#sims 3 tutorial

Backup your files, even the entire folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin) if you want to be extra safe; you will thank yourself later. If you do not wish to backup the entire folder, at the very least backup the following:

reshade-presets

reshade-shaders

Reshade.ini

Options.ini (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3)

Keep them somewhere secure, for your peace of mind (and sanity).

Firstly, to fully uninstall DXVK, you should remove the following files:

d3d9.dll (if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: DXVK)

dxvk.conf

TS3.dxvk-cache (or TS3W.dxvk-cache)

Secondly, remove remnant files of previously installed ReShade (you did create a backup, right?):

d3d9.dll (located at the Bin folder, if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: crosire)

ReShade.ini

ReShade.log

⚠️There are a couple more steps. Please follow the instructions here.

Get the latest version here on GitHub:

Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (2.7.1 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz to download DXVK.

Open dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz, click on x32, and locate d3d9.dll from within.

Download a copy of dxvk.conf from this page by clicking on the tiny icon on the right.

Drag both d3d9.dll AND dxvk.conf to the Bin folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin); that is where TS3.exe and TS3W.exe are located.

Open dxvk.conf with Notepad or Notepad++, 'Ctrl + A' to select all, and hit delete. Yes, delete everything inside. Once you've emptied the file, enter the following:

d3d9.textureMemory = 100 d3d9.presentInterval = 1 d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60 d3d9.samplerAnisotropy = 16 dxvk.hud = devinfo d3d9.customVendorId = 10de d3d9.customDeviceId = 1080

Hit 'Ctrl + S' to save. That is DXVK installed!

Copy your Options.ini from your backup folder (you did make a backup, right?) into your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 folder.

Because we have 'tricked' the game into recognising our modern GPU as a GTX 580, we must edit one single line within the Options.ini to keep our preferred in-game settings intact.

Hit 'Ctrl + G', type in '150' to go to that line, and replace it with:

lastdevice = 0;10de;1080;65535

'Ctrl + S' to save.

⚠️Thanks to DXVK, from now on whenever there's a GPU driver update, we no longer need to keep the 'lastdevice' line up-to-date to prevent your in-game settings from being reset. You can leave it alone forever, once and for all. The last digit of '65535' is a placeholder value for driver versions and remains constant as long as you are using DXVK.

Launch the game to confirm that DXVK is working. By default, the debug HUD should show up in the top left corner of your screen. What's more, your graphics settings should not have reset.

If you're still not convinced that DXVK is working, go to your Bin folder and look for a file called: TS3_d3d9.log or TS3W_d3d9.log and inspect its content:

If you see these correctly documented in your log file, DXVK is working as intended.

⚠️ NB: This newer version of DXVK no longer generates a cache file by default, meaning that there will not be a TS3.dxvk-cache or TS3W.dxvk-cache any more.

Get the latest version here on GitHub:

Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (1.5.0 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on Sims3SettingsSetter.asi to download S3SS.

An ASI Loader is required for S3SS to function properly, and now so we need to install it.

However, if you use any of the listed LazyDuchess mods:

Mono Patcher Library;

Pixel Shader Modding Framework;

Shadow Extender (TS3);

or Split Level Light Fix,

you should already have an ASI loader (in the form of wininet.dll) located inside your Bin folder, and you can use that instead.

As you can see in the screenshot below, LD's Shader Framework came shipped with an ASI loader, as the other 3 mods do.

If you do not use any of the mods listed above, or that you wish to get a newer version of ASI loader for the game, you can get it from here (Ultimate ASI Loader by ThirteenAG):

To install, drag Sims3SettingsSetter.asi AND wininet.dll to your Bin folder.

And that is S3SS and its prerequisite successfully installed, now we should launch the game (again) and check if it's working.

Once the game has launched, hit 'Insert' key to toggle on S3SS interface.

⚠️ If nothing happens after pressing ' Insert', remove a folder called 'S3SS' (located at: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3) and reinstall from Step 2 again.

