A while ago I wrote about creative video games worth trying out and The Sims 4 was at the top of that list. And for good reason! There’s just so much you can do with sims, and community-made mods and Custom Content (or CC) add even more possibilities.
So many, really, that it’s hard to know where to go to find the best cc and… “collecting” the best stuff for your sims is almost a hobby in and of itself.
Or maybe I’m just a hoarder, you know. Whatever. 🙂
Anyway, I thought I’d share some of the best places I’ve found a lot of great custom content to help you get even more creative with your sims.
General tips
First off, here’s what you DON’T want to do:
- download anything that looks sketchy; for instance, if it uses ad.fly? Not worth it!
- simply place .rar or .zip files in your Mods folder without extracting the files first
- if you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry; I’ll explain below
- download mods or cc that requires expansion packs you don’t have
- many downloads will specifically say “base-game compatible” or “bgc” OR note what expansions are required to use the content
- (optional) download a ton of content without also getting mods to help you manage it
- for example: expanded CAS columns becomes verryyy necessary at a certain point
Yeah, so I would suggest NOT doing the above things. Here’s the basics of how you actually DO download mods/cc for your game:
Disclaimer: I have a PC and am running Windows 10. I honestly have no idea how this changes if you have a Mac. YMMV, etc etc.
- Find cool stuff and download it! Yay! This is the fun part. Make sure you know how to get to where everything downloads, i.e, usually your Downloads folder.
- Look at what file type each download is. PACKAGE files are the easiest to handle; go to 2a. Go to 2b for .rar and .zip files.
- 2a: If the file in question is a PACKAGE file, all you really have to do is move that sucker into your Sims 4 Mods folder. Click to select it, then you should see “Move to” up at the top of your file browser. Use that to navigate to your Mods folder, which for me is in Documents, but you might have to look around. The path should be something like Documents > Electronic Arts >The Sims 4 > Mods. Once you’ve moved the file to Mods, you’re done with this step.
- 2b: For a .rar or .zip file, I would recommend using 7zip, which is free and by all accounts much better than winRAR or whatever else is out there. With it installed, right click the file, then 7zip > Extract… and click the three little dots off to the right to browse for your Mods folder. The path should be something like Documents > Electronic Arts >The Sims 4 > Mods. Press OK to extract the files to your Mods folder and now you can delete the files from your Downloads.
- Now you’ve installed your mods/cc and want to actually play, right? To do this, you’ll need to start the game, go into Options, and enable mods and scripted mods. You’ll find the options in the “Other” category. Note that you’ll need to re-enable mods every time the game updates.
- Now you’ll need to restart your game. Do this and you should be all set!
Now that you get the process, where do you actually find all this cool stuff to download??
Larger/general sources of Sims cc
- The Sims Resource.
- This one can be divisive because you have to pay to conveniently download anything, but it’s pretty cheap. I think it’s very worth the price.
- The content here tends to be high-quality and there’s a lot of it. It’s kind of overwhelming, honestly. Often I find cc through another source (like Pinterest) that points me back to TSR, though I wouldn’t have ever seen it there otherwise. Maybe their search needs some tweaking? Not sure.
- You can absolutely try TSR for free for a while and if you use it a lot, consider upgrading to a paid plan.
- Tumblr.
- So-called “simblrs” tend to host free cc, but sometimes they link to Patrons-only Patreon accounts.
- Simblrs are great for going down rabbit holes, because often they reblog each other and/or have lists of other simblrs you can check out.
- You don’t need a tumblr account of your own to search tumblr!
- The biggest downfall of searching tumblr is that many of the links are broken. Sometimes it feels like a cc cemetery. 😦 But there is still so much left up there!
- Pinterest.
- I unironically love Pinterest lately. It learns quickly what you’re into and suggests infinite sources of cc once it picks up on your interest in it.
- Pinterest is also great for organizing all that stuff you want to download later!
- I would recommend adding a “note to self” when you download something so you don’t forget. For example, I would add “Downloaded 5/11/22” to everything I download today. These notes are only visible to you, don’t worry.
- ModTheSims.
- ModTheSims is especially great for, well, mods. I means mods as opposed to cc that doesn’t really function in an innovative way, e.g., clothes.
- You can download stuff for free here!
- Beware of very old mods–I haven’t seen anything malicious on MTS, but some modders have abandoned their mods over time and they can either just not work and/or cause problems with your game.
