Managing the Downloads folder

[eevilcat]

I've decided that I'm going to have to come up with a more efficient way of managing my downloads and I've got gigabytes of the stuff to organise as I build lots as well as play the game. Storing the originals isn't a problem as all the source files are organised into sensibly named folders/sub-folders by category and then by mesh. I also store an image of each recolour in the respective sub-folders so that I know what each file is.

I am running into problems with how I manage the files used in game and at the moment my Downloads folder is hovering around the 1.7Gb mark. I'm about to do something drastic to my MATY Inverted hood which is going to involve the addition of yet more custom content while making a lot of the stuff that's in there redundant. So... I'm considering maintaining several versions of the Downloads folder, each being independent from the others and I will simply copy across the Downloads folder for the particular style of hood that I intend to play. I've plenty disk space on an external drive to maintain the various versions of Downloads so storage shouldn't be a problem. As far as I can see I will only have to delete the various *.cache and *.thumbnails files when I swap a different Downloads folder in and only run the 'correct' hoods. This means that I can also more easily manage replacement NPCs etc according to the hood theme.

Does this make sense? Or have I missed something obvious? What about downloaded lots?

[Lorelei]

Other than running Clean Installer to both install stuff and check for duplicate files, I have no good suggestions.

I have a bloated DL folder that will probably take a day or two to weed through. My main concern is getting rid of an item I'm already using. If there was an easy way to determine what is being used on a Sim or in a lot, versus what isn't, I'd have no excuses.

A couple of months ago I asked if there was a file or something the game generated that listed what every Sim / lot was using. I know there's a file you can read once you open a house, but it is usually a hot mess to read, and useless for my purposes.

I also use SimCat to weed stuff out, as it shows pictures of things, but not ALL things.

I also ALSO use anal-retentively-labeled folders, and the MTS2 tool (I think) that categorizes stuff (Dupe checker?), which I used to sift more stuff into specific Body Shop element folders. All default replacements are separate, all Eyebrows / Eyes (color, I'm guessing) that aren't default replacement, all Eyeshadows, Eyeliners, et cetera. I have some weird stuff that I finally figured out I won't ever use, and got rid of a lot it that way.

It's like when I was a kid, I didn't play with Barbie like a lot of kids did. I left any elaborate hairstyles they came with alone and found what outfit looked best on a particular one, and was happy to leave the doll dressed in the same thing forever. Only rarely, if whatever play plot I was following required it, did they change into nightgowns or uniforms or whatever, and those were, again, the same ones "assigned" to a particular doll.

I like having a lot of clothing and furnishing objects available, but generally pick the same sort of things. My Sim houses in Sims 1 all had a variation of the same kitchen set up and decor, and most had blue livingrooms with the same furniture and electronics. Out of all the CC I had, I liked that CC best, and wasn't interested in changing it too much. My Sims 2 houses have a lot more variety, but I still like the same basic things. A new trick I use is to have brick walls  INSIDE houses, which looks like a loft when you add modern furniture. I also prefer plain furniture (no patterns) and plain walls with trim at the top and bottom, or chair rails in the middle. Most of the wallpaper walls look "out of scale" to me. Simple furniture and walls and rugs mean that any decorative objects I add stand out, and Sims also seem to look better in screenshots. But that is just me, and I do break my own decor rules occasionally. I have a Cat Lady's house with a lot of distressed furniture and busy floral wallpaper, because grandmom types don't like modern furniture. In Sims 1, I completely redesigned the Goth house with every Gothy cliche and spooky object I could find. In Sims 2, Pes' bunker is small, underground, has a hidden "escape route" through the ceiling of one of the bedrooms and has hidden rooms behind CC "bookshelf doors." The bar most of my 'hood hangs out in is modeled after those I am familiar with in real life, complete with a back porch smoking area, vending machines in the back halls near the bathrooms, dim lighting and neon signage. I worry less about mixing styles (if an overstuffed non-modern plain couch matches a slick modern chair, I'll put them together) than I do making a room look visually "busy".

