I modded Sims 2 quite a bit.. until it got corrupted.

It's been a while but I'm going to get Sims 3, and just wanted to know if there were Must Have mods that everyone uses. Also, is there a way to sort mods by number of downloads or by rating? I couldn't figure out how to.

Virtually anything by Twallan.

DebugEnabler, Overwatch and Master Controller are big ones for me. Woohooer (fuck you Stride of Pride) and Retuner are other good ones to look into.

...As is PortraitPanel. And StoryProgression. And Vector. And Hybrid. And Careers. And probably others that I haven't tried yet.

Dude is a fucking genius, and I am apparently a screaming fangirl. Shit.

Yes, definitely get Twallan's mods, they're totally indispensable. I personally don't use Overwatch anymore because it was too heavy on my system, but definitely get Master Controller (ideally with the Cheats plugin) and StoryProgression. Dreamer is awesome because it lets you get points for unpromised wishes, and Dresser is nice because it automatically cycles your sim's outfits if you set it to do so.

I also use Cmar's XCAS mod for extended and extra sliders, plus extra tattoo locations.

A lot of people like to recommend AwesomeMod, but I personally dislike it - I'm not a fan of being locked out of my game when it decides it needs to update. More than once I had that happen to me while I was without internet, which made it impossible to play my game. Pretty much everything that AM does you can do with Twallan's mods in some combination, and they have the bonus of not being core mods, either.

I'll be one to recommend AwesomeMod: I find it great and very easy to get the settings the way I want and keep them there. It also covers a lot of things in one mod, which I find easier. The update requirement isn't all that often - once a month at the most - and if necessary I can just tell my computer the date is a week earlier to get it playing again if there's no internet.

Another mod I'm very fond of is Buzzler's No Vehicle Relationships, because being 'best friends' with your car is just peculiar.

I'd rather have a few mods that don't -force- me to update them and lock me out of my game than one that does everything that stops me from playing. I shouldn't have to change the date on my computer because of a game mod - I find that way too invasive for my tastes.
(and yeah, invasive and EA go hand-in-hand, but, I get enough of it from EA themselves, I don't need it in my mods too.)

And I suppose that illustrates beautifully how everyone has different priorities. I like - or at least don't mind - a mod that prevents me from accidentally playing an outdated version and reminds me that I need to keep it updated, and gives me a lot more information about all the figures in the game. You don't like a mod that forces you to update it. Everyone's different.

I forgot in the last post to recommend very, very strongly NRaas Traveller if you have World Adventures. Do not install WA without also using Traveller, or your saves will get ruined very easily.

Good to see there are multiple options out there, I'll look into both to see which one is best for me.

I remember in Sims 2 getting bodybuilder mods (i guess they were meshes + skin/texture, my lingo is rusty) with X-Men clothes. Didn't see my heroes here in a search. Ah well, they'll have to be in their civvies.

Good to know about the WA/traveller thing. I'm most concerned with stuff I have to have installed before I start playing, so I don't have to wipe and resume after installing something.

I don't use many mods, just a couple scripting mods, lighting mods, silders, and twallan's mods. As for coustom content... I have like 80+. It really helps to make subfolders for all the categories, too.

Oops when I said "mods" I meant "all downloads from here".

wat. I have WA but not Traveller, and have had minimal travel/save issues.

Twallan. Twallan twallan twallan twallan twallan twallan twallan twallan twallan.

That is all.

Check out The Naughty Sims Asylum http://simsasylum.com/tfm/ some great mods and modders there (twoftmama, bluegenjutsu, shimrod and others). My fav besides twallans mod is meals anytime (which lets you cook all meals around the clock duh).

This. I really can't see myself playing this game without those mods. I started off with just Overwatch, next thing you know I'm going back and forth between the game and twallan's site checking out other mods. Before I knew it I had at least 11 of twallan's mods and I use pretty much every single one of them every time I play.

