Lighting Mods: Installation Tutorial and FAQ
Installation Instructions
Installing on Mac
1. Go to Applications, find The Sims 4, then left-click and select “show package contents”. Follow the PC instructions below starting from step 2
Installing on PC
1. Navigate to wherever you’ve installed Sims 4 on your machine. For most, this is C:\Program Files(X86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4
- Here, you’ll see some folders, but we only care about Data and Delta. Data is where information for the base game is stored, and similarly, Delta is where info about DLC packs is stored. You’ll notice that these files correspond to the files in the lighting mod.
- IMPORTANT Before moving on to the next step, I want to emphasize how crucial it is that you don’t copy/paste full folders, only the .world files you want to replace. These lighting mod downloads only contain the files needed for the worlds, but if you were to replace the EP01 folder, you’d lose all of the build data for that expansion pack which will prevent your game from opening.
2. To install the base game files, in your game files and lighting mod files, navigate to data\shared\worlds\areas. Copy the files from the lighting mods folder, paste them into the game files folder, and replace the files when prompted.
3. To install the DLC files, go into Deltafolder, then the folder for the EP/GP you want, then shared/worlds/areas, then copy/paste like you did with the base game files. Here’s a list of each pack and their corresponding world:
- EP01: Get to Work - Police Station, Sixam, Hospital, Secret Lab, Magnolia Promenade
- EP02: Get Together - Windenburg
- EP03: City Living - San Myshuno
- EP04: Cats & Dogs - Brindleton Bay
- EP06: Get Famous - Del Sol Valley
- EP07: Island Living - Sulani
- EP08: Discover University - Britechester
- EP09: Eco Lifestyle - Evergreen Harbor
- EP10: Snowy Escape - Mt. Komorebi
- EP11: Cottage Living - Henford-On-Bagley
- EP12: High School Years - Copperdale
- EP13: Growing Together - San Sequoia
- EP14: Horse Ranch - Chestnut Ridge
- GP01: Outdoor Retreat - Granite Falls
- GP04: Vampires - Forgotten Hollow
- GP06: Jungle Adventure - El Selvadorada
- GP07: Strangerville
- GP08: Realm of Magic - Glimmerbrook and The Magical Realm
- GP09: Journey to Batuu - Batuu
- GP11: My Wedding Stories - Tartosa
- GP12: Werewolves - Moonwood Mill
4. To Uninstall the lighting mods, replace the lighting mod files with the ones you backed up prior to installing or repair your game through origin.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm on a Mac and don't have TS4 in my Applications folder! What do I do?
Here are some helpful instructions from the delightful goodsimaritan!
First, check if you have the sims 4 icon in your Applications folder in Finder. If you don’t, run the sims and right-click the icon in your dock and click show in finder. Now exit your game then move the sims 4 icon in finder to the applications folder. From there, right-click on the sims 4 icon and click show package contents. Then just follow the instructions listed above.
Are lighting mods compatible with reshade?
Yes! Reshade is something completely separate, and you can have both in your game at the same time.
Can I have multiple lighting mods in my game at once?
Yes and no. You can mix lighting mods (twinkle toes in rural windenburg and milk thistle in the bluffs) but you can't apply two lighting mods to the same world file since you can only have one of each file in your game at a time.
Do I need every pack to use the mod?
Nope, just install the files for the worlds you have!
Are lighting mods compatible with luumia's no blu and no glo mods (or lotharihoe's ittl and ootd)?
Yes, and I highly recommend using them!
Do the lighting mods affect indoor lighting as well?
Nope! It's for outdoor lighting only.
Do I have to re-install lighting mods after each patch?
Yes, unfortunately. You get fresh .world files every time your game patches, which means that you need to re-install your mods every time as well.
A new world just released and I can't find it in the Delta folder, what do I do?
Install the .world files outside of the delta folder. Worlds only appear in the delta folder once a patch has altered them in some way! To be more detailed, if you were installing EP13 files but you had no `Delta/EP13/shared/worlds/areas` folder, you would just put the files in `EP13/share/worlds/areas`
I'm getting a blank white screen or a sky full of stars in CAS after installing a lighting mod, what's going on?
You installed the mod incorrectly. Please repair your game, re-read the instructions, and follow them exactly, don't skip steps and heed all of my warnings!
Get Milk Thistle
Milk Thistle
A Maxis Match Lighting Mod for The Sims 4
| Status | Released |
| Category | Game mod |
| Author | softerhaze |
| Tags | ts4cc |
Comments
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Hey! I have put in the lighting mod in but now none of my CC or script mods appear even though my mods folder is full of them. I’m using a macbook.
