omg not me actually playing the game instead of CAS
Serena & Corrine, half of my university household. My game is pissing me off though because my sims stop rendering every time the camera is off of them :/ it's not fun playing with blobs of sims when I spent so long making them look good
I'm stuck. I initially made her with the the first hairstyle in mind. The second one completely changes her vibe, which is different from what I had planned for her personality, but it looks soooo good.
I think I'll just add another sim to the household just so I can use the second hair.
I put together 150 random things to do – from romantic dates with vampires to going on a spending strike. There's room for drama, silliness, and unexpected twists 😈
Go here
How to play:
Hit the black "Spin" button and see what fate throws at you.
🗯 Works for Sims 2 and Sims 3 – probably also for Sims 4, since the tasks are fairly general
🗯 All expansions are recommended (because the list uses supernaturals, weather, pets, etc.)
Hi guys! I made a post on Reddit comparing some of the most popular lighting mods for The Sims 3, and I thought I’d share it here on Tumblr for my first post.
I mainly did this for myself to see how each mod affects the Sims and the environment.
It’s not 100% accurate, since the position of your Sims can have a big effect on the lighting and many of these mods have unique colours/weather transitions over the course of each day.
All of my testing was done during Summer! Unfortunately, I was only able to add the EA lighting into my second comparison, which was strictly on Sims only.
The lighting mods I used to do my comparisons are linked below:
Uranesia by @nilxis
St. Claires by @brntwaffles
Pudding's Lighting by @pudding-parade
Perfect Day by @brntwaffles
Monte Vista by @dystopianam
Fresh Cut Day by @brntwaffles
Clear & Bright by @potato-ballad-sims
Blue Skies & Sunshine by @brntwaffles
Beta V1 by @boringbones
Hopefully this helps anyone trying to decide which lighting mod to use in their game. Also, a big thank you to these amazing creators who keep this game looking awesome! Have a great day. :-)
Tutorial: How to Install TS3 with DXVK, Sims3SettingsSetter (S3SS), and ReShade in 2026
This is a long-overdue update of my previous, now obsolete tutorial on how to use DXVK and ReShade (d3d9). If you do not use ReShade, you can still follow this guide up until where it is to be installed.
At the time of writing (April 2026), this guide is compatible with and corresponds to Step 1 to 3 of The Sims 3 Performance & Bug Fix Guide 2026, featuring an extra step on how to install ReShade.
If you followed any other guide (including my own) on how to install DXVK and/or ReShade, it is strongly recommended that you start from scratch, meaning you should uninstall DXVK AND Reshade completely. Believe me when I say this: it will save you a lot of time, frustration, and make your life so much easier.
For the purpose of this tutorial, I am on Steam version 1.67.2.024037 on Windows 11, but it should work for discs 1.67 and EA App 1.69 versions, too. This guide does not cover GShade.
Without further ado, let's begin!
Backup your files, even the entire folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin) if you want to be extra safe; you will thank yourself later. If you do not wish to backup the entire folder, at the very least backup the following:
Keep them somewhere secure, for your peace of mind (and sanity).
Firstly, to fully uninstall DXVK, you should remove the following files:
d3d9.dll (if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: DXVK)
dxvk.conf
TS3.dxvk-cache (or TS3W.dxvk-cache)
Secondly, remove remnant files of previously installed ReShade (you did create a backup, right?):
d3d9.dll (located at the Bin folder, if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: crosire)
ReShade.ini
ReShade.log
⚠️There are a couple more steps. Please follow the instructions here.
Get the latest version here on GitHub:
Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (2.7.1 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz to download DXVK.
Open dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz, click on x32, and locate d3d9.dll from within.
Download a copy of dxvk.conf from this page by clicking on the tiny icon on the right.
Drag both d3d9.dll AND dxvk.conf to the Bin folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin); that is where TS3.exe and TS3W.exe are located.
Open dxvk.conf with Notepad or Notepad++, 'Ctrl + A' to select all, and hit delete. Yes, delete everything inside. Once you've emptied the file, enter the following:
Copy your Options.ini from your backup folder (you did make a backup, right?) into your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 folder.
Because we have 'tricked' the game into recognising our modern GPU as a GTX 580, we must edit one single line within the Options.ini to keep our preferred in-game settings intact.
Hit 'Ctrl + G', type in '150' to go to that line, and replace it with:
lastdevice = 0;10de;1080;65535
'Ctrl + S' to save.
⚠️Thanks to DXVK, from now on whenever there's a GPU driver update, we no longer need to keep the 'lastdevice' line up-to-date to prevent your in-game settings from being reset. You can leave it alone forever, once and for all. The last digit of '65535' is a placeholder value for driver versions and remains constant as long as you are using DXVK.
Launch the game to confirm that DXVK is working. By default, the debug HUD should show up in the top left corner of your screen. What's more, your graphics settings should not have reset.
If you're still not convinced that DXVK is working, go to your Bin folder and look for a file called: TS3_d3d9.log or TS3W_d3d9.log and inspect its content:
If you see these correctly documented in your log file, DXVK is working as intended.
⚠️ NB: This newer version of DXVK no longer generates a cache file by default, meaning that there will not be a TS3.dxvk-cache or TS3W.dxvk-cache any more.
Get the latest version here on GitHub:
Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (1.5.0 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on Sims3SettingsSetter.asi to download S3SS.
An ASI Loader is required for S3SS to function properly, and now so we need to install it.
However, if you use any of the listed LazyDuchess mods:
Mono Patcher Library;
Pixel Shader Modding Framework;
Shadow Extender (TS3);
or Split Level Light Fix,
you should already have an ASI loader (in the form of wininet.dll) located inside your Bin folder, and you can use that instead.
