So I'm planning to upload a lot I've been working on. I took out my downloads folder and packed up the lot, but the sims2pack Clean Installer says there's a mailbox and trashcan in the file. What is going on? Is that normal? Should I take them out? Should I leave them in? I'm confused. I've attached a screenshot of the Clean Installer and the file itself, just in case those are useful.

The first item - Street of Dreams (shell) - is the lot, like that's the name I gave the lot in-game. So I get what that is and expected that to be there.

You have a custom mailbox and garbage in your game somewhere. That's the only way it will package.

It happens when you have a buyable mailbox/trashcan in Your game. I think it's safe to remove them from the file in Clean Installer, and save as a new file.

So would you recommend removing it or leaving them?


Thank you for explaining that

Untick each one then do save as and make the name slightly different, close the gaps like StreetOfDreams. Stairs and CEP files may also try and package at times, so anytime you see those also untick.

So does this mean:

a) If a replacement mailbox and/or trashcan has been put into any Lot in a player's game, that those items might attach themselves to other packaged Lots (more or less randomly)?
b) If a player removes those items in Clean Installer, that this Lot then has no mailbox and/or trashcan (and is thus unplayable)?

Yes and No.

If you are using a default replacement then it will package. If you remove those it will still be playable. If you want those two items accessible in your catalog, the better option is to have a buyable mod. This mod typically goes in your bins folder so nothing packages with your lot. For the mailbox Sophie David has one, off hand I don't know of a buyable mod for the trash bin.

Thanks.


Those damn default replacements again. They should be outlawed.


The best option is not to inadvertently delete either of them to begin with, and if you do, delete and rebuild the Lot!

Related question: So I guess since Maxis recolors don't package with a Lot, uploading a Lot with a recolored Maxis mailbox is...pointless?

M&G brought recolors in game for the mailbox, so if you use one of those it will show up in a users game just fine.

CC made Maxis recolors don't package, but any recolors shipped with the game will show fine for users.

If you don't have the buyable mailbox/trashcan files, then recolors will probably not ship with the house.

If you DO have the buyable mailbox/trashcan files, then ALL (or at least a good portion of) your mailbox/trashcan recolors will ship with the house, regardless of whether they've been used or not. This is why I don't use mailbox/trashcan recolors at all. They can be difficult to locate because the often get random names, and when I download houses I make sure to remove any recolors of those files (I've downloaded houses that may have had 50-100 of these files) - in other words, they are extremely annoying.

Sometimes this is also true for maxis furniture. I had some large recolor sets by a certain creator in my game, and if I included just one or two recolors from this set, everything else would be added, too. Cleaning up this was a nightmare... I'm not sure if I had CEP extras for those items or if it was the fault of the CEP, but I've noticed this happening with a few CEP/CEP-extra items.

If the recolor is downloadable elsewhere, maybe put up a link to it, or add the recolor file separately so people can decide whether or not they want it.

Oh, that's right, my bad, didn't have my morning coffee yet.