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Re: 🛠️ Creating a symlink in macOS to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive

@andreaxvix  Does the game work if you delete the symbolic link?  What about if you keep the symlink but remove your Mods folder?

Please also double-click the symlink and make sure you're landing in the correct Sims 4 folder.  If the symlink is broken, that would explain the issue.

6 Replies

  • andreaxvix's avatar
    andreaxvix
    2 years ago

    It actually worked after 15 minutes of loading, is there any way to speed up the process

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @andreaxvix  How long does it take without the Mods folder present?  That's a useful baseline to have even if you'd never play without your mods.  What about with mods but with the mod list pop-up suppressed?  That can help a lot with loading times.

  • andreaxvix's avatar
    andreaxvix
    2 years ago

    I dont have the pop up, im not sure if you can answer this but im assuming its taking forever because my game is on the hard drive as well

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @andreaxvix  Having your game and/or your mods on a slow drive, or a drive with a slow connection, can increase load times by a significant margin.  The only fix is to install on a faster drive, and I don't know whether that's an option for you.  If your internal drive has at least some space, you might experiment with installing only Sims 4 itself internally, or leaving the game on the external and moving your mods back to the internal drive.  You might also try moving other data to the external so there's more room on the internal for Sims 4.

  • andreaxvix's avatar
    andreaxvix
    2 years ago

    i’m assuming i would have to restart the symlink process as well?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @andreaxvix  You don't necessarily need to remove and recreate the symlink just to test.  Instead, you can rename it.  The game will look for something called "The Sims 4" inside the Electronic Arts folder.  If the symlink is there, the game will jump through that symlink to wherever it points.  If the symlink is renamed to anything else, the game will create a new folder in that location.  Or you can rename the symlink and move the Sims 4 folder you're testing with back to the internal drive manually.

    If you test with a different drive, you'll need to move the files there instead, of course.  But you'd only need to recreate the symlink if the drive had a different letter than the old one.  If the old drive is labeled D, and you disconnect it, restart your computer, and connect a different drive, it may also be called D, and in that case, the symlink would be equally valid for hte new drive.  Windows doesn't use the drive name or specs or anything like that; it simply assigns a letter as an identifier.