The Sims 2 Tutorials

SimPE for Mac now exists! It is a Wine wrapper around the Windows SimPE 0.8.2.11, patched for Mac file paths, loading objects and TXTR files from the Stuff Packs Huge Lunatic extracted, if they are installed in BonVoyage/TSData/Res/Catalog/Bins. Fixed Wine weirdness of not properly displaying the Resource List. Should work on both Intel and M series Macs, but is dependent on Rosetta on Apple M series.

Like all Wine apps, your local hard drive will be the Z drive in the open and save file menus. To get to your Sims 2 folder, you click Z>Users>yourusername>Library>Containers>com.aspyr.sims2.appstore>Data>Library>Application Support>Aspyr>The Sims 2.

It is not uploaded to MTS, because it exceeds the maximum file size for upload. I am working on that. The wine wrapper makes this a large app. Like 1.2 gig. I went through becoming an official Apple developer and getting the app approved, so MacOS won't complain and refuse to run it. You can download the .dmg now from my github. https://github.com/rhiamom/SimPE-Mac-Wine/releases

I made this list two years ago after I finally transfered all my files from my old disc to my current one, which also meant that I had to install sims 2 again.. soo I made some (read: many) notes for future me if I ever have to do this shit again, and I thought it could perhaps be useful for someone else? I know many probably have switched to linux (I 100% support that and I would totally do the same, but I have a mac for all the other stuff and really only use my pc for sims) but this list is more like a "don't forget these files (and programs!) if you ever have to install sims 2 again", and it's kinda long... sorry about that haha. I'm on win10, but the tutorial I follow is for win8 and I recently installed ts2 on my sister's win11 pc (EUW) using the same tutorial.

NOTE: I made this list for me and it's a bit messy (sorry), if anything is unclear let me know<3

I promised this tutorial a while ago and just started making my harbour for my current hood. I figured I may as well kill two birds with one stone, so here it is! This technique is completely modular, allowing you to create harbours of any length. As you can see, I've already done one of the lots, just to show you how they fit together. You will find yourself saving and exiting quite a lot with this method!

Requirements

LotAdjuster

A neighbourhood with accessible shoreline

Possibly some understanding of the 'boolprop constrainfloorelevation false' cheat

Important: I do not use beach lots for this method. I find this method gives me more control.

Step 1: Place Your Lot

Start with a lot that is 20 tiles deep. This gives enough room to create a stone harbour wall and dock area. This is preference, but I find any bigger looks dumb.

The lot should be 10 tiles wider than the harbour segment you ultimately want. For example, if you want a final harbour segment that is 40 tiles wide, start with a 50 tile wide lot. That is what I've done here.

Bring the water as close to the lot edge as possible. If necessary, use the cheat 'modifyNeighborhoodTerrain on'

The terrain should slope down naturally towards the water.

Step 2: Mark the Tiles to Remove

Measure 5 tiles in from each end of the lot.

These tiles will be removed later with LotAdjuster.

For a centre segment, mark 5 tiles on both ends.

For a left-end segment, mark 6 tiles on the left side.

For a right-end segment, mark 6 tiles on the right side.

Step 3: Build the Stone Harbour

Create a foundation within the remaining space. This can be as big as you want.

The foundation walls should extend flush (but not connect along the length) to any edge that will connect seamlessly to another lot.

I use Numenor's custom foundation walls, but you can achieve the same effect using standard walls with the cheat 'constrainFloorElevation false'. Just flatten the walls after placing them.

Cover the foundation with floor tiles of your choice, filling in that gap.

Important: Do not place walls along any edge that will connect to another harbour segment.

Step 4: Add the End Cap

At the opposite end of the harbour wall, add a small "cap" section. It will not stretch out as far as you want, but that's okay. Again, make it as big as you want.

This creates a natural transition point where stairs can lead down to the wooden docks.

Step 5: Build the Dock

Lay out the wooden dock below the stone harbour. Mine was a full story (16 steps) lower than the stone.

As before, don't place foundations flush against the lot edge. Use floor tiles to create the seamless connection instead. You will know it's correct if there's no stilt on the 6th tile from the edge.

Again, at this stage, don't worry if the dock isn't the exact width you want.

Save and exit the game.

Step 6: Extend the Lot

Open LotAdjuster and add 20 tiles to the back of the lot.

Do not change any other settings.

Step 7: Finish the Waterfront

Load the game, and then the lot again.

