · March 10, 2021

10 hours ago, BulleCore said:

Tagger

I'd completely forgotten about that mod of theirs. (I disable KW's similar feature, too.) I did install NRaas's a few months ago, because it seemed to be the only suggested solution for fixing lot addresses* in a game. But I promptly got rid of it after just a few (real) hours, due to the inability to disable all other "features" it has.

* Lot addresses would be things like "4400 Hamming Pier Road" and are set by the world's creator. I haven't quite figured out how or what to look for beforehand to prevent, maybe @namaradus would feel like adding to this, but I ran into a situation where some downloaded lots cleared the lot address. I suspect there's something in the data for the saved lot that allows defining the address. And if that field exists, the game uses whatever it is for the new lot, blank or not. If the field doesn't exist, then I suspect the game continues using whatever already was there. Why it was only a couple out of dozens could be that the "normal" way people save off a lot for sharing doesn't add that info. But, I've not looked at this heavily yet, so it's all guesses.

10 hours ago, BulleCore said:

I use the launcher

I kinda suspected as much. No fault of yours, I did a poor job in that original post about batch files at explaining for users like you. I'll think on it some & see if I can reword it clearer. (I'm outta practice at explaining stuff.)

namaradus · March 27, 2021

On 3/10/2021 at 6:01 PM, jdw6 said:

* Lot addresses would be things like "4400 Hamming Pier Road" and are set by the world's creator. I haven't quite figured out how or what to look for beforehand to prevent, maybe @namaradus would feel like adding to this, but I ran into a situation where some downloaded lots cleared the lot address.

For the games default and Store worlds we have to make a STBL to set the Lot Addresses permanently. For custom worlds the Lot Addresses set in CAW are cosmetic and can get overwritten more easily.

Not sure what causes the Lot Address to get wiped out by placing a lot there must be something their doing with the lot, but what that is I have no idea. Or it could be a bug that has went unreported.

namaradus · March 27, 2021

On 3/9/2021 at 7:43 PM, landess said:

>>Now if I could find the equivalent plug-in for cell phones

Those are too deeply embedded in the game core and messing around with those can and will break things.

namaradus · March 28, 2021

On 3/27/2021 at 1:18 AM, namaradus said:

Not sure what causes the Lot Address to get wiped out by placing a lot

On 3/10/2021 at 6:01 PM, jdw6 said:

I ran into a situation where some downloaded lots cleared the lot address

Okay I think this is actually a bug. I asked around it looks like it had been looked into at one time but we were unable to reproduce it on our end. It's one that is similar to another bug where if you were to bulldoze a lot in Edit Town and the lot name; say Guppy Gills Pond; stays with the lot even though it should've been cleared.

It's one of those random sporadic bugs that are extremely difficult to trace as it doesn't happen to everyone.

Although there are two lots I'm aware of were the lot name stays with the lot after being bulldozed but those two are glitched one in Dragon Valley the Tourney Tent of Novices sports stadium and another in Midnight Holllow I think it was one of the beach lots Bizarre Beach or Somber Beach.

jdw6 · March 28, 2021

18 minutes ago, namaradus said:

unable to reproduce

I hate those types of bugs. I know I had this happen in Appaloosa Plains, many many months ago, but I tried reproducing it yesterday with the lots I thought it might've happened with... without getting it to happen. What I do seem to recall, was that in the package for the placed lot, if there was an xml file that defines various things about the lot, and if that xml had in it a definition for lot address, then it perhaps was the root of the issue. Unfortunately at the moment I can't seem to locate a lot

in my library that has that tag, and the newly exported (from edit town) lots, either from an old AP save or new AP game, don't seem to even have that xml file.

On 3/27/2021 at 12:18 AM, namaradus said:

STBL

Durrrrr... I shoulda figured that was the case. Now I'm wondering if what I remembered happening in Appaloosa Plains really was with one of the empty residential lots, or if it was with a lot I'd added via the "Add Any Lot Size" mod by velocitygrass. If it was only with those, then, well, no... they dont' have addresses to start with, so couldn't be. I'm still pretty sure it was just something messed up in a few lots I got off TSR. (The Source of ... um... all problems? ha!)

I know... or... well... I'm pretty sure I saw it in Greymont Bay, as well, but that's a custom world, and as you said those addresses are easier to accidentally wipe. But, it's entirely possible that it was the same downloaded lot which did it in both worlds.

Biggest issue with keeping (nearly) everryyyyyyyyy save, and having many multiple copies & backups of your entire game directory, is that when you do want to find something you remember from many months ago... it's nearly impossible. I'll keep poking around and see if I can locate where/how I saw that issue. I suspect that what I did, though, was to go back to the last "good" save (before the lot addr got cleared) and plunk down a different imported lot, thus erasing the issue from history. (tech speak: I tend to fork off temp branches of my worlds, and then purge the branch if testing didn't go as desired. Speaking of such things: just curious @namaradus, do designers use any sort of version control, like developers do? I'm guessing the programmers at EA used something like Team Foundation Server, but maybe switched over to git.)

namaradus · March 28, 2021

25 minutes ago, jdw6 said:

Speaking of such things: just curious @namaradus, do designers use any sort of version control, like developers do?

Nah.

29 minutes ago, jdw6 said:

I'm guessing the programmers at EA used something like Team Foundation Server, but maybe switched over to git.)

TFS then Git yes.

jdw6 · April 15, 2021

Bad CC (part 2, the blame game...)

Research... it's often mentioned in responses on this and other forums. That generally starts with a search (google, duckduckgo, yandex, or other search engine) and never really ends, but includes along the way reading tons and tons of blog sites found, repeating the search with fewer terms or with different terms.

If you search, using duckduckgo, for the following, and then read the results, you'll find both of these lists. (yes, the quotes do seem to help, a little, still, on DDG)

bad cc "sims 3" list

https://sims3.crinrict.com/badcc/en/BadCC_Clothing.html

https://findingbadccsims3.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-fix-baby-glitches-in-sims-3.html

It's 2021, there is really no excuse for these pieces of CC to still be available on any site. So, really, at this point, the blame for these bad CC items still being distributed falls, no longer on the creators... may their eternal souls be tormented for releases these plagues on the world... but now falls solely at the feet of the distribution sites MTS, TSR, "the exchange" (ha... they have no souls).

But, as this ?? is still able to be downloaded, and since it's a pain in the patootie to pull the filenames from these sites (MySpace-era web "designers" ?) here's a nice easy-to use text file of all the package names.

badcc.lst

All you need to do, now, is just dump that into your friendly everyday run of the mill bash shell... [insert Foghorn Leghorn retort here]

From within your gamedir, verify you have any of these by:

while read -r p; do find . -iname "$p"; done < badcc.lst

delete via:

while read -r p; do find . -iname "$p" -delete; done < badcc.lst

*gasp* you don't have a clue wtf a bash shell is ? how do you do anything then?!? ? Here's a 'windows command prompt' command that'll kinda sorta almost do the same... (MS, just call the damn thing 'dos'... sheesh... I'm definitely not drinking from my MS coffee mug today. ?)

Again, from within your gamedir, this will delete the bad packages:

for /f %f in (badcc.lst) do @del /q /s %f

Snarkiness aside, I do want to wipe these piles of monkey dung off the face of the planet... it'll help your game if you rid these from your own installs.

Disclaimer: all above commands were tested and worked for me... ymmv, so read the docs and, make backups! (you know, standard stuff you should be doing with any info found anywhere ?.)

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