Iāve been playing and creating for S2 for a really long time now and Iām really thankful that thereās such a great S2 community still going strong. My work can mostly be found @ Sims2Artists. WCIF Friendly: If you see something here that you'd like to have, just ask me for it! A PM is best, because I don't have the greatest memory and a PM is much easier to look back at instead of going through comments! All I ask is that you not just ask for "everything"- please take the time to list exactly what you want.Ā Ā I do take requests if I'm interested in doing what you want done, so you can always ask!
Looking for people interested in recreating worlds from across the Sims series in The Sims 2!
So I've been planning a save file of my own where I create my own version of the Sims canon - that's why I began working into making my Willow Creek recreation but I realized this tiny project was a bit TOO ambitious considering there aren't many of those available, and life has been a bitch lately (I'm still grieving my partner's death and also starting a new semester tomorrow but I'm using the little energy I have to make this post) so I would definitely need a whole team to accomplish my plan. dystopianam has a great list here and here but there are still plenty of Sims worlds missing.
I was talking about this plan with someone @ OpenSO and they ended up being the little push I needed for this idea to come to light hahah
We could make a Discord server or something to plan everything: SC4 maps, builds, Sims, stats, etcetera. Something like the Hood Building Group when they made the Stories neighborhoods recreations, but with the rest of the franchise.
If you're interested, send me an ask, ping me in a Sims server, or DM me on Discord!
I know it says "all Sims games" but I think Sims 1 for PC has been completely covered lol. So it'd be mainly Sims 3 and 4 recreations then some, as far as I know we don't have publicly available*:
THE SIMS (CONSOLES)
SimValley/Willville (this one got so many variations I'm not sure whether it should all be merged with Miniopolis and Old Town. Bustin' Out is kinda all over the place when it comes to neighborhoods... šµāš«)
Miniopolis
Urbzville
THE SIMS 2 (CONSOLES)
Melbourne (PS2/Xbox/GC)
THE SIMS 3 (PC)
Main Worlds
Riverview
Twinbrook
Bridgeport
Moonlight Falls
Starlight Shores (this one will thrive so much along Studio Town once the Fame mod releases!)
Isla Paradiso
Appaloosa Plains
Hidden Worlds
Al Simhara
Shang Simla
Champs Les Sims
Oasis Landing
Store Worlds
Aurora Skies
Barnacle Bay
Dragon Valley
Hidden Springs
Lucky Palms
Lunar Lakes
Midnight Hollow
Monte Vista
Roaring Heights
Sunlit Tides
THE SIMS 3 (CONSOLES)
Beacon Bay (Nintendo DS)
Moonlight Bay (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
Port Abel (Pets; Nintendo 3DS)
River's Bend (Nintendo 3DS)
Sugar Maple Coast (Pets; Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
Vista Beach (Wii)
THE SIMS 4
Main Worlds
Newcrest(?)
San Myshuno
Brindleton Bay
Del Sol Valley
Strangerville(?)
Sulani
Glimmerbook
Britechester
Evergreen Harbor
Mt. Komorebi
Henford-on-Bagley
Tartosa
Moonwood Mill
Copperdale
San Sequola
Chestnut Ridge
Tomarang
Ciudad Enamorada
Ravenwood
Nordhaven
Innisgreen
Gibbi Point
Ondarion
Destination Worlds
Granite Falls
Selvadorada
Batuu(?) ... actually, who would want this?
THE SIMS SOCIAL
Littlehaven (I know this isn't from the canon timeline but I really like the characters' designs there, somewhat like MySims but there's a neighborhood for it already which is why I didn't count it)
*I think there may be other recreations done but I haven't found any available outside dystopianam's posts.
That's quite a lot, yes. If you're looking for somewhere to start, I'd rather prioritize the mainline games first before tackling the console ports and spin-offs.
My idea is to make the resources needed to create one biiig save containing recreations of every neighborhood in the franchise and also give players the ability to mix-n-match whatever neighborhoods they want.
So yeah, thank you for your time reading this post lol, I know it's a lot of info to digest and it'll probably take a while for someone to actually be interested in my project, but better now than never.
One installer. Every essential fix, mod, and tool for The Sims 2, set up for you in a few clicks.
I got tired of hunting down the same "must-have" fixes every time I reinstalled The Sims 2 (to the point where it has kept me from playing), so I made a tool that does it for you! š„³ You choose the fixes, mods, and tools you want, click through, and it installs them all ā with automatic backups and a built-in undo, so nothing is permanent and nothing gets lost.
It works with both the 2025 Legacy Collection (Steam and EA App) and the older Ultimate Collection.
ā ļø One heads-up: I only own Legacy (on Steam) and the Ultimate Collection, so I haven't been able to test the EA App or Epic versions of the Legacy Collection myself. They should work, but if you run into any issues on those, please let me know and I'll push out a fix!
