I hate that we can't really organize our LotCatalogs like we can for Downloads.

I have one folder where I keep all my downloaded lots in subfolders according to creator. I will put lots into my LotCatalog from there rather than having every single lot in the LotCatalog all the time. But it can be tedious having to put them back into my game with the Clean Lot Installer one by one.

So could I just make multiple copies of the LotCatalog with just the in-game lots and put whatever style or creator's lots into it's own LotCatalog, and move them in and out of the game as desired like we can do with various Downloads folders?

Would it be a problem, for instance, to have a Plastic box lot be in the LotCatalog as lot 100 and then replace the game's LotCatalog that had Plastic box lots with a LotCatalog with Phaenoh's lots and now lot 100 is one of her Katrina houses?

If that would be a problem, I was wondering if it's possible/a good idea to download a creator's lots into my game, then put those package files through a bulk renamer so that, for example, all Plastic box's Newbie Road lots are numbered in the 200 to 400 range, Phaenoh's lots are numbered in the 500 range, etc.

Then I would put those lot packages into folders for each creator. I could then copy and paste what I wanted into the LotCatalog from those folders and it would be easy to delete them from my game since I would know that a certain lot number range is the one I want to get rid of.

I hope I'm making sense.

TIA

Edited to add: I have tried Marka93's method of putting lots in a House Holding Hood but I have so many lots that I needed so many subhoods that my game froze/crashed (I forget which since this was a long time ago).

When installing lots the regular way (Clean Installer/default installer), the game uses the next number up from what it finds in the LotCatalog folder. The numbers don't seem to be important, but the naming structure likely is. I'm not sure if it fills in missing numbers (haven't tested, but should be easy to test).

You can move the lots in the LotCatalog in and out, and you can renumber them in the game's folder (if sorting outside your game it's probably less trouble to keep the number if you want to remember what is what, though). It's usually advisable to do the next number up.

You can rename them as long as they're outside the folder (but probably a good idea to just add something to the end ("cx_00000029_NewStreet01"). Make sure to rename back to just the lot number if putting it back in. I don't know if the game recognizes the lots if they have a different naming structure, but I don't think so. Haven't tested.

You could also rename a picture of the lot to whatever the lot number is, so you know what's what.

A folder outside your game works fine as a place to sort the lots. Not sure about having multiple copies of the folders - could easily get confusing. If you find a way to make it not confusing, it could probably work for you.

If you need to know which is which lot, the lots can be opened in SimPE. Thumbnail pictures (floor pictures) can be viewed, plus the name of the lot. Not all the lots are recognizable from the pictures (I've had my share of unidentifiable lots), but if you have the name and thumbnails together, and don't tend to name the lots in a more or less unrecognizable way (like I've had a tendency to do), you're probably good.

You can download a lot, install it, place it where you want it to be, and then remove the lot file from the Lot Catalog. You don't have to keep the files. It does make it easier to install them later (basically no-install), and as long as you make sure to keep track of any CC the lot uses, it's fine (lots in the Lot Catalog only keep references to the CC, and if placed without the CC being in your Downloads, the CC gets replaced with EAxis items permanently for the placed lot - if the CC gets added back and you place a new copy of the lot, the CC will work for this version of the lot).

Thank you. You've given me lots to mull over.

I might try out the bit about adding the lot name to the lot package number and see if the lot will show up in game.

I love the suggestion of naming a picture of the lot with the lot number. I do put pictures of the lot and the floorplan shots in the lot's folder so that would be very quick and easy to do.