So I want SimPE to do fairly basic things (I think). Editing Sim's lifespans, editing season lengths, etc. But I am getting quite frustrated because no matter what beginner tutorial I follow, I cannot get SimPE set up. It won't properly recognize any of my game files.

Can someone help me figure out what I am doing wrong?

For context (and forgive me if I leave out important info, this is my first post on this website), I am running the re-release of Sims 2 with all packs. I guess that is the Legacy edition? And I am on Windows 10. The NVidia DDS Tool has been a special sort of headache, as SimPE can NEVER find that program, even when I put it in the suggested folder. And manually imputing the expansion file paths does not seem to do anything, either.

I am kind of giving up at this point. Is there something I am missing? I assume there is, because I am new to this program and new to modding the Sims 2. I would appreciate any input. Thanks!

Which SimPE version are you trying to set up? Some versions can be a bit harder to work with.
75f could be an option.

Also, which Legacy version (Steam, EA...)?

There's some discussion of the Legacy version & SimPE, here:
https://modthesims.info/showthread....25#startcomment
You might get some tips there.

Are you manually inputting the paths for everything, or trying to make SimPE find them? For Legacy I'm pretty sure you have to manually input all of them.

You should be able to put the DDS tool "anywhere" (I installed it in Program Files, SimPE should be able to find it from there, at least via manual pathing). For the Program Files folder, the path would look something like this:
C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\DDS Utilities

I'm running the Legacy version (EA) on Windows 10. And Simmer22 is correct in saying that all the links have to be entered manually - and then SAVED (pull down Preferences/Save Preferences). A bore, but once done, it's fine. I've got my DDS tool where Simmer22 suggests (though I haven't a clue what it actually does!).

As for SimPE itself, I've tried various later versions and lost patience with trying to make them work. So I use a very old copy of Simpe_0_73_43-QA, which sits in its own folder in C:\Program Files and runs from a desktop shortcut. I can accomplish basic things (recolouring, changing the prices of objects, twiddling with Sim ages, DNA, relationships, length of seasons ...).

One point: running the system check under Preferences always gives me the following error message:
"Folder for "The Sims 2" was not found.
Unable to locate "C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2 Legacy\TSBin\Sims2.exe"."
As both the game and SimPE work despite this "absent" folder, I can only conclude that it doesn't matter.

Good luck.

The DDS tool is for recoloring (DXT texturing or DDS files) - it's available if you right-click the texture when you have a TXTR resource open. It gives a better result than using the "import" function.

The folders should point to the base folder for the basegame, each EP/SP (SP4, EP3, etc.), and the location of your current savegame. It should not point to the EXE files.

If you use Steam, the path shown in Hazel's post looks like it could be wrong - I don't think the folder is called EA Games for Legacy, and it should not point directly to the EXE file.

Clicking "OK" after changing something in the preferences usually does save them (I've never had to do "save preferences" after making changes), but it doesn't hurt to save again. Some changes might need a SimPE restart to work.
"Save preferences Profile" is for saving a preference profile you can go back to if you change something or SimPE has a crash-moment that messes up the layout files. Can also be used to replace files in instances where SimPE crashes so bad it won't open (been there, done that...)