One of my tasks over the holiday was to learn to make my own paintings for the Sims 3. I'm glad to say that I have enjoyed learning. There always seems to be an abundance of modern paintings around, but I also like to build classic and Cape Cod style homes with more traditional interiors just as much as the modern homes. So, that has been my fun task for the past couple of days.

So far I have been saving the paintings in Sims 3 Pack format. Eventually, I would like to share my collection of paintings here.

I was wondering if most people prefer Sims 3 Pack or the older package way of making them available.

Given that the Sim3pack format recently became borked, it looks like Package is king.

I thought about that when I started. So far, I'm not having any problems with Sims3Packs.

I've not had any problems with Sims3packs, either. I am wondering if the apparent consensus that this format has recently become borked is due to the preponderence of reports on pirated EA Store goods no longer working.

When the last patch first came out, I did my due diligence before accepting it and lurked on MATY and here at MTS and other forums to see if it was causing any problems. At first I was appalled to read reports about people not being able to install EA store content. So, based on all the bitching and moaning I put off installing the patch and was angry that yet another update was going to create yet another set of problems with CC. But gradually people started fessing up that their content wasn't actually "purchased" content after all. Even then, duh, I thought they were complaining about the freebies offered by the EA Store--I mean, I thought that was the type of content they were referring to when they said non-paid for store items. Yes, I'm that slow on the uptake. It just never occured to me that the people who would so loudly complain about how crappy the EA store items are would actually bother stealing it. A turd you can get for free is still a turd so why would anyone want even a free turd? Finally some people actually blatantly posted here at MTS they were talking about STOLEN EA store items. Then the clouds parted, angels sang, and the lightbulb went on over my head and I finally figured out the real situation. The failure of certain kinds of Sims3packs to work in the game isn't yet more EA borkage. It's a new FEATURE! You don't pay, you don't play!

I have read that some people seem to still be having trouble with legit CC in Sims3pack format. But it doesn't seem to be as pervasive as all the hue and cry over Arrr'd EA Store items would lead one to believe. I haven't been paying attention to Sims news in the past few days so I could be wrong, but as of my last look at the situation, it seemed Sims3packs still have the upper hand because package format items still can cause game lag, whereas a Sims3pack will either work or not work, end of story. Is that issue with lag still a pertinent consideration or has it been resolved?

My reading of the extensive discussion on this:

.package files don't cause slowdown (it's not accurate to talk about lag unless you're playing over a network) unless they're corrupted. Earlier game versions were more tolerant of corrupt and unexpected data in .package files than more recent versions are, hence this suddenly emerging as a problem. Some .package files produced with early versions of modding tools can now cause problems in the game, as can sims 2 .package files, which amazingly enough it seems lots of people had in their mod folders. Current/recent package files are fine.

As for sims3packs, from my interpetation of what I've read: some people with free or legitimately bought store items aren't able to install them (threads like this all over the EA forums: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/148400.page ), some CC sims3packs from mod sites can't be installed either, the new in-game store button sometimes installs multiple copies of an item, and the launcher (which is the sims3pack installer and manager) isn't functioning at all for some folks.

So I agree with Pescado's assessment. At the moment, .package is working better than .sims3pack.

As for the OP's question: things being as they are, this site has not changed its policy, which is to accept .package files exclusively (except for lots). So if you want to share your mods here, you'll need to submit them as .package. The situation could of course change if future patches continue to change the way the game uses mod files. Read the Creator Guidelines carefully though: paintings need to be original art and/or Sims related to be accepted.

This strongly depends on what kind of Sims3packs you're installing, I imagine. I tried it with a simple freecrap file from TSR, worked fine. If what you're installing is not a DBC-based package, it will probably work.

I prefer .package files mainly because they're faster to install (open the right folder and drag them there), my sims 3 launcher is somewhat slow most of the time so .sims3pack files make me wait if I want to install a few in a row.

I've had problems with néither of them, all my CC (its both .package and .sims3pack files) shows up and causes no noticable slowing down, thats why I'm making my preference based on other things.

