Package Files Not Working - Sims 3

[Moxami]

I know. You have heard this a lot. A lot of people talk about it and don't understand it. Etc etc. But I am a computer developer and I am struggling here. I have:

- Uninstall and reinstall my game three times. Cleaning my hard drive and starting completely over.

- I have downloaded: Mods.

- The folder: Overrides & Packages AND Resource.cfg (The R is Capitalize and so is the M in Mods and the Packages and Overrides. It is in the Mods folder. AND there isn't a s in the resource in case it glitches)

- I have deleted the four cache files to see if that is an issue.

- My game and computer is updated.

- Game works perfectly. No issue whatsoever. But the packages don't.

- I have tries to use different packages from different sites. None work.

-The Mods Folder is working because when I start the game the little intro movie of sims 3 isn't there. It goes right to the loading screen.

- I have downloaded the mods folder. I have even tried making the Mods Folder.

- I have even extract the folder into the Sims 3 folder because they say that 'makes a difference'

-Everything is in its place. (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\)

- AND ALL of the packages have .package. No zips folders. I extract them

- I don't even use sub folders because it can cause glitches

- I don't use a mac (Known to be glitchy). I have Dell and Windows 10. Everything works. No problem. I just want to use my modsss.

- I been able to play it before. This is the same computer I have use. BUT IT ISN'T WORKING

- And I know you make say: Oh? Sometimes the packages don't show up in the launcher. I know that. I have looked into my game and looked at every single hair style and clicked everything single button. On Male and Female just in case~

I. have. done. everything.
Whyyy
It has worked before. Why isn't it now!??!

[marstinson]

Two things struck me right off that you did not do. The first is that when you uninstall/reinstall, you should run a registry cleaner before reinstalling. If you did not change anything about the installation, then this might not be an issue, but it's good practice anyway since Steam's uninstall doesn't clean up after itself as well as we might like.

The second is that there are FIVE *cache.package files in that directory:
CASPartCache.package
compositorCache.package
scriptCache.package
simCompositorCache.package
socialCache.package

The fact that you say your mods used to work, but now only the nointro,package is working leads me to believe that it is not the mod framework that is the problem, but rather that the problem is with the package files themselves or that you didn't delete all of the *cache.package files to force a content rescan. So if you're satisfied that you have good copies of the mods and that they're in the Packages folder, then go back and delete those five files and just be sure you got all of them.

BTW, good level of detail in describing what you have already checked.

EDIT: Thought on it a bit more and there is something else that might work for you. First, rename \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 to something else ("The Sims 3 Old" is my go-to). When you launch the game, it will create a new directory and populate it with all of the stuff it needs. Exit the game and launcher (the launcher sometimes does not close properly on Win10 when you quit the game). Then delete the five *cache.package files, copy over the \Mods folder and the \Saves folder, but remove everything in the new \Mods folder except nointro, ErrorTrap, and Overwatch (if you're not running those two, you should be). Now relaunch and look for the active mods popup at the main menu. If you get it, then everything is probably working as it should. Delete those five *cache.package files again, copy over the other files from the old \Packages folder, relaunch (everything should be showing up on the popup at the main menu), and load a save to verify functionality.