Most importantly, none of this content is mine. Every fix, mod, and tool belongs to the creators who made them ā I only automate installing them. Full credits and links are in the guide that comes with it. Please go support these people š
ā¬ļø Download: SFS | GitHub
š Want to see exactly what's included first? Here's the full list of every mod, fix, and tool, with credits: https://github.com/familyfunds/sims2-essentials-setup-tool/blob/main/GUIDE.md
More details under the cut š
What is it?
The Sims 2 Essentials Setup Tool is a single Windows installer (.exe file). Instead of downloading, unzipping, and hand-placing dozens of separate fixes, you run one program, choose what you want from a checklist, and it puts everything in the right place for you.
There are three quick presets so you don't have to think too hard:
Recommended ā the sensible default set.
Complete ā everything.
Custom ā start from a blank slate and pick only what you want.
What's included
Everything here is curated to work together and this isn't a random pile of downloads. I checked every package against the others for conflicts (comparing the actual game resources each one touches), dropped or swapped anything that clashed, and set the load order in the few cases where two mods needed to coexist. So you can tick things freely without worrying that two fixes will quietly fight each other.
Over 140 hand-picked fixes and mods, grouped into:
Anti-corruption & core ā the safety-critical stuff that keeps your neighborhoods healthy.
Bug fixes ā dozens of fixes for Maxis bugs, from memory issues to gameplay glitches.
Helpful gameplay mods ā quality-of-life tweaks that just make the game nicer to play.
Essential tools & systems:
CEP (Color Enable Package) ā downloaded straight from MTS at install, see the note below
The Scriptorium
Radiance Lighting System 2.5
GunMod's Camera Mod 3.1
Rugs off-grid
TS2 Extender 0.8.1 (fixes only, optional extras off by default)
Objects.package corruption protection
Missing content restore (you supply your own Ultimate Collection or disc files ā EA content is NOT bundled):
Restore IKEA Home Stuff (works on both Steam and EA/Epic ā it sets up whichever your game needs)
Restore Missing Music
Missing Holiday Items
Neighborhood setup: clean/empty stealth 'hoods, or fully disable them, plus the MATY no-townie-regen mods.
Startup cheats: 45Ā° object rotation and quarter-tile placement.
Third-party tools: SimPE, Mootilda's HoodChecker / LotAdjuster / Sims2Pack Clean Installer, and Body Shop for the Legacy Collection.
Backups & undo
This is the part I care about most: before the tool changes or replaces any file, it backs up your original first (to C:\ProgramData\The Sims 2 Essentials Setup Tool\backups). To undo anything, just run the tool again and choose Undo ā you get a checklist and can roll back everything or only certain pieces. It does not add itself to "Add or remove programs"; it stays fully self-contained.
Requirements
Windows (I tested and created this on Windows 11)
The Sims 2 Legacy Collection (2025) or Ultimate Collection
For the "Missing" content (IKEA / Music / Holiday), your own UC or disc files
How to use it
First, a friendly nudge: back up your Sims 2 "Documents" folder. The tool shouldn't touch your saves, neighborhoods, or downloads ā and it automatically backs up anything it does change ā but it's always better safe than sorry. Just copy your Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2ā¦ folder somewhere safe before you start. (Besidesā¦ when was the last time you backed up your saves? š)
Download the .exe. It's unsigned (normal for community tools), so if Windows SmartScreen pops up, click More info ā Run anyway.
Right-click the .exe and choose "Run as administrator" ā it needs admin rights because it writes into your game folder.
Pick your edition, confirm your Documents folder, tick what you want, and click through.
That's it. To undo later, run it again and choose Undo.
A note on CEP
CEP isn't bundled in the installer ā Numenor asks that it only be hosted on Mod The Sims. So if you tick it, the tool downloads it directly from MTS at install time. None of Numenor's files are redistributed here. That does mean CEP is the one thing you can't install while offline ā but everything else in the tool works completely fine with no internet connection.
Credits & terms
Genuinely, all of the credit goes to the creators ā Numenor, LazyDuchess, GunMod & the Radiance team, HugeLunatic, Mootilda, cyjon, Pescado & MATY, TwoJeffs, Nopke, simler90, LordDarcy, MidgeTheTree, hiloyt, CroconawSims, and so many more. The full list with links is in the included guide.
While I've reviewed everyone's terms of use in detail to make sure I wasn't breaking any rules, I'm only human and I could have missed (or misinterpreted) something. If one of your mods or tools is included in this installer and you'd like me to remove it, please shoot me a message and I'm happy to do so.
The tool itself is free and open-source ā you're more than welcome to review every file and exactly what it does on GitHub. It's not affiliated with EA or with any of the creators above.
