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Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Aug 2015 at 9:23 PM Last edited by plasticbox : 10th Aug 2015 at 12:13 AM.
Default Organising / Distributing lots as packages
Haven't tested this myself but I just came across this post by DarkWalker at the EA modding forums:

Quote:
While you can't use sub-folders inside the Tray folder, it's possible to instead move the contents of the Tray folder inside the Mods folder, and use sub-folders there.

To do that, edit your Resource.cfg file inside the Mods folder and add the following lines:

DirectoryFiles Tray autoupdate
DirectoryFiles Tray\* autoupdate
FileType 0x2a8a5e22 trayitem
FileType 0x3924de26 blueprint
FileType 0xd33c281e bpi
FileType 0xb3c438f0 householdbinary
FileType 0x3bd45407 hhi
FileType 0x56278554 sgi
FileType 0x370efd6e room
FileType 0x00de5ac5 rmi

Then create a Tray folder inside your Mods folder, and move whichever files you want to organize into sub-folders inside that newly created Tray folder.

I don't think it's supported, though. I recommend not trying to delete from inside the game anything you move to the Mods/Tray folder, last time I tried it crashed the game, but apart from that this is working just fine for me.

If you know your way around creating .package files, the above info can also be used to pack lots, households, and rooms inside .package files.


Sounds like a good idea =)


Here is a quick tutorial on how to package a lot.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
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Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#2 Old 9th Aug 2015 at 10:53 PM Last edited by plasticbox : 9th Aug 2015 at 11:08 PM.
I also tested this now using one of my own lots (only the packaging, not the loose files in Mods/Tray): seems to work nicely. The only caveat, so far, is that when I deleted that lot from Library (with the Delete button) it was removed from there, but the actual package remained untouched .. so when deleting a packaged lot that way, one has to manually remember to remove it from Mods afterwards (or simply delete it by removing it from Mods like all other CC), otherwise it'll just sit there forever.

Lot package attached, if somebody wants to test -- this is not very finished, but at least it didn't contain five tons of CC so that's why I used it for testing. (The siding outdoors is CC, it's from here; the desk and bookcase on the top floor landing are probably also CC -- can't really tell from the top-down view but I guess it's the Boring Desk and Another “Caress” Bookcase.)
Screenshots
Attached files:
File Type: zip  pbox_lot_harriett.zip (159.9 KB, 23 downloads) - View custom content

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Lab Assistant
#3 Old 10th Aug 2015 at 1:28 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
I also tested this now using one of my own lots (only the packaging, not the loose files in Mods/Tray): seems to work nicely. The only caveat, so far, is that when I deleted that lot from Library (with the Delete button) it was removed from there, but the actual package remained untouched .. so when deleting a packaged lot that way, one has to manually remember to remove it from Mods afterwards (or simply delete it by removing it from Mods like all other CC), otherwise it'll just sit there forever.

Lot package attached, if somebody wants to test -- this is not very finished, but at least it didn't contain five tons of CC so that's why I used it for testing. (The siding outdoors is CC, it's from here; the desk and bookcase on the top floor landing are probably also CC -- can't really tell from the top-down view but I guess it's the Boring Desk and Another “Caress” Bookcase.)


From what I saw after that post, deleting an item in a .package (or even unpackaged but inside the Mods folder) is just like when you "delete" one of the default lots or households: instead of being truly deleted, the game just marks the item as invisible in the Gallery, and stores that in a file named TrayDeletedItems. Just delete that file and all "deleted" items will be back the next time you start the game.

BTW, if you manage to find out why it doesn't work with rooms, I'm all ears
Field Researcher
#4 Old 10th Aug 2015 at 4:15 AM
This makes me SO happy. I tried it with the test package here and it works beautifully. Thanks @DarkWalker for figuring this out and @plasticbox for the tutorial!

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Lab Assistant
#5 Old 10th Aug 2015 at 5:26 AM
Bummer. I just confirmed that I did get the right hexadecimal FileType for the .room files after all (by having a room on my Tray folder, changing all extensions to the hex values, and seeing it work just fine in game). So, it seems the game has some kind of restriction on where it can load .room files from, which means rooms can't be moved to the Mods folder, neither packaged nor as unpackaged files.

Well, at least lots and households are working fine
Test Subject
#6 Old 19th Sep 2015 at 7:14 PM
After playing around and testing this all morning, {and it did work really well}
I noticed that any change(s) to the Lots or Households, the game would save the new changes to the tray folder.
So whats the point?
Don't get me wrong I like the idea you can "Organize" Lots and Households
But isn't it redundant if the tray folder is still a mess?
Sorry DarkWalker not trying to rain on your parade..great work anyway.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#7 Old 19th Sep 2015 at 8:41 PM
Well that's the same thing as with any other CC .. when you package a chair, and then proceed to edit the texture, it won't magically be in your package unless you import it again. You can do the same thing with lot packages (rightclick > Replace); as long as you choose "Overwrite" when saving they retain the same IDs as well.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
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