[INFO] Using Mods/CC on a Mac
Overview For Sims 4, the process of installing mods and custom content on a Mac is the same as it is on a Windows PC. Standard mods and cc work equally well (or not at all) in both OSs, and the Sims 4 user folder has the same form and function as well. There are however a couple of technical aspects to take into consideration which this post aims to address. This guide is only for technical questions about using mods and custom content in macOS. For help with specific mods or cc, or for in-game issues that may be mod-related, please see luthienrising 's master Mod and CC Issues Support thread pinned on the right side of the Mods & Custom Content forum, or create your own thread in this forum. For Curseforge-related questions, please use this thread. jump to: Documents stored in iCloud Drive jump to: Mods/cc stored in a custom location jump to: Problems with storing data externally jump to: "Unable to start," file appears to be corrupted jump to: Formatting an external drive for mods/cc jump to: Transferring files between computers jump to: Problems loading overrides or default replacements ↑ For Documents stored in iCloud Drive In addition to enabling iCloud syncing, some users will have also have iCloud Drive enabled, pushing Documents to cloud storage. If you have done this and also enabled the "Optimize Storage" option, you may run into problems with mods/cc, saves, etc. disappearing or not loading. Please see this guide: [READ FIRST] Saves, CC/Mods or Library items disappeared? iCloud issues | EA Forums - 10979712 And post in that thread if you need further help on the subject. ↑ For mods/cc stored in a custom location In order to store mods and custom content on an external drive, or any location other than Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, you will need to create a symbolic link to tell Sims 4 where to look for the data. The external drive must be formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This is the definitive guide for storing data externally: https://bluebellflora.com/saving-your-sims-4-folder-to-an-external-drive/ If you need further help setting up the symbolic link, please post in this thread: 🛠️ Creating a symlink in macOS to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive | EA Forums - 11034490 ↑ Common problems associated with storing mods/cc externally jump to: "Unable to start," file appears to be corrupted Mods/cc don't show up in-game Double-check that the symbolic link was created correctly and that your files are in the proper location. You should be able to double-click the symlink you created (the Sims 4 or Electronic Arts folder with the little arrow in the corner) and jump to the folder it points to. If this doesn't happen, the symlink wasn't created properly, or your computer isn't recognizing the external drive. To see the exact location of a file, right-click it and select Get Info, then look for the file path listed as "Where." My external drive is titled "Sims stuff." "Unable to start: Cannot start because the file below appears to be corrupted." Note that despite my storing my user data on an external drive, the message above still lists the file's location as Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4. This is normal. When this happens for one or a few files: The mod or cc item(s) may be broken, outdated, or otherwise not compatible with Sims 4. Please remove the file(s) from your Mods folder and test with a different one. The file(s) may be corrupt. Please download and test a fresh copy. When this happens with most or all files: If the Mods folder is on an external drive, the drive may have an incompatible format, for example exFAT. Please see this section below. If the Mods folder was transferred from another computer, the files may have been corrupted in transit. Please see this section below. ↑ How to format an external drive for storing mods/cc Formatting a drive will erase it, so start by transferring any existing data you want to preserve to a different location. Open Applications > Utilities, launch Disk Utility, click View > Show All Devices (green), and you'll see something like this: The main volume for my drive is exFAT (blue), which is incompatible with Sims 4 mod/cc .package files. So I need to erase the volume (red), choosing APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) instead. The alternative, if the drive has enough free space, is to choose Partition, to the left of Erase, and create a new partition with the format of your choice. You can find more information on partitions and containers in this Apple article. If you see "Erase process has failed," erase the entire drive, titled "USB SanDisk 3.2" in my screenshot above. Choose "GUID Partition Map" as the Scheme and APFS as the Format. ↑ Transferring files between computers Mods and custom content files can be corrupted when transferred between computers, or more specifically to an external drive and then onto a different computer. This is particularly true when transferring between two different operating systems, e.g. from macOS to Windows. The workaround is to zip the folder that contains the files before transferring it, then unzip it once it's on the new computer. This protects the files from corruption. In macOS, right-click a folder and select Compress to zip it, and double-click it to unzip. In Windows, right-click and select Send to > Compressed (zip) file to zip, and right-click and Extract to extract. ↑ Overrides/default replacements With overrides and default replacements, the load order matters: files loading in the wrong order can mean some don't show up in-game at all. Please see this post for a thorough explanation and a way to specify the load order for your cc: [FIX] Struggling to use overrides/default replacements on a Mac. | EA Forums - 9355837 ↑ Thanks to @Bluebellflora for consulting on and editing this guide.
MC Command Center Master Thread
Welcome to our new MCCC Thread in the new EA Forums! After more than than 3000 posts on 186 pages over 7 years it's time to start a new chapter to continue the work of the old MCCC thread. Just in case you want to check previous posts the old thread was imported to the "Sims 4 Franchise Discussion" section and can be found here. And even the very first thread from 2015 - 2017 survived and can be found here. Note: You might change the sorting order to "Newest" to see the latest post in this thread! If you have any questions please ask or visit our MCCC Discord Server ☆☆☆ Have Fun! ☆☆☆
Child Sliders wont save, Need help
I'm using obscurus unlocked sliders for kids and whenever i try to save the edits i make to my child sims the results doesn't save and it reverts back to vanilla. does anyone know if this a current bug or incompatibility? my game also doesn't save any preset body changes.Newest Update (10/22) Broke My Game AGAIN...
Of course every single update literally destroys my game and I have to spend hours biweekly deleting and re-adding mods, repairing EA files, and clearing caches. For a game that costs literally hundreds of dollars, it requires more maintenance than my car. Most recently, the "required gamebreaking update" from yesterday has done this to all menus: This just re-affirms my decision to let Sims 4 be the last version of this game I spend my money on. EA is obviously a bad company, but it seems at this point they do it on purpose by force pushing broken events (i.e. Reapers Rewards making the game unplayable for weeks at a time) to increase the metrics on hours played when the hours are spent moving things to desktop so we can fix their middle-school era coding. Anyone have a recommendation for good alternatives to Sims available on PC? I'm definitely more of a build/buy girlie than an actual playing one.
MOD REQUEST THREAD
Hey all, this thread is for requesting mod-makers to create a mod you might want or need for your gameplay. If the mod already exists, I will quote your request and link the mod. This is also a place to discuss mods! Get commenting, I want this thread to be a popular hub for mod-seekers and makers o:)
Request for Technical Resources & Documentation
Greetings. I make tools for Sims 4 mod creators and a companion app for player support. Others and I who work on the technical side often struggle with undocumented aspects of the game. We must reverse engineer binary formats when they’ve been changed. We do not know how to derive schema hashes like the ones expected by Sim Data for different resource types, so we must maintain lookups and discover new ones. Having to rely on archaeological methods and trial-and-error is a little painful. Direct communication would be preferable, if you can find the time. If you’re able to share updated 010 Editor templates, documentation, or insights into resource formatting or schema hashes, it would help us support custom content creators more efficiently. Thank you for your consideration and for all that you have already done for us.
black screen, sims cursor
I need help. When I go to launch my sims 4 game It loads for a little but when it’s done it goes to a black screen but still has the sims cursor. I’ve cleared all caches and it didn’t work. What did work was moving my sims 4 folder into desktop and it does launch fine when it’s starting off brand new but I don’t want to lose all my mods and my game play so far. My game was working fine and then I updated it today 01/14/25 and it didn’t launch after. I don’t know how to find the problem and don’t want to completely reset. I have everything extremely organized I just don’t know how to fix this. Please help