Missing something? Suggestions welcome
Think I've left out a crucial bug fix or a genuinely helpful mod? Send it my way. If the creator's terms of use allow it, I'm happy to look into adding it.
A quick heads-up on my philosophy, though: I originally built this for myself, and I like my game as close to vanilla as possible. So mods that change gameplay in a big way, or add features that were never in the base game to begin with, generally aren't ones I'll bundle. This isn't meant to be an "everything" list, but I'm always glad to consider suggestions, so don't be shy about sharing what you'd love to see!
If you run into anything weird, drop me an ask! š
Another public service announcement. This time itās air quality. Some of you are probably in it already if youāre in eastern Canada, New England or New York, but itās sliding south, a huge mass of wildfire smoke. Please be careful. When it starts getting bad, especially, like when the sky gets orange or brownish, itās best to run air purifiers in the house and wear N95 or KN95 masks when you have to go outside.
It harms your lungs and itās especially bad for children (and pets!) or anyone with health problems. There are all kinds of chemicals in that smoke. Itās not only trees that are burning. The heat already makes it harder to breath. This makes it worse.
If any of you are experiencing it, feel free to tell about it in the comments. š
Also, throw out the mask every day and shower before you get in bed if youāve been out or youāll be breathing the particles all night. Stuff like that. It gets all over you, your skin, your hair, your clothes.
map.purpleair.com shows privately-owned sensors, in case you have a hard time finding a government site. It doesn't rely on government funding, so far as I know.
This map shows fine particle pollution (PM2.5) from wildfires and other sources. It provides a public resource of information to best prepar
A huge blocklist of manually curated sites that contain AI generated imagery for uBlock Origin & uBlacklist. - laylavish/uBlockOrigin-HUGE-A
Install this blocklist using the instructions on the GitHub page. For Firefox, you will need to install uBlockOrigin for this. Google Chrome no longer allows the uBlockOrigin extension, so I'm assuming you're at least primarily a Firefox user - or about to be (see browser alternatives below).
For Google Chrome or mobile browsers, this will work with uBlacklist. See the GitHub page for full details on compatibility.
Remove AI Widgets:
If you go to your uBlockOrigin Filter lists page, you can select to filter out AI Widgets - this should completely remove the 'AI Mode' widget/button from your Google search page, in addition to the work done by the Huge AI Blocklist.
Using the uBlockOrigin Huge AI Blocklist filter has made my Google searches look like they used to, and gives me genuine search results.
Look at this. It's beautiful. It's informative. It's not a heap of burning trash bloated with fake information made up by a hallucinating chat bot.
We can go even further: return to the old school search results.
Now, the above results are great and should be free of generative AI junk, but some people would rather not see any of the summary widgets or 'people also ask' box at all. Fear not! You can remove all that by using the 'Web' mode in the Google search bar. Click the 'More' drop down menu and select 'Web'.
Huzzah! Incredible. It's like a functional search engine again.
You can make this the default Google search mode in Google Chrome using Method 1 from this page (https://allthings.how/how-to-turn-off-ai-mode-in-google-chrome/). Unfortunately, I don't know if there's a way to do this in Firefox too. This is why for the most part I still use DuckDuckGo (see below) as my default search engine, and only use Google to supplement my searches on the rare occasion I'm just missing something.
Extra filters (optional):
I've also added four filters (their order doesn't matter) to the My Filters page. Full disclosure: I'm not sure they still work, or may only work on Chrome, but I'm keeping them anyway, just in case.
From https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1i7kg83/comment/m8lllwr/: see which solution in the list works for you, it seems to be different for everybody.
From https://allthings.how/how-to-turn-off-ai-mode-in-google-chrome/:
www.google.com##.Beswgc
www.google.com##.olrp5b
www.google.com##.hdzaWe
Make sure you hit the apply changes button when you add filters.
Browser alternatives: escaping Google Chrome.
If you haven't jumped ship from Chrome yet, I'd recommend doing so. Sometimes Chrome outperforms Firefox for niche purposes or because a website doesn't bother to fully support non-Chrome browsers, but the days of Chrome being the superior browser are long gone ā by about 10 years. If you're trying to escape Chromium browsers, beware that a lot of the popular Chrome alternatives are just Chrome in a different hat.
Firefox has been the most popular non-Chromium browser for years, and for good reason. However, the company running Mozilla Firefox has annoyed their users, me included, by refusing to take an anti- generative-ai stance, and even included AI features in the Mozilla Firefox browser. Most Firefox users specifically use it because they hate Google's enshittification and want a privacy-focused, clean browser that doesn't hog their RAM and CPU for no reason. So, you can imagine that Mozilla's attitude has pissed us all off recently. You can turn off the AI features in Firefox with the built-in settings, but the company has recently steered straight into the burning garbage heap by saying they want to make the browser based on AI.
