Downloads & mods help (newbie here)

[J-Star]

I'm brand new to mods and custom content in The Sims 2, so I have a couple questions...

For custom content, such as Sims and items, where do I put the files in order to use them?  The Sims2/Downloads folder (or whatever it is)?  And do I have to do anything else, or will the Sims and items just appear in the game?

For mods that actually change the way the game plays... what do I do w/ the downloaded files?  Just place them in the download folder?  And if I want to uninstall them, what do I do?  Can you remove mods w/o losing your saved games?

[BeosBoxBoy]

J-star - the following three links will answer almost every possible question about downloads:

Dr. Know-It-All's Diatribe No.1. - The Downloads Folder.

Dr. Know-It-All's Diatribe No.2. - Installing Downloads.  

Having a problem dowloading an RAR or PACKAGE file? Read this!

with the exception of Collections and certain cheat/lighting mods - everything should go in the Downloads folder.  If it doesn't there will be information in the post about how to make the installation of the mod work.

[Galactus]

Well...you're asking a lot there..Haha.

I'm pretty new also but I can help with a few things maybe.

The 1st thing that I had to get straight is the right downloads folder to place files in. Typically games use the C:>Program files>EAGames>Sims2>Downloads folder...but that's the wrong place. This game creates a Sims2 folder in you DocumentsandSettings folder. That is the downloads folder that you use.

You must enable custom content. While playing the game...go to Game options. Once you have that screen open there are 3 things you need to check.
1.At the top middle of the screen there is a "catalogs display custom content" option...click that on.
2.To the right of that there is a "display custom dialogue at startup" option...turn that off.
3.In that same small box to the right is the small snowflake looking icon that is associated with custom content...click on that icon and another screen opens...at the bottom of that screen is yet another option to turn on custom content...click that on also. This 3rd one held me up for 2 days because noone mentioned it so make sure it's checked.

I have all of my custom content in the downloads folder mentioned above...Skins, clothing, and mods. Apparently if you have Nightlife or later you can use subfolders to keep things better organized but I'm not using any. One thing that I do is keep a separate folder somewhere on my computer with everything in it that I have installed in the game...and I organize that folder.

There is a "collections" folder in the same place your downloads folder is that some files go in...Usually the creator will signify where the content belongs...just read that stuff when you download...and make sure you download and install content that is compatible with the Expansion Packs you're using.

Hope that helps a little.

EDIT: Looks like Boxboy beat me to the punch..Haha...Oh well.