How to Install Custom Content for The Sims 3

Your computer, loaded with The Sims 3, is all you'll need to install mods.

The Sims 3 was an immediate hit when it was offered to consumers in 2009, selling nearly 1.5 million copies in a week. With more than 10 million copies sold since its release, The Sims 3 is one of the most popular video games ever created. The Sims 3 has a number of significant changes from the The Sims 2, among them more realistic detail and more character style options. Nevertheless, the Sims gaming community continues to create various custom content that fans can use in their play. The Sims 3 creators offer modification packages for a fee, while Sims 3 enthusiast programmers have created many mods that are free and available for you to download online.

Instructions

1. Learn the difference between these three file extensions: .package, .sim and .sims3pack. The Sims 3 custom content can come in either of these file extensions. The easiest one to deal with is .sims3pack. To install this custom content, you simply double-click it. The process is automated, and you do not have to change any files. Mod files with the extension .sims3pack are usually houses or community lots. Files with the extension .package are generally any type of item a Sim character might use, such as clothes. Files named with the .sim extension are, well, Sims.

2. Create the required folders. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\. In this folder, right-click and click "Create New Folder. Name the new folder "Mods." Inside Mods, create a new folder named "Packages." This is where any package files will go.
   Go back to The Sims 3 root folder, and make a folder called "SavedSims." This is where any .sim files will go.

3. Make a configuration file that will tell The Sims 3 how to run the custom content. You have to put this file in The Sims 3 root folder, C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\. Right-click somewhere blank on the screen, and click "Create New Text Document." Open the text
   document, and copy and paste the following into it:

   Priority 500
   PackedFile Mods/Packages/*.package
   PackedFile Mods/Packages/*/*.package
   PackedFile Mods/Packages/*/*/*.package
   PackedFile Mods/Packages/*/*/*/*.package
   PackedFile Mods/Packages/*/*/*/*/.package

   Save it as Resources.cfg (.cfg is the extension -- make sure it is not .txt). You may need to rename it again, because it might save as
   Resources.cfg.txt. Make sure the .txt is not there.

4. Download the custom content following your computer's prompts.

Tips & Warnings

• Find a couple of The Sims 3 modification web pages in this article's Resources section.

References

• Super Cheats; Modding The Sims 3; Mike Hazleton

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Mod The Sims
• Techno360: Top 10 Sims 3 Mods