I prefer .package files mainly because it's also easier to delete unwanted custom content. You don't have to uninstall the content from the game - you can simply delete the items from the packages folder.

i prefer sims3pack files because i'm having a hell of alot of trouble installing .package files and i can only get sims3pack files to work in game

Actually, they do, in large numbers. I've proved this 100%.
When they are merged however the game is super smooth.
I had around 800 package files, and game speed (especially texture rendering) was, in hindsight, unnacceptable.
When I merged these files into 8 large package files, the difference was amazing.
Package files are definately king.

how do you merge them?

Well, Sims3Packs aren't working. I am not talking about stolen stuff, but stuff that I have created for myself which I cannot load into the game. It really sucks when one cannot load one's own creations. (And I have made my own meshes AND textures.)

And Package files don't work either. There is a noticeable slowdown in the game with the package files. Now perhaps it is a case of corrupted package files messing up the system. Perhaps not. All I know is that when I use the package files, my game is slowed to the point of being unplayable.

So you are screwed if you use the Sims3Packs and screwed if you use the package files.

Just waiting for the launcher to respond after loading it is a massive pain. Going into the proper folder to place or delete a file isn't that hard or such a waste of time. I don't know how the launcher, which should be a simple program, was made so bloated and laggy to the point of being impractical to use compared to 3rd party options.

I just delete any .rar or .zip files that contain sims3packs without bothering with the contents. 3viewer will also let you see what a package file contains, making managing them much easier than sims3packs ever were.

It also allows sims3packs to be converted into packages, but it's rare that I find something worth the bother in that format.

OH MY GOD MERGE YOUR PACKAGES

Merge them now! Do it!

I merged 455 files down to 45 files(it could be less, but I didn't risk merging hacks, I couldn't merge 6 hairs by HP because they're half-broken and won't load properly in S3PE for merging, and I didn't merge slider mods), and my performance increased significantly.

Like, I didn't realize how much it had DECREASED. But upon doing this it's an insane increase in speed and rendering.

I must try this merging thing out... s3pe, you say?

Yes, s3pe.

My game hasn't been this smooth since basegame on launchday.
It appears we finally can have our cake and eat it now too!

And crucially - this method should be mostly futureproof. EA can fiddle with the launcher all they want now. The only thing that could ruin it is if EA change the coding on existing in-game objects for an update, meaning that any CC you had that was cloned from that original version of the object will confuse the game and blue lots appear.
How likely that will be, I don't know.

Not to put a downer on a big hallelujah moment or anything, but how would one go about removing a single CC from a merged package file?
This was the main reason why I hated using the Launcher. After content is uninstalled, sometimes the .dbc file size remained unchanged.

Or when a creator updated their stuff - like for the "blue lot" issue, or when the next patch change more coding (as mentioned above) - the whole merged package would be rendered "broken"?

You would delete it from your unmerged folder backup, then merge your folders again. The more your merged package files are split up, the easier this will be.
Not ideal, but thats the deal at the moment.
Things like Awesomemod and NRaas careers are best left unmerged for this reason.

Ah...since I change my mind about content on a daily basis, I guess .package is still it for me.
Less waiting time during the install/uninstall phase.

oxymoronic phrase there, but I think I get what you meant. If I ever were to try this merging, it would be 1 .package per content-type per site per creator, by sets name, etc? Hmm, sounds like organized chaos?

Hmn... Okay... How do you merge packages together? I have S3PE but I have no clue how to use it.

EDIT: Nevermind, found it. I should really start looking before I ask, geez...

If you merge them, obviously you want to back them up so you can redo it when you get new stuff.

And if your downloads aren't ALREADY meticulously organized, you're doing ti wrong.

I learned how to convert sims3packs to package and condense my mods into fewer package files and I haven't looked back. My game is running faster than ever!

Because I can't seem to find the answer no matter what word combinations I use in the search box, I'm just going to ask: the correct way of doing this is by creating a new package and importing those you want to combine into it, then saving, yes?

Ghanima Atreides I followed the instructions on this thread on MATY. There is also one with pictures here. Hope it's ok to link to those, if not then I'll amend the post.

Merging works brilliantly! I was worried I would still get slowdown because my mods folder is over 2GB but it hasn't at all. Thank you to all who helped me find this!

Thank you very much! Should've thought of searching MATY, heh.