Macintosh users who want to download user-made creations for their Sims can download and enjoy all the same terrific creations that PC users can. The primary problem that Macintosh users run into when downloading is the length of filenames. Files used by The Sims have necessary 4-character "file extensions" at the end of their filenames. If the files do not have the correct extension, often The Sims will either crash when it sees the file or will not see the file at all. The Macintosh operating system (at least prior to OS X) has a limit of 31-characters for the length of filenames. Windows users on the other hand do not have this limit. The result is that often when a Mac user downloads and unpacks something that a Windows user created, the ever important file extension characters (and possibly more characters than that) have been chopped off. In order to use these files, Macintosh users will need to take additional steps to restore the needed file extension before adding the downloaded file to their game. The following lesson describes the common steps needed to restore a file so that it can be properly used in The Sims.
There are a few useful tools available for Macintosh that help with unpacking and organizing downloaded items.
For most user-created items you download, the file you download will be a .zip file that contains inside it the file for use in the game. At The Sims Resource, everything you download (with the exception of Walls or Floors) will be downloaded as a .zip file. Many of these .zip files will not have the .zip file extension on their filename when they get downloaded on a Mac, because of the 31-character limit. The files on TSR are named as download-type_id_file_download-name.zip which tends to create fairly long filenames. For example, the "Widesceeen TV" by 7 Deadly Sims is downloaded in a file named "objects_732_file_7ds_widesceeen_tv.zip" but when downloaded on a Mac, this ends up as "objects_732_file_7ds_widesceeen". The easiest way to fix this problem is to delete 4 characters off the filename and add on the correct file extension, .zip in this case. The "_file_" portion of the filename makes a handy place to delete characters without losing more information from the filename. In our example, "objects_732_file_7ds_widesceeen" becomes "objects_732_7ds_widesceeen.zip". Then use either Stuffit Expander (comes with every Mac) or Unzipper (see Tools You May Want) to expand the .zip file.
For all downloads except Skins, the same idea as above applies. Delete a few characters from the filename and add the correct file extension. Specifics for each type of download available from TSR are as follows:
Objects
Follow the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files. Then open the resulting folder and take a look. Individual object files need a .iff file extension. You should have at least one file that ends with the .iff file extension. If not, you will need to add the .iff file extension. Usually there is only one file, or one file plus a ReadMe, so it will be easy to see which file needs the .iff file extension. If there is more than one, find the file that's name looks like it describes what you downloaded; usually creators are pretty good about giving their .iff files somewhat descriptive names. Delete 4 characters from the filename and add .iff to the end. Then copy the .iff file into the /GameData/UserObjects folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Walls
Wall files are not downloaded as .zip files from TSR. They come "ready to go" as .wll files that The Sims can use. For example, the wall "kb1" by Krispyb is downloaded as "walls_12862_file_kbamericana1.wll". When downloaded on a Mac, it will appear as "walls_12862_file_kbamericana1.w". Again, deleting the "_file_" portion of the filename is a convenient place to delete 4 characters. The file would be renamed as "walls_12862_kbamericana1.wll" and then should be copied into the /GameData/Walls folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Murals
Murals refer to a set of walls that go together. Follow the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files. Then follow the renaming instructions for "Walls" and copy the resulting .wll files into the /GameData/Walls folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Floors
Floor files are also not downloaded as .zip files from TSR. They come as .flr files ready to be copied into the game. For example, the floor "qt5" by qtzlady is downloaded as "floors_5774_file_jmc_deck_wood5.flr". When downloaded on a Mac, it will appear as "floors_5774_file_jmc_deck_wood5". The file can be renamed as "floors_5774_jmc_deck_wood5.flr" and copied into the /GameData/Floors folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Roofs
Follow the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files. Roofs are .bmp files. If the .bmp file extension is missing, delete 4 characters from the filename and add .bmp to the end. Then copy the .bmp file into the /GameData/Roofs folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Lots (Houses, Downtown Lots, Vacation Lots)
Follow the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files. Then open the resulting folder and take a look. At a minimum, there will be a file named house##.iff where the ## is some number indicating the lot number on which this lot will appear. That file will always be named correctly to be used in the game. The house##.iff file should be placed in the /Houses folder inside the /UserData folder of the neighborhood of your choice (UserData is neighborhood 1, UserData2 is neighborhood 2, and so on). In addition to the house##.iff file, there may also be custom wall, floor, or roof files that are included and used in the lot. If these have their full filenames including the appropriate .wll, .flr, or .bmp file extension, then you can copy the files into the correct folders as listed above for Walls, Floors, and Roofs. If the file extensions are missing, you may have to do a little guess work to determine whether the file should be a wall or a floor or a roof. If only part of the file extension was cut off, you may be able to get a clue from that. For example, if you had a file named "jbc9836_multicoloredlargetile.f" you can probably guess from the ".f" at the end that this should have been a .flr file, a Floor. If the file extension is completely gone, you may have to guess from the description. Worst case, if there is no way to figure out the file extension, the lot can still be used without the other custom files. The game will just replace the missing walls, floors, or roof with ones that are installed in the game.