I still should get rid of about 75% of my CC, as I have outfits and hairs and objects and walls and floors I will never use. I had great plans at one point, but will probably never have the free time to use all that CC I gathered. I also have a lot of lots that are bare bones, just have Sims, a terlet, a phone, a computer and chair, and little else. Those are meant to park Sims, esp. a lot of MATY Sims, who are intended to show up as visitors on other lots or to be invited elsewhere.

[Charamei]

That makes sense to me. I do something similar, but more drastic: I have multiple copies of the whole 'The Sims 2' folder. So I have Sims 2 Sci-Fi, Sims 2 Medieval, Sims 2 Base (Pleasantview etc)... and, of course, a backed-up copy of the original

It takes up more HD space, but each individual instance takes less time to load. Also means that the SavedSims and LotCatalog folders are unique to each 'hood theme, so I don't have to deal with alien Sims or spaceship lots in my Medieval game or vice-versa.

Of course, I play more than one 'hood in each particular 'theme', often a pseudo-Legacy of some kind, a normal 'play' hood and one for picture-taking, so this is more useful for me than it would be for someone who only uses on of each 'hood theme. And yeah, there is some duplication (most of my Hacks folder), but not enough to offset the benefits, IMO.

[witch]

I went through the splitting up phase for my apocalypse hood, now I've just re-joined everything and am whittling down the overall content. I got sick of making sure my hacks were all up-to-date in several places, I kept forgetting to swap the right folders in and had to keep re-booting the game, it just turned out to be less efficient for me.

I back up my hood folder maniacally, after every session. When I do the weekly backup to the external hard drive I get the pictures, movies, downloads, scripts and packaged lots as well. When the backups are a few months old, I cull down to save about a monthly backup and put those on DVD. I've just lost too much in the past.

I do have a separate Sims2 folder with no downloads for building and testing lots.

ETA:
On topic!  I have started sorting my clothing with the Wardrobe Wrangler. It's a big job and I'm doing it a bit at a time, but the thing actually works! As compared to Delphy's one which didn't like compressed files or something. I'm loving being able classify clothing in the correct categories. Then I'll use hiders on the Maxis stuff and it'll make a world of difference.

[Alexx]

I am running into problems with how I manage the files used in game and at the moment my Downloads folder is hovering around the 1.7Gb mark.

Oh my God! 1.7Gb.After playing almost 2 years my Downloads folder only 260Mb with all stuff I need.

[witch]

I think that's half my problem, I have 5GB compressed. Mind you, it's nothing compared to the poster here who once claimed 17GB.

[Zazazu]

My downloads has just hit over 2.09 GB. I had it under 2 for a long time, but I've been really into creating custom neighborhood signage and such lately and that takes up space...plus the package files for my easels (well, the canvases) are all just over a megabyte. It adds up.

My main issues are my hair and clothing folders. Both of them have a very high amount of files and I never bothered to organize them.

[Hecubus]

Eevilcat, I don't think there will be a problem doing what you plan to do. My version of that is less universal that some suggested above; I have a handful of folders that only get added when I know I'm going to work on custom community lots, and a few build/buy mode style folders (ie. Southwestern, Victorian) that only get added when I am going to those hoods. I just delete the accessory- and group- caches when I add or delete those folders, and I don't have to worry about making sure my hacks or basic items are there/up-to-date. Remember that the cache files regenerate if they're not there, so I wouldn't worry about saving them.

Lorelei, to figure out what you have, consider packing up all the houses that contain the items you use (you might have to build a 'I know I use this but I can't find it being used' house), then delete your  build/buy mode stuff and install the STUFF from the lots you packaged (you can deselect the lot and people files in Clean Installer). That way, anything you don't use will  not come back (do be warned that all the recolors will be packaged as well, so if there are recolors you don't use, you'll have to zap those separately).

It won't work for CAS mode stuff, or hacks, but if your Downloads are primarily buy mode, like mine is, then this is a perfect solution.

[Lorelei]

Cool idea! Will give it a go.

[Ellatrue]

What I would like to know: is it bad to delete a lot of CC hair and skin, etc. files from within the game? Does this leave bits and pieces behind?

[Jelenedra]

IIRC, you only delete the textures in-game. You'll leave behind the meshes if you delete hair in game.