armiel sims

Tutorial: Installing Custom content, the new way

2010-06-09T15:47:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone.

With new patches EA has made able to put custom content to your Sims 3 user files.

If your game is patched below 1.12. use this older tutorial.

There is already a very clear tutorial existing on installing cc to patch 1.12 and later, so I'm not going to re-write it here.
So if your game is patched 1.12 or above, use this tutorial.

Sorry if I seem lazy this way, but I see no sense in making that same tutorial over here. One click of a link and you have it :)

Happy simming!
-armiel-

Little call for attention!!

2010-06-03T22:37:00.000+03:00

Heya to everyone who reads this blog!

As we are now getting a new EP for Sims, it means I need to update some of my tutorials. So in the meantime, before I get used to Ambitions and the new features, I hope you can cope up with the "outdated" ones. I'll do the updates to the ones needing it as soon as possible.

-armiel-

Tutorial: How to make simple landscaping in Sims 3

2010-05-07T16:36:00.002+03:00

Hi everyone.

This is my first building tutorial. It's about making your Sims homes, or well, their yards, look nicer.

Here is a house I built just for this tutorial. You can see it looks a little dull in the middle of all that boring green grass.

I added some low fencing to mark my decorative flowerbeds, and painted some lighter dirt in there. I also painted the whole under of the house with light dirt, made it so that a tiny line of dirt shows outside the house. (This was an idea I "stole" from #create in MTS. I think it was HystericalParoxysm who mentioned it there originally)

Next I put a fence around the whole lot, painted a walkway, planted 2 trees and made a little pond.

Trees need some life under them, I like to think that there lives a squrrel in my trees, who drops all kinds of bits and pieces of tree under it, and of course there are dead leaves and stuff like that, so I paint some light and dark treechunk under the trees. (I have no idea what they are in english, they are in the misc. terrainpaints I think)

Then I take the biggest round painting tool, set it to softest (all the way to the right) and take 'autumn grass' (1st grass). I do some clicks around the tree so that the dark stuff blends in the grass.

Then I start to work on with the flowerbed. First I open cheatbox (Shift+Ctrl+C) and type in 'moveobjects on'. Then I go to flowers and select the blue flower. (Not using any names cause I don't know them in english). You may have noticed that there are many sizes of one type off flower. I re-select the blue flower until I get the smaller one. Then I place some of those in the marked area. I hold ALT to place them where I want, not to the grid, and I also rotate them with holding ALT so that they are not all the same way.

Then I did the same with pink flowers. This time I didn't care for the size, I just place some to the spots that looked right to me.

And same with the yellow flowers.

Next I filled the big empty spots with darker green bushes.

But oh-oh... There are still holes in the flowerbeds. I planted some tiny blue flowers there.

Cause I like to have some variety in colors I planted some white ones too.

To the rest of the empty spots I put some leaves.

That's all I did to the flowerbed.

Next I started on working with the pond. I painted it all with the pond paint, found in the misc. paints.

Then I took the middle sized round painting tool, put it to softest and put on some darker sand around the pond.

Next I started on planting plants. First I put in some of these. (Still using ALT when placing)

Then I added some pink flowers.

And some yellow ones...

Aaaand some blue ones...

Few dark green bushes...

Little blue and white flowers...

Then finally, some leaves to fill the gaps. I put them the the waterline too.

Then I added those water plants.

Then I went back to painting tools, painted the unders of bushes and flowers with lighter dirt, and blended the sandy parts with 'autumn grass' ( middle sized brush, set to softest)

All done, and I now have a pretty house I can delete cause this tutorial is now over. Hope you found it useful :)

P.s. Sorry that I was lazy and didn't hide the grid lines in every picture.....

Tutorial: How to make clean un-install and re-install in Sims 3

2010-04-28T17:04:00.001+03:00

This is a two-part tutorial on un-installing and re-installing Sims 3.

Before you actually start to do anything to your game, read this tutorial through. By taking the actions mentioned you do it at your own risk, this is perfectly voluntary; no-one is forcing you to do it.

Little note:
Re-install is not the first option you should do when there is something wrong in your game. Quite opposite, it should be the last thing to try!
If you are having problems with your game, it's not loading, it loads slow, it lags, there is stuff that is not suppose to be there, try my other tutorials in this blog first. If any of those isn't helping you, then you maybe need to re-install your game.

