Hello!

Welcome to my guide for The Sims 3 and how to set up modding frameworks and tools for the game on Steam Deck. Every step that I have listed are the steps I personally use to make my game on Steam Deck run with these modding frameworks.

If you have any questions feel free to look at the F.A.Q Section or leave a comment.

Happy Simming!!

This guide is intended to be used with game version 1.67 Steam on the Steam Deck and Steam Deck Oled Models. Versions of the game installed through EA App are not supported.

Versions obtained without purchase are not supported at all!

https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350


LIKE ANY TYPE OF GAME GUIDE THAT MAKES YOU EDIT THE GAME FILES ALWAYS, ALWAYS BACK-UP YOUR FILES BEFORE STARTING!

Step 1 - Press the "Steam" Button on your steam deck to bring up the Steam Deck Menu.

Once it has appeared scroll down to "Power" and select it.


Once selected a new window will appear, scroll down to the option "Switch to Desktop"


Step 2 - You are now in Steam Deck Desktop Mode.

Step 1 - At the bottom on the screen press the Steam Icon in the tray. Once selected a new menu will appear then select the option "Library" and you steam library will appear.


Once Your library has opened locate your The Sims 3 game and select it next go to the far right of the screen until the Cog Icon is highlighted and select it.


Step 2 - Once selected a smaller window will appear.

Go down to "Properties..." and select it, a new window should open again.

Step 3 - Once the new window has appeared under the "General" tab scroll down until you find the option "Selected launch Option".


Under it there will be a small greyish rectangle were you can type, selecting the box then pressing "Steam Button + X" this will bring up the onscreen keyboard.

Once selected type out the following command line into the box...

Step 4 - Once typed you may back out of the on screen keyboard by simply pressing the "B" button. The command has now been set for the game and '.ASI" mods should be able to load on startup.



.ASI mods will be installed in the games bin folder located at this location on Steam Deck in desktop mode...

"/Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/The Sims 3/Game/Bin/"

Note: If you can't get to this location make sure you have "Show Hidden Files" turned on! It can be turned on in the top right hand corner of the Dolphin File Manager window.

Step 1 - Download this file as it contains the files needed for the Steam Deck's GPU to be recognised, download them HERE![drive.google.com]

Step 2 - At the bottom on the screen press the Steam Icon in the tray. Once selected a new menu will appear then select the option "Library" and you steam library will appear.


Next find the game in your library and press "R2" a menu will appear next go to "manage" then "browse local files".


Step 3 - A new window will appear, you will need to extract the files from "GraphicsCardSteamDeck.7z" into the games bin folder located at...

"/Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/The Sims 3/Game/Bin/"

Step 3 - When placing these two items in the bin folder...

• GraphicsRules.sgr
  
• GraphicsCards.sgr

Make sure to allow any over wright that is asked.

Step 4 - The game will now recognise the Steam Deck GPU.

For new users to The Sims 3 Modding this will show you how to install the Mods Folder into your game so your game will be able to read and use ".Package" file mods.

The "Mods" Folder is for .package files, .sims3pack Files need to be installed through the games launcher. I recommend this depth video by @SimMattically for more information about the different package types can be found HERE!
　
Step 1 - Download the mods folder using the download button from ModTheSims HERE![modthesims.info]
　
Once on the download page scroll down a little until you see a "Download" button, once found click on this link and it will download the file.


After the download is complete place the file somewhere easy to find like the desktop.
　
Step 2 - Once downloaded go to...
　
"/home/deck/.local/share/steamapps/compatdata/47890/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/"

Note: If you can't get to this location make sure you have "Show Hidden Files" turned on! It can be turned on in the top right hand corner of the Dolphin File Manager window.

　
Once there, open up the downloaded mods folder file and extract its contents right into The Sims 3 documents folder.

　
Step 4 - Just to make sure open up the mods folder and make sure the contents inside looks like this image below!

Files that should be present and that are needed are...

• Resource.cfg File
  
• Packages Folder
  
• Overrides Folder

　
The two package files that come inside the packages folder called...

• NoBuildSparkles.package
  
• nointro.package

these files are for testing purposes only and can be safely deleted after launching the game to see if the mods folder is functioning correctly.

If the maxis logo is still showing up on startup even with the "nointro.package" present in the mods folder for testing this is normal since the "nointro.package" was made before that intro screen was added in a later patch and uses a different file path to the other intro videos.

　

　
If you want to keep "nointro.package" to disable the intros and want the Maxis Logo Intro gone as well, you can download a mod for it HERE[modthesims.info] to be used along side "nointro.package".
　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

• 15/03/2025 - Published the guide.
  
  
• 24/03/2025 - Made "Step 3 - Making The Game Recognise Steam Decks GPU" easier to follow thanks to @ButterflyCrimeScene for the idea.
  
  
• 18/05/2025 - Fixed shadows not being rendered in game downloading the latest version of "GraphicsCards.sgr" and "GraphicsRules.sgr" from Step 3 to have shadows again.