The Sims 4 Steam Deck Files Location (including DLC files)

Here is a guide on locating the hidden file directories of the Sims 4 on your Steam Deck! Useful for modding and free DLC files if you know where to look!!

Default File Locations

These will be parallel to the Windows version, as the Steam Deck creates virtual C drives for each game using Proton.

Please make sure you Enable Hidden Folders in Dolphin, otherwise you won't be able to see these locations!

Sims 4 Default Location

Steam Files

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/The Sims 4/

Documents Files

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/

Sims 4 Mod Install Location

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods/

You can put your mod files here as per usual. Make sure to enable modded content inside of the Sims 4 options if you have not already.

Sims 4 EA Desktop Location

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/Program Files/Electronic Arts/EA Desktop/EA Desktop/

Transferring Files

There's a few ways to download mods and DLC to the Steam Deck.

1) Download it directly from the source to your Steam Deck

2) Download it to your main PC and copy the files using a file transfer software or SD card.

Recommended file transfer softwares are AnyDesk or Winpinator/Warpinator.

For this exercise I will show AnyDesk. You can also use AnyDesk to remote control your Steam Deck if you do not have a mouse and keyboard setup. Makes downloaded and managing files easier.

1) Download AnyDesk on your PC from here: https://anydesk.com/en

2) Download AnyDesk on your Steam Deck from the Discover store.


3) Launch both programs and connect the two. It should look like this on your PC.


4) Click on Browse Files on the top right of your PC AnyDesk


5) The left side is your PC, the right side is your SteamDeck. Navigate to the files on your PC on the left side, and navigate to where you want them to download to on the Steam Deck on the right side. Click upload when ready.

[OLD] Sims 4 DLC Installation

*The DLC Unlocker should have a Linux installer now, so this part is slightly depreciated. I'll leave it here for those who are having issues using the Linux installer*

If you have all the DLC purchased, then don't worry about this area.

If not, and you have procured the DLC files and DLC Unlocker program, here is the trick to get it working on the Steam Deck.
Please note: You will need to find those files yourself, please do not link them here.

If you've used the EA DLC Unlocker on PC before, you'll know it's pretty simple. Just put the DLC files in The Sims 4 folder in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 4, then run setup.bat from the EA DLC Unlocker by Anadius.

With the Steam Deck it's a little bit more hands on, but it will work.

Sims 4 DLC Install Location

Please make sure you have Show Hidden Files enabled in Dolphin

Please put all the DLC files (not the Unlocker) here:

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/The Sims 4/

This is where all the games main files are, so just put the EP's,GP's and SP's here. Don't touch anything else.

DLC Unlocker Setup: Part 1

The following information is a modified version of the readme provided in the EA DLC Unlocker pack, tailored to be specific to the Steam Deck.

1. In the EA DLC Unlocker pack you have, open up the ea_desktop folder and copy version.dll.
   
   

   ...\EA DLC Unlocker v2\ea_desktop\version.dll

   
   
2. Open the folder with EA Desktop, and paste that version.dll to the location below.
   
   

   /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/Program Files/Electronic Arts/EA Desktop/EA Desktop/

   
   
3. Open

   /home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/

   , create an "anadius" folder, open it, and create an "EA DLC Unlocker v2" folder, open it.
   
   Full path should end up being

   /home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/anadius/EA DLC Unlocker v2/

   
   
4. In the EA DLC Unlocker pack you have, copy

   g_The Sims 4

   and

   config.ini

   and place in the newly created folder above. It should look this in the end.
   
   

DLC Unlocker Setup: Part 2

The following instructions were found on a forum.

1. Download "Wine" and "Protontricks" from the built-in Discover Store.
   
   
2. Launch "Protontricks" from the Start menu.
   
   
3. Select "The Sims 4" and click OK.
   
   
4. Wait a minute or two and you'll see a new window open.
   
   
5. Click OK on the 64-bit/32-bit warning message.
   
   
6. Select "Select the default wineprefix" and click on OK.
   
   
7. Select "Run winecfg" and click on OK.
   
   
8. And then in the new window follow the same step for Wine in the readme file.(Photo of readme attached)
   
   
   
9. Click on OK to save and then close all the windows and go launch the game.

Launch the game and it should work! If you have the correct DLC they should be appearing as working!

Bugs and Fixes

I will document any reported bugs about this process here. Please note these will be more specific to the Steam Deck process, if you have questions about the Unlocker I suggest you reach out the creator for a solution.

• DLC doesn't unlock.
  Possible solution: Run the Protontricks process again. We have found that sometimes Winecfg doesn't save the changes to version.dll, thus not running the unlocker. If you do it again and it's not correct, try it again and/or reinstall Protontricks and Wine.
  
  
• Game does not load anymore.
  This is a problem caused by EA, where the EA App bugs out and doesn't work on Proton. The only fix is to delete the Proton files for the game. Unfortunately this will wipe your saves, mods and some of the unlocker configurations. So make sure to backup your saves at least. The DLC files are fine though as they are unaffected by Proton. After you wipe Proton reload the game so it installs the EA App and redo the Unlocker setup.

[tempchan2017]

I downloaded and followed directions but it's saying world not installed. What do I do?

[mastersmit]

На данный момент в текущей версии анлокера можно просто запустить setup_linux.sh, откроется терминал и дальше как в винде..

[reynxsharla]

I was able to follow everything until the last step of Wine (the readme). There’s nothing to add in the libraries tab. Do you know what I did wrong? I’m desperate for some help. I’ve been working on this for days.

[Frenky_Fisher]

Great Guide. My GF is sending her thank you's. Really nice that this also works in game mode (after you performed the steps)

[verslibre]

i was able to follow this guide, but when i try to run the game through steam, this message popped up:

cannot start because the below file appears to be corrupted. please repair or reinstall the game via origin.

z:\home\deck\.local\share\steam\steamapps\common\the sims 4\SP05\clientfullbuild0.package

does anyone know how to solve this?

[Mella]

I cannot find where to put my dlcs at to save my life because the place you want us to put it at i cant find it?

[Kurakumi]

I cant seem to get It to work. There's been an update so the files aren't all the same (namely what's in EA Desktop) so maybe that's why

[EmpPhantom]

Is anyone else having problems finding the location of file "g_The Sims 4" to copy over to the dlc unlocked? I've looked anywhere and I can't seem to find it

[Cryo]

Hey that's good to know - I'll try that link out and if it work's I can retire this guide and leave a link to that. thanks!

[spensercai]

https://github.com/SpenserCai/LGS-Helper/blob/main/scripts/EA/README_EN.md
Can use this to One click unlock