There are not gonna be pictures of the actuall un-install/re-install in this tutorial, as much as I like to help, I am not re-installing my game just to make a tutorial of it.

UN-INSTALLING the SIMS 3

Read through carefully, do not skip steps!

1. Make backups. If you don't know how, read this tutorial.

2. Open 'Control Panel' in your 'My Computer', go to 'Programs and features' (or in windows 7, open 'My Computer' and select 'uninstall/change')
3. Scroll down on the list until you see your Sims 3 games.
- If you have HELS, press it first, then select uninstall on the top of the screen. Go through the un-install wizard.
- If you have WA, press it next and then select uninstall on the top of the screen. Go through the un-install wizard.
- Finally select Base game and then select uninstall on the top of the screen. Go through the un-install wizard.
4. Scroll up and delete EA Download Manager and Ea Download manager UI too.

5. Restart your computer.

6. Clean over leftover folders.
- Delete base game folder in install location.
Default is: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3.
Right click on the the Sims 3 folder and select 'Delete'.
- Delete WA folder in install location.
Default is: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 world adventures.
Right click on the Sims 3 WA folder and select 'Delete'.
- Delete High end Loft stuff folder in install location.
Default is: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 high end loft stuff.
Right click on the Sims 3 HELS folder and select 'Delete'.
- Delete the Sims 3 folder in 'My Documents'.
Path is: C:/users/(user name)/My documents/Electronic arts/The Sims 3
Right click on the the Sims 3 folder and select 'Delete'.
- Delete EADM folder in:
c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/EADM.
Right click on the EADM folder and select 'Delete'.

7. Clean up registry. If you don't know how, I have a tutorial for that too. Do both, Cleaner and registry part of this tutorial.

8. Delete the un-install files.
- Go to: C:/program files
- Select Tools, then Folder Options, then View, then select "Show hidden files and folders."(In windows 7, folder and search settings, view, "Show hidden files and folders.")
- Select the InstallShield Installation Information folder.(Uninstall information in Windows 7)
- Delete following folders if they exist:
   - Base Game: {C05D8CDB-417D-4335-A38C-A0659EDFD6B8}
   - EP01: {BA26FFA5-6D47-47DB-BE56-34C357B5F8CC}
   - SP01: {71828142-5A24-4BD0-97E7-976DA08CE6CF}
   - EADM: {EF7E931D-DC84-471B-8DB6-A83358095474}

The Sims 3 should now be completely removed from your system.

INSTALLING THE SIMS 3

Read through carefully, do not skip steps!

1. Install Sims 3 Base game.
- Select your language
- Type in the serial code (Which is in the back of the booklet that came in the gamecase, or in your Email if you have purchased online)
- Install to default location, unless you have a reason not to.
- Install EADM. Do not allow EADM to update itself in any point!
- Open launcher. Go to Updates Tab (on the bottom left)
- Update base game to newest version.
   - If you have slow connection, or you have had troubles updating before (freezing and such) you can manually download and install the updates from here. Read the directions there!
- Close the launcher.

2. Install WA

- Select your language

- Type in the serial code (Which is in the back of the booklet that came in the gamecase, or in your Email if you have purchased online)

- Install to default location, unless you have a reason not to.

- Open launcher. Go to Updates Tab (on the bottom left)

- Update WA to newest version.

- If you have slow connection, or you have had troubles updating before (freezing and such) you can manually download and install the updates from here. Read the directions there!

- Close the launcher.

3. Install HELS

- Select your language

- Type in the serial code (Which is in the back of the booklet that came in the gamecase, or in your Email if you have purchased online)

- Install to default location, unless you have a reason not to.

- Open launcher. Go to Updates Tab (on the bottom left)

- Update HELS to newest version.

- If you have slow connection, or you have had troubles updating before (freezing and such) you can manually download and install the updates from here. Read the directions there!

- Close the launcher.

4. Testrun the game. This makes all the folders where there needs to be some, and you'll see if it runs.

5. Place the backups you have made back to the game. Use this tutorial if you don't know how. (Ignore the Mods part at this point)

6. Install the CC back.

If you don't know how, or are just unsure, read this tutorial.