Waterfox and LibreWolf:
There are really good alternatives based on Firefox (open-source) which are not affiliated with Mozilla (the company), if you don't like how it operates. Waterfox and LibreWolf are even more trimmed down and privacy-focused than Mozilla's Firefox, and don't use AI. Anti-ai statements: Waterfox and LibreWolf.
From this page: https://programming.dev/post/42546774
In short: LibreWolf is for those who want a ālocked-downā fortress out of the box, while Waterfox is for those who want a privacy-conscious browser that still feels like a normal, convenient daily driver.
Choose LibreWolf if: You want the highest level of privacy without having to manually edit config files, and you donāt mind occasionally āfixingā a broken website or re-logging into accounts.
Choose Waterfox if: You want a privacy-respecting browser that supports Firefox Sync, has an Android counterpart, and handles streaming sites/logins without any extra friction (it supports WideWine out of the box, which lets you stream DRM protected content (netflix, hulu, disney, etc).
ā [email protected]
I've heard good things about both of these browsers and will investigate them further to decide whether to personally switch from Mozilla Firefox.
DuckDuckGo:
I would also recommend installing the DuckDuckGo extension to your browsers and setting it to be your default search engine.
I've had DuckDuckGo installed on my browsers, Chrome or Firefox, for like 10 years now. It is a good search engine, it's unobtrusive, and blocks trackers, cookies, and does not save any data about you. I've also used it as my default mobile browser for years, along with Firefox mobile, which you can add the AI Blocklist to (see again the GitHub page). I haven't tried the DuckDuckGo desktop browser yet, but I imagine it works just fine like the mobile version. I think DuckDuckGo's browser is also Chromium-based, at least indirectly. I use Firefox with the DuckDuckGo extension so I can have a widely-supported, non-Chromium browser, but include all of DuckDuckGo's anti-tracking features.
Note: DuckDuckGo has included AI in its browser product, however you can opt-out of all AI features with the built-in settings and they will not push it on you like Google does. I hope they remove AI features entirely in the future, but for now I am comfortable with the barriers in place to keep AI out of my face. Firefox also has AI features like Chrome does, which you can turn off with the built-in settings.
There's also noai.duckduckgo search, an alternative version of its normal search engine which removes AI-generated images and turns off AI results/assists by default. Even though DuckDuckGo's inclusion of any AI features annoys me, its policy to make these features 100% optional builds trust with this browser/extension/search engine.
You can always use Google search if you need to, but with uBlockOrigin and the AI Blocklist filter added on, at least you shouldn't have AI-altered search results or the AI overview anymore.
Other browsers exist, probably:
There are certainly more non-Chromium alternatives out there, but Firefox, Waterfox, and LibreWolf are the top three recommended to me. That link to alternatives, plus this ComputerCity page are the best lists I could find in a brief search. If you google "non-Chromium browsers" you'll get a lot of mixed results which require a bit of digging to realise they're not really recommending you what you looked for at all.
I've heard about Ecosia over the years, and while I like the idea of a search engine that plants a tree for each query, I don't think that's actually what happens ā at least, that's what they used to be reputed to do, but I believe that's an unsustainable business model which has likely changed. In 2026, Ecosia says it uses 100% of its profits for the planet and runs its search engine off clean energy. That's cool! It's still Chromium-based. And it also uses generative AI for chat bots, so I don't trust its principles on environmentalism. I need to do more reading on this to form a stronger opinion about it.
I hope this post has helped at least some of you have a better experience browsing the web and googling your questions.
The Huge AI Blocklist really has been an amazing tool to keep my internet life free and clear of a lot of generative AI rubbish. I'm not a tech expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm savvy enough to understand what genAI is and does, and that the more I learn about it, it's even worse than I thought. I truly hate it, and I hate the enshittification of all our experiences, even those as simple and innocent as googling "snow leopard" or "how to cook pasta" or "what is a phascogale" (go ahead and test your freshly-cleaned search engines out with that one hehe).
I saw a post today where Anon asked @jodeliejodelie about this sink and whether she knew if it had been converted. Thank you for the pic, Jodelie, it reminded me about this sink!
I had converted it a while back, and if Anon sees this post, they and anyone else who wants it, may have this sink.
It isn't perfect. I'm pretty new at this and while the sink is functional, the animations are not really right. The water comes out lower than it should and the sim will turn two faucet knobs that the sink doesn't have. I'm okay using it, and maybe others will be, too.
@cordelia-haze converted most of this set by AnYe already, but I went ahead and did the hanging towel, the toothbrush cup, and the twig vase that weren't converted.
Boosting a GoFundMe to support our creator community and help cover operating expenses for the next year.
