Organising... do you find it addictive?

[Kiri]

I have too many downloads at the moment, that I'm am sorting through and putting into some order, and deleting the old and nasty ones.

I've been going through Accessories for the last 2 weeks.

Currently mine organised 1 mesh and their recolours to a folder, and the folder is named:

ACC-CategoryType-Creator-Description

Where Category Type = Earring, Wing, Necklace, etc, etc.

so e,g

ACC-Hand-Rosemat-CallaLillyBouquet.

How do you organise your downloads?

I have no idea how I'm going to do objects...

[Sylphide]

I understand why you would want to organize your files by having the mesh and all the recolors into one folder, but that actually won't work for me because I decided to limit my installed downloads.

I remember (a very long time ago, when I didn't know any better) I had ALL meshes in one big fat file and the skins for my clothing downloads in another big file. As a lot of the unzipped files lost their names and got a long list of numbers and letters instead, I couldn't find anything and by then it was much too late. I was doomed. That's also when you directed me to a folder where I discovered I had more than 700 Sims!!! No wonder my game was slow!

That's when I decided to start over and you helped me with your tutorial on installing a clean game which I have done (and redone when I lost everything to a virus...)

So I have a folder named "Multi-ethnic neighborhood" in that folder each one of the Sims has its own folder with Simmie (mostly Lyran's), hair and clothing for all occasions, all in separate sub-folders. So if a couple of dresses have the same mesh, well I admit I probably have a lot of clones out there!

I have a general clothing folder with things I use for more than one Sim (like sportswear - I have a Liana Sims 2 athletic wear collection which is great by the way). I also have to admit that in that General Clothing I have put all (yes all...) of fakepeeps7 clothing for kids that I chose to download. There are too many recolors of each model, I want to be able to choose when the child is there. Actually mom goes shopping with the child who tries things on before mom buys.

I also have a few folders like: "Home decoration" for curtains and clocks etc.

For furniture sets, I choose from my external hard-drive with all my downloads, what I want for a family and install it. Then I use it in the house. I put in a folder called "Furniture Sets" sub-divided in a folder for each set.

I put the pictures of everything in both my downloads folder and in the folder where I keep the zipped file.



Sometimes I feel like I organize more than I play!

[Kiri]

Sylphide - these aren't my installed downloads - this is how I'm organising my uninstalled downloads!!

I haven't even started to think about my installed downloads!

[Sylphide]

My downloaded (not installed) files are organized by website with sub-folders in exactly the same order as on the site.

All About Style is great because she puts the mesh right in the zip file with the skin, so you don't have to bother about that.

[Kiri]

I love Judi's site - it's so easy to unzip and categorise!

[Sylphide]

And she does very beautiful things. So classy and... stylish!

[pureheart]

Oh, my gosh - yes!

I have a dedicated 1T external drive with all my downloads. I separate first by category -- lots, neighborhoods, objects, clothing, etc., with subcategories withing each. For lots, I have by type -- apartments, beach lots, community - city, community - country, community - schools, etc. etc. Houses are divided by style -- modern, victorian, rustic, etc.

Objects are divided by EA recolors and type -- so for example, each EA artwork has its own folder labeled by name. Same for the furniture, though I have some sets organized together (Seasons or GLS Luxury or whatever). Each of the game categories has a folder.

Within each of those folders, subfolders are labeled by creator as well as item. So for example, Around the Sims Arosa Living is labeled Living - ATS Arosa.

Clothing files are mostly by creator, then by mesh and item. So Judy's files would be by the mesh, her own or other.

In game, my files are a bit different, but still by type. I'll try to grab a snap when I can.

And I think you know how anal I am about how I organize my info, Kiri! My Trackers are beyond detailed, lol.

[Theachen7]

You guys are amazing!

I used to have quite a lot of organizing with my CC for Sims2, I believe it was organized after site/creator, and then the type and then sets. Or something. With Sims3 I try not to have a lot of CC, so I don't really need any more organizing than just "hacks", "hair", "objects" ect. Although I do have a sub-folder for wall art, as I have quite a lot of that. Also a lot of the cc I download comes in folders with the file and a picture, so then I keep them in there.

Of course with sims3pack files you have to install through the launcher, and then you don't really have the option to organize, so those downloads are a bit of a mess But I mostly have official stuff in sims3pack form, so it doesn't matter that much.

[Kiri]

How do you deal with recolours of objects in a set? Like for instance Bluetes used to cherry pick some from one set some from another. (I loved some of their recolour sets).

That's the one that I keep getting caught out on - with recolours that cross sets.

Thea - I think I know what you mean. Sims3 can be way more difficult to organise. I think for me, I used to combine many things into single packages, by type and creator. So I know I had packages called Hair-female-Anubis, for example. But I was downloading way too much for Sims3. And then getting my game into a tangle.

[pureheart]

When I have multiple-creator sets like those, I organize them in a folder by the type, then site and then I add in the mesh for each of the creator's items used. So in your example, the folder might be Living - Bluete nameofset and within it I'd include each mesh, such as say, Holy Simoly's Arizona sofa and Sims2Play Painting 27.

Like that.

[Whitnerd]

I have folders for different kinds of CC (mods, clothes, default replacements, objects, etc...) and then those either get sorted into folders by creator if I have enough items from a single person to make a new folder necessary. I go through and combine my .package files by folder (like Misc-Accessories.package or CycloneSue-Objects.package) every few months.

For my miscellaneous objects I do break them into more folders for buy mode, paintings, plants, and general furniture stuff.

I've kind of been itching to go collection crazy in game lately. I mainly just want to organize my little cluttery objects. It'd be nice to just have a "Bathroom Clutter" collection or something when I'm decorating instead of digging through miscellaneous decorative objects for half an hour.

[pureheart]

I discovered the power of collections last year and man, I could kick myself for not using them sooner. They make everything so much easier!

[Kiri]

Pru - so you have duplicates of your meshes? I've been trying to avoid that so I don't get problems in game. If I don't have to avoid duplicates that would work so well.

I love collections. I don't like to put anything in my game without a collection nowadays! I've even set up collections for the EA stuff.

[pureheart]

Not in game, Kiri. Sorry for the confusion -- that's how I organize my downloads. In game, I organize by type or original set. So the Holy Simoly sofa would go with her original in my game -- and thus, only one mesh.

If the new mixed-content set were important to me, I would make a collection of it before distributing the individual pieces in my folders.

I have EA stuff in collections also, but I tend to make my collections by theme -- like grunge or school or dining -- rather than by creator's sets. I only have a couple of those. I don't want to clutter up my collection catalog, either.

[Kiri]

Yeah - For residential - I've got Clutter sets, and prefer themes. At the moment the only sets in my Verona game are the Tudor one and the EA ones. To be honest, I prefer collections for organising clutter, rather than creator sets.

[trystiane]

Yes, I find it addictive.