Your game is now installed and you can start to play.

Notice, that I don't take any responsibility for the actions you have taken by this tutorial. If you have forgotten a step, or done something wrong at some point, it's not my fault.

Tutorial: How to Install Custom Content to the Sims 3

2010-04-27T17:07:00.002+03:00

Hi everyone.

Everyday I see people with troubles on getting CC to their game, so I though I'd make a tutorial of it.
There are many existing already, this is the one I used myself the first time when I had no idea what to do.
Game Help:Installing Sims 3 Package Files, at Mod the Sims (for package files).

Here is my tutorial.

Before you actually start to do anything to your game, read this tutorial through. By taking the actions mentioned you do it at your own risk, this is perfectly voluntary; no-one is forcing you to do it.

What is CC?
CC comes from words Custom Content. It is stuff made by players them selves for Sims games. You can get CC in 2 types of files, Sims3packs and package-files. Those need to placed in right places to work in game.

Here is a picture to show you the difference in filetypes:

Rounded with blue are package-files. They are just blank files, if you haven't chosen a program in which to open them. (You don't need to) Mine are white, and have lightblue notebook on them, cause I have chosen to open them in notepad, when I wan't to check things on them.

Rounded with red are sims3packs. They are blue, and have a plumbom on them.

These files need to be installed different ways, they DO NOT go to same folder!!!

How do I install sims3packs???

First, you need to have one or more sims3packs. There are 2 ways to install them.

1st way is really simple, but takes more time.

- Open the folder you downloaded the sims3pack to.

- Double click on the sims3pack. This opens Sims 3 launcher and installs the file to your game. Handy, but you can only do one at the time.

2nd way has little more steps, but you can do multiple files at once.

- Locate your Sims 3 Downloads folder in: My documents/Electronic arts/The Sims 3/Downloads. There should be folders like these, you only need to open Downloads.

- Copy-paste the sims3packs you have downloaded to that Downloads folder.

- Then, open the Sims 3 Launcher.

- Open Downloads Tab on the left.

Here you see all the sims3packs you have put to downloads folder.
- If you are installing just few files, select them by hand, tic check-marks to those white boxes next to them. Then press 'install'.
- If you are installing many files, and don't wish to select by hand, press 'Select all' above the files. This selects all the files that are in the folder. Then press 'install'.
- Pressing install opens the game installer (Not the one that installs game). It shows you the process of install, do not touch anything while it's doing it.
- After install is done, you see complete log what was installed, just press ok.

The items are now in your game, and you can start to play :)

How do I install package-files???

First you need to have working FRAMEWORK. This is something the game needs to read the package-files.

There are 2 ways of doing that, but I'm gonna only show you the headache free way.

- Download Delphy's Framework installer from Mod the sims. Here is a link.

Read the instructions there!!

- Save the file to desktop, should look like this.

- Make a new folder, to desktop. I named mine, you don't have to if you don't want to.

- Put the rar-file inside that folder. Then open the folder.

- Right click on the rar-file and select extract here. (You need extractor to do this. If you don't have one, and/or don't know how to use one, I have a tutorial for that too. HERE.)

- Should look like this after extract.

- Double click on FrameworkInstaller(.exe). Doing this launches the Framework installer.

Here is a pic of older version of Framework Installer, with framework not installed. New version has same features, but looks neater. (You'll see that soon too)

Up it shows all the Sims 3 games available at the moment. Diagnostics shows whether you have framework installed or not.

- Browse to the install folder of each Game you have by pressing change. (I'm not sure if the folders are already browsed if you have installed to default location).

- When you press change, it asks you to browse to the install location, and has the default location mentioned, you just need to find it on your PC.

The defaults are:

c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3

c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 world adventures

c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 high end loft stuff

- After you have all the games you have selected and browsed, press install.

Here is the pic of the new version of the Framework installer.

It should look something like this for you after pressing Install. (Don't stare at my install paths, they are not default, also I don't have HELS, so it shows empty on mine)

- You can now close the program, and delete the folder you made to desctop, you don't need it anymore.

Then we can install the package-files to your game.

