Glossary

Key terms used in Llama Builder and The Sims 4 modding community.

Build/Buy mode The in-game mode where players furnish and decorate lots. Wall Art, Rugs, Vases, and Tables appear here in the object catalog.

CAS (Create-a-Sim) The in-game character customization screen where players dress and style their Sims. Nails, Eyes, Earrings, Glasses, and Tattoos are CAS items.

Charm A 3D decorative object (gem, star, bow, etc.) placed on a nail surface. Charms are rigged to a finger bone so they animate with the Sim's hand.

Custom content (CC) Player-made items added to the game, from clothing and hair to furniture and wall decorations. Llama Builder creates custom content packaged as .package files.

CAS Part The game's internal record for a piece of clothing or accessory. Nails, Eyes, Earrings, Glasses, and Tattoos are exported as CAS Parts.

Gradient stop One color point in a gradient fill. Moving a stop along the gradient strip changes where that color appears. Adding more stops creates multi-color blends.

Mesh The 3D geometry of an object. Llama Builder generates meshes procedurally, so you never need to provide or edit a 3D model.

Mod A file or set of files that modifies or extends the base game. In the context of Llama Builder, a mod is a .package file you drop into the Mods folder.

Mods folder The folder where The Sims 4 looks for .package files on startup. Located at Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods.

.package The binary file format used by The Sims 4 for custom content and mods. Llama Builder exports your project as a single .package that may contain multiple swatches.

Recolor A mod that changes the color or texture of an existing item without altering its geometry. Swatches in Llama Builder are per-item color variations (not recolors of EA content).

Rig / Rig binding The skeleton that drives a 3D mesh's animation. For nails, the rig is the hand skeleton. Charm rig binding controls which finger bone a charm follows.

Script mod A mod that contains compiled Python code (a .ts4script file) that changes game behavior. The Sims 4 requires a separate Script Mods Allowed setting to enable them. Only one Llama Builder export includes one: a TV Channel that adds a new channel ships a small injector script. Everything else is a plain .package and needs only Enable Custom Content and Mods.

Swatch One color or texture variant of an item. In the game catalog, swatches appear as small colored circles below the item card. All swatches in a Llama Builder project are exported together in one .package file.

Simoleons The in-game currency of The Sims 4. The price you set in Llama Builder is the Simoleon cost players pay in Build/Buy or CAS.

Tags Catalog metadata that tells the game where to file your item: its category, and which search terms, style, and color filters surface it. Build/Buy and CAS items are tagged differently. The game stores tags by a numeric id, so the readable labels in Llama Builder are only for you.

Thumbnail The small preview image shown on the item's catalog card in-game. Llama Builder can auto-render this from the 3D preview, or you can upload your own.