[4t2] Updated Sixam Flora & Fauna Set (Now as Seasonal Plants with Animated Lights!)
If you've enjoyed the previous and amazing 4t2 Sixam plant conversions by @simsinsania with their respective nhood versions by @grilledcheese-aspiration, you're in for an upgrade! After diving deeper into TS4 Sixam, I noticed the plants have animated lights.. and I wanted to bring that magic to TS2.
After months of experimenting around, I managed to give these Sixam plants a bit more life and added more features to bring them closer to their TS4 counterparts, including animated lights. I also made them into real plants in Build Mode (previously they were only deco plants in Buy Mode), making them thus visible in neighborhood view. And with the help of the brilliant @tvickiesims, the plants were made seasonal as well, like in TS4! (More info on that later). ^^
On top of that, I noticed there were alien plants from TS4 that hadn’t been converted before, like the UFO fruit plant and the dancing red maple tree from Sixam. So, I converted them as well and made them animated and seasonal.
Note: The animations are all seamless but I could not create a gif longer than 5s without sacrificing the quality (+ only 1 video per post is allowed on Tumblr).
I also updated @grilledcheese-aspiration's Sixam Ground Crack to make it glow like in TS4 as well.
Last but not least, I also decided to share my animated ocean floor and skybox as a separate upload from my 4t2 Sixam neighborhood to go with this set.
Additional Credits:
@simsinsania for the original 4t2 conversion - lot version
@grilledcheese-aspiration for the nhood version of these plants
@tvickiesims and @lordcrumps for helping me with fixing the UFO fruit shrub and shedding some light on how seasonal plants work in TS2.
@lordcrumps again for helping me with animating the ocean floor ^^
@criquette-was-here for the Better Nightlife mod (required for these updated nhood deco to work!)
Download link (+ more info under the cut)
1. New 4t2 Sixam Dancing Red Maple Tree
Variants: Large tree, small tree, roots (as a shrub), maple leaves (as a flower). They all also come as neighborhood tree deco.
Features: The tree’s bark is animated, and the tree will drop leaves in Fall, until it loses its leaves completely in Winter (check the screenshots below). The shrub grows over time, and the flower requires watering. Overwatering or dehydration will cause them to turn brown (like default TS2 flowers)
Performance: The original TS4 mesh was high poly (9k), so I've included a reduced poly version (approx. -50%) for smoother gameplay. Choose that one version instead if you don’t want high poly objects in your game.
Download link! (New 4t2 Sixam Trees)
2. Updated 4t2 Sixam Plants – Lot Version (SimsInsania)
Seasonal Alien Plants: These plants (now shrubs!) were initially decorative items but are now fully functional (still using same GUID)! They can be trimmed and will transition through multiple states depending on the season and their care. There are 2 versions you can choose from:
--- Wilted Winter / Fruits as Overgrown: The shrubs will only show their corresponding fruits in their overgrown state and in winter, they transition into a wilted texture/mesh. If any shrub ever goes into the “overgrown” state during winter, it will still show its fruits… but while still in the wilted texture/mesh.
--- Seasonal Fruits / Wilted as Overgrown: This version mimics TS4 behavior, where the fruits appear only during their corresponding seasons. The plants will show fruits in both the "trimmed" and "overgrown" states. However, in the overgrown state, they wilt instead.
Other Alien Plants: The alien mushrooms are now animated with lights, replicating their TS4 animation and are now found in the Tree section. The alien fern has been converted into a functional tree now. Both won’t leave any leaves behind in Fall but might be struck by lightning.
Sixam Grass and Flowerbeds: These flowers glow at night in their “healthy” state and need watering. Overwatering or dehydration will cause them to change them into the “unhealthy” state though, which in this case will make the flowers lose their glow at night and will need to be "disposed of" (just like the other flowers in TS2). Unlike the original deco plants version, the sims can walk on these flowers just fine.
Download link! (Updated 4t2 Lot Plants - SimsInsania)
3. Updated 4t2 Sixam Plants – Neighborhood Deco Version (GrilledCheese-Aspiration)
Seasonal Alien Plants: Since neighborhood deco objects aren’t generally multi-state objects by default. I came up with something different. Similarly, the neighborhood versions of the 4t2 Sixam plants also come with 2 different versions to choose from:
--- Wilted Winter / Fruits Only at Night: The plants will only show fruit at night and will wilt in winter. This is also the only version where the wilted texture/mesh can appear in neighborhood view. This version uses criquette's NeighborhoodGlowMaterial shader to make the fruits glow and will hence require the Better Nightlife mod.