If youāve ever enjoyed the builds, mods, stories, or general content from Plumb Bob Keep, please consider checking it out or reblogging to help spread the word.
Let's keep the beloved Plumb Bob Keep going! I know this is way past our norā¦ Stanislav Syursin needs your support for Help Keep Plumb Bob K
yeah, they did. I wrote up a big long post about the Trevor Project and the 12 hour charity livestream I'm participating in right now, and they deleted it. twice. We've raised over $50,000 for a legitimate charity but because it helps trans kids it gets deleted from the site
i'm sure most of you must've heard about the earthquakes in venezuela yesterday (june 24th). the magnitudes were 7.2 and 7.5 respectively; while felt throughout the country the most affected zones have been la guaira and caracas, with some places being reduced to dust and the number of injures and casualties climbing up. this is not a country that's prepared to deal with any, let alone this, kind of emergency, so any help that could be extended to us would be really appreciated.
i haven't seen many options for people outside to donate. easiest way is this fundraiser from the I Love Venezuela Foundation
Venezuela needs our help now.
After a devastating earthquā¦ I Love Venezuela Foundation needs your support for Emergency Relief for Venez
you can also donate directly through zelle and binance to Organizacion Solo con Fe in barquisimeto, but !!! make sure to label it "donacion" so it can be correctly identified. everything will be used for relief in the affected zones.
lastly, Passagio is a Miami-based courier that's put a special fare of $4/lb for aid to be sent to venezuela. no profits will be made from this, that's strictly transportation costs. they're accepting: medicine, non-perishable food, hygiene products, clothing, essential supplies.
you can donate at your own discretion and screen any and all of these as you wish, obviously. any help and signal boosting is extremely appreciated, and if i find other means for help to be sent directly i'll add them.
I had a few comments and asks about my grocery store post. So I made a list to share!
Recolor of Maxis Butterfly Crawler decal by me
Produce display made up of:
3t2 Sunlit Tides Produce Display
3t2 Sunlit Tides Veggie Barrels (same as above)
Awning
Veggie Crates (placed on angled OMSPs)
Lighting platform made up of:
Maxis K&B ceiling light
Scaffolding column
Floor edging
2 story lighting; fixed using the tutorial here
Candy displays
Shelves (I edited the slots so that it would accept the grocery objects that needed counter slots)
Objects on this shelf:
Tea packages
Tea boxes (green middle)
Tea cubes (top)
Just about all multi-box items --this whole shelf is just recolors (from same post)
Top 2 are from previous link; bottom ramen boxes
Bottom 2 are also recolors from 8; pasta at top
Cheese case; cheese
Dairy case; milk
Chips
Water (and barely visible soda) pack
Seafood case
Cheese, but just a better shot
Bulk bins
Cake and grocery bag
Shorter DecraChill and Bread
Pastries (same as 1)
Pastries/Donuts (same as 2)
Pastries (same as 1)
Pastries/cookies (same as 2)
Maxis Butterfly Crawler decal recolor by me
Scale
Cookbook (used as a catalog) - by sunflowersims-89, which is now gone. Reuploaded by me.
Aka: the clarity and communication that you deserve
Hi everyone. As some may have caught already, GoS is not dead (anymore)! During the period that it was, however, so much drama started and if you ask me; it all comes down to people not knowing what's going on and making assumptions that further sparked panic. So, let's clear some stuff up for those who got caught in the rumor mill.
Oh and if you haven't, it's worth reading @julessims excellent writeup on how she got GoS working again.
This is gonna be focused a bit more on communications stuff. Like, a bit more general I guess?
Q: what did you do?
A: I helped get GoS back online. @julessims did the actual hard work of upgrading the forum. @teaaddictyt played a role by facilitating communication and doing some PR (even if that wasn't received well by many a simmer) and ofc hugelunatic provided files, databases and the occasional bit of relevant information. I approached lunie and provided help with hosting, DNS and ensuring the files were safe and handling some communication. It was teamwork (and jules did most of it if you ask me).
Q: why didn't lunie communicate that it would be rehosted?
A: I'm not sure what lunie's exact motivation behind cancelling the hosting was and if I knew it wouldn't be mine to share, but I do know that @julessims and I upgrading and rehosting wasn't planned. It was a spontaneous action on our ends and so lunie couldn't have told you beforehand. I'm really glad that lunie decided to trust us with this and hope GoS will have many more years!
Q: why didn't you communicate any of this?
A: I thought my time would be better spent actually doing the work instead of playing communications department, fielding questions and countering people's wild speculations. I did think about making a post clarifying matters when it became clear people were making some pretty wildly incorrect statements, but I had other things to do. Better to focus on what matters than to get caught up in more miscommunications.
Q: GoS looks different now. Why?
