Good Evening All,

I think this might be my first time ever posting on here. I apologize ahead of time if this is the incorrect forum for this discussion. What I am looking to do, if it is even possible is I want to create a new modding program for The Sims 3. The issue is, I am using Linux (Ubuntu 24.04 to be exact), and many of the standard Sims 3 tools that people use simply don't work on Linux, at least not out of the box, without using WINE, Winetricks, Bottles, Protontricks, using a Virtual machine in Virtualbox (which comes with it's own issues). The other day, and I don't know if this was caused by a recent Ubuntu update, but I WAS able to TSRW to make mods for the Sims 3, however now its malfunctioning again, and quite frankly I'm kinda sick and tired of TSRW, and having to put up with all its nonsense. From poorly formed workflows, to being a giant pain and unwieldy to use, to annoying proprietary formats that data is saved in, I am kind of tired of dealing with TSRW, and I would really like to develop a cross-platform, non-proprietary, open source Sims editor that basically does it all, you can create GEOM models, edit them in realtime, check to see if textures will work in realtime, generate Sims3Packs OR if you prefer just RAW packages, an editor where you can make clothes/outfits, objects, textures etc. The thing is... now in 2026, I know the game is several years old, and I'm not sure what resources there are for knowing how the game's core systems work, but this is a project I would like to do, if there was anyone who could point me in the right direction where to even begin finding info for how stuff works. About me, I'm a 43 year old post veteran who works in the IT / Tech support sector. I studied computer science and programming in particular as my specialty, and its not a matter of needing the skills to do so, I have those. I am just not sure where the information would be for how things work. I am sure everyone would love a replacement for the buggy mess that is TSRW. Also this opens modding up to people on Linux and Apple if I can pull this off. I used to make some mods before using TSRW, but now since I'm not on Windows anymore it's being even more uncooperative.

A search on this forum for a particular thing almost always yields some good results.

Other places I've found helpful:
* https://simswiki.info/wiki.php?titl...oding_Tutorials
* https://www.nraas.net/community/Help. Just having NRaas MasterController in your game can in itself be quite enlightening to how it all works internally too.
* this (sims 1) newish effort looks very promising: https://github.com/DnfJeff/SimObliterator_Suite
* s3pi would likely be useful https://github.com/marcos4503/sims3-package-interface
* just searching github for sims 3 stuff. It looks like there are other projects you could join or have a look through there as well; most I've seen are more specific than "all the modding"
* if you're doing a lot of 3d stuff, I'd recommend having a search for Sims-specific Blender plugins as there seems to be a lot of stuff that looks very useful

I too am excited to get to a point where I have a workflow that suits me and make mods with it, but I've been in the following cycle for a while now:

1. get excited
2. start on something
3. end up spending most of my time either trying to get various .net tools to work (some of them do now, all with wine, and that is awesome :D), or waiting on the game to load so I can test something

So I feel your pain. The bad thing is it seems tools and information are fragmented through space and time... The good thing is that there is A LOT of super helpful stuff, and the community is super responsive too.

Good luck and I'd be up for testing stuff out.

Thanks mijiturka, I am just wondering where the biggest need is right now. Like I said before right now I've gotten most of the tools that are available for Windows to work in Linux (by finesse and by using different supporting tools). I think most likely if I take this on, I'll probably write it in something that is platform friendly like WxWidgets (since it works cross platform) it will work on Windows, Linux, Apple/Mac OS, and any platform that supports C++/C#. Btw if you (or that goes for everyone here), if you're having troubles getting Sims editing tools working in Linux I've gotten many of them to work if anyone needs help. I am by no means a digital arts expert but I do know programming, which is where my strength lies.

Thanks for offering help with getting existing tools to run on Linux, definitely some PM's coming your way from me on it! :D

A slight terminology correction, but TSRW isn't used to create mods. I know that in a larger video-game context any game modification is by definition a mod, but the Sims community makes a distinction between 'custom content' (CC for short: cosmetic items, such as CAS clothing, skins, or build/buy objects) and 'mods' (gameplay content that involves XML or script modding).
Those who aren't familiar with script modding might overlook posts like this, thinking you're referring to that kind of mod.

That aside, there are several alternatives to TSRW - not all condensed into one program, sure, but quite a few of them are part of the same 'suite' by the S3PE developers.
I do not like and therefore do not use TSRW, yet I still make plenty of CC. It's really not necessary.
Installing content via the launcher is also no longer recommended, so .sims3packs are not typically used anymore.

Destrospean just recently released CAS Designer Toolkit, which bundles a lot of the same features and Linux support.
I don't have experience with that one, but it looks promising.

Just letting you know that the community is alive and well and has made a lot of these advancements already, there are so many incredible community tools that have made a lot of the old clunky workflows redundant
For example, Blender is flawless (and familiar, for 3D artists) for making GEOM in thanks to the SmugTomato plugin. What we're still missing in 2026 are updated Blender plugins for build/buy objects, which use the mesh formats MODL and MLOD.