You now have what is effectively a custom beach lot. I usually add terrain paint to match my shoreline, otherwise the extended area remains grassy.

You can now adjust the dock to its final width. In my example, I created a dock that was 5 tiles wide.

Step 8: Plan the Dock and Bay Pattern

Decide how many docks and bays you want. Bays should be big enough to fit ships.

The harbour should always end on half a bay, so that adjoining lots complete the bay when placed together.

Do this before shrinking the lot. Once the lot has been reduced, you won't be able to place floor tiles on the very edge.

For my example:

Dock width: 5 tiles

Bay width: 10 tiles

This creates the pattern: 5 (half bay) - 5 (dock) - 10 (bay) - 5 (dock) - 5 (half bay)

I also made them 15 tiles long. You can do literally whatever size you want.

Save and exit once the layout is complete.

Step 9: Trim the Lot

Open LotAdjuster again and remove 5 tiles from both the left and right sides.

This is the step where you're most likely to run into problems. I certainly did while creating this tutorial!

If LotAdjuster throws an error, reload the lot and make sure there are no walls, fences, or foundations crossing the line where the new lot boundary will be.

When you reload the lot:

End pieces should have one side flush with the lot edge.

Centre pieces should be flush on both sides.

These flush edges allow the harbour sections to connect seamlessly.

Step 10: Repeat

Repeat the process for as many harbour segments as you need. If they don't line up, you can't just pick up the lot and move it. You have to use LotAdjuster to either move it left or right. I had to do so in this very tutorial.

The good thing is, you can use the original dock as a visual guide for widths! Also, make sure the wooden dock is on the same elevation across both lots.

For this example, I created a left and right segment and mirrored them, but you can continue adding centre sections indefinitely. I tend to add stairs in the very middle if I do that. You need a flight of stairs to get down to the harbour.

Finishing Touches

Once your harbour is assembled, decorate it however you like.

I usually place lots like warehouses, taverns, fishmongers, market stalls, or more on the stone harbour, and use neighbourhood deco ships (or this refurbished version of the Bon Voyage ship) in the bays. I also decorate the docks with crates, barrels, dead fish, etc. For some extra fun, add invisible fishing spots to the end of the docks!

The result is a fully modular harbour that can be expanded to fit any waterfront.

ok. I know there's about 7 of us playing the Super Collection on Mac, however! I know all 7 of us are desperate.

what issue are we solving?

so, there's no Mac version of CleanInstaller. there is the Sims2Pack Installer that comes with the Super Collection, and technically, you can install lots with that, but a) it doesn't flag questionable files, and b) it renames every package file to a random string of characters such as ed971e8cfa82a63f713a6b3b5fb812dd_0001.package.

if this is no bother, great, go ahead with Sims2Pack Installer!! worked fine for me, too, until the precise moment I wanted to cull some build/buy CC...

anyway. so

you'll need:

CleanInstaller, download it here

Porting Kit, download it here (or a wine wrapper of your choice but this one's free & my examples will be referencing Porting Kit directly)

not being afraid of Terminal

a vague understanding of wine wrappers & how to use them

first, download CleanInstaller. second, download and install Porting Kit (or whatever you're using). then, make a bottle for the CleanInstaller, name it whatever, and install CleanInstaller into the bottle. this will take some time and Porting Kit will seemingly freak out but it'll happen!

then, Terminal time! first, we need to find where Wine is installed, so just paste this into Terminal:

find /Applications/cleaninstaller.app -name "wine" -type f 2>/dev/null

cleaninstaller.app is the name of my bottle, replace it with whatever you've named yours.

you'll get a response that looks kind of like this:

/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/Wineskin.app/Contents/Resources/wine

then, while we're at it, we also have to find where we'll put the .sims2pack file so that CleanInstaller can actually see it:

find /Applications/cleaninstaller.app -name "Temp" -type d 2>/dev/null

again, replace cleaninstaller.app with whatever you've named your bottle. you'll get something like:

/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/SharedSupport/prefix/drive_c/users/yourusername/Temp

if there's no Temp folder, you'll get an error but not to worry! just make the folder manually.

make sure you copy these locations out somewhere.

okay. now we'll copy the .sims2pack file into that Temp folder. you can do this manually, but we're already in Terminal so what the hell.

note, this command assumes that you have your .sims2pack file in your Downloads folder. this is not the Downloads folder where you put your CC, this is just the standard Downloads folder on your Mac where things go when you download them lol. ofc replace the path if you have it somewhere else.

