#cc organization

Do you struggle to keep your CC folder organized? Does your CC slow down your game? Or have you been trying to find that one broken CC item you’ve wanted to delete for years?

Here is everything you need, with links and tutorials!

I’ve put in brackets what I think each tool is most useful for, but of course, they have many uses.

You don’t need all of these mods/programs — pick and choose according to your needs!

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Sims 3 Package Sorter (organization) by @sicitur and their partner link

This tool sorts your package files by category and lets you organize them into different folders.

How to use:

Import packages or a whole folder.

Sort by type.

Select files from one category (or whichever files you want to move).

Right-click → Move to folder.

Choose the folder you want to move them to.

Repeat until you’re satisfied with your organized folder!

Delphy's Sims 3 Pack Multi-Extracter (organization, performance) by Delphy link

Now that you know how to efficiently sort package files, what about Sims3Packs? You can manage them either in the Sims 3 Launcher or with CC Magic. However, Sims3Packs are less convenient for organization and can slow down your game. That’s why this tool lets you convert Sims3Packs into package files!

How to use:

Select the folder containing your Sims3Packs.

Choose the destination folder where you want the extracted packages to go.

Hit Extract — done!

CC Magic (organization, performance) by granthes link

Great tool for managing large amounts of CC that slow down your game. Instead of forcing The Sims 3 to load thousands of individual package files, it merges them into fewer, larger ones, making the game load significantly faster.

While there are other ways to merge package files, they’re not very convenient, since once merged it’s difficult to remove individual items you no longer want. With CC Magic, you can edit and manage your merged files freely, making it far more flexible and user-friendly.

It also lets you organize CC directly within the program, and even displays preview pictures for some of your content (which is very convenient) Personally, I still find Sims 3 Package Sorter a bit more efficient if you’re sorting huge amounts of CC, but CC Magic has the advantage of handling Sims3Packs as well, plus it can clear your cache with a single click. How to use: Here is a video tutorial by Floryda (i am going to add to this video that it does work with sims3packs!!! as you can see in my image. So converting is optional, not necessary!)

Sims 3 Dashboard Tool (performance) by Delphy link

This mod helps you identify corrupted and duplicate CC in your game. In addition, it can detect if you accidentally have CC for Sims 1, 2, or 4 in your Sims 3 folder (which, let’s be honest, happens to the best of us). It also highlights CC that might conflict with each other, helping you troubleshoot issues and keep your game running smoothly.

How to use: Simply click on file, scan folder and thats it! Delete corrupted and duplicate files. Take a look at conflicts (just because it conglicts it doesnt mean it will cause an issue, so check them and decide)

CUSTARD Sims3Pack Cleaner by Delphy link It essentially does the same thing as the Sims 3 Dashboard Tool, but for Sims3Pack files! However, you can only add one file at a time (or at least I wasn’t able to add more than one), which is very tedious. That’s why converting Sims3Packs into packages is a more convenient method.

Sims 3 Thumbnail Extractor (Finding cc) by Killc*a  link This mod extracts images from your package files, making it easier to find the CC you’re looking for or decide what you want to keep and what you don’t — all without even opening the game. How to use: when you download this it comes with two exe files. I usually use the one on the right. You simply choose files or folder with the files you want to extract from and it will extract photos into the same place it took the packages from. However if you would like more settings you would use the option on the left.

S3PE (organization) by simlogical link This program lets you open, edit, and merge package files. I would say it's more for advanced users, and for the purpose of this megathread, I think it’s mostly useful for people who already have merged packages that they are trying to sort out. How to use: link

Nraas Packer (finding cc) by Twallan link This program helps you find particular item by right clicking on that item in your game!!! (however i have found it doesn't work for every category but it might be me issue) For this to work you will need: - Mastercontroller Base + Integration - DebugEnabler - Packer - S3PE How to use: written tutorial by Nraas - link video tutorial by @acottonsock - link

That said, I have an addition to the video tutorial. She shows a second, more complicated technique for CC Magic users, but you can actually use the first, simpler technique as well!

CC Magic stores all the loose files in your CC Magic folder → Content → Packages. So, once you get to the package finder step, simply navigate to your CC Magic packages folder instead of your Mods folder. ♥ (photo taken from nraas website)

Nraas MasterController (performance) by Twallan link

If you have a lot of CC and it takes a long time to load in CAS, MasterController can display items in compact mode. This means that instead of showing every swatch, it will show only one of each item, which speeds up loading time significantly!

How to use:

In-game, click on Town Hall → NRaas → MasterController Settings → CAS → “Show in Compact Mode.”

⚠️ Note: This will only work when NRaas is active, so you must access CAS or create a household through Manage Worlds or MasterController.

