There were some custom sims that I couldn't install via Launcher, but it seemed that no matter the content when I converted them into .package Dashboard would always say "Corrupted - contain another DBPF". I tested it and the sims showed up just fine but I'm still unsure whether they're safe or not. After hours searching for solutions and coming up empty, I continued messing with the files using S3PE and found UNKN tags with 0x0000000000 -- as a test I deleted this, and the .package came up clean according to Dashboard.

I tested this again with another sim by the same artist who made the corrupted file -- so far 4 of her sims came up with DBPF error -- but this one I managed to install via launcher. With S3PE I opened the .sim file in SavedSims and exported the stuff inside into a .package file; Dashboard said another DBPF error.

Then I opened a copy of the unedited .sim file, found another UNKN, deleted it, and exported it into a .package and this time Dashboard said it's clean. The sims I installed this way showed up fine in the game.

Can someone please help explain what happened? I was only introduced to S3PE yesterday so I don't know the correlations of the UNKN tag with 'package in another package' error.

I'm sorry if this is common knowledge I've been searching about this DBPF thing for a few days and very little info came up, and some are very inconsistent. Thank you in advance!

EDIT -- I looked around for a .sim file that didn't have the UNKN tag from the start. It was from a different artist and Dashboard approved of it. So maybe this UNKN thing is like something bad that hitchhiked in CC?

Yes, your findings suggest that some unwanted items (clothing, sometimes even furniture) have attached themselves to the Sim and that these have been merged with the Sim file while the creator exported it from their game as sims3pack.

Just open a Sim in S3PE that you created yourself in CAS and that is stored in SavedSims. It will only contain a few resources, SIMO, SIME and SNAP. This is a "clean" Sim. A sim installed from sims3pack can also contain _XML and TXTC resources. Everything else that you find in a Sim file is junk. Things like the UNKN resources, or BONE or VPXY belong to unwanted stuff. If you export them all together into one package you can sometimes even find out what it is, like a custom content earring, necklace or clothing item from the Store.

The same can, by the way, happen with downloaded lots. And while in the case of Sims it is often sufficient to simply delete the unneeded resources lots are a bit more difficult to clean (as far as I remember). That's one of the reasons why MTS doesn't allow the uploading of Sims as sims3packs anymore and will only approve .sim files straight from CAS.

The easiest way to get clean files is to
1- Never install lots and Sims with the Launcher but use the MultiInstaller by Delphy to extract the file from the sims3pack
2- Place the extracted file in either Library, if it's a lot, or rename the .package to .sim and place it in SavedSims, if it's a Sim.
3- Start a fresh game and either place the lot on an empty plot and then save it into the library bin or open CAS, chose the Sim and then save it again into SavedSim
4- Delete the old versions and only use the new ones
5- Do not export them as sims3packs

And if you want to be extra safe, do all of this in a separate user folder and transfer only the clean files into the user folder that contains your actual game saves and contents.

Thank you for the explanation! I didn't know you could rename the extensions of extracted .Sims3Pack!

The thing is -- I want the CC 80% of the the time the links for CC for the custom sims I love are dead and so the only choice is .Sism3Pack. But everything came up as DBPF when I extracted it. Some questions:

1) Is DBPF corrupt dangerous? If I keep it in my gameplay would it corrupt my Saves?
2) What triggers it? For the sims I edited -- they were full of CC but deleting only the UNKN seemed to cure the corrupt.
3) Extra -- If I convert multiple custom sims into .packages, can I merge them to avoid duplicates of CC?

No idea. Most people don't even notice that they have these things attached to their downloaded Sims or spread the unwanted CC with their uploaded Sims or lots, because the majority of this corrupt cc does not show up in CAS. I once contacted a creator because their lot contained a cc necklace attached to it and they had never seen or used it in their own games. So they probably got it themselves through some affected download without noticing it because it was invisible. These attached CC items are usually broken. They lack some resources and you cannot reconstruct them to be able to properly use them in-game.

And I don't think that so far anyone has ever been abled to pinpoint the exact cause for why a specific save broke.

