Why should I subscribe to Simslice when there are so many other sites?
There are lots of Sim sites, but none of them add entire new dimensions to the game quite like Simslice does (e.g. Slice City, Weather Machine, etc. ), and few take the time and attention to detail in creation and in testing that Simslice puts into every object, including little fun "surprises" we are known for. Feel free to read what the press has said about Simslice. Over the past three years, we have used donations to help keep this site alive, using "Incentive Pack" items to encourage and reward supporters -- our goal was to make the majority of our content available for the majority of people, without going bankrupt paying our website bills. The system worked at first. And I want to thank all our past donors for all their help and support over the years! Their support allowed us the ability to post new, free items for you and everyone else each and every week for nearly 3 years. Without our supporters, we wouldn't be here today. But as time went on and interest in older "Incentive" items started to lessen, it was necessary to (regularly) introduce brand new Incentive Packs to encourage support to continue coming in. Honestly, we never expected to have as many Incentive Packs as we do now (18). The time required to create new free items every single week was also a major drain on us as well, but it's a promise we made to you all that we were happy to honor. In addition, the recent rash of thievery, encouragement of thievery from their supporters (which of course is the fuel that keeps thievery going...) and the extra time for us to deal with it all, was also very time-consuming. Now with the release of The Sims 2 and it's more advanced game engine, it will take even longer to create content for that game than it did for The Sims "1". So when you add it all up, we had to make a quick choice: either shut down, or change our strategy. We chose the latter.

The result? More stuff for you! If membership is strong enough, we can afford to put more time into this site for you. That means more and more of our time now will be devoted to making Sims content than ever before (for both The Sims and The Sims 2). You should see more frequent site updates, and really unique stuff -- some of the projects we are working on right now will literally blow away anything accomplished in the past. We are working with coders at the highest levels, names of whom you are very likely familiar with, to create some really dazzling things that I can't go into detail right now because of a confidentiality clause... but I will very soon. We have always supported Guest Artists, and we are encouraging more and more artists to showcase their work on Simslice as well, especially with content for The Sims 2. So if you feel your work fits our "Originality, Creativity, and Quality" motto, and you would like to learn more about the benefits of having your work hosted by Simslice, we would be very happy to hear from you. Please see our Submissions page for details. We also are hosting a brand new and improved Forums (no more EZBoard). And much much more is to come! I know an explanation of all this perhaps wasn't required, but those of you who have been frequent patrons of our site over the years deserve to know everything. I hope that explains it well enough, and I sincerely hope you will continue to be with us as official members of our site and continue to support the work done by Simslice now, and in the future. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Where is the Weather Machine?
The Deluxe Weather Seasons Package for the original The Sims game is here! Members can download it from it's own webpage right here. We also have a Weather-Maker for The Sims 2 and that can be downloaded from our Sims 2 Objects section. In fact, all 18 of our older Incentive Packs are now available here for subscribing members (they are no longer at the E-Store). Some of them have already been updated, but all of them will be updated soon.

I am having problems logging in - help?
First you need to subscribe. If you are a member and are having problems logging in, there are a few things you can try that might help:

1) PayPal Verification: If you used PayPal, log into your PayPal account and pull up your payment record -- just verify that the username and password are being typed in accurately. Access is usually immediate. However in rare cases it might take PayPal a little longer to process the information to a server. So if that happens, just give it a little more time, say about an hour.

2) Try a Block/Copy/Paste method: Using your left mouse button, click and drag across the "username". Type Ctrl C to "copy". In the login window on our site, click inside the "username" field and type Ctrl V to "paste" in the "username" exactly. Make sure no extra space characters were inadvertently entered before or after the username. Repeat the process with the "password". Since "password" characters are hidden, count the number of "password" characters to make sure they match and that no extra spaces were pasted.

3) Extra characters added?: Make sure no extra [space] characters were typed in the beginning or end of your username or password. This is particularly common when using a Block/Copy/Paste method. Extra characters, even spaces, will alter the word and fail the login.

4) CAPS Lock key: If typing, make sure your CAPS Lock key is "off"

5) Check your browser settings: Another tip, try adding us to your Trusted Sites list. For IE users, this can be done by clicking on the "Tools" pulldown, then "Internet Options", then "Security" then "Trusted Sites". Then just add our site. Many have reported this tip as helpful. When logging in, if you get an "Unauthorized" page but don't get the login popup box, then try increasing your browser Security Settings (they may be too low). If you don't want to mess with them, here's a way around that (for IE users): Select "Tools" then "Internet Options" then the "Security" tab. Click on "Internet" (a globe pic) and click the "Custom Level" button. Then scroll aaaaaaall the way down to the last one... to "User Authentication" and select "Prompt for user name and password".

6) Protective Programs: If you are using a Firewall, Windows XP Security Center or even certain Anti-Virus programs with access protection settings too high, they might cause a disruption in viewing websites. Check your settings to make sure you are allowing yourself to access Simslice and pop-up login prompts.

7) More Help: If you know of additional helpful tips that can be added here, or if you have any additional issues to report, please contact us.

How do I download, unzip and install items in my game?
How to Install Our Files:
Like most Sim sites, creations here are "zipped up" (compressed for space), and you can unzip them using many tools, such as the free evaluation version at WinZip (Note: WinZip is not needed for Windows XP or Vista users -- they can just double click on the file to open (unzip) it). There are other programs around that can unzip, such as Simzip for TS1, but since some of these have been reported to corrupt certain game files, to be safe we don't make any additional recommendations. However feel free to use whatever you are comfortable with, just backup your file first just in case.

