Help with Managing multiple Sims 4 Documents folders. [SOLVED]

Hi, was wondering if someone could help me with managing multiple documents folders.

Currently i only have Sims 4 from G4TW installed on my pc.  For my Sims 4 documents folder, i set up a Junction Link, so that it is not using my C drive storage, and instead is using my D drive.

I'm now thinking of buying The Sims 4 base game from Origin so that i can download some lots that i want, so i was looking at this topic Here on how to manage multiple Sims 4 documents folders.

Now, i don't know much about how Junction links work, i basically just followed instructions that i found.  But i'm guessing that if i renamed the Sims 4 documents folder, it would break the junction link?  Would the link just become active again when i renamed it back or would i have to set it up again after?
I would also guess that moving the folder would break the link, but again, not sure?
If that is the case, what other options do i have, if any?

I'd much appreciate any help anyone can offer on this 

Interesting problem; my preliminary guess is that you will end up renaming "The Sims 4"-folders, under your D: drive then, once your junctions/symbolic links are created. So if you start up the Origin game, it will 'mirror' its Documents-folder under the D: drive. 

Now if you rename that folder and start up the DRM-less version, it will create another folder under the D: drive: this is your Documents-folder for the pirated game.

Then again, I might be totally wrong here, so let's wait for a second or third opinion.

The_gh0stm4n wrote:Interesting problem; my preliminary guess is that you will end up renaming "The Sims 4"-folders, under your D: drive then, once your junctions/symbolic links are created. So if you start up the Origin game, it will 'mirror' its Documents-folder under the D: drive. 

Ok, i'm following you so far here.
Rename my D drive Sims 4 folder, start up origin game, and it will create a new D drive Sims 4 folder for the origin game.

Now if you rename that folder and start up the DRM-less version, it will create another folder under the D: drive: this is your Documents-folder for the pirated game.

This is where you lose me a little hehe.
I rename the D drive Sims 4 origin folder, start up the G4TW game, and it creates a new D drive Sims 4 folder.  But at this point then, would not have 3 folders in my D drive?  The original G4TW one i have now, then the origin one, then a second G4TW one?  And all my mods and CC would be in the first original G4TW one.
I'm so sorry if i'm being incredibly thick here haha, i'm having a real struggle wrapping my head around it all 

What The_gh0stm4n said is almost correct. If you're using junctions, the target must exist, otherwise you won't be able to start the game.


You can use anything for folder names (except for "The Sims 4" in Documents of course), this is just an example.

So let's say you've got junction "Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" leading to "D:\TS4-data" which contains your data from cracked game. You've got two options now:

1. Renaming folders on D:\. Rename "D:\TS4-data" to "TS4-data-cracked" and create "D:\TS4-data" folder. Now start the game from Origin. When you want to play cracked game, rename "D:\TS4-data" to "TS4-data-origin" and "D:\TS4-data-cracked" to "TS4-data".

2. Renaming junctions in Documents. Rename "Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" junction to "The Sims 4-cracked". Create "D:\TS4-data-origin" folder and junction: "Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" leading to that folder. Now start the game from Origin. When you want to play cracked game, just rename junctions in "Documents\Electronic Arts" just like folders in the guide you linked.

anadius wrote:What The_gh0stm4n said is almost correct. If you're using junctions, the target must exist, otherwise you won't be able to start the game.


You can use anything for folder names (except for "The Sims 4" in Documents of course), this is just an example.

So let's say you've got junction "Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" leading to "D:\TS4-data" which contains your data from cracked game. You've got two options now:

1. Renaming folders on D:\. Rename "D:\TS4-data" to "TS4-data-cracked" and create "D:\TS4-data" folder. Now start the game from Origin. When you want to play cracked game, rename "D:\TS4-data" to "TS4-data-origin" and "D:\TS4-data-cracked" to "TS4-data".

Perfect!
That 1st option seems the simplest and i understood that perfectly, thank you so much anadius and The_gh0stm4n for your help!  You both rock!  

Why so difficult ?
Your main goal for buying the original base game is to download from the Gallery.
With your junction to your D disk, both pirated and original games will use that same directory.
Downloaded items from the Gallery are immediately available in your pirated game.

The only warning I can give is NEVER ever save an original game after playing.
Only save the pirated version.

EDIT
Make sure Origin is not active when you play the pirated version.

citticringle wrote:(...) so that it is not using my C drive storage, and instead is using my D drive.

It's worth noting in this context that unless you download literally tons of CC items and Gallery stuff, it's not going to fill up your main hard-drive that much. Of course, if you are running short of space in the first place, or use a small SSD drive for C: , then using symbolic links/junctions can be helpful. What I mean to say is though, that in general and out of simplicity you should not use symlinks/junctions unless you absolutely need to. 

Plus, it also needs to be mentioned that for general system stability you should have a couple of GBs of free space buffer, on your C: drive.

Tarac wrote:Why so difficult ?
Your main goal for buying the original base game is to download from the Gallery.
With your junction to your D disk, both pirated and original games will use that same directory.
Downloaded items from the Gallery are immediately available in your pirated game.

