Installing mods for The Sims 4 is generally very easy.
All mods are placed in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods by default. Lots, rooms and Sims have additional files to move about, but we explain all that below...
Preparations
Before you begin, some simple preparations can save you a lot of problems later...
- You will need to unzip any zipped files (the game cannot read files in zips)
- Create yourself a new, empty folder in the Mods folder - something like 'NewMods': Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods/NewMods
- Place all 'package' files (e.g. RedDiningChair.package) into your new folder
- If you are installing lots, rooms or Sims, follow instructions below for all the non-package files...
- Test your game!
If your game loads, you can play and you can access your custom content, success! You can now move your latest mods out of 'NewMods' folder into your main Mods folder (or any sub-folder within Mods).
HOWEVER, if your game crashes or things don't look right, then the perpetrator will be in your 'NewMods' folder - not buried among thousands of mods you might already have installed! You will need to isolate the rogue mod by installing just a couple at a time and re-testing your game.
Tip: if you've downloaded a large number of mods, we recommend testing just a few at a time.
Installing lots, rooms and Sims
Lots, rooms and Sims are accompanied by a number of different files, all of which need to be placed in the TRAY folder: Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Tray
The files you place in the Tray folder include:
Lots
- trayitem
- blueprint
- bpi (files
Rooms
- trayitem
- room
- rmi files
Sims
- householdbinary
- trayitem
- sgi
- hhi files
If by chance you find any package files included with your lot, room or Sim, these need to be placed in the usual Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods folder as described above, not in the Tray folder.
Once you've installed your lots, rooms or Sims, they should show up in your personal gallery in the game.