To download our items, simply click on the download link (for details about how to subscribe to Simslice, click here). A window will pop up with a prompt. Click the "save" button and choose a folder to save it to. It will then start downloading to that folder. Once finished, go to the folder where you downloaded the file, and double-click on it. This starts the unzip process. Windows XP users usually can just move the files to the proper location (XP can read zip files like regular directories). WinZip users should follow the WinZip prompts to extract the file(s) to the appropriate directory(ies). You can adjust these WinZip instructions below for whatever tool you are using. The instructions below are for WinZip users starting from the very beginning... if you've already started the unzip process above, continue from step #5:

1) Make sure The Sims game is not running (if it is, quit the game). It is best if you are using the latest version of WinZip.

2) Hit the "I agree" button, if prompted (after agreeing to their notice of course ;) ).

3) Hit the "open" button. This opens the "Open Archive" window.

4) Locate the .zip file you downloaded, highlight it, and hit the "Open" button again.

5) The contents of the Zip file are now displayed. Highlight each file and hit the "Extract" button (or if there is an "Extract All" button, you can use that instead).

6) Select the proper folder (see "readme" file or instructions below for details). Then hit the "Extract" button.

7) The files will now copy to that folder. Close the WinZip window. You're all done!

8) Run the game, and the objects will be in the appropriate in-game categories.

Brief instructions are included on each download's webpage, and additional instructions are in each enclosed "readme" file, so make sure you read them both in case there are special instructions. But basically, here's where files need to be installed:

Sims 2 content: Files ending in .Sims2Skin or .Sims2Pack are installed just by double-clicking on the file and following the prompts. Files ending in .package just need to be put into your "C:/.../My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads" folder. Now, this folder is not created when the game is installed, but only when the .Sims2Skin or .Sims2Pack installer is run for the first time. So if you are new to downloading and you do not see this "../Downloads" folder in this exact location, then simply create it and then put the .package file in it. A few people prefer the "../Objects" folder instead (in C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Objects), although "../Downloads" is usually the better choice (just don't put the file in both - only one or the other). The next time you run the game, your item will be there! If not, check to make sure you have the "Catalogs Display Custom Content" setting in the game set to "ON" (some expansions have additional requirements too -- for more details, jump to our troubleshooting FAQ).

The rest of the instructions apply to the original The Sims game:

Objects: Objects should be extracted into the Sims/Downloads directory, unless otherwise stated in the "readme" file. If you are a frequent downloader of our site, we suggest going into the Downloads folder and creating a new folder called Simslice, and put all our objects in there (it's easier to track and organize your downloads this way, but you don't have to do it). If they don't show up in your game, or you get a crash, there could be many reasons, so please click here to jump to that FAQ here that offers solutions.

Skins: All skin files go into the GameData/Skins directory unless otherwise stated. Do not create subdirectories in the Skins folder because the game won't read them for some reason.

Houses: If you have multiple neighborhoods, run the game and pick the neighborhood you want the house to go in (if you haven't done so already). Then quit the game, and find the Userdata folder that corresponds with that neighborhood (i.e. Neighborhood 2 = Userdata2). Those of you without multiple neighborhoods in your game just go to the Userdata folder. In that folder, open the Houses folder, and replace the House##.iff file with the downloaded House##.iff file of the same name (FYI, ## is the "lot number" of a house/lot). Every lot has a House##.iff file, even if it's an empty (undeveloped) lot. So make sure there isn't already a house in that lot when you replace it, or it will be lost. When you are done, run the game and move in your family as usual. Follow this same process when downloading Downtown lots, Vacation lots, Old Town lots, etc.

Walls: All wall files go into the GameData/Walls folder. All wall files end in .wll and you can create subdirectories in here if you want.

Floors: All floor files go into the GameData/Floors folder. All floor files end in .flr and you can create subdirectories in here if you want.

Roofs: All roof files go into the GameData/Roofs folder. All roof files should end in .bmp and you can create subdirectories in here if you want.

Troubleshooting, if needed: See the FAQ below titled, "Game is crashing, freezing or items aren't appearing in game. Why oh why?"

Why can't I distribute or post Simslice creations on my website?
Most websites are opposed to people downloading their content and posting them elsewhere, for a variety of reasons. For one, we sometimes update objects and it's difficult to troubleshoot when there are multiple versions existing. We have even sometimes pulled some of our own content to update it. But mostly, it is a very disrespectful and even illegal thing to do, and it really hurts the whole Sim Community in the end. Please read our Terms of Use section. Some of our objects took many months to make, and it's very disappointing when someone posts one somewhere else as their own. So we don't permit our creations to be cloned, distributed (in any form) or posted elsewhere anymore, even if credit is given to us. The only two exceptions are The Sims Resource and The Sims Biker because they are respectful sites and we had previously allowed them to do this before Simslice was created.

However if you wish to clone or recolor Simslice objects to submit only to Simslice for posting, or if you are a website owner wanted to collaborate, we would be very interested in hearing from you.

I want to request something. How can I do that?
Visit our the Requests Page and the rest is easy. Normally we are very good at responding to virtually all of our emails. But with requests, we can only promise to read each and every one we receive, but we can't promise to answer all requests.