How to use dashboard and s3pe on a mac: a (hopefully) simplistic guide.
As most Sims players on Macs know, Macs are generally awesome...except when it comes wrangling things and messing with the innards of Sims games. When I first heard about merging packages and using Dashboard to check for corrupted and conflicting CC, I was honestly bamboozled by the thought of getting the Windoze utilities to function in OSX. Then, I found something miraculous and likely comparable to the holy grail of tech help for Mac Sims users: this thread by plasticbox at MTS.
That thread is really what I fall back on if I'm ever wondering how to make something work for Macs, or what to do if it's just not possible.
And now to the actual how-to guide.
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What you'll need:
✭ Patience. Really, if you don't have some measure of patience...this could be painful and you should probably not bother.
✭ Mono and X11 (If your OS is Leopard or above, you should already have X11 installed in /Applications/Utilities/X11). Mono is simple to install - download at the link listed, open the .dmg, and click through the installer.
✭ An understanding of how to use commands in Terminal. If you don't know how, I'll try my best to explain later.
✭ The tools themselves: Dashboard and s3pe. I decided to do a separate tut for the Multi Installer.
✭ Package files to fiddle with.
✭ An application to open .7z archives and .rar archives. I use Zipeg, but you could also use something like The Unarchiver. As long as it opens .rar and .7z, you're set.
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✭ Alright, first things first: How does all this work?
Well, the short answer is that .exe files, native to the Windows operating system, will not run on Macs...without a little help. The Sims 3 application itself actually runs on Macs within a shell called Cider (which is why Macs have reduced performance running TS3 no matter what); Mono provides a similar (albeit very, very simplistic) shell within these tools can operate.
✭ The reason why I like using Mono is because it's open-source and thus free (I'm a cheap-ass, which is kind of ironic since I love Macs) and because...it actually works fairly easily once you get the hang of it.
✭ Okay. Well, first, you should download Dashboard at the above link. When you open the .rar, you'll notice the .exe named Sims3Dashboard.exe.
✭ Create a folder (I recommend putting the folder on your desktop - you'll see why later) and name it something short and simple, like Sims Utilities, S3U, etc.
✭ Plop the .exe in the folder, and be sure to remember the name of that folder.
Now we're going to run Dashboard. Exciting~ This is also where things could get hairy.
Find the Terminal application. It's at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, and the icon should look like a black rectangle with a grey border.
Open Terminal. Now it's time to learn how to use console commands. You will need to type the following in Terminal and then hit enter/return:
mono desktop/miscellany/S3U/Sims3Dashboard.exe
This is what it should look like:
(Please ignore my stupidly named MBP/user account ._.)
Remember, this would change depending on where you put the .exe. Also note that console commands aren't case sensitive, so you don't have to worry about that, at least.
After you press enter, the application will open. It might ask to be directed to where your file directory is, but don't worry about it - that doesn't do anything.
As you can see, it works, even though it's not as fast or clean-looking as it would be on Windows. It still identifies Sims 2 packages, conflicting packages, and even corrupt packages. But if you try to select multiple files to delete or disable, it only affects the first one selected. For me, that's not a real problem, as I only use Dashboard to point me at things I should weed out.
✭ Okay. So, now you have identified what packages you want to keep and use in your game. If you want to reduce lag AND use CC, you really should merge your package files. s3pe is the tool used to do so.
✭ One thing you should do before merging is organize those packages of yours. I do mine by accessories, clothes, decor, patterns, and makeup, but you could organize yours however you see fit. I also wouldn't suggest merging more than 300~350 files at once, as too much more could make things blow up in a big fiery ball of doom.
✭ Once you're ready, we need to install s3pe. On the download page, you'll notice different install options. You'll want to choose the 32-bit Unpack-It-Yourself version.
Fancy.
Open the 7z archive and you'll see something like this (depending on your unarchiving tool):
That's a lot of files. Obviously. Anyway, you'll need to extract the folder of files and place them all somewhere easy to remember, preferably in the same location you put the Dashboard file. It is super, extremely, vitally important that you keep every single thing included in the archive in the same folder. Otherwise, it won't run at all and I can't help you.
Open Terminal again, and type this when you're ready to run s3pe:
mono desktop/miscellany/s3u/s3pe.exe
Once again, what you type in Terminal depends on where you put s3pe. All you're doing in Terminal is directing mono at the application you want to run.
This should pop up. Voila! You're running s3pe on a Mac. Give yourself a pat on the back.
✭ Now to merge them packages.
✭ Click "File", then "New." It's the first option. The window might blink/flash a little; that's okay.
✭ Now you want to select the "Resource" tab, then scroll down to where you see "Import..." and then select "(EXPERIMENTAL) as dbc."
This might pop up:
✭ It's asking if you want to save after each individual package is opened in s3pe. I always click no, but I have a lot of free disk space and system memory. If you do not, the application might crash if you import too many files without saving (or if you save only after importing a buttload of packages).
✭ Now you can select your files and click through to wherever you put your packages.
✭ You can click and drag to select multiple files at once, which I recommend.
✭ Once you've selected all the packages you want, click open. Things will flash, magic will happen, and unicorns will bless your files. (I wish.)
✭ When it's done, it may look something like this:
✭ The thing on the right is a thumbnail preview of the package file, which in this case is an eyeliner. The things crossed out SHOULD be crossed out - they are _XMLs which just bloat the merged package and waste space. s3pe is awesome enough to get rid of them for you. Thank goodness for Inge Jones.
✭ When you've imported all the packages you want to be in the merged package, you can finally choose "File/Save As..."
✭ And name your package something that you'll be able to recognize and understand easily. Click Save.
✭ It may take a while, but eventually the package should finish saving. Depending on how many files you're merging and how good your Mac is, it may save for anywhere from 2 minutes to 20. Or more, if you're crazy. If your system runs out of memory while saving, s3pe will close, so I don't recommend merging too many things at once. This also applies when using s3pe on Windows, so it's not just a Mac thing.
Alright, that's about it. Now it's time for troubleshooting.
Did this work for you? If not, it could be one of several things:
✭ The command you entered in Terminal was not correct. Seriously, double and triple check to make sure you typed in the right thing, because if you didn't, it won't work.
✭ The version of OSX you have is incompatible with these tools: I am personally on Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and this method works for me, but I've heard that Lion users could have difficulties with it.
✭ More on the OSX Version from plasticbox at MTS: s3pe requires mono 2.6.1 or later; in 2.6.1/OS X 10.5.7 I need to run it with X11 or it's extremely sluggish; in 2.6.4/OS X 10.5.8 it seems to be working nicely. My version of s3pe isn't lightning fast, but it runs at a decent speed and does what I need it to do.
✭ You didn't put all of the s3pe files in the same folder. I said it before and I'll say it again for emphasis: you must keep all of the files in the same place. When running the s3pe.exe, it draws from all the other stuff, so you need it.
Of course, if you really just loathe going through all of that, you could try to get your hands on an old Windows machine just to run these utilities. Whatever works for you. ^-^
If you have any other questions, I'll try to help you as well as I can. :) I'll make a tutorial for using the Sims 3 Pack Multi Installer soon, too.
And seriously, ignore my ridiculous username. I am not an ICP fan...I just...I don't know what happened there. DX