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Installation FAQ

For help with Downloading go Here.

 

OK. So you’ve downloaded the files. What now ?

 

First off, if the file is compressed, you will need to extract the contents. For un-compressed files skip this section.

 

• ZIP files - You probably already have Winzip or similar on your computer. If not you can get it from Here.
• RAR files - IZARC will extract these, and in fact almost any compressed file format. You can get it Here.

Mac users will need Stuffit available from the Apple web site.

 

Once you have extracted from the ZIP or RAR you will have one or more files.

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The game files to install will be either package or Sims2pack files.

 

You will need to check that you have a Downloads folder in your Sims2 directory. Use your Windows Explorer to go to My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\    - Not -  Program Files\EA Games\Sims 2\

If there is no Downloads folder there, just create one.

(ie. Create new folder and rename to Downloads - Capital ‘D’ and with an ‘s’ on the end)

 

NB: In Windows Vista, My Documents\ is just Documents\

 

Package files

 

Except Collections, all package files go into your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\ folder.

Collections package files go into My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Collections\

See below for how to organize your downloads.

 

Sims2Pack files

 

These are a type of Maxis archive. You just need to double click them and they will be installed automatically by the game’s installer. Don’t panic if nothing seems to be happening, there can be a long delay before you get a message appearing which asks you to confirm installation. Then another pause before you get a confirmation that the content was installed.

Lots will install their included content to the Downloads folder... while the lot file itself will go into the Teleport folder, in sims2tmp format. Once the game is run, it will move that file into the LotCatalog folder and change it to the package format.

 

Organizing installed content

 

It may help to organize your downloaded files into subfolders. Subfolders are folders within folders - a "Walls" subfolder of Downloads would be My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\Walls.

 

There does not seem to be a limit to the amount of sub-sub-subfolders you can have, so you could have additional sub-folders for groups of items. i.e. To group all the walls of one type, such as Pub interior walls, you could have something like  My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\Walls\Simsigns\Pub Interiors\

 

Installing Collections

 

When you download a Collection of Walls,

the Wall package files go into My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\ folder, or sub-folder,

and the Collection package file goes into  My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Collections folder

 

Collections (within the My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Collections folder) cannot be placed in subfolders.

 

For more information on Collections go here.