Thank you for mentioning this!
I would add though that my tool doesn't have support for objects, at least not yet (there's a branch for it on GitHub, and it can be used to do some things like editing presets and material shader properties, but it lacks very basic things like the ability to import meshes).
I do know creators like TheSweetSimmer avoid TSRW and use S3OC and S3PE for objects, doing chunk editing when needed, and use TextureTweaker for editing the textures (since using S3PE for editing complate overrides is tedious and human error-prone with typos).

I could always use some help though!
I use GTK# 2 for my project, but I'm looking to port it to something else like GTK# 3 or Avalonia, though that would require upgrading the .NET version and all kinds of other things.
This is how it looks on Fedora 44 KDE Plasma Desktop, by the way:



As you can tell, it's very uh... utilitarian in its design due to the limitations of the framework. It also can only run in X11 (or XWayland) and I had to implement scaling myself since GTK 2 doesn't support HiDPI.

It would be really nice to get something like Sims 4 Studio for the Sims 3.

Plus maybe some other workflows like sound and effect(FX) replacement need to be formalized, the workflows were very esoteric, and many I fear have been lost.

Cardinal, the reason why I'm interested in creating a new toolset is for a similar reason that I read farther below but, I am currently on Linux. I would like to develop a tool that is platform-independent, that will work on Windows / Linux / Mac etc, out of the box with no additional setup needed; or at least minimal setup needed. I have tried using different toolsets people have put out over the years, but many times it's hit or miss. Some* programs I have gotten to work on Linux, but it's always a mixed bag. Gotten Sims 3 Package Extractor to work, S3 Package Explorer, already got Blender, got Milkshape 3D to work, however as for other tools like CAS Designer Toolkit, already tried it, but it breaks down because I don't have access to any of the Microsoft-based .NET frameworks or C++ libraries they require. Even when I can get these programs to work, they never work 'fully correct' if you get my meaning. Another issue too is that people want to develop using Dynamic link libraries (which I am really not a fan of) because what happens when Microsoft or Apple decide to deprecate certain libraries? I've had programs in the past die, and simply not be able to work anymore, or at least not work optimally, because Microsoft decides to remove certain components from Windows. I would program everything using static libraries, even though it costs more HDD space, its a small price to pay, when no matter what, you can reliably copy the program to any computer, and 'it just works' lol.

Destropean... have you considered using WxWidgets instead? Or quick question, what base language are you using to code this?

I unfortunately can’t find a good .NET binding for wxWidgets, as S3PI is written in C#.
I can’t find any good equivalent Sims 3 package libraries for C++ or Python, which are ideal languages for wxWidgets (I have used it before with those languages)
If you can find a good binding though, you would be a godsend, because I actually do like cross-platform native interfaces a lot.

I am a little confused… CAS Designer Toolkit is a bundled Mono application. It’s built on Debian bookworm, which holds among the oldest versions of GLIBC in use, so it should work on your distro just fine…

Believe it or not, I don’t even have a dedicated Windows install on bare metal anymore. I fully mod on Linux with MonoDevelop and dogfood my own tools. S3PE and S3OC I run with Wine (you have to install dotnet40 with winetricks for it to work)

To be perfectly fair here:
I don't think many serious modders use TSRW. The stuff you most commonly see from that is "Meh", because everyone now thinks they can create high value content (And that is not true. A hill I will die on). Slapping a new texture onto something does not make you a modder. If you do not know what a normal or specular map are or how to create them, just don't bother.
People tend to raw dog it with Blender, photoshop or gimp, and animation rigs that have been passed down for generations.
Same goes for any type of modded content, like clothing being dressed on a rig in blender, weighted, and whatnot.
You cannot look at TSRW and be like "That's the end-all."
So, the question is: Why would you want to recreate or improve on something that no one really uses?
Modders have their preferred set ups and tools. TSRW did not change that. It just made modding more accessible for everyone, which is perfectly fine and a good thing. But people that do this out of passion or even for a living, will not just drop all their tools and get used to something else.
If your main goal is to make modding more accessible to everyone: Absolutely! Go at it and knock yourself out.
If you want to get old time modders to use this: No chance. If I have to code review an old COBOL main frame, I go at it in a very specific way that has proven to be effective over decades. No upcoming tool will change that.

The Sims 3 was released over 15 years ago. It will never see any engine update (or ANY update for that matter). There is no need to reinvent the wheel, in my opinion. Modders by now genuinely know how to handle the tools they are comfortable with and they are more than willing to pass that knowledge on to anyone asking. They know they won't be around forever.

I modded many years for an adult project that had no built in mod support (it released in 2002). It was a constant hassle, but best methods evolved that we all shared with each other. I even modeled in Blender, albeit I am more of a coder. But the methods were there and they were easy and understandable.

I disagree. I don't think it's necessarily about accessibility so much as it is about convenience. Without something like TSRW, CTU, or I guess my own tool, one would have to edit the chunks of each CASP manually in S3PE.

