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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 11:01 AM
Is there a program that can tell you what CC is being used the most
In other words , how many times the CC gets used every time you use the game. there's a lot of problems with this.
I don't fully understand how it registers the CC, but what i do know is that it doesn't acknowledge every CC unless it is called.
Yet the CC files themselves cannot be moved,which tells me they're all being used in some way even though i might have some that might not be used at all.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that. i'm trying to filter out a 22Gb download folder and reduce it to about 50%.
You sims cave is becoming a big habit.
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Undead Molten Llama
#2 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 11:14 AM
Do you mean you're trying to delete CC from within your Downloads folder while the game is running? You can't do that because when your game is running, every piece of CC you have is loaded into it, whether or not you're currently using all that CC on lots/Sims. So, from the computer's point of view, every piece of CC in your Downloads folder is "in use" while the game is running. If you want to delete CC from directly within your Downloads folder, you can't have the game or Bodyshop running at the same time.

Or are you saying that you're trying to delete CC in-game, using the game's deletion tools? In that case, if you're talking about build/buy objects, then the thing you want to delete can't exist on the lot you have loaded but can be "in use" on other lots in your game that aren't currently loaded. To delete objects in-game, you have to delete any iterations of it from the lot first. To properly delete objects in-game, what you ought to do is place a copy of the object you want to delete on a lot. Then, bring up the recolor tool and systematically delete all recolors of it (Using the little trash can icon that shows on little pop-up that displays all the recolor thumbnails) until you get to recolors you can't delete because no trash can icon appears when you have that particular recolor selected. Those will be the textures included with the mesh. Then, remove the object from the lot. Then, delete the object from the catalog. If you don't delete the recolors first and only delete the object from the catalog, the game will only delete the mesh file from your Downloads folder, not all the recolors of it. You'll be left with a bunch of useless recolors of that object, which can be hard to track down manually in the files.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#3 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 1:02 PM
You can delete recolours in game with the swatch tool. I have occasionally deleted a recolour from CAS as well. Really though finding and pulling the cc that you don't want is best.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 2:37 PM
Wouldn't in Game deletion lead to stealth files such as mesh still remaining? considering they sometimes only project the recolor and not the mesh model itself.
a common dilemma i have is that most CC that i download generally are a long string of numbers and letters. which is like dropping a grain of rice in the ocean sea and trying to get it out.

To answer your question ICad, i wanted to find a way to tag a file that was last modified when the game calls all files, but it seems that's not possible. If it was possible, the next step would be to arrange all files from the date ascending.
But sometimes the dates are wrong from when they were obtained. some date back to the 90s what the... d='
The motive behind this was to delete all files that i haven't used in years. Build and Buy mode deleting are effective and straight to the point, but you are always guaranteed to miss associates.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#5 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 2:46 PM
If you want all recolours gone, you also will want the mesh gone- hence better to find and pull the whole lot out of your download folder as I said above. I was talking about extra recolours you don't want, like that dress that comes with five shades of everything.

Hmm odd that most of your files are like that, these days creators normally name them. Old cc was like that off the exchange. If you have a really old download folder my suggestion is put it to one side and start from scratch using newer made items. better quality and better names. Also organize it well into folders, makes it easier to pull what you don't want.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Undead Molten Llama
#6 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 3:32 PM
Generally speaking, the date on any file on a computer will be the date it was last modified. In the case of CC, that will not be the date you downloaded/installed it or "used" it but rather the date the creator last modified it. The game loading the CC or you using a piece of CC in the game doesn't modify the file because it's just being read, not altered. You going into SimPE or Bodyshop to mess with the item -- like changing out its native textures or messing with the mesh or modifying its functions or whatever -- WILL alter the file and the date will be updated. So, no there's no way any program could tell you when you last "used" an item in the game because according to your computer it's "used" every single time you load the game, in the sense that the game reads/loads them, but the dates shown on the files are only, as I said, the last time the file was modified.

I have no idea why you have files dated from the 90s, though, as that would predate the game. No TS2-related file should have a date older than 2004 on it. It's possible the creator of the CC's computer has/had some issue somewhere so that it didn't have the right date when they were making the CC, but in order for it to involve how it keeps track of dates, it'd have to be an issue at a very, VERY basic level. Like, BIOS level. ....Or, perhaps some goofy nerd just thinks it's cool to make their computer think it's partying like it's 1999. It's possible to do that, after all.

