Create your own world in the Sims 3

The steps to create a world are basically:

  • Install CAW
  • Decide on theme/look of world
  • Do the work (terrain, roads, lots, decorations)
  • Take care of the technical stuff required for the export
  • Export

Easy enough, isn’t it? 🙂 But why is it so hard to create a well-running world?

This guide hopefully helps to avoid some of the traps you can run into when starting to create your own world and answers some questions you might have.

This is based on the work and experience of many and will be updated and extended as I have time.

General Information

What is good to keep in mind when working with CAW:

  • CAW is in Beta release. It was never fixed or released as full tool. So it’s a bit buggy. But you can still create beautiful worlds with it.
  • CAW offers its own “Edit in Game” mode. This will start a slimmed version of the game. Though it looks and behaves like the game in many regards, it is NOT the full game engine so some things just won’t work (and vice versa, some things do work that won’t work in game).
  • CAW uses certain folders of your The Sims 3 user folder. So if you make changes to these folders it will affect CAW. Also the other way round, your exports and saved lots will be found here instead of in the CAW user folder.
  • In CAW, you will have access only to objects that are enabled to use with CAW, mostly world decorations, bridges, plants, spawners etc. Further Objects need to be enabled to use in CAW. Super CAW doesn’t have this restriction in regards to the game catalogue but loading the full build/buy catalogue doesn’t help with stability.

CAW comes with two worlds (emptied versions of Sunset Valley and Riverview) that are great for learning how some things have been done and practicing. Try some terrain sculpting, place a lot, see how roads are done!

World file format

To add to confusion, CAW saves the world in progress in a .world file format. This is NOT the same as the one that can be used for exported worlds!

CAW’s Edit in Game mode (EIG)

Starting the game or using CAW’s Edit in Game mode (EIG) are two very different things.

While you work in EIG, you don’t have access to your world in CAW. In fact, you can safely close the CAW application once EIG is loading, especially if your computer is struggeling. It will be re-opened when you quit EIG.

Functionality

Edit in Game (EIG) mode loads a basic version of the game in a new window. It allows you to work on lots like in build/buy mode in your game with access to the build/buy catalogue. You won’t have access to the Landscape Editor or Live Mode, most functions are deactivated. But you will find that you have much more freedom for the camera than in game.

Even if EIG loads into a home lot, switch to Edit Town immediately. Don’t do anything else. There are no sims, no CAS, no households. From Edit Town you can plop down lots or enter lots to build on them. You also have access to your library and can place lots from there.

Also be careful with using mods in EIG. Even if they work without a live mode, they may add information to your world that EIG/CAW cannot process. One example for this is adding custom lot sizes in EIG with the help of Velocitygrasses “Add any lot size” mod. EIG won’t save if you do that and all your progress is lost.

Don’t spend hours in build mode, you may run into memory issues just like in game. After you worked on a lot and went back to Edit Town, always save the lot to the library. Do that with every lot you work on. So even if EIG crashes you will still have your work saved. I recommend to build your lots in game and only place or edit them in EIG. While EIG is wonderfully fast initially, the more your world is build up, the slower and buggier it will get.

Saving

The world is saved in CAW when you start EIG mode. So even if EIG crashes, your progress in CAW is safe.

When you are finished in EIG, you have the option to “Save and Quit” or to “Save”. There is no “Save as”. EIG will always use and overwrite the same instance of your world.

The EIG window will go black while saving with only the map tags visible and flicker – that’s absolutely normal! In fact, EIG is now saving each lot to your world. Depending on the amount and complexity of your lots this can take quite a while. Don’t interrupt.

After EIG is done saving, you will receive a pop up message telling you that it saved successfully. The more lots you have in your world the longer it will take. Just close that window by clicking on the red X button in the top right corner. Now you can quit EIG. You will be redirected to your CAW window again.

If for some reason EIG crashes during saving, all your progress will be lost. For this reason, I strongly recommend to first chose “Save”, and only quit when that is done. Doing both operations at the same time are more taxing than doing.

If you have trouble running EIG at all, maybe try Zaide_Chris’ batch file from MTS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=453161 Just drop your CAW world file on it but make sure to backup your world file first.

General Tips, Hints and Tricks

Use “Save as” frequently, especially if you hit milestone during your world building. It does take a bit longer then to just save. This way you can properly manage your saved versions, and backup/keep versions in case you need to retrace your steps or fall back to an earlier version.

Don’t use special characters. This includes full stops.

The Order of Doing Things

There is no fixed order how to create a world. You will have to do terrain sculpting and painting and you will have to lay out your town with roads and lots. You will have to place the world decorations and plants and fill those empty lots with build-up lots. Some people prefer to start somewhere and finish each area as they work their way through their world. You will need to find your own way.

Just keep in mind that sculpting terrain will impact your lot edges and roads, but without layout you don’t know where to sculpt. So it will be a lot of back and forth either way.

Acknowlegdements

This guide wouldn’t have been possible without the work and help of the pioneer of world creation, simsample at MTS. A lot of what is covered here is a rewrite of threads at MTS. A big thank you to Frankie and K’tar for their input and patience and for proof reading the first part. Also to attuned for proof reading the whole mess.