CC Magic

User Guide

Writer: Srikandi

Layout by sh1ny
02.02.2012

Contents
Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Primary functions .............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Limitations ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Basic Operations ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Legacy Support ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Main Display ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Top panel ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Bottom panel ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Tabs ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Sets Tab ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Sets list .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Set Operations: .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
CC list ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Display info .................................................................................................................................................................... 8
User info ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
CC operations .................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Collections Tab ............................................................................................................................................................10
Configurations Tab ......................................................................................................................................................11
Configuration list ............................................................................................................................................................. 11
Enabled/Disabled Sets Area ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Options Tab .................................................................................................................................................................13
Status Tab ....................................................................................................................................................................14

Overview
Primary functions
a)
b)

support viewing, annotating, filtering, sorting, and enabling/disabling large quantities of TS3 Custom Content;
combine individual mods into fewer large package files for better game performance.

CC Magic implements a hierarchical view of your custom content.

Configuration: a group of Sets that you've selected to be loaded together into the game.
Set: a group of Mods which will be combined into a single package file by CC Magic.
Mod: An individual item of CC:

.package
.Sims3Pack
.sim
.world

Limitations
(as of Build 2635; may be removed in future builds)

CC Magic does not currently handle world files. Those must be installed via EA's launcher.

There are issues with patterns created with EA's Create A Pattern tool (other patterns are OK). They can't be
combined. These need to be installed with EA's launcher too, for now.

Sims, Households and Lots can be installed via CC Magic, but they can't be disabled/enabled like other CC. And
while they can be deleted from CC Magic's database, that won't remove them from the game.

Basic Operations

CC Magic imports mods from the TS3 Downloads folder (automatic on startup). Files identified as mods are dearchived, checked for integrity, and sorted by type into CC Magic's folder structure.

CC Magic creates a database record for each new mod, and assigns it to the "Default" set.

The user can then add user info to each mod, enable/disable mods, group mods into sets, and arrange sets in a
tree structure (Sets tab).

The user can add sets to a Configuration, and select a configuration to be active (Configuration tab).

When the user requests a "rebuild" (manual, or automatic when the "Play" button is clicked), CC Magic does the
following:

The enabled mods in each set that the player has modified are combined into MODBUILDX.package files, the
appropriate folder structure in the TS3 Mods\Cache folder is created, and the combined packages are copied
to the folders.

The resource.cfg file in the TS3 Mods\Cache folder is modified so that TS3 will load only the sets in the active
configuration.

Legacy Support
CC Magic also manages "Legacy" mods *.package format mods which will not be combined, and which remain in EA's
Mods/Packages folder. The interface for managing these mods is analogous to that for "standard" mods, but the way
they are handled is different:

CC Magic scans Mods/Packages for mods (automatic on startup).

CC Magic creates a Set for Mods/Packages (called Legacy) and each subfolder (using the folder name).

CC Magic creates a database record for each mod, and assigns it to the set corresponding to the folder it's in.
Thus Legacy mods can use all the filtering and annotation features of non-legacy (default) mods.

Renaming a Legacy set immediately renames the folder it's in. Legacy sets can't be moved.

A Legacy mod can be deleted, or disabled (by changing the .package file's extension to ".off").

A Legacy mod can individually be added to a Default set (the file will be moved to Content/Packages).
However, Legacy sets can't be turned into Default sets, or vice versa, via CC Magic (this effect can instead be
achieved by moving files between CC Magic\Content\Packages and TS3\Mods\Packages in Windows).

The Legacy set can be enabled or disabled as a whole in the Configuration tab (implemented via the main
Resource.cfg file in TS3/Mods), but Legacy subsets can't be individually enabled/disabled.

Legacy sets can't have associated collections.

All Legacy operations happen in real time, so they don't require a Rebuild.

