The Sims 3 — XeNTaX Forum Knowledge

Extracted and organized from XeNTaX forum discussions (2009–2012). Covers The Sims 3 package (DBPF v2) format, audio, and scripting.

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1. Package Format — DBPF v2

Topic 3491 (2009). The Sims 3 package files are DBPF v2 files, a format similar to those used in Spore and already well understood by the community. (JMPescado, 2009-05-18)

• Packages use standard zlib compression for most content.
• One notable exception: the scripts.package file did not use standard zlib — its contents appeared compressed/encrypted with practically no repeating bytecode/text strings.
• All such files shared the same ~5-byte starting header.
• The scripts were suspected to be LUA (hinted at in the executables), compiled or uncompiled, or another homebrew bytecode similar to TS1/TS2. (JMPescado, 2009-05-18) — later resolved by the community.

Tool (PC): S3PE — used to open/edit PC package files. (brendan19, 2010-11-06)

2. FullBuild1.package — Music/Audio (PC vs Xbox 360)

Topics 5349 / 5357 (2010). On PC, the FullBuild1.package file stores the music. On Xbox 360, the same file exists but could not be opened with the PC tool (S3PE).

• Likely a big-endian variant of the format (the 360 runs on big-endian hardware). (huckleberrypie, 2010-11-09)
• Hex Workshop cannot trivially convert endianness for a whole file — a custom program is required. (AlphaTwentyThree, 2010-11-17)
• The 360 audio files are EAlayer3 encoded. (AlphaTwentyThree, 2010-11-17)

3. Audio Streams — audiostr.arc / FSB

Topic 5637 (2010-12-26). audiostr.arc — U8Tool failed on this .ARC. (brendan19)

Topic 5638 (2010-12-26). FSBext reported only one .WAV; VGMstream / in_cube played them (after an initial hiccup).

• FSBext reported: Stereo, hw2d, GC_ADPCM, 44100Hz, 2 Channel, 16 Bits.
• Output .genh files have no WAV header; VGMstream can play them.

Note: SimCity-era games commonly use EAlayer3; Sims 3 Xbox 360 music is EAlayer3 while the container is DBPF v2.

4. Sample Packages

Topic 9431 (2012). Common package files found in The Sims 3:

• JazzData.package
• scripts.package
• ZoneObjects_Pet_World_9.package (Pets expansion world objects)

Tools Reference

Tool	Purpose	Author
S3PE	PC package editor (DBPF v2)	Community
FSBext	FSB/audio stream extraction	Community
VGMstream	Play extracted audio streams	Community
U8Tool	U8 archive tool (did NOT work on audiostr.arc)	Community

Key Facts

• Sims 3 uses DBPF v2 packages (like Spore).
• Most content is zlib-compressed; scripts.package was the odd one out.
• Xbox 360 packages are big-endian variants; PC tool (S3PE) can't read them.
• Xbox 360 music is EAlayer3 encoded inside FullBuild1.package.
• audiostr.arc contains FSB streams (GC_ADPCM, 44100Hz).