I'm kinda glad I started from scratch - much more entertaining!
AllenABQ:
Quote from: simmiecal on 2005 October 14, 19:47:40
Quote from: ZephyrZodiac on 2005 October 14, 19:32:17
Another thing you can do is what I remember reading that Gali (I think it was) does. She builds one house, then packages it, and then you can install it as often as you like. A bit like RL, too, with a new housing estate of identical houses, but once people start living in them, they all add their own bits until eventually the houses are very different!
I'm getting ready to start over as well. I went from "no way I'm downloading anything" to "how many gigs is that download folder?". :o ::) There's a lot of amazing stuff out there, but I'm not going to be using as much as I thought I would.
This is what I was thinking of doing. Please let me know if you see a problem with this.
1. Build all my homes, furnish them and package them to a file (as if I was going to upload them). Packaging them will save any custom content that was used in their creation. (Or will the system just replace items -like the Simlogical doors- with Maxis defaults if they are not in the download folder when the home is unpackaged?)
2.After I've created all the houses I will want to use and packaged them, delete custom content from the download folder (or just move it out of the download folder) and delete the Sims folder in my documents.
3. Start the game and have it regenerate the base neighborhoods.
4.Use Clean Installer to put my homes back into the game and at the same time, it would re-install the custom content that I am actually using (versus the endless junk I downloaded for whatever reason).
One thing you are overlooking. When you package a lot, it doesn't just include the custom content you have in the house, it include every single recolor of an object you have in the house. So while you may have that nice double bed with the custom bedding packaged with your lot, you're also going to get every single bedspread and frame color attached to it as well.
ZephyrZodiac:
The trouble with that is, instead of a useful file name like XSimsdiningTable3.xxxxyy3.package, you'll get all the long file names! why not sort your downloads into Modern, Victorian, etc., then use one set for each neighbourhood? You still keep your downloads folder fairly small, but you keep the variety. (Oh, and large sets you can put into a collections folder when in game, so it's easy to find the whole set!)
And you can save problems with the extraneous recolours, etc. if you keep nothing in your downloads folder that isn't in a file, all your skins can go into Savedsims. the only file I have that isn't in a folder is the CEP file. Then after installing any house, I can go into downloads and get rid of all those extra long filename files which I used to spend hours hunting down! Also, I tend to use Maxis originals for housebuilding for that reason. Once you put the house into your game, it's easy to replace everything.
simmiecal:
Quote from: ZephyrZodiac on 2005 October 14, 19:53:56
The trouble with that is, instead of a useful file name like XSimsdiningTable3.xxxxyy3.package, you'll get all the long file names! why not sort your downloads into Modern, Victorian, etc., then use one set for each neighbourhood? You still keep your downloads folder fairly small, but you keep the variety. (Oh, and large sets you can put into a collections folder when in game, so it's easy to find the whole set!)
:-[ Putting dunce hat on. :-[
I have a bunch of files with those ugly long names already. How do I find out what each file is? I am just learning SimPE, so that's all new to me. Is this something I can do in SimPE - look at what each package is? I can't get the preview to work on most of the files when using the Clean Installer - it might show me the texture or color of what's in the package, but I have no idea if it's clothes, a wall or a floor.
When I put something in a collection, is that just another way to sort the items or will that item only be found in with the collections?
Thanks.
Motoki:
Quote from: simmiecal on 2005 October 14, 20:14:25
I have a bunch of files with those ugly long names already. How do I find out what each file is?
The short answer is, you don't. :p Welcome to file management for The Sims 2. :o
Some of them if the creator named them something useful and you didn't install them with the default Maxis installer (which scrambles up all the names into hex code) you might be able to figure out what they are, but for others that are all seemingly jibberish pretty much the only way to open the package and look at the texture or the geometric data container if it's a mesh and try to figure it out. :-\
Having subfolders to narrow your stuff down into categories and subcategories helps, but still there's going to be some files where you look at the name and are like "What the hell is this?"
simmiecal:
Quote from: Motoki on 2005 October 14, 20:18:25
Quote from: simmiecal on 2005 October 14, 20:14:25
I have a bunch of files with those ugly long names already. How do I find out what each file is?
The short answer is, you don't. :p Welcome to file management for The Sims 2. :o
&$#%*& !!!
Should have asked sooner.
I had everything in nice folders with the site name where I downloaded the files from. I noticed that some of the packages weren't showing up in the game, so I used the installer on all of them and they got that new ugly file name. In the middle of this, I got the brillant idea that I would organize the folders by function rather than where I got the file from. Basically, my download folders are a mess (when it comes to objects - my hacks are all VERY carefully labeled and sorted). I'm thinking I should just kill this folder as well and start over.
So, what is the best way to organize the folders: by the site where the file comes from, by function, by style/theme, by ???
Thanks.
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