- Browse to the install folder of the latest EP/SP you have. (Expansionpack/Stuffpack)

For Base game only: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3

For WA: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 world adventures

For HELS: c:/program files ((x86)with 64 bit syst.)/Electronic arts/Sims 3 high end loft stuff

Inside of that folder should look like this:

- Open Mods folder, inside it should look like this:

- Open packages folder.

- Copy-paste the package-files you have inside the folder.

- Close the folder.

The items are now in your game, and you can start to play :)

Notice, that I don't take any responsibility for the actions you have taken by this tutorial. If you have forgotten a step, or done something wrong at some point, it's not my fault.

Tutorial: How to use Winrar

2010-04-26T13:40:00.001+03:00

Hello everyone.

This is a tutorial about how to use Winrar.
The program has many features, but I am gonna only present you the ones that you need with Sims.

What is Winrar?
Winrar is a program that allows you to pack files, single and multiple, to an archive that takes much less space than the original file. It also allows you to extract these files to be able to use them again.

Why pages that have custom content downloadable for Sims use it? Why do I need it?
Uploading/downloading these files takes less time. They also take less space on the site. You need Winrar to be able to extract the files to use.

(There are other programs too, 7z, Winzip.... But I use this one, so this is the one I can do tutorial about)

Here is a LINK to download if you don't have it already. Select the one that matches your system, 32/64bit. It is also available in many languages, so you may find one in your own language too.

Winrar is "nagware" meaning it is a trial, unless you buy it, but you can still continue using it after the trial time ends, it just nags about it.

Read this tutorial through first, before doing anything!!

OK. Lets start using the program.
At this point you have of course installed it to your PC.

Extracting files of the archive:

There are few different ways how to get the files out of the archives. Here is a scenario for you:

Let's say You have downloaded a house from modthesims.info. You go to the folder where your browser saved it to, and see something like this:

This is a Rar-file. If it was a Zip-file, it would look the same. You can't use the house in game while it is compressed to rar, so you need to extract it.

There are 3 ways how to do it.

1st way:
You can open the file in the actual program. To do that you need to either double click it, or right click it, to open it.
Here is how it looks right clicked:

When you open it, it takes you to Winrar program. (You can right click on the pics and select open in new tab/window to see them bigger)

What you see in the program, is the file/s that are in the rar/zip. In this case it only has one file, the sims3pack of the house. Select it so that it's blue like mine here and press 'Extract to'.

It opens a new window. Here you can browse the destination, folder you want the file to go in. With sims3pack that would be the Downloads folder in Sims 3 user files. The box in red is the only one you need to touch. Browse the folder and select OK. (You can press + marks to see the sub folders, - marks to hide them)

With one file this operation is very quick, so I had no luck in taking a screenshot of it (i tried many times, but I'm not fast enough) Basicly what it does, it puts the file inside the rar to the selected destination. it doesn't open any new folders/windows. If you have doubts about did it do anything, you can go to the selected destination to see if the file is there.

2nd way:
You can right click on the file and select the destination, without opening the actual program. Select 'Extract files...'

It opens the same browse window, as with using the actual program.

Browse the destination you want the file to go in and select OK.

3rd way:
You can take the file and copy-paste it to the folder you want the file to go in, downloads for example. Then you right click on the rar and select 'Extract Here'.

Doing this extracts the file/s inside the rar to the same folder the rar is in. No browse windows.

Any of these ways work and does the same thing, you can use the one that feels comfortable to you.

Extracting multiple rars at once:

If you have multiple rars with files you want all to go to same folder, you don't need to unpack them one by one, you can do all at once.

Select all the rars you want to extract, either holding ctrl and clicking on them one by one, or "painting" over them with mouse.

Right click on one of them (with all selected) and select 'Extract files' or 'Extract here' like I showed you earlier.

It works the same than with single files. I don't suggest selecting 'Open' cause it opens each rar to single program windows, so it's basically the same than doing them one by one.

That is all you need to know about extracting. End of scenario :)

Compressing files to an archive:

Other part of the program that is useful for you, is compressing the files to an archive, basically doing the exact opposite of what we have done so far.

Scenario:

Lets say you have a sims3pack of a house you want to upload to website, or for example send as email to a friend.

You can compress the file (or multiple files if you want) to an archive, rar or zip. There are 2 ways that I use.

1st way:

Right click on the file and select 'Add to an archive...'

It opens a new window like this.