There are quite a few important mods on this site as well, e.g., velocitygrass ones like Add Any Lot Size (obligatory if you are a builder) or No (or fewer) Automatic Memories (if you want to keep your PC - and yourself - sane). And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I had been wondering this too. But when I looked it up, everyone always said the same ones. Master Controller, Story Progression or anything Twallan. Heh.. I was thinking of making a "what OTHER Mods do you use thread "No Twallan or Awesome" discussion allowed. lol

However, Twallans Woohoo mod is great! I love the more natural way Woohoo functions now. And it may just be me, but have never been able to stand the shower censor and barbie bodies, so I always find mods to fix that. I haven't experienced problems with story progression myself yet, but that is because I don't have any townies I care about at all. I imagined in the future that may change, so I got Twallans Story Progression mod.

I did get the Master Controller, but personally, I find it a little overwhelming. I feel like a need a manual for it. I am trying it out for a bit to see if I adjust into using it. So far it seems like a lot of the things it does are things I could technically do in the game anyway, like merging households, why do I need a mod for that? I dunno, everyone says they use it, I just wish I knew what is was they ere using it FOR exactly.. For me, I have only used one or two of the options on it.

thanks to error trap and overwatch, my jimmies remain unrustled.

The regular use for Master Controller for me is viewing their family trees with lots of levels (so including great-great-grandparents etc.) and adjusting ages so that by sims in foreign worlds don't get older.

What I really need it for is sorting out problems. It has a hard reset which solves most glitches with sims that 'resetsim' wasn't quite managing. When I move rabbitholes around and sims in town lose their jobs I can put them back where they were. When (as I have just done) I move all my sims to a new version of the town because the old one was getting glitched and I wanted some new lots, I can put relationships back with foreign sims when they go on holiday and sort out sims ages that have ended up wrong. That sort of thing.

Aside from problem solvers like ErrorTrap and Overwatch from Twallan, I'll offer the same advice as I have in the past when this question comes up. Play the game. See what you like. See what you don't. Then go out and get mods to alter the game in a manner that suits your style of play. Why load up on mods when you don't even know what problems may crop up for you?

Now, after playing TS3 for quite a while, and finding lots of stuff I needed to change, I use a ton of mods. But there's no need to pour it all on right at the beginning. Try a few plain vanilla games. Then you'll appreciate what mods can, and cannot do, to make the game more fun for you.

I'm making a list of stuff I want to start with, and a list of stuff I may use in the future.

I have come across a lot of slider mods. This site is outdated, but lists some of them. http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title..._Mods_and_Hacks

Awesomemod, xcas, aWT, mastercontroller, and not show there is jonha's sliders. I'm really not sure which to get.

Regarding Awesomemod vs Twallan's mods, see this thread http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=468412 especially post 32 and 33.

All of Twallan's mods

Thank you. I haven't experienced problems that needed me to reset anything. I don't even know what "reset sim" is... heh

I mostly like to mod the actual game play, it sounds like this mod is more for micro-management. I did use it to set the job of a sim because I couldn't find how to get them the job otherwise. Funnily enough, it was Twallans "homemaker" mod job that I couldn't figure out hot to set.

I am a Twallan fan myself. Don't know how I lived without them.

Other mods I like are Buzzler's and I always have some sort of klepto mod in my game. What can I say? I love playing kleptos and I love swiping stuff, but I hate having swiping limitations. My financially-challenged Sims have gotten some kick-ass televisions this way at the expense of their neighbors.

If you save a sim who was made with a core slider hack, and then remove the core mod, will the sim's appearance get warped or will it save?

If it saves, I could use a core mod just to create my household and then remove it, or use another one.

Jonha & mastercontroller are not core mods, but they do have the slider limit.
aWT's site almost broke my browser so that one's out.
Awesomemod & xCAS are core mods.

I like Free your Pregnant sim and any no curfew mod. I'll drink, skinny dip, and work out when I'm pregnant and let my kid stay out until 4 am because I want too.