Combining CC in package format. [UPDATED 28 JUNE '13]

Can I apply this with the items in the collection folder?

dannyella wrote:Can I apply this with the items in the collection folder?

You should be able to apply it to almost any item that you currently have in package format in you mods folder; Like Lady Eldi said leave game altering mods and default replacements out of merged folders.

Thanks 4 the advice

dannyella wrote:Thanks 4 the advice

You are welcome, let us know how it goes.

THANK YOU!!!

So there's 2 different CC helpers... This one, and CC magic. Which do I use? Or should I use both?

They're both kind of confusing to use. I can't seem to put them in packages (this download), or install CC on CC Magic... Am I doing something wrong?

(Feel free to move this to another thread if it doesn't belong here)

//EDIT

Actually... I found out what I did wrong (sorry) for the first problem. But I still can't seem to install CC on the CC Magic...

Imakitty wrote:They're both kind of confusing to use. I can't seem to put them in packages (this download), or install CC on CC Magic... Am I doing something wrong?

(Feel free to move this to another thread if it doesn't belong here)

//EDIT

Actually... I found out what I did wrong (sorry) for the first problem. But I still can't seem to install CC on the CC Magic...

Hello,

What is the problem actually?

When I clicked the files I wanted to combine, another pop-up appeared, and I didn't know what to do with that. So I was clicking around, and it turned out that the second pop-up was actually what you wanted to name the combined files.

I still can't seem to install packages and other CC with CC magic though...

Hi. I'm using lots of CC in sims3pack format & i want to convert them to package format & then combine them. How can i do that please?

Lady ElDi wrote:Hello,

You need the multipack extractor found here. Use it to extract all your sims3packs.
I'd recommend making a "staging area" first. Use 2 folders and put the sims3packs you want to convert in one folder, and create another for the resulting packages.
It's a very simple program, the instructions are on the page I linked you to.

Note that you'll get a lot of packages, and they're not named. Instead, they'll have a string of numbers and letters as their identification. You won't be able to tell what's what.

At this point you can combine them all into one package and be done with it. But you should know that there are "junkfiles" inside sims3packs. For example a picture of the item, like the thumbnails you see in the launcher. They serve no purpose when you add them to the game as packages, they only take up space.

[Optional]If you want to get rid of these, download TSR Merlin to look at each package. If it looks like a thumbnail, delete it.[/Optional]

Combining them into one package is done as described in the tutorial at the top of this page and the program used can also be downloaded from the link in my first post.

Thank u so much for your. Just some questions:
-Is it really worth it?
-The program that you mentioned (S3MPI), asks me to select the folder where my sims3packs are but i want to convert the Installed Sims3packs to packages. I think they are those DBC files (My own guess) Where exactly are those files?

Lady ElDi wrote:Hello,

I believe in DCBackup. But I'd uninstall them first, then extract the sims3packs (in the "downloads" folder).
I can't really say if it's worth it. It probably won't matter much when it comes to game performance, unless you have massive amounts of sims3packs and/or a low end pc.
It'll save you a lot of time if you had to reinstall your game or clearing the cache's, since you no longer have to install all sims3packs again. And if you wanted to add something new to the combined package, that's easily done.

Thanks. But you know what the problem is? That i have lots of CC's in Downloads folder and not all of them i have installed & if i want to install again, it'll be very hard & will take years for me to re_install the ones that is installed now. I hope you get the image. I mean, is there a file that has all the files that are installed now. What is DBC files by the way? Is there a way to turn them to Sims3Pack filles?

Lady ElDi wrote:Hello,

Turning packages to sims3pack is possible, but not nearly as easy as the other way around, and not with all packages. i never looked into it though.

But if you convert your sims3packs in your downloadsfolder to packages, you'll never have to install them again. Simply moving the one package file to the mods\packages folder will do. You no longer need the "downloads" folder or the launcher if you convert all sims3packs to packages.

I believe this folder: My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DCBackup holds all of the packages that came from the sims3packs you installed with the launcher. If you put those into sp3e, you can also combine them into a single package, but you'd still have to uninstall them with the launcher because you'll have duplicates if you used the package you created.

If you don't want to install all of your sims3packs, you may want to sort them before converting them to packages.

Yeah, thank you for all your time. I got it.Your forum is the best around.

Lady ElDi wrote:Hello,

Turning packages to sims3pack is possible, but not nearly as easy as the other way around, and not with all packages. i never looked into it though.

But if you convert your sims3packs in your downloadsfolder to packages, you'll never have to install them again. Simply moving the one package file to the mods\packages folder will do. You no longer need the "downloads" folder or the launcher if you convert all sims3packs to packages.

I believe this folder: My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DCBackup holds all of the packages that came from the sims3packs you installed with the launcher. If you put those into sp3e, you can also combine them into a single package, but you'd still have to uninstall them with the launcher because you'll have duplicates if you used the package you created.

If you don't want to install all of your sims3packs, you may want to sort them before converting them to packages.

Hi again. If i'm gonna do that (Combining Packages inside the DCBackup folder), should i move the combined package to the Packages folder after combining in s3pe? Or DCBackup? And am i supposed to unistall them first before combing or after it? Sorry if i'm being a newb.

Lady ElDi wrote:Hello,

After combining, they go into the mods\packages folder.
If you uninstall them first, they will no longer appear in the dcbackup folder I assume.
But I'd recommend uninstalling them if you confirm that the package is working. You'll know if you have duplicates in game.

I started combing all Packages in my DCBackup folder but after waiting for 4 hours (lol) it hadn't finished the half yet! Can't s3pe do it faster? I've got over 1200 Packages in my DCBackup folder. I wanted to do it in groups (Combing every 500 of them) but it took so long & i canceled it. Isn't there any faster way?

Is it possible to combine the total of combined packages with each other? I mean:
1- First i combine for example 100 packages into 1 package.
2- Second i combine the other 100 packages into one package.
3- And finally can i combine those 2 combined packages?

Mera wrote:Is it possible to combine the total of combined packages with each other? I mean:
1- First i combine for example 100 packages into 1 package.
2- Second i combine the other 100 packages into one package.
3- And finally can i combine those 2 combined packages?

Haha, very clever!
Please wait for Lady ElDi's reply.
I personally don't think that would be a very good idea.