Insimenator.org

The Downloads Folder

That sweet and happy thing where all the joys of custom content are safely stored is a dark, nefarious mystery to some.  But No More!  Dr. Know-It-All shall illuminate the dark recesses of your minds with the piercing light of knowledge!

The proper creation of the Downloads folder is by one and ONLY one method. No other methods should be undertaken!

The Sacred Method.
After properly installing and registering The Sims 2 (one assumes you have an open and working Internet connection!), press the large asterisk (*) at the corner of the floating menu in the game.

Figure First. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43548&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43548&d=1162751490)

Next shall appear some ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board (http://www.esrb.org/)) warning about the performance of the game.  You should select YES.

Figure Second. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43549&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43549&d=1162751490)

This will begin the process of connecting you to the Maxis Exchange.

You will be prompted for a username and password!  This will be the same information that was used during your registration process.  If you don't recall it, you may have to contact Electronic Arts technical support for your area of the world, consult the manual that came with your game for this information.

At length, the Custom Content Browser will load.  It will look something like this.  The items featured on the flash screen change periodically, so it may not be identical to the illustration.

Figure Third. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43550&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43550&d=1162751490)

Now click on the Furniture icon.  Ignore the cute puppy.

Figure Fourth. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43551&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43551&d=1162751490)

No, I know the puppy was cute and you just luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve PETZ! but this is for people who don't have pets too.  So let us return to the point at hand.

Figure Fifth. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43552&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43552&d=1162751490)

Click on the Furniture icon and continue to ignore the puppy!

Figure Sixth. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43553&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43553&d=1162751490)

Select one of the pretty things, any one will do.

Figure Seventh. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43554&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43554&d=1162751490)

Don't take all day about it dear, pick something, lets say that pennant thingy.

Figure Eighth. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43555&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43555&d=1162751490)

Now hastily click the download link and let the file download and install.

Figure Ninth. - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43556&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1162751490) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=43556&d=1162751490)

Tah-dah!  You now have a properly created and registered Downloads folder!  Congratulations!

If you look in My Documents a bit you should locate the Downloads folder rather quickly in one of these locations:

WINDOWS 98, ME, 2000, & XP
   Documenti\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (italian)
Dokumentumok\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (hungarian)
Dokumenty\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (czech)
Eigene Dateien\EA Games\Die Sims 2\Downloads (deutsch)
Mes documents\EA Games\Les Sims 2\Downloads (française)
Meus Documentos\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (portuguese)
Mijn documenten\EA Games\De Sims 2\Downloads (nederlands)
Mine dokumenter\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (norsk)
Mis documentos\EA Games\Los Sims 2\Downloads (español)
Moje dokumenty\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (polish)
My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (english and many others)
Omat tiedostot\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (finnish)
Мои Документы\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads (russian)

WINDOWS VISTA
   Users\Your Windows Login Name\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads

Figure Tenth - The Vista Documents Folder - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=101212&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1195368639) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=101212&stc=1&d=1195368639)

MACS
   ~Home/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads

Figure Eleventh - The Mac Home Folders - click image to enlarge
(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=101213&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1195370416) (http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=101213&stc=1&d=1195370416)

Your first non-Maxis dowload should be CEP (Color Enable Package) (http://cep.modthesims2.com/) from MTS2, otherwise many things you download will not work properly.

An alternative method of running BodyShop was designed for those people who have no Internet connection and may not work for all versions of the game.  As a last resort using the manual addition method, where you add it yourself should be done only in extremis!  If you are forced to add it manually be certain to capitalise the D in Downloads

That's all, now go get busy downloading!!  If you need help on figuring out what to do with those downloads, click here (http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=27964)!

Update Log:

5 November 2006 - added info about CEP and alternative methods for persons without Internet.

18 November 2007 - added information about Windows Vista and Mac OSX