--- Seasonal Fruits / No Wilted Stage: This version mimics the TS4 seasonal system, where fruits appear in their respective seasons only. Unlike the version above, the fruits remain visible both during day and night. However, this version doesn’t show the wilted texture/mesh of the plants in the neighborhood view.
Other Alien Plants: The alien mushrooms now come with animated lights, much like in lot version. The neighborhood version of the Sixam Fern was missing in GCA’s original set, so I converted it myself and resized it to make it a bit bigger (both in lot and neighborhood version).
Sixam Ground Crack: Now includes glowing effects at night. I’ve also recategorized it into the “Stones” category since I thought it was better suited there.
Download link! (Updated 4t2 Nhood Deco - GCA)
4. Updated 4t2 Sixam Skybox & Ocean Floor
I thought I’d also share these as separate downloads since there might be people who’d wish to use these on other space themed neighborhoods as well. To place, just put it into a corner of your neighborhood and it should cover up the sky. ^^
4t2 Sixam Skybox (recolor of Lowedeus's nhood skybox)
The skybox will make the water look dark though, so I recommend using the ocean floor to give it some color again.
Animated Sixam Ocean Floor (recolor of Gwenke's nhood deco)
Finally, an updated skybox and ocean floor where the transparency issues of the original version have been fixed. As an additional bonus, I’ve also animated the ocean floor to make it slightly rotate. I
Remember my 4t2 Sixam project I started 2 years ago? Which I almost scrapped but revisited sometime last year? ... well, I've got good news for you then. It's finally out now! ^^
Welcome to Sixam!
Sixam City, a thriving metropolis on the planet of Sixam, home to Sixam Academy, a prestigious intergalactic university that provides special training for aspiring students to become Birth Queens, Colony Drones, or even the latest innovation in alien technology: Pollination Technicians. Renowned for its cultural diversity and interstellar expeditions, the city nurtures a community focused on curiosity, inclusivity and innovation.
Yes, I recreated the secret alien world from TS4 for TS2 as a custom university subhood! Why as a university subhood you may ask? Well, I tried to keep the original vibes of Sixam of it being an "unlockable"/visitable place your sims can explore rather than a regular neighborhood your sims can live in!
Even after graduation, your sims can actually stay and live in the university subhood using Lamare's YAs can enjoy maternity (and all that) mod, as well as Lamare's Pets at University mod!
Update!! (June 24th 2026)
I made-over the entire neighborhood using my animated 4t2 Sixam plants I uploaded earlier this year, this includes all lots in the neighborhood! So, you can totally have the full TS4 Sixam experience in TS2 now!
Oh... and one more thing, as requested, I finally uploaded a Main Hood, as well as a Downtown version of Sixam Academy, ahem... it's Sixam City now! All the original playables have graduated and are adults now... and the drama goes on! It's like they never left! XD
Screenshots before the make-over
Screenshots after the make-over
Download: MTS | Simblr.cc | SFS
More info under the cut...
Neighborhood Info:
The Main Hood/Downtown versions do require all EPs/SPs though, since I wanted to include apartment lots. I miiight do an alternative version without AL one day, so that TS2 Super Collection users can also use it. The University version is still Uni+NL+OFB EP only regardless.
No camera mod is needed, yet, still recommended for easier gameplay, especially since some lots were built on skyscrapers and can be hard to view with just the vanilla camera.
Number of Sims: 90 (10 playable sims in 4 playable families, 31 townies, 44 NPCs, 5 dead sims) -> 130 now! (including alien pets and other bonus NPCs!)
Number of Lots: 35 (7 residential lots, 2 Greek houses, 5 dorms, 1 secret society, 20 community lots, where 8 of which are owned businesses) -> + 2 bonus lots! (A mysterious Nebula Brick Road lot and Alien Parrrtey!, a lot inspired by the alien party lot in TS4 when you visit Sixam, lol.)
