Reading the SimPE thread thoroughly confused me and dismayed me, but I went ahead and downloaded the latest version and plopped it into the EA folder just to see what would happen.

It was painless. The links formed without any input from my part, and I've been using it to modify various things since I got it. This is with a brand-new Steam version (not even a week old as of today). I'm just mentioning this in case anybody else is interested in taking the plunge.

One caveat applies, I haven't tried using it yet to create custom content or recolors. It's been 15 years since I played the game, I kinda want to play my old 'hood for awhile before I start adding too much content. They're all very excited to be "alive" again.

-- Mal

You should not be putting SimPE in your game folders, and you should get the latest version and not 75f.

You want to expand on that? Why shouldn't it be in the EA folder, and why is 75f an inferior version?

-- Mal

It doesn't go in that folder because it's not a mod, and it has package files in it that can possibly have unexpected effects on your game if you put them in there. 75f is an old version that hasn't been updated in an extremely long time and has some stuff that doesn't really work right and is missing some features of the latest version.

75f is fine to use though, I've been using it since Quaxi released it. There are some features in it that Chris Hatch changed in later versions, so it's really a preference. Chris Hatch also added a load of handy dandy features, and bundled a load of tools in with the later versions (at the expense of having some naked lady icons ) but changed or removed some features. It's perfectly fine to have more than one version installed so that you can use features from different versions- I have four versions installed currently which I use for different purposes.

It's OK to put SimPE directly under your EA Games folder, but make sure it isn't under the Sims2 subfolder. There's stuff in SimPE that the game is not supposed to read. (Found this out the hard way, after an epidemic of split character files.)

Lmao. Whatever happened with your SimPE was unrelated to split character files, and split character files don't cause any problems anyway.

Kes refuses to believe that a misplaced SimPE folder can cause split character files, and is convinced that split character files aren't a problem. Well:

* I never had a problem with split character files until I accidentally misplaced my SimPE fplder.

* The split character files DID cause problems.

* I tracked the source down to the misplaced SimPE folder, moved it out from under, and the split character files stopped happening.

Kes can tell me it's a "post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy all they want, but I know what was going on in MY game.

I have no idea what a "split character file" is, and from the context, I don't wanna know. It's no problem moving the SimPE folder up a level or two.
Correlation may not be causation, but if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and...

-- Mal

Your split character files did not cause any problems, except inside your head.

I don't know what's in your SimPE installation, I guess you could have put something in there that modified character files, since you are prone to putting things in odd places, but I did not see anything in my standard installation that would modify character files.

Malt: A "split character file" is when one Sim (playable or otherwise) has its data in two or more separate data files (xxxxx, xxxxx.1, etc.) This is usually not a big deal for Service sims, as they have a limited set of specific interactions and they aren't that important to gameplay. However, if you want to make significant changes to a Playable Sim and it has a split file, that's another story.

The splitting can be undone, but it's a confounded nuisance, so best to take precautions against it happening in the first place.

How do you fix splitting? I thought that it was something you couldn't avoid or fix.

There are certain mods that can cause splitting. Also, as noted, make sure your SimPE folder isn't under your game folder (SimPE can read the game from anywhere if the paths are set correctly, but the game should not read it).

As to fixing, it's possible (but tricky) to reintegrate the files using SimPE (back up the 'hood first, of course, just in case). Don't do the work in the Neighborhood folder, make a work directory somewhere you can find easily but not under the game, use SimPE to Export the split files to the work directory, and work on them there. (Note: Work on one character at a time, so you don't get confused.) If you succeed in reintegrating them, you should temporarily remove the original split files to the work directory or a different storage directory, put the repaired file back in the Neighborhood folder, and test the game. If it runs OK, you can delete the stored split files.
More information here (scroll down): https://www.tumblr.com/twoleafsimme...-mods-splitting

This is not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, so make sure you have a current backup before you start.

And, only try to repair Playables that you really care about - the various NPCs will generally work just as well whether their files are split or not.

Addendum: Add to the list of problematical mods:

Pescado "daily gardener"
Lenna9 "No Disappearing Spectral Cats" (drat!)