я не понимаю в чём проблема.. мод просто не видно ни в каких городах. ничего не меняется. я очень старалась найти ошибку, но не нашла, мод просто не работает(((
Hi! Thank you for this mod! My question is, will installing this override Milk Thistle?
I'll be honest I have read over the instructions over and over and I still am not figuring it out as I have gotten sims through Electronic Arts and no matter how much I look at the data folder I'm not finding where the worlds are located. I am more of a visual learner so it's difficult by reading it. So, if anyone can explain it to me step by step (as if I am a child) that would be awesome! please and thank you.
okay I signed up just to let you know what I found out— EA was installed (so goes the sims) in “Program Files” instead of “Program Files (x86)” on my computer (I am not a techy person so forgive me)
On the left hand side of the file screen, at the very bottom I clicked the little arrow next to “OS (C:)”. It will open more option branches. Scroll to the file “Program Files” NOT “Program Files (x86)” and click that little arrow. Then click the little arrow next to “EA Games” folder and then “The Sims 4” and there is where you will find the Data and Delta files I spent hours searching for. I really hope this helps, I’m terrible at explaining. And again, this is how it was on my computer so I hope it helps.
I do appreciate the reply! I will definitely try this .
hii. this is my first time downloading a lighting mod as i do play with mac, but i have followed all instructions to put this into my game and my cas still shows up with stars, and ive repaired my game and tried to reinstall the mod but it still comes up the same, so idk what to do! fyi, i do us anadius packs so idk if that would be compatible with this mod! thank you <3
The starry CAS issue is only caused by not following the instructions and copy/pasting whole folders instead of individual .world files. I don't include unedited .world files in my uploads because some of them cause issues for mac users, so when you don't replace individual files, you get rid of the CAS "world" which causes it to appear starry or blank. If you repair your game and try again, it should be fine and having a pirated game shouldn't make a difference.
omg i just read like the instructions syllable by syllable and realized i was doing it wrong, but i reinstalled and it works perfect!! thank u for such a pretty mod <33
Hello, thank you for this mod. I am just want to make sure I install correctly. The files for Delta, go into the ep and stuff pack folders that are IN the Delta folder? I got confused because those same EP and stuff Pack folders are also outside of the Delta folder as well. Picture attached is how my game is showing without attempting to add your files yet. Thank you so much!
Yes, the files are installed in their corresponding folders in the delta folder. The structure of the files that you get when downloading the mod matches the installation path
Hi! This is my first time installing lighting mods, what do I do if I just want the lighting mod in Willow Creek where my save is? Also what is the game file for the sims? I don't know where to put the files.
Please fully read the instructions on this post, all of your questions are answered there
Hi, i read it over multiple times before posting that, and I still don't understand. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Hi SofterHaze! I really like your work, when I stumbled upon this I was very excited! I replaced the .world file folders as instructed but when I started to run TS4 again, I kept getting white screen error, do you know why that is, is it something conflicting on my end, or maybe something I've done wrong? I look forward to your reply! Thanks in advanced (:
Hey, you probably just installed the mod incorrectly :') try repairing your game and then give it another shot while paying closer attention to the instructions. make sure you're not removing and game files! .world files should be the only things getting replaced
Yes, it was actually the .world files I was replacing, I didn't touch anything else. I navigated to /areas etc and replaced when prompted. I later discovered it was something broken in my mods conflicting with it so, no worries! Thank you for the help (:
Hello!
Will this lighting work with other lighting mods that are placed in your mods folder?
for example, I want to use this along with northernsiberianwinds better lighting mod. Her lighting mod is installed in the mods folder, so I’m assuming the two will work together, but just wanted to check with you first! Thank you ❤️
yeah, they’re compatible!
Hi, this is my first time installing a lighting mod. I think I did it correctly. However, my UI is messed up on the start screen. Like all the options are stacked on top of each other and a message about the free trial is up there. I'm not sire if you know what could cause that, or if I should just repair my game and try again.
Just to be sure I removed all my other mods, saves, and my tray folder to the desktop and the problem still persists.
TIA, super excited to get in game!
Update: jk, I realized I skipped the bulletpoints for #1 as I assumed they were for PC users. Going to repair my game and try the install again.
hi, when i try to install the sunblind lighting mod it always deletes my game. i dont know what im doing wrong. Is there a way to stop it uninstalling my game? I have a mac by the way.
Hi, I wanted to get this mod with the latte by ellcrze gshade but I am having some issues. First when I go to copy the data files from your mod to the data/world/areas the ones from the base game have a DiP_Staged after them, so when I copy the files, they don't replace the originals.