On archive name you can rename the archive if you want (this doesn't rename the file). Don't touch the part after dot, this is the filetype.

In archive format you can choose do you want to make a rar or a zip.

Then press OK.

It makes the archive to the same folder the original file is at.

(When extracting, it looks the same, just with opposite texts...)

2nd way:

You can make it a rar file with single click if you don't want to rename it. Select 'Add to "filename.rar" and it makes a rar of it to the folder the original file is at. Really simple :)

That's about it.

There are more advantaged settings in compressing, but I am not going to present them here. This info should be enough for you to get all the houses, hairs, objects, stuff available to put to your game.

You notice that I didn't really tell you where to put the stuff in, as there are other tutorials on that matter, this tutorial is purely about how to use Winrar to Extract/compress the files.

Also you may have noticed I spoke of rars almost all the tutorial. The ways are same with zips. It is basically just another fileformat.

I haven't tested every single version of Winrar there is, these pictures are taken in Winrar 3.80. The features are the same in newer versions (I suppose). You should get at least the basic idea how to use it in this tutorial.

I hope you find this tutorial useful :)
-armiel-

Tutorial: How to use Dashboard by Delphy

2010-03-27T13:48:00.009+02:00

Hellos.

Here is a tutorial about how to use the Dashboard tool By Delphy from Mod the Sims.

Dashboard is a very handy program. Here is the description by Delphy, cause I can't really say it any better.

The tool has 4 main tasks...

- To easily show you which games you have, whether or not they have a full framework, and to browse to that games root folder.
- To show you the contents of the Sims 3 cache files, and clear them
- To show you all of your custom content in .package format, and display any "corrupted" files, or Sims 2 content, or stuff that just plain wont work.
- To fix any problems with corrupted files, empty files, generally broken files, and allow you to fix conflicts yourself

If you don't have it yet, you can download it here. "How to install" is told in the download page.

OK, let's run the program. Double click on the Sims3Dashboard.exe it looks like this:

When the program is opened it should look like this:

Up on the left are the Sims 3 Games you have.

- There is a 'Yes' under 'Installed' if you have the game installed to your computer, 'No' if you don't have.

- There is a 'Yes' under 'Framework' if you have working framework (that you need for to be able to use mods in package form), 'No' if you don't have.

- The version of each game is told under 'Version'

- By selecting one of the games it gives you download link for framework installer if you don't have framework yet. And pressing 'Open root' button it takes you to the install folder of the game in question.

Up on the right are the Sims 3 Game Caches. They look like this:

As an explanation to what those files are, I borrow the words on one tutorial at MTS:

"Cache files are temporary files that are saved by the game to make loading certain information faster. If these files have incorrect or corrupted data, it may prevent your game from loading. The game will regenerate fresh copies of these files each time it loads, so deleting them is perfectly safe, and it's normal for them to reappear."

There are 2 options how to delete the caches:

- To delete all at once, by pressing 'Clear all'

- To delete only selected, by selecting the ones you want to delete and pressing 'Empty selected'

I normally use 'Clear all'. When you press it, this question will pop up:

"You are about to clear all caches. Are you sure?" 'Yes' 'No' 'Cancel'

- Select 'Yes' if you are, and you should be if you want them emptied.

- Select 'No' or 'Cancel' if you don't.

After you press yes the caches window should look like this:

Then lets look at the lower window. There are shown all the files you have at 'Packages' folder.

- By pressing 'Refresh List' the list refreshes and you can see the current situation with your mods.

As you can see, I had some corrupted files, they are shown in red color.

If there were duplicates of files (2 or more of the exactly same file) they would be shown in yellow color.

If there were any conflicts they would be shown in orange color.

If there were any Sims 2 packages, they would be shown in dark blue color.

After fixing if there were any disabled files, they would be shown in light blue color.

Now, cause I have corrupted files I need to get them fixed, so they won't make my game slow. what you need to do is to press 'Fix All Problems'

A window like this will pop up. (Ignore the finnish, the buttons are 'Yes' and 'No')

- By pressing 'Yes' the program will go through the files and fix/disable the corrupted files.

- By pressing 'No' the program won't do that.

When you press 'Yes' a window similar to this will pop up:

It tells you how many packages are fixed, and how many are disabled.