Those random alphanumeric file names are usually generated by either Bodyshop, where it will generate files with random alphanumerics before the filename that the creator give it OR by the game's native package installer. The latter will "helpfully" renames files of CC that you get with a downloaded Sim/lot when you install it. So, if you download a Sim/lot and use the game's native package installer to install it, then any CC contained in the package file will be renamed with such filenames rather than the CC's original file names. Which sucks. That's why you should use the Clean Installer instead because it doesn't do that. Of course, that doesn't help if the person who packaged the Sim/lot used CC that had random-alphanumeric filenames in the first place. Probably lots of really old stuff does, if it was shared around amongst users via packaged Sims/lots and the people who downloaded those things didn't use CI (or CI didn't yet exist) and didn't rename the files to something comprehensible.

Finally, regarding deleting: When deleting things in game, the game will delete meshes of build/buy objects but not any recolors. In Bodyshop, it's the opposite. It will delete the particular recolors of a hair or a piece of clothing or whatever that you choose to delete, but it won't delete the mesh, if the item in question has a mesh. For build/buy, this can be overcome by doing as I said: Delete the recolors in-game first THEN delete the mesh in-game. Then all files associated with that piece of CC will be gone. Deleting meshed CAS stuff in-game is a little more problematic because once you're done deleting recolors you'll then have to find and delete the "orphaned" meshes that have no longer have textures and are therefore worthless. The Download Organizer, here on MTS, can help with that.

All in all, culling your CC is a pain in the ass, however you do it, especially if it's not organized in a way that makes sense to you. Whatever method you use, unless you've been very anal and kept pictures of everything you ever downloaded and have organized your DLs in a way that makes it easy to find everything associated with that picture, your only recourse is to trawl through your catalogs, look at stuff, make decisions about what to keep -- Me, unless it's a specialty item for a given type of neighborhood, if I can't remember the last time I used it, out it goes! -- and then delete by whatever method you choose. Really, it's better not to acquire masses of stuff that you don't use in the first place or, at least, after you go through the pain-in-the-assery of culling, you don't just turn around and download masses of stuff all over again.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#7 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 4:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Jasmini
Wouldn't in Game deletion lead to stealth files such as mesh still remaining? considering they sometimes only project the recolor and not the mesh model itself.
a common dilemma i have is that most CC that i download generally are a long string of numbers and letters. which is like dropping a grain of rice in the ocean sea and trying to get it out.

Deleting in game varies in effectiveness depending on what you're deleting. Deleting objects in game is different to deleting skins.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Alchemist
#8 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 4:19 PM
I thought you were asking for a program that could detect which CC is actually being used in the game, which is something I would love to see, too. Maybe I misunderstood you?
Undead Molten Llama
#9 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 6:05 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
I thought you were asking for a program that could detect which CC is actually being used in the game, which is something I would love to see, too. Maybe I misunderstood you?


While such a thing sure would be helpful, unfortunately I don't think it's possible, given how the game works and internally identifies things AND how computers in general work.

Really, the best thing to do is to only download the stuff you need and will use in the first place (Yes, I KNOW! ) and then to organize it well as soon as you install it so that if you decide you no longer need it, you can easily find and delete it from out of your Downloads folder directly, which is by far the easiest way to cull CC IF you can easily find the stuff you want to delete. On the flip side, if you organize TOO much, with lots of folders within folders within folders within folders, you can seriously increase your game's load time, which to some people is really annoying, possibly more annoying than catalogs full of CC they never use.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 6:23 PM
I'm afraid any method of culling CC selectively will be cumbersome if you have any large number of file names that convey no information.

If you can use certain tools, such as SimPE, you can open a package file; look at the textures, meshes, and interior file names to get a reasonable idea of what that file is; and rename it in a more useful manner or delete it immediately. If you plan to do this with 22 GB I suggest you pace yourself and do it over the course of several weeks. During that time you would also be figuring out what kind of organization system would work best for you, and begin to implement it, so that the next time (and there will be a next time) you won't have to go through all this.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Instructor
#11 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 7:12 PM
Best way I would do it is use Delphy's Download Organiser then sort the list by install date or whatever column you can find what you want out. It will give you more details about your objects and will sort by recolor etc. Hope that helps.
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=227925
Alchemist
#12 Old 23rd Jun 2018 at 8:54 PM
there are 3 programs that can tell various info about custom content. not sure of frequency of use being part of that info.
-main site's Content Manager; now accessible through Wayback Machine version of site.
-this site's Download Organizer.
-Clean Installer.

Windows has a way to tell how frequently programs are ran; I think shown in "Add/Remove Programs" in Control Panel.
not sure if there can be an equivalent for files.
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