Gameplay Info:
Speaking of lots, I made lecture halls for every major, which you could use with beestew's Active Classes mod! These are community lots, featuring skill-building equipment and study spaces, with NPC professors (as lot owners) available for tutoring whenever your sims visit. The Main Hood/Downtown version still includes these lecture halls, so if you ever wanted to try out the university-in-main-hood mods, this is the perfect neighborhood to try Squinge's Mega College Pack mods out.
I also made an optional custom skybox and custom lighting file for Sixam that will make it always nighttime (Yes, you heard right! The sun never shines here on Sixam!) with subtle seasonal color changes - reddish in Autumn, bluish in Winter, and greenish in Spring.
The inhabited version requires the 3 alien skintones (blue/turquoise/violet) from my [4t2] aliens set to keep the TS4 alien characters like Aileen Rauvu authentic. As giving all these colorful aliens the default green skin instead felt as bad as white-washing, say, giving black characters like Olive Specter a lighter skintone for me. An alternative CC-free version with no CC skintones is also available for players who prefer to not have any CC skintones in their games, though.
I also recreated some characters from TS4, especially all the characters from the The Sims 4 Get to Work: Sul Sul trailer. Every character comes with a complete set of ancestors (at least parents) and customized memories, even townies and NPCs! Some also come with interesting lore! Even though, they're just... townies! Oh, and everyone has genetic infant faces! Yayy! XD
Speaking of characters, scripted events don't work in subhoods, but I wrote a text in each family description that somewhat mimic the scripted event notifications anyway. I think this is a brilliant and fun way of introducing new characters, even in university subhoods. All households should also have a complete set of family album pictures that show their lore a bit. The main hood version does however include scripted events. ^^
Recommended Mods:
All notownieregen/antiredudancy/nodormiespawn/nossrespawn mods. All university townies/NPCs in Sixam are aliens.. or at least have a very good reason why they're there, but this can easily be ruined if you don't have these mods installed, lol.
bloodredtoe's Mannequin babies can be born mod. To have more variety, I used the mannequin skintone for some of the alien sims. While this mod isn't required, it's recommended to prevent crashes, especially when these aliens have offspring, as there's a chance they could inherit the mannequin skintone.
Squinge's No Townie Memory Loss. Again, townies and NPCs in this neighborhood are highly customized and I recommend getting no townie amnesia mods to prevent their lore from getting wiped out! As there are a few clues in the bios of some of the townies... including long lost twins!
lingeringwillx's Restore Default Names for Sims in Subneighbohoods . This is especially helpful, not only because the townies/NPCs are related to the playable sims, but also, it will help to maintain the alien atmosphere of Sixam with names like Pollination Technicians, Colony Drones or Birth Queens, etc. instead of having EA's default townie/NPC names.
Install Instructions:
This download consists of 3 parts:
Neighborhood itself:
Main Hood: Place the NSXM folder into your DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2/Neighborhoods folder
Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Neighborhoods
Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/Neighborhoods
University: Place the USXM folder into your PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 University/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate folder
Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/University Life/EP1/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate
Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/EP1/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate
Downtown: Place the DSXM folder into your PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Nightlife/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate folder
Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Double Deluxe/EP2/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate
Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/EP2/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate
2. 4t2 Sixam Fauna & Flora Set (+ 3 new custom alien skintones):
Download and extract the complete set of the 4t2 Sixam Plants (+ skybox & ocean floor) here.
You should have extracted 4 folders now, go into each one and decide which version of the plants you'd like to keep. Move these folders into the Sixam CC folder of this download. This way, you should have 1 main folder and 4 sub-folders (+ 3 custom alien skins).
Place the Sixam CC folder into your DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads folder
Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Downloads
Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/Downloads
Place the sixam_lot.txt file into your PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff/TSData/Res/Lights folder
Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Fun with Pets/SP9/TSData/Res/Lights
Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/EP9/TSData/Res/Lights
Credits:
To EA for creating Sixam in the first place, even though it was originally created for the wrong game ;)
Makers of SimPE (especially with the newest version, allowing creation of customized NPCs!)
Mootilda for all her amazing tools, especially LotCompressor, LotAdjustor, HoodChecker, and her tutorial on how to create a custom subhood template.