A: the new look of GoS is a direct consequence of the upgrade. The old theme was not made to fit the new software and the conversion process does not convert themes. Seeing GoS in the default (white) theme felt so wrong, so we picked a good-looking dark theme and @julessims modified it to look more like classic GoS, with great success, I think. Still, it is and never will be truly identical. I don't think it's a bad thing.
Q: is the site in archive mode or can I comment?
The site is not in archive mode. It is a live forum. Posting works, registration works, if anything doesn't work, you should find a mod to message so either they or @julessims or I can try to troubleshoot and fix the issue.
In fact, you should comment! Forums are best when people leave comments and engage. Go express how much you like a piece of CC, contribute to the current theme (fittingly about renovating old things) or talk about something!
Q: why did it have to be upgraded? Couldn't it have just stayed now it was?
A: no. It really couldn't. GoS was running SMF 1.1.21 on PHP no higher than 5.3. The newest version is 8.5. PHP 5.3 had been obsolete since 2014. It would've been difficult to find a host that would be willing and able to host GoS and even if that could be found, it'd still leave it vulnerable to bugs and vulnerabilities resolved in newer versions of SMF and PHP. Credit to lunie's host for having continues to support it for this long, many wouldn't. Now that the forum has been upgraded and is running nicely on 8.3, it should be all good to go for many years to come.
Q: just a forum upgrade? So why did it go down?
A: make no mistake: going from something running on PHP 5.x to 8.x is no small leap and had to be done in steps. There were a lot of issues converting the database to the new format which resulted in all sorts of errors that needed manual database conversions. Upgrading a forum, particularly an old one with more than 600.000 posts is in fact not a piece of cake. There were also traces of a prior attempts to upgrade that complicated matters even more. @julessims made an excellent write-up of the technical bits if you're interested.
Q: who is running GoS now?
A: lunie is still forum admin and it will be up to her to decide what to do about the day to day running of the forum. Whether she'll be running it herself, with the help of others or elect someone else will be her choice in the end. As for hosting: that would be me.
Q: so does that mean we can stop archiving?
You could, but I would honestly suggest at least backing up your own favourite CC, regardless of where it's shared or hosted. Also, you can consider looking up an "auto archiving" extension for your browser that will automatically save pages to the wayback machine. The web archive has a page with resources
Q: *insult angry comment about hugelunatic*
A: you are 100% entitled to your anger and frustration. GoS is an important part of the Sims community and losing it, even for a little bit was a huge blow. It's understandable to be angry. Angry comments, however, were never gonna resolve the issue. Angry comments would not get GoS back nor would comments defending hugelunatic for that matter. What did help was working with hugelunatic. No files+database = no forum. Squabbling was not gonna get either back. Saying that, it's important to acknowledge that I was in a good position to do what needed to be done in regards to skills and connections which is not a privilege most people have. I get why people were angry and given that most were not privy to what was going on behind the scenes, it's no wonder everyone got as upset as they did. I also wouldn't have reacted well if I wasn't in direct communication with lunie and working on getting the site back.
Q: what's the plan now?
A: well, sims2artists still needs an update. I hope we can do that sometime soon. I'll also be keeping an eye out for any errors and aim to implement some extra security headers for the site. We also still need to fix some matters in regards to the domain and DNS. I also hope to have some more contact with the GoS mods so we can discuss hosting and what my responsibility and theirs is. Like, write down who is responsible for what and who can be contacted by my host should I pass away unexpectedly, for example. These things happen, so it's good to have backup plans and emergency contacts.
Q: did you have any freakouts tho?
A: certainly. First, when GoS and S2A went down. I was afraid the files and the S2A DB could be gone for good. I was also afraid that lunie wouldn't be willing to work with us and truthfully I also had the fear that if she got more agitated, we could risk losing the files and database. Fortunately this didn't happen, in fact: lunie gave us the resources and helped us out where necessary so we could get GoS back online. I'm very thankful for that.
I also got dragged by my emotions a bit when an unhelpful reddit post suggested that Delphy of MTS infamy might have something to do with hosting and when lunie mentioned something about an offer of hosting as is, no upgrade required. I may have freaked out and freaked out some other folks in the process (my apologies for that. You know who you are). There were many freakouts and I think it was good I didn't make any tumblr posts about this before we got GoS back. I stand by my decision it wouldn't have helped. Freaking out in private was bad enough.
Q: can you tell us what you actually did technically?
A: certainly! First, I set up hosting and new empty databases for GoS (and eventually: sims2artists). I made sure all the required aliases were in place so that when the DNS records for gardenofshadows.org.uk were switched over, it'd find the correct place on the webserver to go to. I also provided a subdomain on a domain of mine to test the forum live before it'd be moved back to the correct domain.