(Separate problem with the g-shade) I am asking this here to see if any other simmers know how to help. I wanted to use the latte gshade, but the website for gshade got taken down, how else can I use the latte gshade?
hey! i've mentioned this in a recent reply but the DiP_Staged files are from your game updating, so you're either actively updating the game or you didn't allow an update to complete. technically, you could remove the stage files and install the mod as usual, but i don't know what state that would leave your game in, so i don't really recommend it.
also, here's a tutorial from tumblr user veone on how to install gshade now that it's been taken offline. try to keep the questions on topic in the future though, please!
Hi there! TYSM for this masterpiece of a mod (especially appreciate you as a mac player that cannot use reshade/gshade). I'm having an issue unfortunately ever since the growing together pack update was released for this mod and I know you must be so so busy, but if you happen to see this and can help it would be appreciated.
I've used sunblind since the day it was released and have enjoyed every second. As soon as I got the notif on tumblr about the growing together sunblind update I eagerly downloaded (right before playing the pack mind you) and I made the terrible mistake of inserting the EP13 folder before the pack had downloaded on Origin. It's completely my fault. I just wanted to start playing in San Sequoia w Sunblind installed but now, I've tried repairing the game, I've tried removing all the save files and all the mod files, repairing, even deleting origin and the sims application from my laptop, etc (of course I removed the EP13 delta file the moment I realized what I had done and thought the game would just automatically generate one - but nothing I've done has worked). I don't have the EP13 file in my game no matter what. I've also tried searching around forums and haven't found anyone that has experienced this. It's totally my fault, I just thought as a last resort I'd ask if you have any clue how this might be resolved. My game does open btw, there's just shadows that constantly flicker non-stop, but ONLY in San Sequoia. :/
Thanks again!!
I'm not sure what could be causing the flickering in San Sequoia, so I can't help with that, but EP13 doesn't have a folder within the Delta folder yet. You shouldn't try adding one there yourself since you'll be missing build package files that the game would expect to be there, not just world files. To install a lighting mod for EP13 you just need to place it in the "The Sims 4/EP13" folder (NOT Delta, since there's no Delta/EP13 yet). Hopefully that resolves your issue!
Oh my gosh - thank you so much! This is actually IMMENSELY helpful. I'm so sorry if I missed this in the instructions, I try to be thorough but sometimes my mind skims important things subconsciously. This entire time I thought I'd destroyed my game and it was forever missing the EP13 Delta file (I feel so silly). Then it must be some other mod/cc causing the flickering... thank you. I'll be re-installing your mod properly this time and then I'll sort out what else is causing the weird shadows.
I appreciate you so much!! Have a lovely rest of your day and TY AGAIN!
you're welcome! if you're using simp4sim's graphics overhaul you might need to update that, but otherwise i hope you're able to figure out what's causing the flickering!
Hi first of all thank you! Second- I downloaded this a couple days ago and its great but I want to repair my game now- if I repair will all the files be overwritten?
yep
Okay so best of course of action remove the mod files, then repair if needed? thanks again :)
you can just repair the game, you don't need to remove the mod files since a repair will just replace them with unaltered game files anyway
Hi, so I’m trying to install this mod cause it’s looks so good in other peoples game, but I can’t find the delta/date folder on my Mac, I found where the game was located, but right clicking does not bring up anything, can someone help me out?? Thank you!!
Go into finder and hold command, shift, h and then click applications and then right click on ts4 and show package contents.
Thank you for replying, in the file are my sims 4 game, packs, and web catalog, right-clicking only opens the game
I am wondering how do you update the lighting mod Do I have to update it by replacing My back up folder into the game and then putting the updated mod back like should I replace everything or not
you don’t need to replace installed files with any backup files! if you‘ve updated your game, you can just follow the same steps you took to install the mod the first time.
When you mean the same steps you mean when I download the update for my sims 4 after the update I need to replace all the files again with a updated one?
yep!
ok thanks for the help
Should I replace the existing world files too? Or am I okay to just replace the new Growing Together world?
(I have the mod already from before the update, I just wanted to know if I had to redo all of it.)
If you re-installed after the patch, I think you're fine to just install for the new world. But, if you didn't, you'll need to re-install it for whatever worlds you want it in.
hii im on pc and i can't find my data or delta folders anywhere, i have C:\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 as my ts4 download(?) address, anyone got any knowledge of this?
Hey! It's likely that your install isn't actually in your documents. On pc, the default install path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4 or C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 4 depending on whether you have origin or not. If you have a shortcut for ts4 on your desktop, you can right-click it and select "Open file location" to see where your game is installed.
ohh thank youu so much!! 💗
You are in the wrong area, you need to be in C:\Program Files(X86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4