Presets are XMLs and are embedded in the CASP (except the default one which is its own resource). Is it painfully slow to go through each preset and modify the XMLs, and there are often typos that go with that. A tool that would instead list the available TGIs for _IMG resources and whatnot seems like a more convenient and less error-prone way to edit CASPs and their presets.

Is it not our job as developers to design tools that make workflows more convenient and failsafe? Why wouldn't bookkeepers continue to just use ledgers instead of accounting software? Why wouldn't artists just touch up photos with Microsoft Paint instead of Photoshop?

While I do agree that to be a better CC creator means actually understanding the different resource types and how the relate to each other, I don't think having a tool that speeds up the process is a bad thing. A good CC creator would take advantage of that tool but also go into S3PE to do what the tool itself cannot if that is necessary.

You are not wrong and I realize I have might come across as a bit snobbish, even though that was not my intention. That is my autism at work XD
Honestly? Anything that makes modding more accessible (or simple) is welcome.

Besides, TSRW and the other tools do not have functionality for editing meshes. It is mostly just to edit different properties of CASPs and objects, including their textures (within GEOMs or MODLs/MLODs). The quality of the meshes and the textures have nothing to do with TSRW, since people still have to use Blender and Photoshop/GIMP to make the meshes and textures.

Ah, don't worry about it, lol. I have those moments as well. I don't disclose it publicly often, but I also have autism. Well, autism and ADHD... The latter seems to be the more prevalent of the two when it comes to hindrances.

A fellow AuDHDer! We will get along just splendidly... or be on each others throats. There is never any inbetween.

Why not? I haven't tried this new tool yet, but plan to. The only thing TSRW doesn't do for me that I might want on final assembly, is cycle pregnant morphs.

Just my opinion, but no one just dives head first into making anything. Texture changes and light meshing in Blender is how I got started, and many of the tools I started with, including TSRW, are the tools I still use... I just learned more uses for those tools.

I think Blender is the way to go. And then of course you can use other tools. But first and foremost, people need to learn what a bump or normal map is, then a specular map, etc.
If you do not know these basics, your content will be sub-par, no matter what tool you use.
As I said before, I might have come across as snobbish, and I apologize for that.
When I do that, it is never intended. It is a side effect of my ASD-1, offering me zero patience in understanding other people's needs.
I literally cannot relate in those moments and I have zero patience in making things understood in a commonly acceptable way.
In my head, those are things people just know about. If they don't, then they are at the wrong place or in the wrong discussion.
I know that is not right, but it is how things are in my head.
I still think, if you want to texture mod and have no idea what a normal map is, you probably shouldn't. Ask around or learn the basics first.

And, as much as I like that black armor... some normal and specular mapping would have done wonders to it.
It looks a bit off with zero depth or shine to it (might also be the pics are just too small to see it properly).
Those silver outlines with a shine to them? That would hit so hard!
As it is on the picture here, it is just "Meh". A black armor with a grey outline to it.
Give that armor a proper specular map and you will not be disappointed.
Same goes for that banderole or whatever it is on your first screenie. It has zero depth.
You look at it and can immediately tell it is a texture slapped across someone's body. No depth, no nothing.
The very least anyone has to add to any of their texture mods is a normal map. If you cannot do that, don't make texture mods.
Unless it is an issue with your game resolution and settings, both the banderole and the armor are just... flat. They have no substance, no depth, no shine.
Use your maps, ffs.

EDIT: I realize how this might come across as offensive, albeit I do never intend it that way. It is the way I tick. Direct communication, no speaking "through the flowers", etc.
I will take the same in return and appreciate it. I do not deal in vague social performances. I do not dance around a topic for two hours until I get to the point. Those are all things I will not comprehend. That is a biological fact.

I found some energy to explain what the maps are, mostly the normal (or bump map) and the specular map.
I think these things need to be said in a topic like this, because... if you use these tools without knowing the basics, your content is doomed.

Bump or Normal Map:
This piece of graphics (yes, you need to create it yourself in Gimp or whatever) will determine what parts of the texture are above or beyond a certain level, giving the entire thing a sense of depth.

Specular map:
This specific piece of graphic file will tell your graphic where and when highlighting and lighting should take place.
It is awfully good to simulate reflections on metal surfaces and the like, or the shininess of those.
This can also be used to highlight (quite literally) work surfaces, like computers and such.

If you feel insecure in handling either of those... do not create custom texture content, please. Knowing these is the ABSOLUTE BASIC. Ask someone who knows instead.

Hehe...

Agreed. But each has it's learning curve. Normals maps acan be useless if the depth is always set to 1 in GIMP. Fine for hair. I have gone as high as 5 or so, but you really have to look at it in game. Sometimes, it can be way too much! TSRW does come short for showing that in the display window, as with a few things.

I personally stopped bothering with trying to get metal shine using simskin shader and the specular, and now use the Plumbot shader and at least a 2 group mesh if I need regular skin, or a fabric appearance also. You still have to play with the specular though, and once again, it doesn't really show in TSRW.

Both are just a matter of what Josh Q taught me... Practice and Patience! I've been doing CC for a while, and have deleted terabytes of FAILS (still delete stuff)... I mean learning steps.