From S3SS interface, select 'Patches' on the top.

Here I recommend enabling all performances patches, but choose only one flavour for the Smooth Patch: Original or Precise.

Next, click on 'Other/QoL' tab, tick the box next to 'Enable Memory Warning', and increase the warning threshold to 3.8 GB.

Navigate downwards to 'Borderless Window' and choose 'Fullscreen' in the drop-down menu. This will allow you to play in borderless windowed mode.

⚠️ Please note that I do not play TS3 in exclusive fullscreen mode, nor do I recommend doing so; therefore, I cannot provide support for that.

Lastly, don't forget to click on 'File' on the top left corner to save any changes you've made.

Exit the game, it's time to install ReShade.

Download the latest version (with full add-on support) from the official site; it is 6.7.3 at the time of writing.

If you do not download the version with full add-on support, DoF (depth of field) shaders will not work properly upon internet detection.

Select TS3.exe (EA App) or TS3W.exe (disc, Steam), and then choose Vulkan as rendering API, click 'Next'.

If you would prefer not to install any shaders/effects (i.e, you want to keep using your existing ones), click 'Skip'.

On the following page, you'll get to choose to install add-ons. Hit 'Skip', unless you know what you are doing.

Click 'Finish' to complete installation.

At this stage, a new, vanilla ReShade.ini file will be placed in the Bin folder; you may now replace it with the one from your backup folder to recover all preferred settings (such as hotkeys for taking screenshots, directory for shaders etc.). Same thing goes for your reshade-presets and reshade-shaders folder.

Launch the game (for the final time) to check that ReShade has been properly installed.

To toggle S3SS interface, press 'Insert' (or whatever hotkey you've set it to).

⚠️ NB: under ReShade's 'Settings' tab you may need to change 'Input processing' to either 'Pass on all input' or 'Block input when cursor is on overlay' to tweak S3SS settings whilst ReShade's GUI is visible. Otherwise, you'll need to toggle ReShade's menu off first.

That is the end of this tutorial.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed DXVK, S3SS, and ReShade! You may now open dxvk.conf and remove line dxvk.HUD from it.

Whew, what a long tutorial. If you've made it this far, great job. 🎉

Hope you've found this helpful; comment down below, or send me an ask/DM if you've any questions. I'll try my best to troubleshoot with you. Happy simming! ⭐

Credits:

doitsujin for DXVK

ThirteenAG for Ultimate-ASI-Loader

@sims3fiend, just-harry, @lazyduchess, and swiffyjk for Sims3SettingsSetter

crosire for ReShade

Depending on which flavour of Skin Panel mod that you have installed from MTS, you should have access to only one of these:

Step 1:

Open either "cmar_SkinTonePanel_BodySliders1.38.package" or "cmar_SkinTonePanel1.38.package" with S3PE.

Step 2:

Locate the entry tagged LAYO within the file. Again, depending on which flavour you have downloaded, its name will be either "CASBasics_SkinTonePanel_BodySlidersx2", or "CASBasics_SkinTonePanel".

Step 3:

Right click on the entry, and select: Notepad.

Step 4:

Hit "Ctrl +G" and type in "4267" to jump to that line.

Step 5:

Locate the third number of "230", it controls the length of the rectangular UI panel for the drop-down menu, and we are going to increase this number.

We're changing it to "255", but you are free to experiment with other bigger values and see which ones you prefer.

Step 6:

Hit "Ctrl+S" to save the edit, and save the package file.

.... and you're all set! Load up your game and check the drop-down panel :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compatibility:

I've tested it with custom UI made by @cowplantcartel's tool, and since the recolour tool doesn't modify layout files with an instance ID of 0x97DB9E9DDA2D2671, it is fully compatible and looks perfectly fine in-game.

The benefit of using tuning files instead of the other method of importing settings at the Town Hall is that these will immediately apply without having to adjust or import any settings in-game, permanently eliminating an extra step!

