Sims 3:SIMS3PACK

SIMS3PACK Packages

Some content for Sims 3 is delivered via a .sims3pack file. This file is essentially an compilation of multiple Package Files stored in a single file to ensure that all required resources are kept together.

The sims3pack file is split into 3 distinct sections: File Header Section, XML Document Section, Archive Section.

File Header Section

The File Header appears at the beginning of the file and is composed as follows:

 DWORD  StrLength             // Length of the Signature
 string Signature[StrLength]  // "TS3Pack"
 WORD                         // 0x0101  (version??)
 DWORD  XMLLength             // Size of the XML Section in bytes

XML Document Section

Following immediately after the File Header Section is the XML Document Section. It contains a single XML tree describing the contents of the archive section.

The XML elements are described after the Archive Section description.

Archive Section

The Archive Section follows the XML Document Section. Each Archive described by the XML Document has an offset and length value associated with it. The offset is from the beginning of the Archive Section.

XML Element Description

The XML Document starts with a standard XML Declaration specifying version=1.0 and encoding=utf-8

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

This Declaration is followed by an XML Root Element <Sims3Package>

 <Sims3Package Type="" SubType="">
 ...
 </Sims3Package>

Any of the following Elements may appear inside the <Sims3Package> element.

Element Name	Description	Observed Attributes	Observed Values
<Sims3Package>	Root Element of the XML Document	(Type="world" SubType="0x00000000"), (Type="CasPart" SubType="0x00000004"), Many Others
<ArchiveVersion>	Version of Sims3Pack		1.4
<CodeVersion>	Unknown		0.0.0.20
<GameVersion>	Unknown		0.0.0.0
<AssetVersion>	Version of contained Asset		0, 27417, etc.
<MinReqVersion>	Unknown		1.0.0.0
<DisplayName>	Name of sims3pack's contents in English		Riverview, afConcertTShirts
<Description>	Description of sims3pack's contents in English		A set of T-Shirts for Adult Female with Concert/Band Logos
<Dependencies>	Unknown
<LocalizedNames>	A List of <LocalizedName> elements to give the DisplayName value in multiple languages		<LocalizedName>
<LocalizedDescriptions>	A List of <LocalizedName> elements to give the Description value in multiple languages		<LocalizedName>
<LocalizedName>	A language specific string value for either <LocalizedNames> or <LocalizedDescriptions> elements. May be repeated multiple times.	Language="sv-SE"	<![CDATA[Riverview]]>
<PackagedFile>	Reference to one of the package files contained in the Archive Section. May be repeated multiple times.
<PackageId>	Where the Sims3Pack contains a PackedFile that is a package, this appears to be the name of the package without the extension.

The <PackagedFile> element can have the following sub-elements

Element Name	Description
<Name>	Filename of the resource
<Length>	Number of bytes in the resource (File Size)
<Offset>	Offset from beginning of Archive Section to the resource
<Crc>	A CRC Value for the archive. (Unknown Algorithm at this time)
<Guid>	The GUID of the resource.
<ContentType>	The type of resource
<metatags>	Unknown (but relates to the packaged PNG files)

Notes

• It appears that the resources stored in a sims3pack can include .PNG files as well as .package files.
• .png files appear to be named as a TGI reference, i.e.: 8f78f74b-00000000-0000000000000000.png
• .packages files appear to be named as a GUID, i.e.: 0xc97ea9c600104fcbafdf2d64ffceae2b.package

Documentation by Grant