Sets
Sets on The Sims Resource will contain one or more objects and may also contain walls and floors to match the set. Follow the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files to unpack the .zip for the set. Then open that folder and follow the appropriate instructions for any objects, walls, or floors that have their file extensions cut off. Here again you may have to guess a little whether a file that's missing its file extension is an object or a wall or a floor. Usually you can tell from the filename (something named "purplecouch" is not likely to be a wall or a floor) - read the instructions for "Lots" for additional tips on determining the correct file extension.
Skins get additionally complicated because a "skin" in The Sims really consists of at least three pieces: a .bmp file that tells what the skin will look like, a .skn (mesh) file to tell what shape the skin should be, and a .cmx file to put the pieces together. The .skn and .cmx files have information within them that references their filenames, so just changing the filenames as above would not work.
The Shortcut: Using Unzipper/FarMaker
The quickest, simplest way of handling skins is to just use the pair of tools Unzipper and Farmaker (see Tools You May Want). Drag the downloaded .zip file onto Unzipper. Do not unzip with Stuffit Expander first or this will not work! Unzipper unpacks the .zip file in a special way that preserves the original "long" filenames from within the .zip file. Drag the entire folder that Unzipper created onto Farmaker. Farmaker will use the information that Unzipper saved about the long filenames when it creates the .far file for the folder - this means that the correctly associated long filenames are inside the .far file. Then make sure that the .far file ends in .far and has a filename of less than 31 characters. The .far file can be named anything you want, as long as it ends with the .far file extension. Finally, copy the .far file into the /GameData/Skins folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer.
Why Shortcuts Aren't Always Best
The problem with the above method is that it will very often result in having duplicate meshes in the game. If you download a skin that uses a custom mesh, the custom mesh usually comes in the .zip file with the skin. If you download two skins that use the same custom mesh, each of the two skins will come with the custom mesh. Following the method described above results in two .far files that both contain the same custom mesh. This isn't a huge problem until you go to look through the Create-A-Sim screen and are seeing the exact same skin 3 and 4 times.
An Improvement: The Shortcut With A Twist
The goal here is to find a way to organize the files of the download into .far files in such a way that we avoid having duplicate meshes later on. The best way to do this is to get each mesh into its own .far file containing just the files needed for that mesh. We also want to keep a consistent naming scheme for the .far files so that if a mesh that's already been installed gets downloaded again, it will be easy to see that there is a duplicate. Once the meshes are separated out, the rest of the skin files (the .bmp files) can be packed together in one .far file.
To solve the duplicate mesh problem but still take advantage of the "quick-and-easy" of Unzipper/Farmaker, follow these steps. This example uses the skin "Khaki" by Embrosia777. The file downloads as "skin_8840_file_khaki.zip". This skin was specifically chosen because it includes a skin with all three skin tones and a custom body mesh, plus a head skin with custom head mesh. All skins you download will not necessarily have this exact number of files, but the steps are the same.