After fixing is done, the window should look like this. In my pic the files are exactly the same, so you can see it fixed them.

There are 2 buttons I didn't explain yet. 'Filter...' and 'Select...'

- By pressing 'Filter...' you can select which files the program shows on the window, for example, only corrupted files.

- By pressing 'Select...' you can select (check mark) for example, only disabled files.

I think that is all I can tell you about the program. It has helped me so much, so it would be a shame if some one on a need for it didn't use it cause they didn't know how.

-armiel-

Credits:

Thanks for Delphy for making this simple yet so helpful program, and for promision on making this tutorial on my blog.

Delphy has all rights for Dashboard, do not upload it anywhere.

All pictures taken by me (armiel)

p.s. All names of people and programs in bold are links, incase you haven't noticed that yet.

Tutorial: How to make backups in Sims 3

2010-03-26T22:33:00.004+02:00

Hello everyone.

Here is an very easy yet useful tutorial for all the Sims 3 players out there.

Backups are needed, for example, when you need to reinstall the game. This tutorial will tell you how to do it.

First go to my docs/electronic arts/sims 3.

If that doesn't say anything to you, pic one here, depending on what system you run:

-For Windows Xp: C:/documents and settings/user name/my documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

- For Windows Vista/7: C:/users/user name/documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

- For Mac OS: /users/user name/documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

The inside of the folder should look like this:

The folders we are interested are:

- Downloads, for saving all the sims3packs.

- Exports, if you have exported stuff and deleted them from game.

- Saved sims, for saving the sims you have saved in Create-a-Sim.

- Saves, for saving game saves.

- Screenshots, for saving photos you have taken in game.

How to actually make a backup?

I will teach you with one, the most important one. Saves. After you handle that you can do the rest by your selves, since it's the same process.

- Right click on the 'Saves' and select 'copy'

- Right click desktop and select 'paste'

Concratulations, you have made a backup :)

The destination where to put the backup can be any place on your computer, you can make a folder 'Sims 3 Backups' to for example 'My docs' (see earlier) and paste the folders there.

So, now you know how to make a backup. Make the same operation to all folders mentioned, that you wish to save. 'Downloads' and 'Saves' are the most important ones.

You can also select all the folders mentioned at once, by holding Ctrl and clicking on the folders, one by one. After that, with the wanted ones selected, let go the Ctrl and right click on one of the selected folders and select copy. Then just go paste them to wanted destination.

Next you ask, how to get them back to game?

Go to desktop, or the folder you put the folders in. Use "hold ctrl"-trick to select the wanted folders, right click on one of them and select 'copy' (you can also use 'cut', but copy is safer). Then go back to my docs/electronic arts/the sims 3 (see earlier), right click the folder base and select 'paste'.

Now the stuff is back in your game, and you can start playing, or do what ever you intend to.

Another thing you want to Backup is Mods/Packages-folder, if you have one. (The place where you have put all the custom content (CC) that are package-files.

Go to your game install folder, depending on system and the "version" of the game you have:

For base game (Just The Sims 3)

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (32 bit): C:/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (64 bit): C:/program files (x86)/electronic arts/the sims 3

- Mac OS: contents/recources/transgaming/c_drive/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3

For WA (World Adventures)

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (32 bit): C:/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3 world adventures

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (64 bit): C:/program files (x86)/electronic arts/the sims 3 world adventures

- Mac OS: contents/recources/transgaming/c_drive/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3 world adventures

For HELS (High end Loft-stuffpack)

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (32 bit): C:/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3 high end loft

- Windows Xp/Vista/7 (64 bit): C:/program files (x86)/electronic arts/the sims 3 high end loft

- Mac OS: contents/recources/transgaming/c_drive/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3 high end loft

Inside should look like this:

Right click on 'Mods' and select 'copy'. Go to for example desktop, right click on it and select 'paste'. You now have backups of your mods that are in package-form.

To put the mods back, just right click on the backup you made and select 'copy', then go to game install folder (see earlier), right click and select 'paste'

That's about it, I think :)

Tutorial: How to use Ccleaner

2010-03-26T14:01:00.007+02:00

Hi and hello.

This is a tutorial about how to use Ccleaner, well, the Cleaner and Registry fixer parts of it.

