Sims 1, Sims 2, Sims 3, and now will be Sims 4. But my google search is such if I type in quotes example: blue chair "sims 2" I will always get more from sims 3 than sims 2 even if there is more sims 2 stuff out there. Has anyone come up with a better search engine than google or an answer to this problem so that searches would really get me only Sims 2 stuff. It is hard now but if EA makes more sims games it will become a nightmare. Help?

I am speaking of internet search only not of personal site MTS search.

Well, I don't usually use Google to find CC for my game (I usually ask for it in WCIF since I'm a complete failure when it comes to searching for stuff).

Have you tried using " and - ? Basically, with blue chair "sims 2" -3 the search engine should include SIMS 2, chair and blue, but will not include 3 (as in Sims 3). In short, use "these" to strictly say which game do you want, use -this to exclude a word from your search (-simblender, -world -adventures, -3 ...), use site:modthesims.info to search for content only on MTS (or use any other site there)... possibilities are endless. There are lots of TS2 blue chairs out there, you know.

This section is for problems with your game, so I'm moving this over to Sims2Discussion.

I use DuckDuckGo.com for all of my searches. Perhaps it would work better for you?

Im with DJ. Learn the search commands on google, and it should work fine. And if all else fails, WCIF.

Personally, I find that CC is like stray cats. When I need one, one comes along. And when I don't need it, it comes along anyway!

The issue with that though is that when just regularly searching even in parentheses like DJ said it'll include EVERY reference to those words and then you're still stuck with trying to narrow down what links are correct and which lead you on a wild goose chase.

Instead use the image features of those search engines. Not for the faint of heart, or who get regularly yelled at by their download folders though because more often then not I get sidetracked by all the shinies and 50+ downloads later I'll be asking myself "what the hell was I searching for originally"? Another good trick is to right click on every link and open in new tab for that new link so this way you can always get back/close out quickly if it's not the desired result which saves tons of accidental "too many clicks of the back button"

For me personally it shaves off 50% of the search time because while I may know what the CC item in question looks like if I see it in front of me picture style rather then trying to read about it to discern whether it's the right item it makes it easier to track down the original item if I don't want the recolor but by still going by a recolor most will link to the original mesh which granted means opening 1-2 more links but alot easier then 50+ links in one hour of searching just by web results instead of pictures.

I find it's generally easier to use a search on a specific site. Like I go here, and I look for blue chair, I go to GOS and look for purple dress, whatever I'm looking for.

I have fits with google and sims things, but usually I'm looking for a SimPE tutorial and I have no idea why google, which happily tap-dances for me on any other topic, cannot find SimPE tutorials.

If you need it to work with a specific expansion pack, naming it may help.

Otherwise, consider putting -"Sims 3" or NOT "Sims 3", to exclude the Sims 3 custom content from consideration. Yes, this will also exclude Sims 2 content from many sites, but for the sites which have clearer divisions between the two games, you should just get the Sims 2 stuff with that modification to the search parameters.

For fiddly sites, it may be worth your while to search each one individually, especially if it turns up good CC on a semi-frequent basis.

"Good" search engines have Advanced options. Like so

The resulting search string from the above image is
And you can even specify by language or time period. For example, if I search for Sims 3 CC, I may input a date range of "Jun 2009 - now", to exclude any CC created before then. Which considerably narrows down the results by removing most older Sims 2 content. Or, if I'm researching for bugs for a particular EP, I set the time from its release date till now.

Once you learn how to use proper configurations of search terms and wildcards/symbols, you no longer need the Advanced page.