I found a site with some dresses I'd like to use, not sure if I should use "save" or open it with Winzip. And then how do I get it into the game? I never tried to download any custom stuff before, I only tried with the Sims 2 store and this was a long time ago and I never could get the stuff to show up. They credited me for it, but I was still unsure why it didn't work. (It looks like EA/Maxis has just dropped anything to do with Sims 2 because the Sims 2 Store is gone.) The place I'm talking about http://personal-computer-tutor.com/sims2/adultfemale.htm
It looks like they are WinRar files. You'll need to use something that opens those files. (I think WinZip utility might do it, but it's been a long time since I used it. I use WinRar which you can download for free.) Once you have them in package form (out of the zipped file), then you go to TheSims2 (in your My Documents) and put them in your downloads folder. If you don't have one, you can make one (but don't make more than one.) You should be able to make subfolders within your downloads folder if you want to organize your downloads. One thing you want to make sure to do so that your files work is make sure that the item you used either uses a mesh already in the game or that you also download the mesh that goes with it. The old files from TS2's store opened by double clicking on them. Doing so made a download folder for you. But if you tried to put the file directly into the downloads folder, it wouldn't work. It needed to be "processed" to get its package files out. (Processed by double clicking on the file icon.) This wiki on MTS may give additional information you'd find useful: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Custom_Content
Yikes! Thanks for the link--I'm reading it but can already tell I'm in over my head. I can maybe download one or two things, but reading about poly-thingies and stress on my graphic card is making me scared. Just have to stick with what the game provides. :(
Polycounts are important if you don't have a good graphics card. However, most clothes are not going to give you polycount problems. The problems come when you use highly detailed furniture or decorations. The more little details, the higher the polycount. And those things all need new meshes, so if you don't need a mesh for something, it's not going to be bad. I had a pretty midrange card when I was playing TS2, but had a downloads folder with about 9 gb of content. I had all sorts of things, very little of which I actually used. Most of it was "in case I want to use it later." With TS3 I actually don't have any CC other than TS3 store stuff. But with the ingame ability to change colors and textures, I didn't need all that stuff I had been downloading "just in case." One of the articles seemed to be on downloading "for dummies" (as opposed to the one on "fracking geniuses.") That might be most helpful. I wouldn't worry too much about polycounts if I were you, especially for the things on the webpage you indicated. Linda's stuff is usually not too detailed.
I saw some lots that were really cool, they were free and you did not need any exp packs to use them. I'll have to check them again and see about polycounts. I thought before I had bookmarked some other places where I could get stuff, but if I did I can't find them.