Here is a download link, if you don't have it already.

What is Ccleaner you might ask. It is a program that allows you to clean your system of temporary files, caches, cookies, browsing history and many other things. It also gives an easy way to get rid of old registry markings that are left to your system for example when you uninstall programs.

You can click the pics to make them bigger, if you want to follow the tutorial at the same time, click them with right mouse button and select either open in new tab, or in new window.

Before you actually start to do anything to your system, read this tutorial through. By taking the actions mentioned you do it at your own risk, this is perfectly voluntary; no-one is forcing you to do it.

This is the main window of the program. Up you see you system specs, on the left are the features, and in the windows are shown the current feature options. Left side of the white base window are listed all the Windows folders/programs that Ccleaner can clean up. On the Applications tab are show the programs that are not part of Windows, but can be cleaned with Ccleaner. Using this is really simple, since there are only 2 buttons: Analyze and Run Cleaner.

First you need to unselect the folders/apps/programs from the Windows and Applications tabs that you don't want the cleaner to touch.

Then, at least when using the first time, press button 'Analyze'. The program will now scan the selected folders/apps/programs and show you the log after it's scanned.

In the log are shown all the files the program is about to remove from your computer. If you at this point see something that you wish to save after all, unselect it at the tabs.

After checking the list, press 'Run Cleaner' to remove all selected files from your system. This is permanent, so the program will ask you that you are sure about this. If you are, press Ok/Yes.

It will make the removing process, and then show you the log of deleted files.

Using the Cleaner part of the program is something I recommend you to do every week, if not even daily. It keeps your system fresher.

Then to the Registry cleaning part.

This is what you see in Registry tab, though when you open it, the right side window is empty.

At the left side of the window you see all that this registry fixer is going to fix. If there is something in the list you don't want the program to touch, unselect them.

Then press button 'Scan for issues' to allow the program to scan your registries. It will make a log, like in the pic above. If you have never done this, the list may be very long. At this point, if you see something in the log that you don't want touched, unselect it.

After going through the log, press 'Fix selected issues'. A question will pop up. Do you wish to make backups of your registry. First time users, do this. Save it to somewhere you can find later if needed. Also, if you are just unsure, or you are a non-first time user but get a long list, you should do the backups.

Then new window will show up, it asks you to 'fix error', 'fix all errors' or to 'cancel'. If you want to fix them one by one and maybe skip some, select 'fix error'. if you want to fix all at once, select 'fix all errors'.

After this is complete, repeat the analyze and fix steps as many times that you get a clean list. Unless there was something you wanted to save, then you won't get a clean list.

That's it, you can close the program.

The registry fixing is something you should do every time you install/uninstall programs/games. For example, if you have uninstalled a game and intend to install it back, do the registry fix before reinstall.

Notice, that I don't take any responsibility for the actions you have taken by this tutorial. If you have forgotten a step, or done something wrong at some point, it's not my fault.

Regards, armiel

Tutorial: Launcher Content Cleanup

2010-03-25T13:45:00.010+02:00

Hello everyone.

This is a tutorial of how to make a fresh install of your sims3packs.

Sometimes you may have installed same content twice, or by accident installed content that you don't wish to install after all. This tutorial is about how to delete those duplicate/unwanted files.

Before you actually start to do anything to your game, read this tutorial through. By taking the actions mentioned you do it at your own risk, this is perfectly voluntary; no-one is forcing you to do it.

Very first step is to back up your saves, go to your MyDocs>Electronic Arts>Sims 3 and copy the Saves folder to desktop.

If that doesn't say anything to you, pic one here, depending on what system you run:

-For Windows Xp: C:/documents and settings/user name/my documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

- For Windows Vista/7: C:/users/user name/documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

- For Mac OS: /users/user name/documents/electronic arts/the sims 3

Then what you need to do is to download and install these two very helpful programs, Dashboard and CCleaner. They are perfectly safe, and I will show how to use them later on this tutorial.

