How To Create Your Own Custom Content For Sims 4

[Rosette Allaband]

TSR Workshop was built to let you create any custom content you want. Be it hairstyles, objects, clothing, accessories or patterns, everything is possible with this in-house tool from The Sims Resource!

Are you stuck with getting bookshelves properly to work? Not a problem in TSR Workshop where a built-in Geostates editor allows you to redefine the data so books (or other objects) properly appear and disappear!

I'm on a Mac computer and I'm trying to download custom content. When I go into my electronic arts folder and then the Sims 4 folder there is no spot for mods. I tried making a mods folder in it and the content I downloaded doesn't appear in my game. I'm not sure what to do.

@Sophieeeegrace Please remove the Mods folder that you created. Then load the game and enable both script mods and custom content in the game options. This should create the correct Mods folder. If it doesn't, move your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, then launch the game to create a new Sims 4 folder. Enable mods and cc, then quit, and you can move your existing content to the new folder.

@r0ttengrl Does your computer run Windows or macOS? Do your saves show up, or are they missing too? Please also let me know whether you've installed the game on or moved your user data to an external hard drive or USB stick.

@r0ttengrl I mean save games, as in, the progressed world(s) you play in. And I meant where did you install the game, as in, is it on your computer's internal hard drive, or an external device of some kind?

Please also find the Mods folder where you've added your custom content, right-click (or hold down the crtl key and click) on the folder, and select Get Info. At the top of the pop-up is a section titled Where. Please post that info here. You can write [username] instead of your actual username if you want, but leave the rest of the information intact.

Please also load the game to the Main Menu, click Load Game, and then hover over the folder icon below the other save information (save name, date last played, etc.). You should see the file location for that save. I'd like to see that file path too, although you'll need to type it out or post a screenshot.

@laijahd There are two separate locations for Sims 4 content, and they need to be handled differently. The game's program files, those that Origin installs, can just be installed to the external drive, and if Sims 4 runs, you've handled that fine.

But that doesn't cover custom content, which is stored in the Documents directory. If you simply move the Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts. or move the Mods folder inside it, the game won't read the folder in its new location and will instead spawn a new instance of that folder, one with new content. The solution here is to create a symbolic link within the Documents directory pointing to the location of the Sims 4 folder on your external. Please see this guide for details:

@laijahd Please undo the process and start over. You're not supposed to redirect the Documents directory, just the Sims 4 folder (or the Electronic Arts folder) inside. Having Documents on an external drive will make Windows extremely unhappy should the drive ever be disconnected.

Do I still do the full process in this guide AFTER I've installed the sims 4 on my external hard drive? When I cut The Sims 4 folder from my document and pasted it on to the external hard drive it disappeared. I'm assuming it combined with the already existing folder on the external hard drive?

@MarMarDinah15 Your Sims 4 user files may well have gone into the folder for the game's program files, and I would sort that out before doing anything else. At the very least, grab the saves and Tray folders so you've preserved your saves and saved households and builds.

You can create the symbolic link before or after you've moved the game's program files, or without moving them to the external at all. But one critical detail is that you need to have the program files and the user files in separate folders. You can't just dump everything into D:\The Sims 4 and hope it works. Create another folder on your external, call it whatever you want, and direct the game to look for the user folder there, for example D:\Game Data\The Sims 4.

@katie51609 Sims 4 will still read and write to the user folder in Documents > Electronic Arts regardless of where you've installed the game. If you're already looking there, please make sure the file path to your Mods folder exactly matches the file path you see in-game:

@katie51609 Why are you trying to change the name of the text file? The name doesn't matter; the point of opening the text file is so you can modify the command for your purposes, and check your work, before inputting it into Command Prompt.

Knutley is my second attempt at a custom Sims 2 neighborhood. My first attempt was Edgewood. It will always have a special place in my heart, but I made many mistakes and wanted to start fresh with all the knowledge from that attempt. It was also an integrated neighborhood, which can be a LOT to deal with.

When creating my Sims, I like to have as much genetic variety as possible. I use a geneticized skin with 20 different colors, so I give each Sim a different skin tone. I also use geneticized eyes with 20 different colors, so each Sim gets a different eye color.

I build my general store with the assumption that it will eventually go out of business when Sims start to open specialty stores for groceries, clothing, etc. But the starting generation needs somewhere to shop, so I create an all-purpose market for them.

Once I have all my residential lots and at least some of my community lots finished, I move my Sims into their apartments. I use the halved apartment rent mod to reduce the amount of rent they have to pay because I think apartment rents can be ridiculous.

I move two males and two females into each apartment building. I move in 19 Sims, leaving the last Sim in the Sim Bin for now (see introductions below). Once each Sim moves in, I pause time and start the randomizations.

After moving my Sims into their apartments, I place them all on an empty residential lot and allow them to mingle for a full day. This allows them to start forming relationships and gives me an idea of which Sims are attracted to each other, etc.

I prefer to randomize gender preference at the introduction stage rather than when I move my Sims in. This is so I can have control over the number of gay Sims in my neighborhood. I prefer to start with no more than two gay/bisexual males and females.

I play using a wants-based playstyle, meaning I let my Sims choose their own paths in life based on the wants they roll. I love watching my Sims get married, have affairs, start families, move up in their careers, and just live their normal everyday lives.

I will give my starting Sims a University degree if they roll a want for a job that I feel would require a degree and they are 22 years old or older (to account for the four years spent at University). I choose lifetime wants based on the job they roll a want for or their personality.

I change up the personality points slightly in CAS so that no two Sims have exactly the same points, but I keep them within range of their zodiac sign. I randomize the interests. I recently found out that Sims created in Body Shop will all have the same interests, so I use Sim Blender to randomize them for each Sim.

hello Cindy, I have a doubt about the video about how to create neighborhoods without townies. I want to use universities, a commercial neighborhood and a downtown in my new neighborhood, but I intend to create mine, and not use those that Maxis created . Should I follow the methods that you present in your video from the minute 11:40 or not?

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Most custom content (for items like clothing and objects) and mods will use the .package file extension. These require no formal installation and simply need to be placed within the mods folder or a relevant subfolder within that for them to work.

Downloaded Lots and Sims use several different types of files. Lots can be either a .blueprint, .bpi, or .trayitem file, while Sims can be .hhi, .householidbinary, .sgi, or .trayitem file types. Again there are no steps required to install these files past placing them in the Tray folder, or a relevant subfolder within that.

Script mods can, again, be one of a few file types; .ts4script, .pyo, .py, or .pyc. .ts4script files can be placed in the mods folder in the same way as .package files, while .pyo, .py, and .pyc files must be left inside their zipped/archive folder inside the mods folder.

Subfolders can go a maximum of five folders deep before they stop being recognized by the game, which is especially useful for categories like clothing, where you may have a lot of subcategories, like shirts, trousers, etc.

Note that Script mods, which usually consist of several files, cannot be placed into subfolders, so we recommend creating a single folder for that Script Mod within the main Sims 4 mods folder, and placing all relevant files there.

It is worth checking after official patches that any extensive mods or Script mods you have installed are compatible with that current version of the game, and if not, turning them off until they are updated to prevent any crashes or bugs appearing in your game.

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