My previous guide: learn how to extract, clean, organize and merge custom content on a Mac.

A lot of people seem to think that it’s impossible to compress and/or decrapify files on a Mac, but it’s actually a fairly simple process.

The Tools

Mono (The latest version of Mono, 4.2, will work with the latest version of s3pe on Yosemite/El Capitan. Use the 32-bit version. If, for whatever reason, you are stuck in the past and using a very old OS X, this is a direct download link to the version of Mono I can confirm as working with s3pe up to Mountain Lion) X11 to run .exe files (Macs have shipped with X11 since 10.5; if you see X11 or XQuartz in Applications/Utilities then you don’t need to download this)



(The latest version of Mono, 4.2, with the latest version of s3pe on Yosemite/El Capitan. Use the 32-bit version. If, for whatever reason, you are stuck in the past and using a very old OS X, this is a direct download link to the version of Mono I can confirm as working with s3pe up to Mountain Lion) to run .exe files (Macs have shipped with X11 since 10.5; if you see X11 or XQuartz in Applications/Utilities then you don’t need to download this) The Compressorizer Redux to compress and decrap files (this program was posted on JFade’s forum, which is no longer active. The direct download link, however, is still working and was found in this post. Click that to read all the documentation/warnings originally included in the Compressorizer Redux. If that link ever dies, let me know and I will reupload it.)

Backup your game

Decrapifying a file permanently alters it. Backup before doing anything else.

alters it. Backup before doing anything else. To backup your game, secondary click Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 and select Duplicate. This creates a folder called “The Sims 3 copy”. You can leave it here; it doesn’t interfere with anything.

Download and Install Mono (and X11, if needed)

Download Compressorizer Redux

Extract all the contents of the .zip file to a folder (if you have one for your Sims 3 utilities, as described in my previous guide, you can drop the Compressorizer files in there)

Run Compressorizer Redux

Open Terminal

Type mono followed by a space, then drag compressorizerredux.exe onto the Terminal window and press Enter. It may take a few moments to load.

followed by a space, then drag onto the Terminal window and press Enter. It may take a few moments to load. Select Normal mode if you want to compress save files. Change the mode to Decrapify if you want to decrap Sims3Packs

Click Add Files to List and select the folder with the files you want to compress/decrapify (click Personal to find Documents) and click OK

Click Go

NOTE: I’ve never noticed a difference in size when compressing files. It’s possible it doesn’t work as intended when you run the program in Mono. Regardless, I’m including the instructions here for those who want the information. If you have a save game you’ve played for a while and that’s increased in file size over time, I recommend you use my guide to reduce save file size.

If you are decrapifying files and had non-decrapified content in your game before now, do the following

(Because decrapifying permanently changes the file, your game will not recognize that the decrapified objects are the old non-decrapified ones unless you do this.)