I actually don't know why i'm making it so difficult.
I guess i was presuming that, because there is a gameversion.txt in my docs, that running both Origin and G4TW and using the same docs folder would cause problems.  Is that not the case then?  Do i actually not have to do anything at all, and just let them use the same docs folder?
Although, if i actually started up the Origin game, it would be handy to have it running with no cc or mods, just so it was quicker.  But would i ever have to start up the Origin game in the first place, or can i just download lots from the online gallery with my browser?  I've really never used the gallery so i'm not sure how it works sorry.

The_gh0stm4n wrote:It's worth noting in this context that unless you download literally tons of CC items and Gallery stuff, it's not going to fill up your main hard-drive that much. Of course, if you are running short of space in the first place, or use a small SSD drive for C: , then using symbolic links/junctions can be helpful. What I mean to say is though, that in general and out of simplicity you should not use symlinks/junctions unless you absolutely need to.

My C: Drive is a small SSD so i generally just try to keep as much as possible free on there, and when i first started playing Sims 4, i wasn't sure how big that documents folder was going to get.  At the moment i have 35Gb available on there and my documents folder is getting up to 8Gb, so i could actually manage with just getting rid of the Junction in the first place.


I've got a few weeks before i get paid and can buy the Origin game anyway, so a few weeks to figure out the best and easiest way to do it 

citticringle wrote:I guess i was presuming that, because there is a gameversion.txt in my docs, that running both Origin and G4TW and using the same docs folder would cause problems.

You will only run into problems if the Origin version and the CODEX/G4TW version are on different patch levels, hence my guide about renaming these folders. Imagine that Origin versions are updated immediately (and mostly automatically) when a new patch comes out. The CODEX/G4TW versions take longer to "catch up" with newer patches, usually a few days.

I myself haven't recently bothered with renaming the folder because the 1.46.18.1020 patch version has been around for quite long.

citticringle wrote:My C: Drive is a small SSD so (...)

Did you choose that particular SSD drive yourself, or was it already built into the computer?

Not a good foundation to build a system on, in my opinion, and especially if you intend to use the computer for gaming purposes. You need to consider the fact that most of these newer mainstream games are gigantic in terms of filesize.

Many people have heard or read that "SSD drives are better", which in principle is true. But they are a lot smaller in their storage capacity than HDDs, and far more expensive. Another risk that is often under-estimated is that you need to be very careful with overwriting files and uninstalling/re-installing too frequently. Because if you do that too often, it will wear down your SSD and reduce its lifespan. Which is not the case with HDDs.

For The Sims 4 it should be enough, but should you intend to play/install more games, and if you can, consider buying an SSD with more storage capacity.

The_gh0stm4n wrote:

citticringle wrote:I guess i was presuming that, because there is a gameversion.txt in my docs, that running both Origin and G4TW and using the same docs folder would cause problems.

You will only run into problems if the Origin version and the CODEX/G4TW version are on different patch levels, hence my guide about renaming these folders. Imagine that Origin versions are updated immediately (and mostly automatically) when a new patch comes out. The CODEX/G4TW versions take longer to "catch up" with newer patches, usually a few days.

I myself haven't recently bothered with renaming the folder because the 1.46.18.1020 patch version has been around for quite long.

Thanks for that info, good to know and confirmed what i had thought.
Still best to know in advance how to handle it then considering the release of Get Famous.

As far as the SSD is concerned...
I chose it when i had the PC built but also bought a large HDD knowing that the size wouldn't be anywhere close to what i needed.  At the time, SSD's were relatively new and over-priced, but i wanted to try one to see the difference.
After having tried it for some games, i can honestly say i'm not that impressed.  The performance/speed increase was negligible, and absolutely not worth the price hike.  I haven't checked prices lately (i'm that unimpressed by them ha), but if they are still over-priced then they really aren't worth the money to me.  If i ever do have to upgrade any of the Drives, i'll probably go for a Hybrid or just stick with HDD.  So for now i only have windows and all programs on the SSD.  Steam, Origin and all my games go onto my HDD and i'm happy with that set up.  It just leads to problems when games dump a lot of stuff onto my SSD.

A computer is as fast as it weakest chain.
When you have a processor of 1 Ghz, you won't notice much difference between SSD and a conventional HDD
The faster your processor the more you gain with SSD

citticringle wrote:
As far as the SSD is concerned...
I chose it when i had the PC built but also bought a large HDD knowing that the size wouldn't be anywhere close to what i needed.  At the time, SSD's were relatively new and over-priced, but i wanted to try one to see the difference.
After having tried it for some games, i can honestly say i'm not that impressed.  The performance/speed increase was negligible, and absolutely not worth the price hike.  I haven't checked prices lately (i'm that unimpressed by them ha), but if they are still over-priced then they really aren't worth the money to me.  If i ever do have to upgrade any of the Drives, i'll probably go for a Hybrid or just stick with HDD.  So for now i only have windows and all programs on the SSD.  Steam, Origin and all my games go onto my HDD and i'm happy with that set up.  It just leads to problems when games dump a lot of stuff onto my SSD.