Home page of Ccleaner

Direct download link for Ccleaner

Dashboard by Delphy from Mod the Sims

Ok, after you have installed/extracted those, I want you to go to your MyDocs>Electronic Arts>Sims 3 (see earlier) and locate these three folders:

- DCBackup

- DCCache

- Downloads

Take a look inside them, and don't get alarmed when you take a look at DCBackup, it is suppose to look to be full of these:

Those are the items, Sims, houses, all the things you have installed in The Sims 3 Launcher. To check out does this tutorial really do something or not, I suggest you open up DCBackup, press Ctrl+A to select all the files, and then look at the number down on the window, the amount of files. Memorize that number.

Then lets leave that folder for a second and start the actual process. Go find the Downloads folder, don't open it, just press it with right mouse button and select COPY (this is important, make sure to COPY, not cut) then right click on the DESKTOP and select PASTE, the computer should now make a copy of the folder to desktop.

After that is done, open up the LAUNCHER. In there, I want you to go to INSTALLED CONTENT, not downloads. Wait that it loads all, then select all, and uninstall them. (You have the copies at desktop, so it should be safe)

After un-installation is complete, go to Downloads section in LAUNCHER, select all files and delete them. (Again, you have the backups at desktop if you have done like told, So it should be safe)

Then go back to the folders we started with, open Downloads, and check that it is empty, if it's not, empty it by hand. (Delete the files)

Then, open up DCCache and delete all the files in there. Do this same to DCBackup. As a result, all three folders should be empty, check that they are.

Now we can start to learn how to use those programs I made you get. Let's start with Dashboard. Go to the folder you extracted it, and double click the "Sims3Dashboard" to run the program. It should look like this:

The part of the program we are mostly interested now is the one with number 1 (one). As an explanation to what those files are, I borrow the words on one tutorial at MTS:

Now, what you need to do, is to press the button marked as number 1. It will ask if you want to delete all the caches, just answer yes. The list above the button shouldn't have numbers anymore, just zeros.

Then we might as well take care of your package file lag all at the same, press number 2 to refresh the list, then scroll it down to see if there are any bad files. If there are, press number 3 to repair the selected files. (You can do this anyways, it doesn't break anything)

Now that part should be done, you can close Dashboard.

Then we open up CCleaner. It should look like this: (sorry mine is Finnish, but the buttons are all at the same places)

Open up the Register part of the program. The cleaner is very useful too, but irrelevant to this tutorial. Press button number 1 to Find register errors. It should make a list above the buttons. Once the search is done, press button number 2, it will ask you if you want to back up you registry. If you are a first time user, or just unsure, do it. After that should pop up a question whether you want to repair all the errors, select "yes to all" (Again I apologize if the words are not just the right ones, I translate them from Finnish). After repair is done, repeat the steps 1 and 2 as many times as it takes to get a fresh clean list, like mine above. Then you can close up the program.

(You can restart computer at this point if you want, but it's not necessary)

We are almost at the finish. All you need to do now, is to put the Downloads folder back to its place. Cut it from the desktop, paste back to electronic arts/Sims 3 (see earlier) and then open up the launcher.

Now it would be good time to delete all the stuff you have suspicions to be bad. Before you install the content back, go through the list and see if there are any Sims with funky clothes from Exchange. By funky I mean ones that have made your babies look like blocks, toddlers deformed and so on. You don't really want that stuff back to your game. If you do delete Sims you won't be able to play the saves they were played in, but it's better to have clean game, than pretty Sims that mess it up.

After you have done this, install the content back to game by selecting them all, and pressing install.

Then go to DCBackup, where we started, Ctrl+A to select all the files, check out the amount of them. If the number has changed, you have actually deleted some old copies/bad files, and made your game better.

In my game, taking these actions deleted about 20 files, so it's improvement. Besides I haven't downloaded anything from exchange, so for people who have, the change might be bigger.

Run the game.

It should load up normal speed, or maybe little faster. In game don't get alarmed if it first acts little funny, invisible Sims and such, it's just that the game needs to make new caches.

Notice, that I don't take any responsibility for the actions you have taken by this tutorial. If you have forgotten a step, or done something wrong at some point, it's not my fault.

Regards, armiel

Proofread for mistakes by tomvanroosmalen

Thanks Delphy and Piriform for amazing very useful programs, Tom for correcting the language.

Also, what I would like you to do, Is this:

If you have tried this method, make a comment here, so other people can see how it went. When commenting keep in mind that things like "this sucks" aren't very helpfull. Be more precise and mention why it sucks..