I accidentally deleted my backup cc files (build and buy objects) in my external hard drive (damn you, Shift+Del ), and I want to recover them. Unforunately, every file recovery software that I tried failed, and I heard unmerging .package files is a tedious task. I have finally decided to recover those files by, well, redownloading all of them (if all download links are still active, here's hoping ).

And yeah, I still have the merged .packages in my game, done using S3PE. Opening the package file, which part of S3PE will give me a clue about the individual packages' filenames, or the catalog names ingame? I've looked through the OBJDs and STBLs, are these the only sections to look for? Or is there something else I'm missing?

Thanks! And wish me luck on this long cc hunting journey!

The OBJD contains the name of objects. Fences have a CFEN resource, fireplaces - CFIR, walls (and I think floors too) - CWAL, terrain painting - CTPT. Pattern use an _XML resource, that is probably the hardest to identify as not every _XML refers to a pattern.

The STBLs contain the names, too, but there are so many (for the different languages) that you very likely will miss something due to sheer mass. The filename is not contained in the package afaik.

You can use S3OC to clone from a merged package - it might not work for all things due to the merging but for most. Good luck with your recovery!

I have warned again and again to people about merging packages. But they just keep telling me how useful it is and how it works for them and they have no problem.

But it only need to happen once, right?

Merging packages have no meaning anymore in the era of SSD where 4k random read is no longer an issue.

I have merged many packages but have zero need to unmerge them. So they are fine as is and can stay that way for me. Why do you need to unmerge them? IMO if not causing any problems and you do not need a major redo, why not just continue to use them? There a few items I would pull out of mine now but it is not a drastic of a need to redo them. They will be left alone.

Thank you. I'll have these noted just in case I get careless again. And checking these STBLs are quite an eyesore to check, so I put the names in a spreadsheet to make sure everything is accounted for. I have 200 files per one merged .package, so I need to fill 200 lines in that spreadsheet.



I swear, merging my 2GB worth of objects made a huuuuuuuge difference in my game. Loading the misc. decor section alone took minutes without merging the .package files, wherein the merged ones took only seconds. And I have my game on SSD.



I tend to be fickle when it comes to cc. So when I feel like deleting a single cc from a merged .package, instead of unmerging it, I just remerge everything after deleting a couple of unwanted cc. And also, they serve as backup in case somebody else needs it.

I think I would store my cc in smaller flash drives so next time you don't lose so much at once.

That is why I use CCMagic, super easy to delete a few items and re-merge everything else, no S3PE needed.

3 years ago I decided to do some final merged packages to kick the cc habit. I was constantly wasting time messing around with cc, testing, merging and unmerging. It worked for 2 to 3 years, I left cc alone and didn't put much new in. Then I realized a while ago I had a lot of stuff that I never touched. Trying to unmerge or clone merged packages is a waste of time. You can't be a 100% sure that S3OC has done the job correctly. I was getting errors all the time with stuff more complicated than makeup. Even cloning files to default hair has been a nightmare. I did find going back to a much older version did help but I strongly suggest rather to download cc. If there is something that you really like and use and can't find then attempt to clone the item.

But between archive.org, the Russian sites, simscaves, sims3lostsets.tumblr.com/Sets you should find what you want & store stuff is easily available.

The cost of storage with memory sticks have come down a lot. I suggest to do a backup on 2 or 3 sticks with a merged (what I call plug and play) and unmerged backups.