I also got access to the FTP for the original GoS hosting and was able to grab all the files and reupload what was necessary to the new server. While jules was in PHP hell I also cleaned up some stuff on Sims2artists. It's not gonna be anything you notice, but it's something.
I also did a number of things on the webserver, including changing directories. At some point I accidentally moved the forum to example.tld/gardenofshadows/gardenofshadows/gardenofshadows/index.php if you'd believe it. Finally I helped set the DNS records for the move. An SPF record went missing, but was quickly fixed. I also added some HTTP Headers to be served when visiting GoS and a lil something to hopefully keep AI bots from scraping and spamming HTTP requests. If you notice link previews not working: sorry, that'd be the X-Frame header.
Tldr: webserver and domain and DNS stuff; hosting infrastructure
Q: what about hosting costs?
A: right now they're so low we could call them non-existent. Should that change, I don't expect it to be above ā¬100,- per calendar year. Probably closer to ā¬50,-. Aka: it's not an issue. No need for ads. Should fundraising ever be needed, I will discuss it with the mods first.
Now go leave some comments on GoS!
Anyways, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. There's a lot more to say about this. But hopefully this does clarify some matters.
I am not usually someone who gets involved in Sims community discourse or public callout-style posts, but this genuinely breaks my heart to see.
A massive amount of the custom content, creativity, and inspiration behind my work on Vermillion Sins came from communities like Garden of Shadows and Sims2Artists. They were huge pillars of the Sims 2 creative space for years.
What hurts most is not even just the shutdown itself. Itās the lack of warning.
These sites were not just forums anymore. They had become archives of nearly two decades of community history: old creators, inactive creators, forum attachments, resources, tutorials, contests, shared knowledge, and years of creativity that helped shape this community into what it became.
A simple āhey, this may go offline permanently soon, please archive what you canā would have allowed people time to preserve pieces of Sims 2 history before they vanished. Instead, so much appears to have disappeared overnight.
And to be clear, I do not think anyone is owed endless unpaid labor or permanent site maintenance. If someone no longer has the time, energy, money, or interest to continue running something, that is completely understandable.
But I do think the community should have at least been given the chance to help. People absolutely would have pitched in through backups, mirrors, technical help, donations, archival efforts, or simply having enough warning to preserve pieces of history before they disappeared.
The Sims 2 community has survived because people cared enough to preserve things. Without archivists, backups, mirrors, and Wayback captures, huge parts of this gameās creative history would already be gone forever.
And honestly, I hope this becomes a wake-up call moving forward. Preservation should matter.
TOUs and repost policies should not become barriers that result in entire pieces of community history disappearing forever the moment a creator or site owner leaves, especially in a community where everything is interconnected.
I respect active creators wanting credit and boundaries. But abandoned content should not be treated like untouchable lost media while the community watches it disappear forever. Communities preserving older Sims games and their content are a huge part of why those games remained alive and accessible long after EA itself had largely moved on from supporting them, and likely played a significant role in renewed interest surrounding things like the Sims 2 Legacy release.
I hope more people begin supporting archival efforts, mirrors, and preservation projects before more Sims history is lost for good.
I'm in shock. I spent 15? years of my life posting on Sims2Artists with posts on GoS as well) and there was NO WARNING that it would all disappear.
We were not a well-known forum like GoS, but it was not an abandoned site. There were still people posting content and actively checking in- perhaps not every week- Shastakiss, Hokadk47, myself.
I would say that I have a lot of the site content (although not as organized as I would like) but I am not sure what to do about it as my health is not really up to dealing with the massive amounts of re-posting required. I am reachable @ https://simpearls.boards.net/ if you want to contact me about it. Tumblr comments cannot be replied to and messages (especially anon) are not reliable. Amythestfenix
I have returned from a grueling 48-hour adventure deep within the Maxis mines, and have witnessed unspeakable man-made horrors with my own two eyes ā the object limit is very real and there is nothing that can be done to fix it! The end times are upon us!
Okay, I'm being slightly dramatic. It could be fixed fairly easily, but not with a simple patch, and likely not without access to the source code (anyone else tired of hearing that excuse?).
The issue is that the limit isn't localised to purely the Build/Buy menu ā it's integral to every aspect of the game that involves objects. Here are just a few examples of the game's functionality that would need modifying to remove the limit:
Sim pathfinding and routing.
Mapping tree tables to objects.
Interacting with objects.
Manipulating objects within lists (reading/writing/deleting them).
Objects being unselectable in the Build/Buy menu was also a result of this limit and I managed to fix it very quickly, but because The Sims 2 is a house of cards with the limit as its foundation, everything started falling apart almost instantly.