note 2, make sure there are no spaces in the file name.

cp ~/Downloads/filename.sims2pack "/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/SharedSupport/prefix/drive_c/users/yourusername/Temp/"

and now, drumroll please, we're going to open the .sims2pack file in CleanInstaller:

WINEPREFIX="/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/SharedSupport/prefix" "/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/Wineskin.app/Contents/Resources/wine" "/Applications/cleaninstaller.app/Contents/SharedSupport/prefix/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Sims2Pack Clean Installer/Sims2Pack Clean Installer.exe" "C:\users\yourusername\Temp\filename.sims2pack"

don't forget to replace the bits with your own names!

and now CleanInstaller should open with your .sims2pack file, rejoice!

now, I'm sure there's a way to get CleanInstaller to unpack your files right into your Sims 2 > Downloads folder, but I couldn't be arsed to figure it out and Mac paths are weird. instead, I just unpack them to my Documents folder:

click Install in CleanInstaller

untick Default Installation

choose Downloads in the dropdown

select .package file extension

click Install

this will automatically create an EA Games > The Sims 2 > Downloads folder. I like to keep some of the stuff here for backup purposes, and I just copy paste the files into my actual Sims 2 Downloads folder.

and that's it!! once you've found your paths, you don't need to run those commands again for installing more lots, just repeat the last two commands.

Have you ever wondered why Bodyshop makes your PC work so hard?

BODYSHOP HAS NO FPS LIMIT

With limited frame rate, Bodyshop only puts a strain on PC when it loads CAS content. If your GPU fans go significantly faster the entire time you have Bodyshop open, then FPS is very likely way too high.

It's similar case for TS2 game - but FPS also depends on your system / PC /Laptop and the way you run TS2.

➤ To check FPS in the game, use a shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + S to bring up FPS HUD. FPS is displayed right in the upper left corner.

Tip: if FPS is changing too fast, take a few screenshots so you can read FPS from those

➤ If you set a limit to 60 FPS, that tells CPU/GPU to produce 60 game frames per second. This is the sensible number for TS2. Without FPS limit, your hardware is trying to put out frames as fast as it possibly can, heating up and using unnecessary amounts of energy.

The Sims 2 engine was not designed to run any higher than 100 FPS

➤ When you play The Sims 2 with TS2 RPC & borderless window, Windows Desktop Manager usually handles frame rates. Same for windowed TS2 Legacy edition. This is thanks to Vsync*, which forces desktop's default refresh rate on game window.

*In case of high-refresh gaming monitors / laptops, FPS limit imposed by Vsync may not be low enough for TS2.

I come back with a download, but a slightly more niche one. Since sharing my own Turn-Ons/Off default replacement, a few people have asked about how to customise it for their own game (e.g. adding different triggers). So, I put together a couple of tutorials for them to explain the process - especially as it relates to adding different 3t2 traits - and thought I might as well also share publicly. They don't explain all the ins and outs of BHAV editing, but they do give a basic introduction to the principles - which can be applied not just to TO replacements - so I think they could be a helpful resource for anyone who is new to BHAV modding. Here you go: PART 1

PART 2

Here is a short summary of my notes and findings on the Object Limit after struggling with this beast for years.

See @spockthewok's post for the explanation on what this is and what the limit is (32,767 Objects).

By the count on @picknmixsims's Maxis GUIDs spreadsheet, the game has just shy of 14,000 objects in it. I do not believe that all of these contribute to the limit (cos the maths doesn't check out) but just keep that in mind as you're calculating how much room you've got in your folder.

Sims count. If you've got a hood with a tonne of character files (you can find these in Documents / EA Games / The Sims 2 / Neighborhoods / [HOOD] / Characters) you're gonna have less room for CC

Reducing GUIDs can create way more space in your folder. Tutorial I use to do this is here by HugeLunatic - I reduce all CC rugs to 1 GUID, for example.

CAS Content doesn't count

Fences and hood deco don't count

Custom foods count. This can be an unexpected one

Same goes for custom careers, and Uni majors.

To easily check how many OBJDs you've got in your Downloads folder, use HCDU+ by PickNMix. Scan the entire folder for the "OBJD" resource only, go to the info tab, and the program will tell you how many files it scanned.

I don't have all the answers on how some people seem to have more OBJDs in their folders and not hit the limit while others with less do hit it, but that's what I can tell you from much testing and experience.

I also don't know if default replacing Maxis GUIDs still only counts as 1 object, but I'd assume it would.

