Installing items from Sims 2 fansites
Most people will download from Sims 2 fansites as they offer a mass of clothing, objects, houses, pre-made sims, genetics and more! Some are recolours of existing Maxis made objects and some require new meshes. I will look at object, clothing and genetic downloads including those that use new meshes. Pre-made sims, walls and floors and houses are installed the same as if they were downloaded from the Official Site. Just check the file extension (after the full stop).
.zip icon - this needs to be extracted.
.rar icon - this also needs to be extracted.
.package icon - this can be placed directly into the Downloads folder (see below for more instructions).
Step One - What will I need to use content from fansites?
As before you will need to check that you have the required expansion packs.
***Secondly you will also need to install the
Colour Enabler Package from
Sims Ambertation.
Without this new recolours will not work in your game so make sure you get this first!***
Step Two - How do I unzip files I have downloaded?
If the file you have downloaded from a fansite ends in .zip or .rar it means that these files have been compressed to be easily downloaded from websites. It also means you'll need to uncompress or extract the files included in the .zip or .rar before adding them to your game. If your downloaded file extension is a .zip you will need WinZip. Windows XP users will already have this installed, if you don't you can download a free trial at
Winzip.com or you can use
7-Zip.
There is also a great program for downloaders called
Sims 2 Filemaid, this program is free to download and extracts .zip AND .rar files as well as double-clicking the .Sims2Pack/Skin files for you as well! It's easy to use and will put all your downloads in the right locations. You can get it
here