Tarac wrote:A computer is as fast as it weakest chain.
When you have a processor of 1 Ghz, you won't notice much difference between SSD and a conventional HDD
The faster your processor the more you gain with SSD

Indeed, the remaining components play a role, and not just your SSD.

But it's also worth noting that not for every game it is going to make a difference if you have an SSD. I'm not sure if there is a way to "tell" in advance what kind of games benefit from SSD drives...more, than others. The Sims 3 is one example, in that loading times are a lot shorter with an SSD. GTA V/GTA Online is another example. I think that busy multiplayer games are going to benefit from that as well.

I myself just have a plain HDD, but like I hinted in another guide here, I would recommend building a well-rounded system. Because if all remaining PC components are good/new, then it matters a lot less if you don't have an SSD. 

And yes, even if you build an SSD drive into a PC that is already strong, you'll need to ask yourself if the increase in performance corresponds to the increase in price, compared to HDDs. I would say, for the average person the price increase is not justified.

At the moment, in my PC, i have....
Z97-P motherboard
I5 4690k 3.5Ghz
GTX 1060 6Gb
16 Gb Ram
That is not what i started off with however.  And my main priority when building it was having the room for upgrade, which i do believe i achieved.  I still have plenty of room for upgrade, even though my motherboard isn't sold anymore, it's still relevant.

In an ideal world, if money was no object, of course i'd just have gone for the best individual parts when i bought it, but money is limited with me.  So i had to do it this way, leaving room for improvement.  The last thing i upgraded was my gpu, but as you can see, i didn't have the funds to just get a 1080.  I had to go for a more budget option.

That's why, to me at least, SSD's are really not worth the money.  But each to their own 

The_gh0stm4n wrote:

citticringle wrote:I myself just have a plain HDD, but like I hinted in another guide here, I would recommend building a well-rounded system. Because if all remaining PC components are good/new, then it matters a lot less if you don't have an SSD. 

Edit:  That guide is great btw!  I could have done with seeing that before i installed my gpu cause honestly i had no clue what i was doing.  I pretty much winged it! 

citticringle wrote:At the moment, in my PC, i have....
Z97-P motherboard
I5 4690k 3.5Ghz
GTX 1060 6Gb
16 Gb Ram
That is not what i started off with however.  And my main priority when building it was having the room for upgrade, which i do believe i achieved.  I still have plenty of room for upgrade, even though my motherboard isn't sold anymore, it's still relevant.

In an ideal world, if money was no object, of course i'd just have gone for the best individual parts when i bought it, but money is limited with me.  So i had to do it this way, leaving room for improvement.  The last thing i upgraded was my gpu, but as you can see, i didn't have the funds to just get a 1080.  I had to go for a more budget option.

That's why, to me at least, SSD's are really not worth the money.  But each to their own 

With that system, I don't think an SSD is going to make much of an added positive difference either. Are you using that computer for other (specialized) purposes than gaming? Like video rendering/editing, things like that? Because for just The Sims 4, that system is far too strong. But still, should you decide to tackle other games in the near future, you will be more than prepared. The GTX 1060 is already strong as-is.

citticringle wrote:Edit:  That guide is great btw!  I could have done with seeing that before i installed my gpu cause honestly i had no clue what i was doing.  I pretty much winged it! 

No problem.

Another problem with SSD is that it reduces speed in the long run.
The ofter changes are written to a SSD the slower it becomes.

Tarac wrote:Another problem with SSD is that it reduces speed in the long run.
The ofter changes are written to a SSD the slower it becomes.

Yes i had heard that.  Haven't ever formatted this SSD because of it, which is unusual for me.  I normally like to format my PC once a year to get rid of any junk files left over from old programs and whatnot.  It's kind of annoying that i can't do that with this SSD.  I am presuming that formatting would count towards that?

The_gh0stm4n wrote:Are you using that computer for other (specialized) purposes than gaming?

I use it purely for gaming, although i play a lot of other types of games, not just Sims 4.  The card i had previously was an R9 280, and that was fine for most games, but struggled on some of the more demanding ones.  Particularly Fallout 4.  I had a lot of graphical glitches on that, that were specific to certain cards, and unfortunately the R9 280 was one of them.  I probably still wouldn't have updated it anyway, if it wasn't for the fact that it died.  The 1060 was more expensive than i wanted at the time, but i did find a great deal on it, so pushed my finances a little to buy that.  I figured the switch to Nvidia was a good idea considering the release of Fallout 76, as Nvidia in general did not have the graphical glitches with Bethesda games that i'd had previously.
Was a good move in hindsight, as two of the games i've recently bought (Green Hell and Scum), push even this system to it's limits.

I think my next move will be upgrading the PSU, which at the moment is just enough to run everything in there considering the upgrades i've made since purchase.  And also some better cooling, which i know absolutely nothing about.  All it has at the moment is the cpu cooler that game with the I5 and maxed out case fans and when playing Scum it get's like the surface of the sun in there lol.





Gatekeeper Edit: problem solved, (I guess), topic closed.

- The_gh0stm4n