Executable file that can recategorize Sims 3 Pattern Custom Content (CC) binary files and extract icons for better CC organization purposes. On 2nd October 2022, this tool was released for public use within the Sims 3 Tumblr community. See the community response here.
This tool is really mostly for my own purposes. I wanted my pattern CC to adhere to more consistent categories. For example, one creator may categorize a floral pattern as 'Fabric', while another creator may categorize a different floral pattern as 'Theme'. To have all floral patterns be the same category in-game, one would have to manually edit the files.
Recategorizing manually for tons of files was soul-sucking. So, I set out to automate the task. Sims 3 .package files are not readable by normal means, so this work would not have been possible without Peter L Jone's s3pi .NET library.
- Decodes pattern XML and change category at appropriate place
- Extract icon file and save it in same root folder as file
- Executable file
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Drag-and-drop capabilities as a mean of loading your files -
Prompt user to input new pattern category
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- Simple GUI
- Set load and save directory file path
- Set new pattern category
- Option to toggle saving icon file
Upon a test user's request (DEVELOPMENT HALTED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE):
- Change pattern in another internal XML resource to be more consistent
- Recategorizes .sims3pack pattern files as well (and not just .package files)
- Successfully extracted .package from .sims3pack and recategorized that
- Next step: repackaging into .sims3pack without loss of information
- Advanced options
- Able to change surface material
- Able to change pattern description
This project was coded using pythonnet to utilize .NET libraries in Python, CustomTkinter to create a GUI with a modern interface, and PyInstaller to create the executable file.
Microsoft's .NET Framework 4 and the following python packages:
- pythonnet
- beautifulsoup4
- lxml
- customtkinter
The versions used can be found in requirements.txt.
Install Python on your system if you have yet to do so. Then, run pip install -r requirements.txt to install all dependencies.
Then, in the cloned repo, run python ProgramGUI.py.
Class that extracts and modifies resources in .package file and calls on the ResourceChanger class to change pattern category based on user settings.
Class that rewrites specific resources within xml type files.
Class that forms the main GUI for the program. Produces error messages in the case of invalid run options and then uses a loop to run through each file in the chosen directory.
Wrapper to handle .package files.
Handler for .sims3pack files. (Unfinished)
Fork this repository, implement a feature, and open a pull request!
Contributions are very much welcome! There are several features that have been requested by users.
This project is licensed under the GNU GPLv3 License - see the LICENSE file for details.
This tool was something I built primarily for my own incredibly niche uses. I found lots of satisfaction in being able to build a standalone desktop application. This project would not have been possible without our forefathers in Sims 3 tool modding:
- Anja Knackstedt's Pattern Preset Color Extractor for building a fabulous tool whose code I heavily referenced for reading .package files and extracting the correct resources for patterns
- Delphy's Sims 3 Pack Multi-Extracter for their useful tool that I referenced when building the UI
- Peter L Jone's s3pi for creating an indispensable library to work with Sims 3 files
Finally, I want to thank the following creators of the assets I used:
And I got the Sims Plumbob asset from here.