If you add any of these tuning files to your Mods/Packages folder, they’ll become the default settings for whenever you make a new save, but will NOT apply to existing saves, which already have their prior settings written into their nhd file, unless you click Reset Settings for the particular mod at the Town Hall

If your preferred settings differ from mine, I recommend following the tutorial below to make your own tuning files. I just thought I would drop mine here for convenience’s sake, or for people don’t want to mess around in S3PE themselves

It's recommended to clear your script cache when installing any of these tuning files (!)

My Master Controller Tuning

Compact Outfits - False -> True

Compact Accessories - False -> True

Compact Hats - False -> True

Multiple Makeup Per Location - False -> True

Download (Updated to V135)

V2: I've uploaded an alternate version that eliminates an annoyance that comes up if you also use NRaas Integration. MC has a feature where you can choose a party filter before inviting your guests, which is meant to come up when throwing a party through the MC menu. But if you also have Integration installed, it'll come up every time you throw a party, even through the phone. I wasn't aware of how to disable this until recently! All other settings are the same from V1

Use Party Filter - True -> False

Download V2 (V135)

My Register Tuning

Paparazzi are annoying. And reducing the amount of wild/stray animals in your world is helpful for performance. I chose to reduce them rather than eliminate them (aside from Wild Horses, which have especially bad routing issues). But I kept the possibility of there being a Unicorn just for fun :)

Allow Paparazzi - True -> False

Maximum Wild Horses - 4 -> 0

Maximum Unicorns - Kept at 1

Maximum Stray Dogs - 6 -> 2

Maximum Stray Cats - 6 -> 2

Maximum Deer - 3 -> 1

Maximum Raccoons - 2 -> 1

Download (Updated to V81)

My Woohooer Tuning

Autonomous Woohoo - False -> True

Allow Teen Woohoo - False -> True

Allow Teen Skinny Dip - False -> True

Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15

Teen Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15

Unlock Actions for Teenagers - False -> True

Download (This tuning was already updated to V130 when the guide was made, but I changed the risky woohoo pregnancy chance for teens to 15% as well, unlocked actions for teenagers, and added the version to the file name)

The Tutorial

You will need the program S3PE which you might already have if you've ever merged CC before.

This tutorial should cover everything you need to tune all NRaas mods EXCEPT Story Progression (Edit: and Retuner, which should follow the same instructions as SP). The reason is the tuning for that mod is much more complex. You can still tune it, but you will have to go in game, navigate to SP, and Export Tuning which will generate a Script Error Report in your The Sims 3 folder (which is actually just the tuning that includes all of the modules you have). Then copy and paste that into the empty XML in the template in S3PE. Those are the only steps that differ. If anyone wants a more in-depth tutorial for tuning SP specifically, let me know!

With that out of the way, let's begin!

It's actually pretty easy! I will be using Master Controller as an example, but NRaas has provided tuning templates for basically all of their mods

Step 1: Navigate to the main page for the mod. Scroll down past all of the modules until you reach the Tunings section.

The file you want to download is the first one in the image below called NRaas_MasterController_Tuning_V135.zip

Once it downloads, extract the folder to get to the contents.

Step 2: Open S3PE and drag and drop the package file into the blank section on the left.

You will get this popup. Just click Next.

When it asks whether you want to auto-save after each package is imported, click No.

Now you should get a page that looks like this:

Click on the item with the tag XML, and the tuning settings will pop up on the right-hand side. Now right click that item and then select Notepad.

Boom. Now you can edit any of the default settings you want to change in this text document.

Let's say you want to allow multiple accessories per location. Just find that line and change False to True.

Once you're done editing, Save, and then close out of the notepad.

You will now get this popup from S3PE. Click Yes to commit changes.

Now, you will see the initial XML file crossed out, and a second one (which is your edit).

Now all you need to do is click File, then Save to overwrite the original template, or Save As to give it a custom name, just make sure you're only putting one tuning file per mod in your Mods/Packages folder.