"So, what is this limit?", I hear you ask. 32,767. Yes, you read that correctly. The game is only willing to accept object IDs up to a meager value of 32,767. In computing terms, this is the maximum value of a signed 16-bit integer. It can store many more objects than this in a list, which is why you can still see all your 4t2 objects in the catalogue, but it isn't designed to recognise this many IDs and thus can't do anything with them.
Why are integers signing things? Are they famous or something?
'Signed' refers to the fact that these are integers (an integer is just a whole number btw) that can represent both positive and negative values ā negative numbers have a negative sign before them, hence the term 'signed'. An unsigned integer is therefore one that can only represent positive values.
While they can both represent the same total of different values, the range of representable positive values differs. Using 16-bit integers as an example:
Unsigned: 0ā65,535
Signed: -32,768ā32,767
This shows that both can represent 65,536 different values, but the range of positive values for signed integers is half of that of unsigned integers. Object IDs cannot be negative, which means Maxis deliberately chose to use signed integers as a way to cut the ID limit in half.
The cherry on top of all this is that the game is manually converting 32-bit numbers into 16-bit numbers to enforce this limit. This is why I could fix objects not being selectable in the Build/Buy menu easily, as all I had to do was patch out the conversion. Could EA do this across the whole game themselves if they wanted to? I imagine so. But then again, if I had billions of dollars, I probably couldn't be arsed either.
What's an object ID?
An object ID is just a number from 0ā32,767 that the game assigns to each new object it places into a list, presumably starting at 0 and incrementing by 1 for the next object. It would appear that CC objects are given IDs first, which is why it was solely Maxis objects becoming unselectable after passing the limit.
Sims and objects are stored in separate lists, but I believe they both contribute to the overall limit. My single piece of evidence for this is that I experimented switching between several hoods and observed that the IDs of objects in the Build/Buy catalogue fluctuated across them. Objects in hoods with subhoods attached had higher IDs than in those without.
What was causing the Build/Buy menu crashes?
The same thing I explained in my original post (the game trying to access null pointers), except the creation of these null pointers was no accident and not the result of something going wrong.
The game merely checks whether the ID for the object it is looking at is above 32,767, and if it is, it deliberately sets the pointer to its address to 0. This would be fine, if it didn't then try and access this nullified pointer immediately afterwards!
I'll cut Maxis some slack here, because surely no one would be crazy enough to want more than 32,767 objects in their game, right guys? How could they ever have predicted such a scenario? (2004 was a simpler time).
Wait, so you were wrong about there not being an object limit? Not so cocky now, are you?
Whoa there, cowboy ā hold your horses. If I may direct your attention to this excerpt of an email I sent to @teaaddictyt on the 22nd of April 2026 at 13:42 BST:
As you can see, I was right all along!!!
In my defence though, we thought the crashing was the only thing we had to solve, which is why I missed the completely obvious 16-bit conversion that was occurring within the functions I patched. Unfortunately, I am only human, but I understand if you want to destroy all the spockthewok posters I know you have hanging on your walls...
In light of these new findings, if you want to hear my updated opinion on the existence of the object limit, watch this video.
Is your patch useless?
Yes, but also no. It's not fixing the object limit (I should probably rename it tbh), but it is fixing those annoying crashes caused by it.
At the moment, not having the Build/Buy menu crash when you try and use it is the best we can do. It's up to you which you find more annoying ā crashing, or not being able to buy x number of objects in the catalogue. Like the 4GB memory limit, this is going to be an additional constraint we'll have to learn to accept :/
Another alternative would be to join me and the 12 other weirdos who play with no CC, and never have to worry about any of this. No? Oh well, it was worth a try...
Will you ever actually fix the object limit?
If it's even possible without the source code, then not by myself, no.
Because of the number of core areas of the game that would need patching, I don't trust myself not to miss something and have the game explode. Unless someone wants to assemble a modding strike force to try and tackle the issue as a team over several months, I'm not touching it with a 10-foot pole (for your safety and for mine).
Should Maxis go on trial at the Hague for crimes against humanity?
Probably.
Anyway, that's all from me, apologies for the false hope :( One small positive is that I did manage to map out a reasonably large chunk of the game's code while I was frantically searching for solutions, which should make my life easier when looking at your requests. I feel like I need to successfully complete some of them now to make up for this dud!
Will
(Thank god I didn't look at this for my dissertation, I would have failed my degree).
Will forgot to include a screenshot from my email to him where I said,
"My other theory is that it's something to do with 16-bit integers having a max value of roughly 32000 (I can never remember the exact number) and maybe there's some kind of limit there, but I lack the skills and technical knowledge to look into it."
Heh.
Ah well. Time to do another downloads folder cull, I suppose...
Seriously dude, thank you so much for really diving so deeply into this and leaving no stone unturned trying to figure it out. I appreciate the hours of mind-bamboozling work. @spockthewok you still have your well-deserved place on Mount Willmore šā¤ļø