I’m sure I’m missing other sources, but these are what I use, generally. I’m a little hesitant to recommend Simsdom because I find the wait time (if you don’t pay) to be extremely annoying and the price doesn’t seem worth it. That said, sometimes I’ll download from there anyway.
Maybe you’re looking for even faster shortcuts to the good stuff. 🙂 Don’t worry, I got you.
My more specific faves for cc sources
The following list is probably well into “overwhelming” territory, but I’m providing little notes to help you determine which links to follow based on what kind of cc you’re looking for. Have fun!
TSR
Like I mentioned above, TSR is technically a paysite, but it’s well worth the cost, in my opinion. There’s no other site as legit, high-quality, and (almost) free of ads.
Some of my favorite TSR artists are:
KaTPurpura: clothes, especially female kids and toddler clothes cc
McLayneSims: clothes, especially male clothes cc (for all ages). Really prolific creator on TSR.
qicc: hair cc
remaron: hair and clothes cc (for all ages)
Severinka_: object and furniture cc
SIMcredible!: super polished object and furniture cc, especially sets
Pinkzombiecupcakes: clothes cc (for all ages and genders)
RAVASHEEN: objects/furniture cc. Often modded to function in some awesome and creative way. Probably one of my top favorite Sims cc creators/modders.
Sims House: clothes cc for male and female adults
Syboubou: object and furniture cc, amazing quality.
Pralinesims: buy/build objects, walls and floors, and premade houses cc. Incredible attention to detail, especially in subtle textures. My go-to for flooring and terrain.
wingssims: alpha hair cc. Super realistic.
wondymoon: object and furniture cc. Lots of really good stuff.
Onyxium: object and furniture cc, often a really cool modern/minimalistic style.
ung999: object and furniture cc, modern style.
NynaeveDesign: object and furniture cc. Not currently uploading (at least on TSR), but their stuff is very high-quality.
jomsims: VERY prolific creator (over 6k creations on TSR), with plenty of great clothes and object/furniture cc.
OranosTR: clothes and hair cc
Darte77: clothes, especially male clothes cc. Very detailed–goes for realism.
belaloallure: clothes cc. Very detailed, goes for realism.
lillka: kids and toddlers clothes cc
Simblrs (Tumblr)
These are some of my favorite sims-focused Tumblr blogs. You don’t need a tumblr to chase rabbitholes of reblogged cc. 🙂 There is some risk of broken links, though.
Peacemaker: objects and furniture cc. You can tell this person is very kind and does it for the joy.
KK’s Sims: clothes, especially male clothes cc
MaxisMatchCCWorld: a HUGE collection of cc. Very neatly organized, too. A great source to find any kind of cc you want.
wcifsareclosed: a reliable simblr with a large collection of cc. I don’t think they create, though I could be wrong.
okruee: clothes and hair cc
This is Them: skinblends cc that make sims look like real people. It’s crazy.
My Pinterest board
If you want a direct way to see what I’m into as far as Sims 4 cc, check out my Pinterest board.
I will warn you, however, that some links may be broken and/or lead to adfly or be otherwise sketchy. I can’t guarantee everything on here because I don’t download before I pin, typically.
Patreon/Other sites
Most of these are on Patreon, but here’s a protip: scroll down to “See all posts” and then filter on the tier dropdown to only show public posts. This lists all the free content for you!
Around the Sims: an unreal quantity of buy/build objects as well as clothes cc. If you aren’t a paid member, you need to download items individually (sometimes a pain, but I think it’s worth the effort).
myshunosun: object/furniture cc with a distinct minimalist style.
Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla: clothes, especially male clothes cc. They have a very clean and professional style and are super prolific. I probably have hundreds of Gorillax3 pins on my Sims board.
LazyEyelids: clothes cc (for all ages and genders)
Solistair: clothes cc for male and female adults
Rusty Nail clothes, espeically male clothes cc (Sims4Downloads has a lot of ads, but otherwise seems legit)
Rimings: clothes cc. Very detailed, goes for realism.
AdrienPastel: clothes, epecially male clothes cc.
casteru: clothes and hair cc. A smoother, closer-to-EA sort of style.
obscurus-sims: sliders and presets. Seriously, their sliders are the best out there.
I hope this was helpful to anyone looking to try out some Sims 4 CC! See you soon! 🙂
Making Stuff Today 