Expand your Sims 4 experience with Mod and cc
Note on Mod Help
Don’t bother asking us for help with mod / cc issues. Go to the author of the mod on a forum / site he attends or where he hosts his content. The author of the mod knows his work and can help you better than we do, plus he might appreciate the bug reports!
Information on mods and custom content
Mods and custom content are hugely popular with Sims 4 players, but if you’re new to the franchise you may not be aware of what treasures await those who eagerly scour the web for the l atest downloads. There is much more free content available to download than is included in the base game and all games / item packs combined. In this guide, I’ll teach you how to install CC and mods, explain what they are, and offer some pointers on where to go from here by providing links to sites where you can download CC for your game.
Huge list of the best mods The Sims 4 downloads
What is Sims 4 CC?
Custom content is simple compared to mods, thought it can sometimes take a long time to make. CC is hair, textures, items and clothes that can be downloaded and easily added to your game. You’ll find everything from wall patterns, dressers, earrings and beautiful flowing dresses. Since CC creators don’t have to think about system requirements like Maxis does, and can also waste more time on each piece, they can make really nice additions to the game that greatly improve graphics (especially in the case of hair) and increase the number of options available to the player. More options and a better looking swag are what CC is all about.
What are Mods
Mods are game modifications to The Sims 4, pure and simple. Virtually every game that is modable has mods. They can enhance a feature or introduce completely new functionality. Mod creators work hard to make sure their content is stable and add the functionality described when sharing it with the Sims community. Some mods dramatically improve gameplay, make small changes to how things work (like how often objects break), or just fix something that irritates a lot of players. Mod makers sometimes fix bugs before EA does, and sometimes they can be more in tune with the community’s wishes about how something should work. For example, door locks were released in a patch, but first they came in the form of a mod.
None of these things are meant to criticize Maxis / The Sims Studio, who are doing a great job developing a game worth tweaking, but when you have all the hundreds or thousands of people involved in game tuning and creating custom content for it, of course there are a lot more hands working to make improvements and content.
How to install CC and Mod
Mod installation in The Sims 4
The process for downloading both CC and Mod is the same, so we’ll cover them both at the same time. They are installed in Documents / Electronic Arts / The Sims 4 / Mods. Open Windows Explorer or Finder on Mac. Click the Documents folder, Electronic Arts, then The Sims 4. If you’re having trouble finding it, look for the Users folder on C :, click PC User, then proceed to Documents (or Documents) and go from there. For Windows users, Documents is usually found on the left in the menu, as you can see in the screenshot.
Activate the modes in the menu
Since a patch was released, players must now enable mods via the options menu. Press ESC> Options> Other. From there, select Enable custom content and mods. After a patch, it may need to be re-enabled.
Likewise, for homes that contain CCs that you can’t see in My Library using the Gallery
If you downloaded a home from a site that isn’t the Gallery, go to the Library. Select View content for> Others from the left side of the window in the My Library section of the Gallery, unless you are the one who created it. See the previous section on activating CC to correctly see the houses with CC in your library. At the bottom left of the library screen, click Advanced and the “Include custom content” checkbox. You will need to do this if you have downloaded case containing CCs from other websites. Otherwise, homes that include CC will not appear in your Library.
If you still can’t find the house, try turning off access to online features so the art galleries don’t show up in the list, you’ll see a lot less and it’ll be easier to spot. Go to Game Options> More from the exit menu and enable this setting. This will in effect disable the gallery option. This can help you find the content you have added to the game and you can reactivate the gallery later. (Thanks for the tip, MrsFlynn!). Otherwise, make sure your home is in the correct folder by following the instructions in this guide.
The Mods folder
Then, find or create the Mods folder. It should already be there, but if it isn’t you can right-click the white area inside the The Sims 4 folder and create a folder, making sure you name it Mods. The game automatically recognizes and attempts to use anything in this folder. Then, once we have downloaded CC, we will copy the files to that folder. Tip: You can have other folders inside the Mods folder, so if you want to separate CC and Mods into separate folders, or even categorize them by item / clothing type, you can! Also, forum member RandyH notes that mods can be renamed as long as you keep the .package at the end of the filename. This can make your organization even easier and perhaps help you track things down more easily. All of this is actually a good idea if you come across a mod or piece of CC that gives you trouble, so it’s easier to find and remove.
Script Mods are a special type of Mod that must stay inside a zip file to work. You must also go to the game options menu (ESC> Game options> More> Mod. Script allowed) to enable them. You can see this section in the menu in the screenshot above where you also enable Normal Mods and CC.
It is worth noting that there is another folder here, Tray. That folder contains the families you created but NOT saved in the gallery. It is also where you install Sims and Lots. This folder is important regardless, so you can avoid creating or downloading them again.
