I have built several houses and using the share option in the game packaged my lots and houses as sims3packs. Then I have used Keka to zip them and then sent them off to MTS along with the proper image files. The last house I worked on Rose Cottage (pictures in >Modding and Creation>Creator Feedback Forum >Sims 3 > Rose Cottage) was only reduced by about 3mb after using both Keka then trying WinZIP Mac. The house was built with no custom content and only the base game.

I don't get it! Can't check with Custard on a Mac right? Plus I was really careful not to use any custom content and the file isn't that big to begin with. I just upgraded to Mac OS 10.8.4 Mountain Lion. Does anyone know if this could be a factor?

Thanks in advance for any help. I don't understand how the file is compressed so I have no idea how to troubleshoot.
Debbie

I'm not sure that I understand. How do you know that the files are not properly compressed? What makes you believe that these programs are not working?

I assume that the Sims3Pack format can already be significantly compressed. However, I'm more familiar with Sims2Pack files, so let me talk about those.

A Sims2Pack file consists of a number of different packages. Each of those packages can be compressed individually before being added to the Sims2Pack. Therefore, zipping a Sims2Pack may not give you a significant space savings, depending upon the compression of the individual packages.

Mootilda, from what I understand from the wiki, sims3packs work much the same as a container for packages. The problem here is that the sims3pack file (it's a house) is ridiculously large, over 10 mb. Deborah, sorry to hear that removing the downloads folder didn't do the trick.

I really doubt that a standard zip program isn't working. That just doesn't sound likely. In the unlikely chance that one program is failing, the only option is to use a different program.

If I wanted to compress something more, I would avoid using zip or RAR format and go with a strongly compressed 7zip format. Even the best zip compression is worse than RAR and even the best RAR compression is bad compared to 7Zip.

Rather than multiple zip programs failing, it's far more likely that the solution is to compress the house before packaging it, and to ensure that nothing extraneous is added to the Sims3Pack.

In that case, this really belongs in the Sims 3 Help forum, where people might be able to help you to get a minimally sized Sims3Pack.