Insane loading time

[Jelenedra]

Yeah, purging downloads is a good way to help with loading times, as you only replace the things you CANNOT live without.

That and it helps organization. I have everything subfoldered in my game now, with screenshots.

[MistyBlue]

Yeah, I have everything subfoldered and subfoldered down as far as I need them to go. It's really simple to keep it organized if you have a subfolder for every website you download from and then each individual set, then recolors and so on. I also have a Just for Pictures folder and a Not Important folder. If I ever have to clean out my downloads, those will be the first folders to just get tossed.

[nekonoai]

Heh. I'm going thru the fun of spring cleaning now, when one day I discovered I had 17gigs of CC and my game wasn't loaded after an hour. Normally it takes 20 minutes, and I don't care about waiting, cause I usually tell it to load and go start dinner or something equally mundane.

I took all the folders out of my downloads folder, and am going through each section seperately. I've been working on HAIR since sunday.

I tried using the orphaned mesh thing in Simpe, but it took so damn long to run and didn't really help much, so I abandoned it. I still wish there was a smallish program that would load or at least show a picture of what things look like in game, for fast deleting. But I don't mind going through and deleting everything in chunks. It just takes awhile. I had over 3500 files in the hair folder alone. about 6000 in clothes, which is my next step. I don't even want to THINK about the objects and recolors folders, because i KNOW they're off the hook.

I really need to stop being a CC whore.

[ElfPuddle]

I'm going to interrupt here and self-indulge in a little "attagirl".

My DL folder with Sims 1 was more than huge, and completely unorganized. Although I have a lot of CC for Sims 2, it's organized and not insurmountable.

Attagirl, ElfPuddle!!

Thank you.

[blubug]

Sims2 Categorizer at Simwardrobe show the objects and you can delete them with their recolors. I sorted through my objects a while ago with it. It also allows you to move meshes and recolors to folders. As the recolor searching takes a while, I'd suggest doing the sorting in a game with only meshes and recolors, so it doesn't go through all the clothing and stuff trying to find the recolors.

I also adapted a method for sorting objects in-game. As some objects work with a repository technique (borrowing textures from other objects) I had had major problems when I deleted objects that I didn't want.

So I solved it by making 2 backups of my downloads on the desktop, one for sorting, one just to be on the safe side. I then loaded the game with the 3rd copy of the downloads folder, and in game, only deleted stuff -recolors and meshes- that I wanted to keep. Then when I was done, all I was left was stuff I was ready to say goodbye to. So, I shut down the game, opened the downloads folder, copied everything, pasted into one of the backups, allowed it to overwrite everything. Then, very carefully, without pressing anything else, I chose edit/invert selection, then I cut/copied the now selected items (the ones I had previously deleted) and put them in a fresh new folder. Then I deleted the non-backup 3rd copy of my downloads folder (or you can move it somewhere and mark it bye-bye downloads, I did that too) and put my fresh new folder with the stuff I wanted in, and renamed it to Downloads.

Then I categorised them properly and sorted them into sub-folders with the Categoriser. Now, every time I download stuff, I put them in a temporary folder in downloads until I can sort them out. You can say I'm pretty anal about this. And as a side-note, I kept going crazy that the categoriser wouldn't show thumbnails properly, then I found out that it has to be loaded and clicked on in the catalog-in the game once before it showed up in the catalog. I'm just pointing this out because it was frustrating enough for me until I found out, just to save you the hassle.

I also use DJS sims' collection creator. When I download lots of new meshes, I create a collection from those items, and when I fire up the game, I don't have to search for the new items to click for the categoriser.

Well, those are my techniques. It makes it a lot easier to have sorted downloads. For example, if I suddenly realise that a maxis-table is missing because of a corrupt package file (and I can't remember when it happened), it's pretty easy to track it down. I just test my newmesh/surfaces/diningtables folder, and it's soo much easier than going through a lot of obselete hairs, sims, fireplaces, etc.

[Indiasong]

Well, I took the objects folder out to see if it was quicker with just the downloads one, but I forgot to time it 
I have always had a separate Objects folder, with every site in a subfolder. and I have a separate Hacks folder, which works perfectly.
I put the objects in downloads when i check for duplicates, but it takes an even insaner time with Simpe.
I could not delete everything. I'm hoping for a spontaneous combustion.
I've been deleting lips, so much work for so little space. And a good number of the sims in bodyshop.
And if EA listened and made it so that Bodyshop did not go back to the beginning each time I delete something, things would be so much efficient.

[Jelenedra]

Most of the bulk of the files will be hairs and objects. Make up and hacks are nearly negilible. Anything with new meshes with a high poly count will drive your loading time up.

And my downloads folder is as follows: (Which is further seperated into a kajillion folders)

Automotive
Build Mode
Clothing
Clothing Meshes
Default Replacements
Genetics
Hacks
Makeup
Objects
Sims

[SaraMK]

The download problem can be helped a lot by separating your neighborhoods. Not every neighborhood needs 1,000 sci-fi objects, not  every neighborhood needs 500 Victorian gowns, etc.

I keep all my neighborhoods separate, and each has about 5,000-10,000 downloads. I can download anything I want, as much as I want, and not worry about my game loading forever. Waiting more than 5 minutes is crazy to me. I do have one neighborhood that has a bit more stuff, and it takes about 10 minutes to load, but it's the only neighborhood I'd accept that from.

Even if you don't do "themed" neighborhoods, think about it this way: Can you really use all 400 walls and floor sets you've downloaded, all in one neighborhood? Or, do you find yourself reusing the same objects in every house? If each neighborhood has its own downloads, you are able to HAVE a lot more custom content, and you USE a lot more custom content!

Oh, and I also love using different default replacements (eyes, skins, etc) in different neighborhoods.

[ZiggyDoodle]

I kept going crazy that the categoriser wouldn't show thumbnails properly, then I found out that it has to be loaded and clicked on in the catalog-in the game once before it showed up in the catalog.

Thanks for that tip, Blubug - I dumped the categoriser precisely because it wouldn't show the thumbnails but wasn't smart enough to try loading the game.

Have downloaed downloaded the latest version and will try it tonight.

[edited to clean up brain fart]

[J. M. Pescado]

Your previous comment struck me as the usual advice you get from EA/Maxis support people -- either "delete all your custom downloads," whether you have them or not, or "uninstall and reinstall and everything will be wonderful."

There's an amusing idea. Go and report all of the bugs we have fixes for, and record the EA response, see how many of them involve "removing all your custom downloads" or "reinstalling", both of which are the wrong answer.

[blubug]

I kept going crazy that the categoriser wouldn't show thumbnails properly, then I found out that it has to be loaded and clicked on in the catalog-in the game once before it showed up in the catalog.

Thanks for that tip, Blubug - I dumped the categoriser precisely because it wouldn't show the thumbnails but wasn't smart enough to try loading the game.

Have downloaed downloaded the latest version and will try it tonight.

[edited to clean up brain fart]

No problem at all, I was pulling my hair out trying to figure why, and then I read the manual again for the 15th time, and it hit me:

Q: Why does my object show a black question mark on a purple background instead of a thumbnail image?

A: The game does not generate a thumbnail for an object unless you view the object's catalog page (the page with the name and description on it). Sometimes just paging through a function category will generate thumbnails for objects that are missing them and sometimes it will not.

I didn't understand that you were supposed to do it in the game! I kept clicking and editing in the Categoriser Catalog It's a brilliat categoriser, saves me loads of time doing the editing in Simpe.

[nekonoai]

Well holy crap. I stopped using that tool for the same reason. Should have RTFM! Now I know. And knowing is half the battle!