Main Display

Top panel

Play button/Active Configuration dropdown: When the Play button is clicked, a Rebuild is performed if
needed, and then TS3 is launched using the mod configuration selected in the embedded Configuration
dropdown.
Rebuild button: Rebuilds the mod configuration without launching TS3.
Refresh button: Adds newly downloaded mods to the Default set. Click this if you place additional mods in the
Downloads folder while CC Magic is open.
Clear Cache button: Deletes the four game cache files CasPartCache.package, compositorCache.package,
scriptCache.package and simCompositorCache.package. You may want to do this if the game becomes
unstable after changes to your CC configuration (see SimsWiki for more information on clearing caches). You'll
be prompted whether you also want to delete CC Magic's caches (thumbnails and the cache folder containing
the merged packages produced by CC Magic); if you say "yes", CC Magic will do a FULL rebuild the next time
you click "Play" or "Rebuild" (can take some time with large amounts of CC).
Get Help button: Takes you to Grant's forums. Go to the CCMagic subforum to view user guides and request
support.
Support Development button: Takes you to a webpage where you can donate to help support CC Magic
development, if you wish to.

Bottom panel

Currently installed Sims EPs. Hovering over each one gives you the current version;
Active Config shows which configuration is active.

Tabs

Sets
Collections
Configuration
Options
Status
Tabs are described individually in the following sections.

Sets Tab
Sets list
This is a hierarchical listing of the sets you define. You start with two special sets
(Default and Legacy), and can add additional sets as subsets of one or the other of
those. These two sets must always be root sets, not subsets.

Default Set: mods which you've newly added to the Downloads folder since the
last time you ran CC Magic will initially appear in the Default set. You can leave
them there or sort them into other sets.

Legacy Set: Contains mods from the Mods\Packages folder in your game folder.
If you had packages in your game when you started using CC Magic, you'll see
them here initially; they can be left or moved into other sets. Mods in this set
will not be combined, so it's a good place to keep package files which you update
frequently or which are large because they have already been combined. Some
core and script mods work best as legacy mods.

Set Operations:

To expand/collapse a set, click the arrow by the set name.

To add a new set, click the set you want to make it a subset of, and click the Add button. You can then
change its name and (optionally) add a description and/or a collection in the Set pane. (See "Collections Tab"
below for more about collections.)
To delete a set and all its subsets, select it and click the Remove button. The mods in sets deleted this way
will appear in the Default set the next time you start up CC Magic.
To move a set, drag it and drop it on the set you want it to be a subset of. You can sort a list of subsets by
dragging a set to the superset folder and dropping it there; it will go to the top of the list.
To rename a set or add a description, use the text boxes in the Set Operations area (top). This is also where
you associate a set with a collection (see Collections Tab, below).

CC list
(main area)

Every item of CC has a panel on the CC List. Each Mod Panel contains information about the CC. Some of it is read from
the file (Display Info); some you can add and edit (User Info).

Display info

Type (left bar): shows what kind of CC this is. Sims3Packs will be labeled as such; Package files will be
identified by type (Pattern, Object, Clothes, XML Tuning, etc.)
Thumbnail (left): A thumbnail of the item, if one is available. In some cases a thumbnail will only be
generated when the item has been accessed in-game.
Name, Description: Textual information extracted from the file. What it is and how much depends on the type
of mod, but it includes things like catalog name, catalog description, creator, mod type, placement flags (for
objects), body part (for CAS Parts).
File: The filename of the mod file. If you hover the mouse over the File: part, you'll see the full filename with
path.
Date: the date and time when the CC was installed into CC Magic.

User info

Category dropdown: For categories that you define, to use in filtering. You can type in the name of a new
category that you define, or click the down arrow to choose from a list of categories you've created. After
making a new category, you may need to close and reopen CC Magic to assign it to other objects.
Rating slider: Rate how good the CC is on a scale of 1 to 10. (Click on the slider track to adjust the rating.)
Notes: Any text you want to use to help you find and identify the mod. This text can be used for filtering. You
can type in sentence length descriptions or just lists of keywords to filter by.

URL: Where you downloaded the mod. Useful for mods that will need updating.
Enabled checkbox: Mods are enabled by default. Unchecking this will prevent the mod from being loaded
(disabled mods won't be combined into the set by Rebuild).

