Sims 3: Delete piggybacked package files?

[hunnypooh1]

I don't know if this is common problem, I just know it's mine.

I reinstalled some old Sims from my resource page, forgetting than when I made these at least 5 years ago, I used a packaged Sims skin which replaces the original for all sims. Basically a installed package file which piggybacked off a Sim3Pack download when it was installed. So.... I was wondering if anyone knew how to delete a package file which wasn't installed the traditional way (via placed in the mods folder). I couldn't find it in my installed content folder (though I will check again just in case I missed it), and I know this was a package file from a long time ago. So where would I go to get rid of this? 

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@hunnypooh1  There are two different folders you need to address.  DCBackup is the one with ccmerged.package in it.  Deleting the other files won't uninstall the cc, although bad cc can sometimes "reinfect" a game from here.  To remove a cc item from your game, you have to either uninstall it from its corresponding .dbc bundle in DCCache, via the launcher, or delete the .dbc bundle entirely.  That was the process I was describing.

If you're converting your Sims3Pack files to .package files (is this what you're doing?), you can just add and remove the files until you see that the skin isn't in-game.  Or you could keep the sim and get rid of all the other cc.  The point of the unpacking process is to make cc easier to add and remove, instead of having to go through the launcher.  But it's one or the other—either install a pack directly, or convert it into .package files and add the cc to Mods\Packages.

Also, some sims still look like they have cc until you take them into CAS for the first time.  I don't know which items are affected this way—it applies to sliders, for example, but probably not clothing.

Anyway, please be more specific in describing the process you've used so far.  Where to go from here depends on your approach.  Also, if you'd prefer to start from scratch with your cc without losing your save data or other content, I can walk you through that too.

[hunnypooh1]

If it's helps, it's a peggyzone skin. The website is gone and has been for like 5 years, and I've check online everywhere to refind the file name so I could locate it and delete it, but no such luck. I can't find the file in my mods folder, but I was hoping if I could at least get the file name, I could find it that way and get rid of it.

[puzzlezaddict]

@hunnypooh1  When you install a Sims3Pack, its contents create or are added to a .dbc bundle in DCCache, inside your TS3 game folder in Documents.  If the pack also contains a sim, there will be a corresponding .package file in SavedSims or Library, depending on whether the sim appears as a CAS template or a household in the bin.  (Multi-sim households and lots you've downloaded or created also get their own files in Library; a store or custom world will have a file in InstalledWorlds.)

So there are a few ways you could go about this.  The first, and easiest, is to uninstall the skin (the term for what you described is "default replacement skin") from the launcher.  Go to the installed content tab, scroll through the items until you find its listing, and uninstall it.  This works most of the time.

But if you have too many items, or some bad cc, the skin many not show up, or the launcher itself could crash.  In that case, you can move every file inside DCCache to your desktop, and put back only the .dbc file with the highest number.  They're numbered in sequential order, starting with zero.  (The .ebc files are store content and can be set aside for now.)  So if you have six of them, your newest one would be .dcdb5.dbc.  After you move that back into DCCache, rename it to dcdb0.dbc; otherwise, the launcher won't read it.  Then the launcher's installed content tab will list only the items added to that particular bundle, so you can find the skin more easily.  When you've uninstalled it, make sure to renumber the .dbc file before adding the others back in.

The other way to go about this is to keep the .package files in Library but get rid of the .dbc bundle entirely.  The .package files don't contain the cc files attached to the sims, just references, so if the cc isn't installed, the sims lose those items.  This is one way you can get rid of bad custom content, especially if it's not showing up in the launcher.

No matter how you go about this, you may have to take the affected sims into CAS and reassign a base game skin; otherwise, they may have no skin at all (they'd be completely black).  And if you really want to make sure the cc is gone, you should delete everything in DCBackup except for ccmerged.package, which is necessary for your premium store content to work.  The other files contain data on your custom content; their purpose is to attach the relevant cc to any exported Sims3Packs.  But if you're not going to upload sims that use cc anymore, these files are completely useless.

[hunnypooh1]

The funny thing is I deleted all the dccache except ccmerged before I saw this reply because even though I unpacked the original sim download to see which file the skin package file could be, none of them were named so I couldn't possibly tell the difference. When I reloaded the game, the sim with the the skin still had it but all the other piggyback data was gone to be replaced with something else later. Also, none of the other sims had the skin which was good. Just means probably I have to remake the sim with presets so she doesn't have that skin, but the original download?

But since I don't have the those files anymore, Should I just I just uninstall that sim downloads altogether, unpack it again, and reinstall it piece by piece until I figure out which one's the skin file and delete it?

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@hunnypooh1  There are two different folders you need to address.  DCBackup is the one with ccmerged.package in it.  Deleting the other files won't uninstall the cc, although bad cc can sometimes "reinfect" a game from here.  To remove a cc item from your game, you have to either uninstall it from its corresponding .dbc bundle in DCCache, via the launcher, or delete the .dbc bundle entirely.  That was the process I was describing.

If you're converting your Sims3Pack files to .package files (is this what you're doing?), you can just add and remove the files until you see that the skin isn't in-game.  Or you could keep the sim and get rid of all the other cc.  The point of the unpacking process is to make cc easier to add and remove, instead of having to go through the launcher.  But it's one or the other—either install a pack directly, or convert it into .package files and add the cc to Mods\Packages.

Also, some sims still look like they have cc until you take them into CAS for the first time.  I don't know which items are affected this way—it applies to sliders, for example, but probably not clothing.

Anyway, please be more specific in describing the process you've used so far.  Where to go from here depends on your approach.  Also, if you'd prefer to start from scratch with your cc without losing your save data or other content, I can walk you through that too.

[hunnypooh1]

So far the only thing I've done is clear out my dcbackup folder. I tried looking through my installed content but couldn't find the skin. I'll try again but I don't think it's there.

I've not tried the dccache method so I'll get started on that and see what happens. 

[hunnypooh1]

Well I did the dccache method and went through each one. Didn't find a skin. Though thanks for showing me this method. It made going through my installed content SO much easier and delete some old piggyback data as I went through each bundle.

At this point I'm just gonna delete the original sim and remake her to the best of my ability using presets. Everything else worked just fine and she seems to be the only one affected by the skin at this point. That should be fine right? 

[puzzlezaddict]

@hunnypooh1  One thing you could do is take this sim into CAS and save her with a new skin, then delete/uninstall her.  The template for the sim will be saved as a file in SavedSims, and you can reload it the next time you're in CAS.  If you want to be extra careful, you could install any affected sims in a clean game folder—pull your old one out of Documents and onto your desktop, and a new one will spawn the next time you launch the game.  Install the sims into that folder, and then, once you've replaced their skins in CAS, save them to the CAS bin, grab the new files from SavedSims to add back to your old game folder, and then trash the new folder and put the old one back in Documents.

By the way, even without mods, you can enter CAS with an existing sim.  Bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-c) and enter "testingcheatsenabled true" without quotes, then shift-click on the sim and choose Edit in Create a Sim.  When you're done editing, click the folder icon on the bottom of the screen to save the sim to the CAS bin.  You'll also see a button for premade sim templates; this is where your own saved CAS sims will show up.

[hunnypooh1]

Omg... I figured it out completely by accident. Turns out at some point, not sure when, the skin download stopped being an all encompassing replacement for the original skin, but just became an optional skin tone slider. I switched it to another slider and it went away. So even though I couldn't find and uninstall the peggy slider, I can just ignore it for now and resave this sim without it so it doesn't transfer.

Thanks so much for your help. Sorry this problem was so simply solved. Guess that's what happens when you play older games. Everything changes.