If you want to learn modding, I highly recommend William’s tutorials 👍 He has a nice and clear style of explaining things, a pleasure to watch.

Videos are packed full of useful info bits, will answer many questions about reading BHAVs and help you grasp the general structure of object coding. These two are more broad, there are other tutorials that cover more specific topics as well. 

These questions were asked by @divagirl76 in a reply to my post about load times, and I thought it should be it's own separate post:

Do you recommend merging the mesh with the recolours into one file OR merge recolours only and leave the mesh separate?

Answer: I will answer this with examples 😊

a) Let's say I download a set which has a bunch of individual objects each with their own recolours. For each item, I merge the item together with it's recolours. In times gone by I'd just merge the entire set into 1-2 big files, and sometimes I still do, but these days I like to have more control over it and still be able to delete a CC object from within the game if I decide I don't want it anymore, and be sure the object + recolours all disappear at once. I sacrifice a little bit of load time speed for this, but I'm okay with it.

b) Let's say I download a big CC set like Honeywell's Bespoke windows and doors set. This set has some key master objects, then a bunch of recolours and repo meshes. Here's what I'd do with it or how I'd merge it.

First, I look through the set in a test game and see if there's any meshes I don't particularly want or need. I make a note of them in a notepad file, then outside of the game, delete anything I don't want.

Once I'm happy, leave the master meshes out on their own, then I merge:

All recolours together

All repo meshes together.

c) Let's say I download CAS stuff - I handle this slightly differently. With CAS stuff, all of the meshes (whether hair or clothing) I

Only remove special characters

Do not merge

I put all of these into a folder called CAS_Meshes_Hair or CAS_Meshes_Clothing

Why? Because otherwise I accidentally end up with 20 copies of the same hair mesh, lol. If I stick to this system, I get a prompt if the file is already in there. Handy! Then the recolours, I vet first and then merge.

2. Do the file names (or length of file names with or without spaces or weird characters) BEFORE merging matter? I know you will rename them when you do merge, so if they don't matter, I can save myself alot of time now and just bundle the recolours (or mesh and recolours) and rename them when I do merge.

Answer: nope, you can leave them as they are and then just give your merged package a nice neat name 😊

3. Do you merge recolours by creator?

Answer: Yes 😊 Let's say it's a Maxis mesh. I'll name it something like DECO_CivicIdolPoster_xmathyxRCs_merged If it's recolours of a cc set, I'll go something like SET_Bespoke_ShastaRCs_merged

4. Is there a limit to how many recolour files you should merge?

I've never run into any issues with it, but there's possibly some issues with merging a lot of large textures together - @picknmixsims might be able to weigh in here, as we were helping @lamare-sims with a broken merged file just yesterday, and William worked out that it was unhappy about texture files I think? In general, I would say I don't worry too much about it.

5. Is there some cc you shouldn't merge?

Yes, anything that when you merge it, you go in game and try to look at it, it's invisible 😄 This doesn't happen to me much anymore, but it can happen. In particular I remember trying to merge some old couches from HolySimoly that would throw a tanty every time, lol. You also cannot* merge:

Hood Deco

Fences

Columns

*You can merge these I think, definitely fences, but you need to go into SimPE afterwards and tweak some stuff. See this tutorial by @hugelunatic

6. Can you merge repository meshes or should they be kept separate?

Answer: As in my answer to your first question, you sure can. I just like to keep the master objects out on their own or things can start to complain. I also like to leave master meshes out in case I decide I want to make recolours 👀

General tips:

The thing with merging is that it can be tedious and time consuming, so attack it in small chunks. Like "this week I will merge all my painting recolours".

It's ultimately up to you where and how much you want to merge your content together. Some people will do huge merges and throw a bunch of content in together (looking at you, Lamare lol), others prefer to do smaller merges. These days I tend to prefer smaller merges, which as I mentioned above does sacrifice some load time speed, but gives me better control of my catalogue in game.

I also recommend everyone check out the latest update to object relocator by PickNMix, and for CAS stuff the Outfit Organizer, as we can now merge files with these and it's SUPER streamlined and simple. I merged a crap tonne of windows together with their diagonal meshes earlier this week and it was 10x faster with Object Relocator than it would have been otherwise.

While you're learning to merge, test in game regularly, keep an un-merged backup, or just keep a link to what you downloaded in case you need to try the merge again.