CC operations

You can filter the items in the current view by typing into the Filter textbox. Filtering is incremental: each character
you type reduces the number of mods that shows in the mod list. The filter will match ANY text displayed in the CC
panel, including both Display Info and User Info. So you can filter by category, any text in the filename such as the
creator's name, mod type, date, any text in the Notes field and so on. To clear the filter and show all CC in the current
set again, click the Clear button.
You can select an item by clicking its panel (you'll see a blue outline around it, and the text will turn white). You can
select several items by control-clicking, or select an adjacent series by clicking the first and shift-clicking the last. You
can select all items in the view by clicking Ctrl-A.
A group of items can be added to a set by dragging and dropping them onto the set name in the Set List. Currently you
need to start dragging before releasing the left mouse button on the last item you select.
A group of items can be enabled, disabled, or deleted by clicking the corresponding buttons in the Operations Panel
(top). The buttons show how many items will be affected by the operation. (Deleted mods will be moved to the Recycle
Bin, and the file in the Archives folder is not affected.).

Collections Tab

The Collections Tab allows you to add collections to your game, or remove them. Note that CC Magic displays all your
collections, including both ones you've defined in-game and ones you've defined in CC Magic.
Collections don't work with Legacy mods, since those don't go through the Rebuild process.

To add a collection: click the Add button. Your new collection will be added to the end of the list. You can rename it
and choose an icon. (The list of icons available in this dialog includes all EA's collection icons and a lot of other icons
from the game files.)
To remove a collection: select the collection and click the Remove button. This won't remove the items in the
collection, just the collection itself.
To associate a set with a collection: on the Sets tab, select the set from the Sets list. Then use the Collections
dropdown to choose a collection. All items in the set will be added to the collection. (Note: currently, if you add a new
collection you will have to close and reopen CC Magic before you'll see it in the collections dropdown on the sets tab.)

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Configurations Tab
The Configuration Tab is where you can group Sets into Configurations. The purpose of this functionality is to allow you
to load different sets of CC with different games. For instance, you might want a sci-fi configuration and a medieval
configuration, or a special configuration for a legacy game that doesn't allow the use of hacks, or a configuration with
only hacks and no CC for building lots to share. Configurations can also be useful when adding mods to your game
incrementally after a patch or EP.

Configuration list
Lists the configurations you've defined. You always start with the Default configuration, which
enables only the Legacy and Default sets.

To add a configuration: click the Add button.

To delete a configuration: click the Remove button. This has no effect on the sets in
the configuration.
To rename a configuration or add a description: type in the text fields in the
Configuration Operations panel (top right).

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Enabled/Disabled Sets Area

This is where you specify which sets are part of the currently selected configuration.
The Disabled Sets are the sets you've defined on the Sets tab that have not yet been added to the configuration. Each
set in this list contains only the CC that is directly in it; a set does not contain the CC in its subsets. Each set's supersets
are shown with the set name, separated by arrows. (Note: currently, if you add a new set you will have to close and
reopen CC Magic before you'll see it in the Disabled Sets List.)
The Enabled Sets are the sets that are in the current configuration.

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To select a set in either list, click it. You can select several sets by control-clicking, or select an adjacent
series by clicking the first and shift-clicking the last.
To enable or disable sets: Use to enable the sets selected in the Available Sets list, or to disable the sets
selected in the Enabled Sets list.
To enable or disable all sets: use the button to move all sets to the Enabled Sets list, or to move all sets
to the Available Sets list.

Options Tab
Various options for power users. Casual users can ignore this tab.

Game EXE Override: This is for players who want to start the game via another launcher, e.g. an FPS limiter. Causes
the Play button to launch the selected program instead of The Sims 3. Default: blank.
Force Resource Compression: CC Magic will compress the .package files it produces to take up less disk space.
Dramatically slows down the speed of the Rebuild operation. Default: off.
Additional Resource.cfg Entries: Supports custom file structures under The Sims 3\Mods. The most common custom
structure includes a folder called Overrides, used to load selected mods with a higher priority than others (useful if two
mods might reference the same resources). Lines supporting the Overrides folder are included in this setting by default;
they have no effect for users who don't have an Overrides folder. For more information, see the Folders Guide.

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Status Tab
This tab becomes active automatically if you click "Play" or "Rebuild". It has two collapsible text areas (click on the
arrow to hide).

Info displays the current version of CC Magic and your OS.

Log displays the progress of the current rebuild operation.

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