Sub-Download Folders?

[fantasia1980]

Hi all! I have a question about downloading things into my download folder, and the title of this thread basically says it all... Would it work if I created sub-download folders so that I could further specify what type of downloads things are? I find this would really help, as I do not have internet connection on the same computer where my game is installed. Sorry if this is common knowledge or whatever, but I couldn't remember if I'd read someplace about people creating such folders before or not.

[chriskay]

It doesn't work on mine, that's for sure.

[BeosBoxBoy]

well...

according to Maxis/EA, if you have Nightlife or any later EPs then you can use sub-folders in the Downloads folder.

My experience and that of many other players I have helped in the past year is that sub-folders cause many problems.  True, they work without a problem for many people, but not everyone.

If sub-folder do work for you, then:

What is safe to put in sub-folders: beards & moustaches, blush, eye brows, eye colours, eye liners, eye shadows, full-face make-ups, lip stick, stubble, walls & floors

What I do not recommend putting in sub-folders: default replacement items, custom body meshes, shower-proof skin tones, custom accessory meshes (glasses & jewellery), and custom hair meshes.

For some people -- this only works for clothing and hair to my experience -- placing clothing meshes & recolours and hair meshes & recolours in the SavedSims folder sometimes will get missing items to display.

[baileybop]

Keeping in mind Yakov's sage advice, I still have all my downloads in sub-folders. Luckily I have never had a problem (not counting the times I crash my computer while not playing the Sims), but I do have everything, and I do mean everything backed up on another drive just in case. It never hurts to be thorough.

[Sleepycat]

I have all my cc in subfolders within subfolders (and within a couple more subfolders for some stuff) and I've never had a problem (since NL allowed us to use subfolders).

[fantasia1980]

Thank you all for your advice . Just to be sure we're on the same page though, I'm talking about the type of situation where, say, I create a sub-folder under downloads, and call it "hacks", another one called "custom hairs", another one called "furniture", and so forth. Is that the kind of thing everyone else is talking about as well? Again, thank you guys for offering your advice I do appreciate it.

P.S.- Beosboxboy, you ROCK man... you just DO!

[BeosBoxBoy]

yes = that's the sort of thing we are talking about, fantasia.  It won't hurt to try it that way, but if things don't appear as you expect, then you can just move it all back into the downloads folder

[Ellen Prochaska]

I have three sub folders in my download folder.  Global Hacks, Defaults, Everything Else.  I used to kept sub folders for everything down to comfort,lighting, survices, clothing,etc.  But I had sooo many duplicates and and duplicate meshes.  With clean installer, delphy's download organizer, and squinge's hack conflict utility and I have no use for sub folders.  I just have one for defaults and hacks so if I want to update them or change them I can replace and delete them.  Besides if there is an object in game that you don;t want you can just delete there too.

Here you can find the programs I was talking about:


http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=227925


http://www.simwardrobe.com/


http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/


Of coarse, I am not an expert on this or a game programmer but I am just a  gamer where murphy's law always reaks havoc on my game so I have had to fix alot of things.

[geezy33]

I have bodymeshes in subfolders, like Zenman's default meshes for clothes.
the shape keeper in the shower goes outta of the subfolder.
I have no problems at all wit mines, I only have three expan packs.
Nightlife,Univ and Open For Business(currently play now).
I had crashes in the past due to the Q-xpresser, I took it off my computer and now use 7zip for my extracting.
My game only crashes if I put a object that's does not support OFB.
I'm happy and safe wit my game.
Note: My best tip for those who use the Q-presser, please be carefull what u download sometimes, use 7zip, cuz 7zip will let u know if a file is bad for your game.

[ST4TheSims2]

I have so many sub-folders in my Downloads folder, it's unreal!  A few of my sub-folders (like my Hacks folder) have sub-folders to specify who created the hacks I downloaded.  I don't have problems with it.

[BeosBoxBoy]

The point of all this dear forum members, if that one of the very first things EA tech support will tell you to do is NOT use sub-folders.  Yes they MAY work wothout problems for you, and thank the stars that govern your fate they do, but for about 25-35% of the people who try to use them it eventually causes a problem; the stuff packs being all but famous for this bug.

Don't barge into a help thread to say "my game isn't broken" what help is that?

ANd Q-xpress, Sims File Maid, and all simlar fiends of the pit are just doom and damnation waiting to happen; avoid them like seeing your mother-in-law naked!

[Wednesday17]

Don't barge into a help thread to say "my game isn't broken" what help is that?

What attitude is that? *wonders*

Fantasia asked about sub-folders and what is wrong with it when people say "yes, I have at times a hundred sub-folders and a huge number of sub-sub-folders inside them (I wouldn't know how to ever change replacement eyes or skintones if they would lay somewhere in that chaotic folder) and the downloads all show up and if my game is broken, it's got nothing to do with my downloads."?

[BeosBoxBoy]

Wednesday, I have five PC systems here and two Macs, no two of them behave the same at any time with this game.  The catalogue function in all versions of The Sims 2 have serious issues, each Stuff Pack and Expansion pack has a randomly occurring "known bug" that causes content in sub-folders to be "lost" from the catalogue; all versions of the game after Nightlife also do an excessive polling of the entire The Sims 2 tree in the saved folders that results in data corruption to enter into the content registry.  The very mechanism that allows the use of sub-folders is the root cause of the problem.

The point of a help thread is to not discuss the lack of problem, but to discuss the existence of problems and how best to avoid or correct them.  When you have answered more than 30,000 PMs and help request posts that all were resolved by dumping the sub-folders into the main Downloads folder, come back to me and tell me again how you feel about people saying "it's not a problem".  You will in all likelihood feel like I do, that the person saying this has no idea what they are talking about. SO if from time to time I hand out a dose of STFU to people, be happy I don't do it more often.

In 14 years of dealing with PCs I have learnt this much: Just because it works for you is no guarantee it works the same for everyone, and the gross assumption it is not a problem is the surest path to being proved a fool.