Conflicts & duplicates

Two mods can fight over the same resource without either of them being "broken." One wins, one loses, and your game quietly does whatever the winner says. SimSweep surfaces those fights so you can decide who wins intentionally instead of by accident.

Getting to the detail view#

Run a scan, open Diagnostics, and click the Conflicts and Duplicates card. The detail view has five tabs:

• Conflicts - Shared resource IDs that can override each other.
• Soft Conflicts - Deeper tuning clashes that conflict without sharing a resource ID.
• Broken Scripts - Script mods with framework issues (see Script mods).
• Duplicates - Files that contain the same CAS, Object, or Tuning ID sets.
• Identical Files - Exact byte-for-byte duplicate packages.

Conflicts#

A conflict group is two or more files that share a resource ID. When the game loads both, one of them takes priority based on which file loads last, which is determined by folder structure and filename. SimSweep groups the conflicts so you can see exactly which files are involved.

SimSweep filters out a lot of noise by default. Same-creator overlaps, animation files, demographic mismatches, and low-risk game overrides are excluded so the list stays focused on things that might actually matter.

Heads up: A conflict is not automatically a problem. Many modders intentionally override game tuning. The question is whether you want this specific override active. If two mods are fighting over the same trait tuning file, only one of them wins.

Soft conflicts#

Some mods conflict at a meaning level, not a resource ID level. Two mods can each define their own tuning for exclusive trait slots, buff indices, zone modifiers, or relationship bit groups without sharing a single resource ID. The game will try to load both, and one will silently win or things will break in strange ways.

SimSweep detects these tuning-level clashes and surfaces them under Soft Conflicts with a Warning severity label. You can click Re-check to re-run soft conflict analysis after making changes.

Duplicates#

A duplicate group means two or more files contain the exact same CAS, Object, or Tuning ID sets. This is different from a conflict: duplicate files are essentially the same mod installed twice under different filenames. Usually this happens when someone downloads a mod update, the new file lands alongside the old one, and now both are active.

SimSweep marks one file per group as the recommended one to keep, based on file path and name heuristics. That is a suggestion, not a guarantee. Review each group before acting.

Identical files#

An identical file is an exact SHA256 match between two packages. These are byte-for-byte the same file, just saved in two places. Safest to remove duplicates here, but still worth checking the file paths. Sometimes one is a backup you meant to keep.

Taking action#

The detail view gives you a few ways to act on what you find:

• Protect all - Mark files as protected so bulk actions skip them.
• Select all except recommended - Pre-selects duplicates for removal, leaving the recommended file alone.
• Select all duplicates - Selects every file flagged as a non-primary duplicate.
• Quarantine selected - Moves selected files out of your active Mods folder without deleting them.
• Delete selected - Permanently removes selected files. Start with quarantine if you are not sure.

Protected files are never touched by bulk destructive actions, even if they appear in a conflict or duplicate group.

Stats at a glance#

The top of each tab shows a summary: how many groups, how many files are involved, total size, and how much space you could reclaim by removing the extras.

Empty states (no conflicts, no duplicates, no identical files) are a good sign. The scan ran and found nothing to worry about in that category.

Next up#

If you have script mods with warnings, check Script mods and frameworks for framework-specific issues.