How to install mods (and use them to destroy your poor, poor in-game world)

Want to totally ♥♥♥♥ up the world your sims live in?
I mean, why NOT make it so creatures from the black lagoon go around suplexing everyone until the very place they live in is quite literally a ghost town? Then, my friend, do I have the answer for you!

MODS! MODS GALORE!

Modding has always been a big part of The Sims, ever since the very first installment. If you're one of the many people who have gotten this game for the mods and not the base game itself, great! This guide is meant to assist people who don't know a thing about Sims 3 mods and how to install them, or want to find some whacky mods that aren't just 'Hair for females, #999,999,999,999,999,570'.

Have fun!

How to install mods (base files)

Some things before I get started

This guide is for WINDOWS ONLY! If you stumbled upon this page looking for Mac instructions (even though, to my knowledge, Steam only has the PC version), look elsewhere!

I HIGHLY recommend getting a file extraction program. Many mods come in formats like .rar that Windows can not normally extract. I HIGHLY recommend 7-zip because it's free, fast, and efficent. You can download that here.[www.7-zip.org]
____

Hey, there!
Chances are, if you've stumbled upon this guide, you want to mod your game! I don't really need to get into any sort of introduction, because I'm 99% sure you know what a mod is already.

In order to start modding The Sims 3, you need a base folder, with a base file, and another folder called 'packages'. Almost every mod you install (I'll get into this later) will come in a .package file. This is where you put those mods.

Now, before you start making those folders in the local files of this game, DON'T. First of all, that won't work because you're putting it in the wrong location. The mods folder HAS to be in C:\Users\Gumball\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (Gumball is an example for your profile name, don't copy and paste this expecting it to work), otherwise it won't work. Secondly, you need the base file. To my greatest knowledge, the game has no way of creating this itself.

In order to get the base file required for this thing to work, go here[modthesims.info] and scroll down until you see a clickable image that says 'download' with a blue floppy disk to the left of the text. If, for some reason, the link is unavailable to use, the website I'm using for the link here is called 'Modthesims'.

To clarify things a bit here (for the easily confused), after downloading the files, extract the mods folder (just the mods folder, not just the packages or base file) to C:\Users\Gumball\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (again, Gumball is an example. Don't copy and paste this!).

And that's all for my first step

How to install mods (site recommendations, downloading the mods, alternate mod files)

This will probably be the shortest step, so, if you paid real close attention to the last step, you can probably skip this. I do go over great modding sites, however.

Okay, now that you have your mods folder copied in with the base file attatched, time to get some mods! There are many good places to start with mods, so I'll give you a few sites for this.

Nraas.wikispaces.com is a great site for many different mods made by an individual and his buddy. These are VERY high quality (at least, as far as TS3 mods go) mods, so I highly recommend them.

http://modthesims.info is a great resource for community made mods. Here, most of the outright whacky and bizarre mods are posted. You no longer need to sign up to download mods, and all the mods are free.

If you're more into cosemtics and hair and stuff, thesimsresource.com might satisfy you. My only issue with it is that there are wait times for all downloads, the only way to eliminate this being a fishy premium service. I don't know too much about this site because I barely ever visit it, so be a bit cautious.

Nexus mods. They do require you to sign up to download mods, but, as far as mod sites go, it's one of the best. For The Sims 3? Maybe. I have yet to try it for The Sims.

Now, I'd recommend getting a mod from any of those sites. After that, using 7-zip or any other extraction program you may have snatched, open up the file and dump the contents into C:\Users\Gumball\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Packages (AGAIN, Gumball is an example. Don't copy and paste this!).

With more cosemtic based websites, there are higher chances you'll get files that mirror the game's icon. Don't worry about these! In order to install these types of mods into your game, 1) make sure you have all the content (DLC, Stuff packs) required to have the mod (typically, they put it in the description. If they don't, then that's a real bummer), 2) Put it on your desktop or anywhere on your computer that's visible and is comfortable for you, and 3) double click it. The launcher should pop up, and, after a bit of waiting, start installing the mod. After it's done installing, click continue, and then go over to the 'Installed Content' section. Find the mod you just installed, and click the checkbox. If something shows up saying anything like 'Install', click it.

Not every single one of these files work, however! In some occasions, they never install, even after repeated attempts! I call these 'Broken files', and it's best you throw them away, unless you really want them... in that case, look it up, there are several helpful forum posts, some with many solutions!

And that's all!

A short list of Mods I recommend

Wow!
You've made it this far! Here are a short list of mods I recommend.

1) MasterController[nraas.wikispaces.com] This mod is what it says it is: a menu that allows you to mess with The Sims 3. This is VERY efficent in some scenarios, more so than cheating.

2) Violence and Aggression[modthesims.info] This mod... is amazing. You know that short sentence I put in the introduction about suplexing everyone to death? I was referring to this glorious mod. Why not punch Sims out of existense, or break their necks using one of the most bizarrely humorous animations ever put in a TS3 mod? That question is purely rhetorical, because there is no reason why shouldn't do that. And speaking of which...

3) Weapons System[modthesims.info] / Dexter the Bear[nraas.wikispaces.com] Much like the previous mod, these 2 mods allow you to kill Sims aggressively. They don't really have the same stupidly amazing animations, but they're still solid and work very well in their own rights.

4) Slider Hacks[modthesims.info] I had a really great Slider Hack mod in mind beforehand, but it seems the website that hosted that is in the dust. There are 3 pretty great slider hack tools here in a list, if you're interested.

AND

5) No intro[modthesims.info] The resource I provided for the mod folder already has a no intro mod, but it's fairly old, and thus, doesn't skip the game logos which are unskippable. This mod fixes that.

And that's all, folks!

[fellow_human100101]

Do any of you know where you could get a mod where you can have more than 8 sims? I've been looking but have not found anything...

[goblin.queen]

Thanks for the info. Just finally transferred my Sims 3 from Origin to Steam, and needed a refresher on installing fan made mods. I'm all set now. I can also highly recommend www.parsimonious.org for a huge collection of Sims 1, 2, 3 and 4 mods, made by Parsimonious and friends...some really brilliant stuff for fantasy and historical characters on there. I just checked the link and site is still working, although the forums have been abandoned since 2016 for Sims 3...not caring, since I can still download Deer Antlers for forest people. :}

[Buddy]

I can't find the mod folder anywhere.

[FriedKittenToast]

heres Nraas new link: https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController

[Abaddon]

website do not work anymore

[Demonunicorn]

Thank you for this Guide !!! It really helped a lot

[Nephrite Harmony]

pictures would help a lot, just saying

also no nude mod? lol

[kittybayou]

i thought this would be a good guide. also why dose no one play sims anymore

[kk_kolachiii]

lol

[OneiroMoon]

what version of 7-zip should i install?