Hi! I’m BoltCore and welcome to my blog! So i was scrolling on twitter and then saw a post by crosimmer saying that you can skip the selecting main menu for the sims 2! So with this your game will just load the hood you want or the lot you want! I think this was introduced for testing purposes and also for showing the demo version of the game at E3 or such! 

To “tell” the game to skip the menu and instantly load the hood you wish you just need the game’s shortcut! Then Right-click on the shortcut and go to the target line! Should look like this:

At the target line,press spacebar once and type: (with the “-”)

 -load:N001 (for pleasantview)

 -load:N002 (for strangetown)

-load:N003 (for veronaville)

-load:E001 (for belladona cove ,the sims 2 apartament life)

-load:F001 (for desiderata valley,the sims 2 freetime)

-load:G001 (for riverblossom hills,the sims 2 seasons)

Then click apply and you can close the window then open the shortcut to see the results! :D

(note that this dosent work with subhoods,only main hoods!)

But that’s not all! You can also load a specific lot! to do that you have to specify the lot adress! For example,to load the goth family you have to type:

-load:“N001;165 Sim Lane” and yes in a lot case you need to put the quotes before the hood s name and after the lot’s name!!!

You can also load CAS (Create-a-Sim) too!,for pleasantview type  load:“N001;CAS!” ,the same rule applies!

Again crosimmer is a legend in the sims community <3 xoxo

Anyways i hope you find this quite helpful ! if you have questions please ask!

Follow crossimmer on twitter: https://twitter.com/Crosimmer

Follow me on twitter:https://twitter.com/LucasTheGAMER3

There's an easier way!

As I work on the recording booth for the Fame Mod, I have been making a lot of custom sounds. I followed two tutorials that do things slightly differently, one by Hexameter and one by Carrigon, and also made a silly mistake (thanks for pointing it out, @picknmixsims). All this combined to lead to a discovery; you don't need a HLS (UNK) or a Track Settings (TRKS) to make your sound package work.

A functioning sound package needs only:

One or more MP3/XA audio resources in group 0x0B8AB3CD. Their instance numbers must match the names you want to use to refer to your sounds in an object's Sound ID List (STR# 0x4132).

A single audio INI resource in group 0xADD550A7 (which looks to SimPE like an MP3) that tells the game your package contains sounds to index.

Here is the manual way to do it. This is not a tutorial for beginners. I'm going to assume you know your way around SimPE, when to commit and so on.

Have you ever put one of your custom guitars (or guitar-based instrument) in inventory, taken it to a community lot to busk only to find your sim can't use it anymore? How's your poor starving artist going to get by when they can't make back those 2500 they spent on a stupidly ornate guitar, eh?

No sweat, I figured out the issue. Argon (or whoever made the guitar base back then 😜) disabled a bhav they shouldn't have. Instance 1006 Function - Load to be precise. When guitars are placed, they store the OID of their accessory in attribute D. But when you pull it out of inventory, it has to re-create it and without this bhav it won't update the attribute to match the new OID.

Fortunately it is easy to fix. A lot of them still have the bhav gathering dust unused, some have deleted it. You can grab a copy of it from my SFS if you need it.

Identify which OBJD is your lead tile, and note down the instance number. In every example I looked at it, it was instance 41AB. You can verify by scrolling down the RAW Data tab of the OBJD to section 06. Mesh & Graphics and making sure it has the number 1 in Multi-Tile master id, and Multi-Tile sub index.

Copy the GUID of your lead tile OBJD, and while you are there also grab the GUID of the accessory guitar OBJD.

Go to the OBJf of the same instance number as the lead tile. On the third line called load, enter 1006 into the action bhav box.

Go to your Function Load BHAV, and switch out line 0x0 guid to the one you copied from your lead tile, and switch out line 0x4 to the accessory guitar guid. (Protip: Make sure you have picknmix's plugin wizards, so that you can use the pop-up wizard to simply copy in the guid.)

That's it. Now your sim can bring their overly-expensive new guitar to go busk and earn back the money they spent to buy it.

Download here! If you want help how to install it here is the post from ModTheSims. If you need any more help my dms are open.

Hi! I wrote it on MTS for better formatting

Object Turning Invisible In Live Mode

To Avoid Object Becoming Visible During Cutscenes

It’s time for this tutorial! I’ve been experimenting with this for a while, and I finally feel confident enough to whip this up.

Disclaimer: this is not a beginner tutorial. You need to be at least familiar with 4t2 converting (or at least extracting stuff and opening it in blender), basic meshing, and using the tattooer.