Unpack the .zip file using Unzipper as instructed above. Then open the folder it creates and take a look. Figure 1 shows the resulting folder after downloading and unpacking with Unzipper. Notice there are a total of 10 items. Two of them, Khakireadme.txt and SFREADM.TXT, are just readme files. These can be ignored for the moment because they are not needed in the game. Of the remaining 8 files, four of them begin with "B666mafit", two begin with "C717ma", and two begin with "xskin-". Also note that one of the "xskin-" files has the same "B666mafit" in the filename and the other has the "c717ma". So what does this mean?
Remember that a skin has at least three pieces - a .cmx, a .skn, and a .bmp - and that the .cmx is the file that puts everything together. So we look at how many .cmx files there are to determine how many meshes we are dealing with. Because we see two .cmx files here, we know there are two meshes included with this download. One mesh "B666mafit_BaggyJeans" for the body, and one mesh "c717ma" for the head.
Although in this case the .cmx extensions were not cut off, even if they had been we could still figure out which files were the .cmx files, by comparing the filenames with the .skn files. The files that begin with "xskin-" are the .skn files (although the extension is cut off here) - .skn files will always being with "xskin-". And the .cmx filename will always match part of the filename of the .skn file after the "xskin-". In this case, note that the "b666mafit_BaggyJeans" of the .cmx file also appears in "xskin-b666mafit_BaggyJeans_PELV".
Now that we know how many meshes we have, we can begin to organize the downloaded files to put in the game. Remember, to avoid duplicate meshes later on, the goal is to get each mesh into its own separate .far file. Organize the files by creating a new folder for each mesh. To keep track of things, name the folder like the .cmx file but without the file extension (see Figure 2). Next, move the files that belong to the mesh into their correct folders. Remember to move both the .cmx files and .skn files for the mesh (see Figure 3). Very rarely, you may run across a .cmx file that has more than one .skn file to go with it. Use the beginning of the .cmx filename (for example, the "b666mafit" part) to find all matching xskin-___-.skn files and copy them in with the .cmx file.
The final step is to make these folders into .far files for use in the game. Drag each folder onto Farmaker individually and you will have three new .far files, as seen in Figure 4 (Note, I removed the word Folder from the skins_8840_file_khaki folder before running through Farmaker). You now have a .far file for each mesh and a .far file for the skins. Copy all the .far files into the /GameData/Skins folder of wherever you have The Sims installed on your computer. If you have followed this method consistently, should you download a mesh you already have, it will be very obvious because you will already have a .far file with the same name in your Skins folder. You only need one instance of each mesh, regardless of how many skins you have that use that mesh.
Members of TSR have the special ability to add up to 20 downloads into a "download basket" and download them all at once. If you are a member and utilize this feature, keep the following in mind. When you download your basket, it will be a .zip file. Unpack that .zip file following the instructions for Downloading ZIP Files. The resulting folder will contain the exact same files as if you had downloaded the items individually. That is, anything that would have been in a .zip will be in a .zip, anything that wouldn't have been (Walls, Floors) isn't. So follow the instructions for each file as if you had downloaded the items individually.
Although these instructions were written with The Sims Resource in mind, most of these instructions will apply for downloading from any PC-created Sims site. The main difference on other sites is that most other sites also have their Walls and Floors in .zip files, so in that case you will need to unpack the .zip file before following the instructions for Walls or Floors.
Also keep in mind that although these instructions only use Farmaker for skins, other files can be put into .far files also. Objects can be organized into groups and made into .far files to reduce the number of files that the game has to load. If you have any expansion pack, you can make a folder named WallsAndFloors in the /ExpansionPack folder and put a .far file of your walls and floors in there. FAR files can be very useful for organizing your game downloads.
Finally, if you have the hard drive space or can back them up somewhere, it is often useful to save the .zip files you download. This is especially true if you organize into .far files often. If you decide you don't like one item in a particular .far file you created, it is much easier to recreate the .far without that file than to have to pull apart the .far and put it back together.