Installation
The installation is practically hands-free and you just have to put them in the Mods folder, but sometimes you will have to manage zip files. Remember, script mods are NOT unzipped, but everything else should be. Newer mods may have the .ts4script extension which you can leave alone (thanks, DarkWalker). If it’s a .package file, that’s fine – right-click and cut or copy it, go to the Mods folder and paste. If it’s a zip, click on it and look inside. Double-click the zip and look at the file type of the file inside – is that a pyc or .package at the end of the file name? If the zip contains a .pyc file, it is a script mod and should remain zipped. * If it’s a .package, you need to copy that and any other package files from the zip and copy them to the mods folder. The images and instructions inside the zip are usually not needed. Sometimes mod creators give you these same instructions: “Extract the .package file, copy it to the Mods folder, enjoy”!
- About .pyo files – Files ending with pyo are no longer supported due to an upgrade to the base level python Sims 4 uses, meaning it’s definitely an outdated mod if that’s the case.
If you download a Sim or House / Lot from a location other than the Gallery, it will go to the Tray folder, not the Mods folder.
Backup of saved games, mods and CCs
You can backup your Mods and CCs just like you can save files, and it’s smart to do so in case of disaster. Copy them to another drive or USB stick and they are safe from hard drive failure. Go to the Documents / Electronic Arts / The Sims 4 folder. Right-click on each of these three important folders: Save, Tray, and Mod. Copy and paste them to a new location, where you know you will find them. If you need to reinstall the game or delete everything, you have a copy of your Sims’ families and keep your collection of CCs and Mods. These are valuable because it takes time to build a collection and the loss of dozens of downloads can be a major annoyance.
Sims 4 Mods Manager
There is an option for those of you who don’t want to bother with unzipping files and would like the ability to easily enable / disable mods. Sims 4 Mod Manager by Raxdiam is a solution for this. It has a lot of features, it’s quite easy to use, and if you browse the site you can even find a video explaining how to use it.
Links to sites CC / Mod
The following are sites known for hosting CC and Mod. I mean that I am not responsible for anything you see or that happens as a result of using these sites. I’m highlighting the ones we’re most familiar with, as in general they are the best places to go to download stuff for Sims. Many creators have their own blogs and they are worth following if you enjoy their work. The two large sites out front host a lot of articles and should be visited by anyone interested in expanding their game. You can then explore people’s tumblr / wordpress blogs and find creators whose work you enjoy, follow them, and enjoy a better Sims game. Some CC creators specialize in hair, others clothing, and some create a mix of everything.
modthesims.info – Definitely my go-to, even if I don’t use CC heavily. Everything about MTS is totally free and is exceptionally well organized. This makes the browsing experience easy. They feature so much content that it’s almost everything you need to really beef up your game with CC. Of course, modthesims also has a ton of mods, and many of the best mod makers in The Sims community are members there.
thesimsresource.com – TSR is also a high quality CC download site and, like MTS, also offers content for Sims 3. If you become addicted to CC, you may even want to join as a VIP, which makes it easy to bulk download items and remove ads from the site.
sims4downloads.net – A site that watches blogs, MTS and TSR in search of new CCs and Mods. Basically a Sims 4 downloads news feeds which can help you get some great content. You can browse by creator using their drop-down box and discover talented artists.
Black’s Sims Zoo – I’ve seen a variety of items here for download, even though the site is in German. You will need to register (just try to download something and you will be asked). Thankfully, the word Download is international.
Tumblr : This link leads to content tagged as sims-4-custom-content on tumblr, where many CC producers have an outlet for sharing their art. This can help you find the creators you want to follow. It can be a good place to look for new content visually, although be careful as you will have to visit some download sites which can have confusing links. Watch out for ads that say “download” and look for buttons like “Skip ad” so you can get past a full screen ad that looks like a download page!
LumiaLoverSims – I saw some great hair sweaters while visiting this site, its design impressed me compared to other tumblr blogs I have visited.
kijiko-catfood.com – create beautiful hairstyles. You can also find makeup, clothes, and skin tones for your Sims on this site.
thesimsperience.wordpress.com – She is a wonderful creator with loads of content for Sims 4. I’ve seen some great recolors you can install and it seems to be updated regularly with new content.
decayclownsims.tumblr.com – lots of dark / goth CC which is pretty cute. My only complaint is that their site’s design is pretty confusing, even though the content itself is high quality and definitely fills a niche. At the time of writing, the next page button is on the left, in case you can’t find it.
There are many, many bloggers I’m leaving out, but I’m just giving you a starting point. If you like the work of a creator, follow them and you will see their various updates. If you like a particular CC creator, share the link here and give it some exposure. I will check and add some of them to the list as well.
Note on Mod Help
Don’t bother asking us for help with mod / cc issues. Go to the author of the mod on a forum / site he attends or where he hosts his content. The author of the mod knows his work and can help you better than we do, plus he might appreciate the bug reports!