I think it happens while a Sim or lot are being exported as sims3pack with the Share or Export buttons. I had tried a while ago whether I could reproduce this but all my test sims3packs came out as clean.

You can't merge Sims, as far as I know.

When a Sim comes with CC and the CC is not broken the extraction with MultiInstaller should actually give you the CC as separate package files which you can add to your Mods/Packages folder. And this CC should be safe to use.

So far all the CC sims I've extracted came out as one file (which Dashboard labeled as Sim) except when the sim contains custom pattern, then the pattern .package is separated. Checking the .Sims3Pack with Custard showed some info in the Sub-Type so maybe it's because the CC are attached to the Sim? From what I've heard about attached CC they're just annoyance and don't pose major trouble?

(I changed the CC sims' extension into .sim and there's no difference compared to when it was in .package format, but I feel safer with .package somehow.)

And thank you for the info about DBPF! That's the clearest info I've gotten :D

Can you give me a link to one of these Sims? I'm a bit confused by what you describe and I want to make sure that we do not talk about different things.

Here is one of them.

When extracted it come out as two files: Sim+CC combined and a single pattern. So the CC is not separated from the Sim.

Another one here. Same as above but w/o pattern so only one file, Sim+CC combined.

Oh, I see. I used the Fin Starlight Sim and you are right. The creator managed to pack all CC into the .sim file inside the sims3pack. I have never seen anything like that before. It is a completely non-standard thing to do and would get the Sim rejected here at MTS, because the risk is too high to get broken content into your game that way. And I suspect that you will have to keep the Sim in your SavedSims folder if you want to keep the CC, too. There's no way to get it out as a separate file.
The site you linked also offers .sim files as alternative, and these are completely clean, btw.

I do have some idea how you could keep the CC, get rid of the Sim and merge it all into one huge CC package. Instead of removing the UNKN, BONE and other resources you could try to delete the SNAP, SIME and SIMO instead, rename the .sim back into .package. This should give you the CC without the Sim and allow you to merge them with other CC package files. But mind you. I have not tried this myself. It is just an idea and carries just as much risk as the other way round.

I didn't change the extension so I put them in Mods/Packages. I think this thing is called downloads that are attached to Sims directly. Not sure, though.

The procedure is risky but since the files came up clean when checked with Dashboard I guess they're mostly safe? Or will they spread corruption in my Saves? (I'm still paranoid coming out of TS2 and don't know if corruption works the same way in TS3. Is there a guide for this? Google didn't give promising results.)

That's a good idea but I'm not experienced enough to try it. I'd love to experiment further but since I have only two of that weirdly packaged sims I guess I'm okay with how it is now.

Thanks for the help!

Dashboard does a wonderful job at detecting most problems, but not all. If you start seeing weirdness, those sims should be on your suspect list.

Ah, okay. So removing the pre-made sims and all the CC it came with will be enough to save the sims I made? Or will corruption spread like in TS2?

Sorry for repeating questions. I'm still not sure how corruption works in TS3.

Personally I would never add such a Sim to my game.

But whether these can cause corruption is open to debate. Corruption in TS3 seems to mainly be caused by data junk accumulating over time, like left over character information (relationship links and such) or things spawned by the game itself and failure by the game then to clean them up.

Bad CC could cause crashes, graphic errors and such. I how much they can contribute to data corruption, I've no idea and probably nobody else has either.

In TS3 the main things you should avoid are deleting Sim without a mod, moving Sims around with moveobjects on, deleting gravestones that contain a pre-made ghost. ErrorTrap is the mod that helps in many of these cases. It both helps keep things cleaned and if something unusual happens it will give you an error log that the people at NRaas can investigate.

I guess I'll take precautions when using these sims. I'll make more backups than usual and uninstall the bad CC if anything start to go wrong. As long as the corruption doesn't spread I guess I can enjoy playing them for a while, then change their CC prior to uninstall. They are only 3 .package files so it should be easy to remove them.

Thank you guys for all the help