As you can see in the screenshot below, LD's Shader Framework came shipped with an ASI loader, as the other 3 mods do.
If you do not use any of the mods listed above, or that you wish to get a newer version of ASI loader for the game, you can get it from here (Ultimate ASI Loader by ThirteenAG):
To install, drag Sims3SettingsSetter.asi AND wininet.dll to your Bin folder.
And that is S3SS and its prerequisite successfully installed, now we should launch the game (again) and check if it's working.
Once the game has launched, hit 'Insert' key to toggle on S3SS interface.
⚠️ If nothing happens after pressing ' Insert', remove a folder called 'S3SS' (located at: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3) and reinstall from Step 2 again.
From S3SS interface, select 'Patches' on the top.
Here I recommend enabling all performances patches, but choose only one flavour for the Smooth Patch: Original or Precise.
Next, click on 'Other/QoL' tab, tick the box next to 'Enable Memory Warning', and increase the warning threshold to 3.8 GB.
Navigate downwards to 'Borderless Window' and choose 'Fullscreen' in the drop-down menu. This will allow you to play in borderless windowed mode.
⚠️ Please note that I do not play TS3 in exclusive fullscreen mode, nor do I recommend doing so; therefore, I cannot provide support for that.
Lastly, don't forget to click on 'File' on the top left corner to save any changes you've made.
Exit the game, it's time to install ReShade.
Download the latest version (with full add-on support) from the official site; it is 6.7.3 at the time of writing.
Select TS3.exe (EA App) or TS3W.exe (disc, Steam), and then choose Vulkan as rendering API, click 'Next'.
If you would prefer not to install any shaders/effects (i.e, you want to keep using your existing ones), click 'Skip'.
On the following page, you'll get to choose to install add-ons. Hit 'Skip', unless you know what you are doing.
Click 'Finish' to complete installation.
At this stage, a new, vanilla ReShade.ini file will be placed in the Bin folder; you may now replace it with the one from your backup folder to recover all preferred settings (such as hotkeys for taking screenshots, directory for shaders etc.). Same thing goes for your reshade-presets and reshade-shaders folder.
Launch the game (for the final time) to check that ReShade has been properly installed.
To toggle S3SS interface, press 'Insert' (or whatever hotkey you've set it to).
⚠️NB: under ReShade's 'Settings' tab you may need to change 'Input processing' to either 'Pass on all input' or 'Block input when cursor is on overlay' to tweak S3SS settings whilst ReShade's GUI is visible. Otherwise, you'll need to toggle ReShade's menu off first.
That is the end of this tutorial.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed DXVK, S3SS, and ReShade! You may now open dxvk.conf and remove line dxvk.HUD from it.
Whew, what a long tutorial. If you've made it this far, great job. 🎉
Hope you've found this helpful; comment down below, or send me an ask/DM if you've any questions. I'll try my best to troubleshoot with you. Happy simming! ⭐
Credits:
doitsujin for DXVK
ThirteenAG for Ultimate-ASI-Loader
@sims3fiend, just-harry, @lazyduchess, and swiffyjk for Sims3SettingsSetter
crosire for ReShade
@nectar-cellar @desiree-uk and @kevinvoncrastenburg for their help.
If you’ve ever used the Sims 4 Tray Importer, you’re going to love this tool for The Sims 3!
It was created to make life easier for players who use custom content (CC) and want to keep everything organized or to share fully CC-included Sims in a quick and practical way!
(The first version was ready in October ffrom last year and I'm publishing it now lol)
🎮 What does this tool do?
✔ Automatically copies all .package custom content used by a Sim, Household or Lot into a specific folder.
✔ Includes an option to compress the folder for easier sharing or storage.
✔ Works with both individual Sims and full Households (or Lots).
✔ Can also help you identify which .package files you no longer want in your game.
🌟Features:
✔ It copies the folder structure from your Mods folder, including only the necessary files, keeping the CCs organized.
✔ Compatible with three languages: Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
(If your system language is not one of these, the tool will default to English.)
P.s.: If you’d like your language included, just send me all the tool’s text already translated, and I’ll add it.
⚠ Important – Please read before using!
🔹 Windows only, sorry. :(
🔹 You must use only .package files when creating your Sim or building your Lot.
🔹 You must convert the .sims3pack content exported from the game to .package format before scanning the custom content it uses.
🔹 If your converted .sims3pack files were separated into multiple packages, you need to merge those packages again to make it easier for the tool to correctly find and gather all custom content (or you select one by one to verify).
🔹 Right now, I'm also working on adding support for reading Sims3Pack files directly, which should make the process even easier in the future.
This ensures the tool can properly detect every file being used.
🙏 Credits and Thanks
Special thanks to Peter Jones for S3PI (package reading library), and to Kitilith for the idea and basis of their Find Merged CC tool used in this project (credits will be included with the readme file as requested on their GitHub).
I’d also like to thank Ash (@cowplantcartel) for testing this tool in every build. 😅
🚀 Download Info
Early access on Patreon: Download
Public release coming in 21 days (April 10th)
Can I mention just how much I love the Sims 3 community?! This game has been out for well over a decade, and so many awesome peeps are still developing new tools and resources, converting and creating new cc .... love this! <3
Hi, recently I thought about doing a sim 3 playthrough with Ada and Leon. I discovered your Ada through looking for cc and was wondering if she'd be available to download? And if not her, where could I find the cc for them both. Thank you
I would love to put both of them up for download! But first I think I'll do some final tweaks. It might take me a little while to gather all of the cc and sliders, especially since I just started a new job. If you're okay with waiting, I can get that uploaded.