Numenor for his AnyGameStarter, allowing for the creation of a Uni/NL/OFB only environment.
@lowedeus for his original skybox, which I recolored and modified to make the skybox season-friendly, as well as @criquette-was-here for the tutorial on how to make nhood objects glow at night.
Gwenke for the original ocean surface nhood deco, which I also recolored and modified to make it glow at night.
@catherinetcjd for all her inspring builds and also for being such an amazing friend. I recommend her Isosceles Apartments, Experiment 4.2, The Colony as well as her Pyramid Commune No. 9 Live, specifically as optional additional lots for this neighborhood. I learned a lot from you in the past few years of neighborhood and lot building!
Creusa Sims for her support and love while I was creating this neighborhood. It was fun discussing some of the lore in this neighborhood with you. XD
@lordcrumps for also being such an amazing friend! It was you who kept pushing me to actually redo the skybox when I wasn't happy with the draft version, lol! And also for your helpful inputs very early on. ^^
@lamare-sims for being such a talented modder and her amazing mods that make living in university subhoods possible in the first place! This concept wouldn't have otherwise made sense.
That's it for now I guess? I hope you have as much fun with this neighborhood as I had building it! <3
Hiiii!! Sorry for the random DM, but I had a question regarding your 4t2 sixam neighborhood mod. I really love it & want to use it as a regular neighborhood, bc I have a bunch of sims ocs that are aliens from Sixam. I was wondering if you knew a possible way to change it from a university to a regular neighborhood or if you possibly had another version that's a primary neighborhood? Thank you so much!
Hi there, sorry for the late reply, was busy with real life stuff. But thank you for showing interest in Sixam! I'm glad to hear you like it. ^^
Actually, I just uploaded the main hood version of Sixam if you're still interested. You can download it in the main post here. In my shared SFS folder you can choose "Sixam City (Main Hood)" and then basically choose between the version with or without sims.
Alright, after a long hiatus I'm finally back with an update! ^^
Remember the 4t2 sixam skybox I was working last year... but wasn't quite happy about it being "high" in the sky... with all those objects being too gigantic? Well I tried to fix it, but still tried to keep the original TS4 vibe... so yeah, let me know what you think!
Is there something you'd change as well? I'd love to have some feedback on that.
By the way, I also made a matching SC4 map for Sixam, to match the rocky vibe TS4 Sixam has. I think it's closest I could get with those annoying SC4 sculpting tool, lol.
Update!!!
I just came across early images of how Sixam originally looked like. For some reason EA decided to change Sixam and make it more "matt" at some point in an update.
I decided to add back the highlights as I think it looks much cooler and gives more of a out-of-this-world feeling. I've also managed to fix the planet's shape to be more spherical, yayy!! Below you can see Sixam before and after the glow up. ^^
To be honest, I don't know why EA changed Sixam in the first place? As I've had it much brighter in memory as well! But didn't think much of it when I first made this skybox out of the screenshots from my game.
Hi!! I’m sorry to bother you but I’ve been having issues with the Sixam_lot.txt for 24/7 nighttime. It was working before, but when I reset my neighborhoods by deleting the Neighborhoods folder and reattached Sixam, it stopped working. I made sure the file is in my EP9 folder (and I put it in SP7 Mansion&Garden for good measure) and have deleted and redownloaded and reloaded everything multiple times. I have Legacy collection through Steam, so the installation path is slightly different than in the instructions, but I made it to that EP9 folder. The characters work, the CC skin tones work, I think the skybox itself is working, I just **cannot** get it to be night. I am so stumped. I have other cc/mods but nothing involving skyboxes or skies or anything like that. I am so stumped because it worked before. Do you have any idea how to troubleshoot this? 😢
Hi there, no trouble at all. I’m always ready to help! ^^
Hmm, that’s weird… what happens if you use the cheat: setLotLightingFile “sixam_lot.txt” ? Does that change anything?
If not, then the game is not able to read the lot lighting file. Double-check if it’s really placed in ~any EP or base game (doesn’t matter which one) / TSData / Res / Lights folder. Make sure it’s in the Lights folder and not Lighting.. which is a different folder.
Basically you should also see “downtown_lot.txt” in there which is the spooky lot lighting for House of Fallen Trees in Downtown.
