As the title says, is it possible to transfer Sims 2 neighborhoods to the PC Ultimate Collection? I have some long running neighborhoods that I would hate to lose. I know that transfering packages should not be a problem, but I wonder about the hoods.

It's most likely fine to do so.

The easiest way is to copy your files over to an USB stick or external harddrive (whatever you've got that's big enough for the amount of files you have, and compatible with both a Mac and PC). The easiest is to just copy everything in the Sims 2 folder for your saved game (that way you get neighborhoods, downloads, custom cameras, etc. you might have accumulated over the years - some of it might still be usable, and it works as a backup). It also doesn't hurt to keep a backup of your old files just in case you need to go through this process a few times (plus, you can extract sims, houses, and whole neighborhoods via SimPE, Bodyshop, etc. if you find you need to start over the hoods or want some of it in a different hood - much easier on a PC).

You'll also want to check if you have any mods/items in the Install location (CEP, light hacks, recategorizers, and similar), because you may want to install them again, although most will likely need upgrades for the newer EPs.

Be aware that if you have downloads, especially mods or items that were at some point after BV updated with one of the EPs, you may get errors, crashes, etc. because of this, and that's something you'll need to fix later.

Install the game on the PC. Check and make sure everything works in vanilla mode (no CC/mods, no nothing) before you go on, play a bit too, and it doesn't hurt to stress-test the game a bit with the larger lots (set graphics to high). Otherwise you don't know where the issues are coming from - your old game, downloads, the computer, or anything else could potentially cause problems from here on, and you want to make sure you had a "clean slate" to begin with in case things go bad, because you can always easily reset to that "clean slate" by letting the game regenerate a new TS2 folder.

You shouldn't need to patch the game if you use the version downloaded directly from the EA App/Origin, as these come pre-patched (CD versions and various other versions may need it).

Install the 4GB patch (it helps with memory handling) and make sure the game reads your graphic card (you'll find how-to's and other helpful tips in the Sticky notes at the top of this Help section)

All good?

Go to the Neighborhoods folder in the Documents location (location of your saved game on a PC, NOT install files location)

If you want to replace any of the premade neighborhoods with yours, delete the corresponding folder number from the Neighborhood folder, and copy that folder from your backup files, pasting it in. Make sure you DON'T overwrite anything! (overwriting can cause a lot of borkage).

If you want to add neighborhoods other than the premade ones (N004 and on), you can copy/paste them in.

For downloads, you may or may not have a Downloads and SavedSims folder - if you don't, you can try to add the Downloads folder, but occasionally this doesn't work - it can be a good idea to let Bodyshop generate these by making a random project (that you can delete after).

You should look through your old downloads and see if there's anything you can keep, and if there's something that needs replacing. Likely there's some of each.

There are some mods you may want to pick up that fixes issues in particularly AL/M&G. I think there's a list somewhere.

It's definitely possible! I'm still running my original hoods from my original 2004 install of the TS2 base game. Those hoods have migrated through all the EP upgrades, the UC download/install and at least three different computers. Now these were all PC-based.

I don't know whether there will be differences between Mac and PC files that would cause a PC to not be able to read saved files from a Mac.

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to type it all up! It is really helpful!

Thank you too, Hobbes. This is exactly the question. I will find out!