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Sims 3 Mod Organizer by g0kur link This mod really does it all: organizing files into folders, merging, showing conflicting CC, opening package files, extracting Sims3Packs, cleaning the cache, and more. It can be an alternative to some of the programs mentioned above. How to use: tutorial by @desiree-uk link

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These programs work best when used together! For example, if I want to delete a specific CC item — let’s say earrings — I could use S3PS to find all my earrings. Then, I could either put them into CC Magic or use the Sims 3 Thumbnail Extractor to browse the images until I find the ones I want to delete. Alternatively, you could use the NRaas Packer route — get creative!

So recently, I have been going through a lot with my Game. I have been going through a lot of growing pains trying to fix my CC folder and one thing that always happens to me is that first I start out small-ish, not very small, but small enough and the game is working even though it takes forever to load and all that stuff. But I keep thinking to myself that it's worth it as long as everything loads. Or I keep thinking that it's worth it once I get all the things (CC) I want.

Those of you who watch my YouTube content, I am definitely a create-a-sim girlie. I absolutely love creating sims. I'll stay in there for hours. If it was possible that I knew the game would never crash and I could add all the create-a-sim CC I wanted, I would be in there for hours creating modernized versions of cartoon characters, creating beautiful sims, creating main characters for stories. I always have a story in my head. But recently I realized that I'd be doing too much and I think we all go through that sometimes in our CC journey. We pick up everything we find, whether it is that you're a builder. So you pick up every furniture piece of CC or a new wall or a new pattern. Or if you're a create-a-sim girlie like me and every time you see a hair that be looking good that was originally a sims 4 hair, you're like, oh my god. Hell, yeah. I got to stop myself.

So I'm just going to bring you guys through what I plan to do. Honestly, I am going to be focusing on my stories more. Honestly, I am such a story girlie, and I've been losing that. I've been spending so much time trying to work with aesthetics and I've made so many create-a-sim videos, a good like 10 to 20 that haven't even been posted. I feel like I can take a take a little break, for right now. So, I will just be putting in what is already needed. For example, if you've seen a let's play that I've done and you like the way a certain sim looks that CC will be in my game. When it comes to makeup and stuff like that, I'll just leave all of that in there. But when it comes to hairs, I'm going to have to be a little bit more careful. Also, when it comes to clothes, I'll just try to only put in what's necessary.

Now when it comes to accessories, that's a little bit more difficult. Because accessories always be loading slow, but you kind of need the accessories. Or maybe you don't. Please let me know below. These sims don't need necklaces and nails and glasses. Even just saying that hurt me. But yeah, this is what I plan to do.

Also as it comes into the building because I do have a lot of build by CC and as some of you know watching some of my videos, I've been getting into my building. Well, not really building more like interior designing and you can see the progression of how much better I got. But honestly, I think at this point I'm just going to be using other creators houses that they post here on this platform and giving them credit in the videos. That'll have to be it for now. That way I get the small, curated amount of CC that they placed in their houses. And if anybody's like, oh my god, where'd you get that? I'll just be like I downloaded this from this creator. Just get that because even though I do like doing it myself, my game is not stable enough where I can do every little creative thing I want in there right now. My storytelling is being sacrificed because I'm spending so much time with all the aesthetics.

Hi there! Just curious, how do you guys organize your collections in TS3?

- Do you use them a lot or very little?

- Do you use CC magic to make your collections?

- Or do you make them in game?

- Are they by creator, by function, or something else?

- How do you add new content to them? Do you frantically search for every new item in the misc deco section like me or is there a better way?

- Approximately how many do you have?

Around this time every year, we start getting amazing holiday cc from pumpkins and scare crows to christmas presents and cookies for santa.

The only problem with this is that when the holidays are over, we’re left with some themed content that we aren’t using anymore or at least not nearly as much. But by this time, months have gone by and you’ve downloaded tons of cc. So when it comes time to cull your mods folder of these items, you wonder…where do I even start?!

So here is a custom content organizing tip for the holiday season! (:

If you find that you want to download these items, put them in a new folder in your mods called ‘Holiday’ or 'Festive’ or just something easily identifiable. If you’re like me, then you probably have tons of folders and levels in your mods already so be sure to put the holiday themed folder in a place in your mods that you won’t forget about. This way, when the seasons are over and it’s time to move on, you can take these things out of your current mods folder quickly and without any hassle

Taking out items you don’t use on a regular basis, or only use for special occassions, is a good idea because it helps save on load times when you just want to casually game. It also helps when you’re decorating/building/etc, so you won’t have to sort through content you know you will no longer be using.

If these are items you’re positive you’ll want to use the next year around or sometime soon, you can put that folder in another safe place on your computer so you can plop it back into your mods when you’re ready to use it!