Can someone explain modding terms for TS2 like hack (is it the same asa mod?), binned, slaved, etc. I usually play TS4, so I'm kinda newb-y with TS2.

In other games, mods mean any custom content, but not so in Sims 2. In Sims 2 hack means mods, files that change your gameplay or fix a bug. Things like texture replacements, hair and objects are not called mods but CC/ Custom Content. So if you are doing a WCIF for hair you shouldn't say 'hair mod' but rather 'hair mesh' (the shape) or 'hair texture' (the colour) or simply Hair downloads.

Binned is referring to hair. So brown hair is in the brown hair bin, blond is in the blond bin etc.

Slaved means a set has a master file and this file is needed for the other items to show up because they are slaved to it. Someone who knows the technical details might give a better explanation.

Thank you!!

Binned = Put in color bins so they show under the right hair color (for instance blonde/black/brown/red for hairs or eyebrows) instead of the custom (*) bin. Binned hair applied in CAS give the sim a genetic haircolor their kids can inherit. In a default game, red and blonde are recessive, black and brown are dominant. If you change their hair color with a mirror it's just a cosmetic change and they'll still transfer their original color to their kids.

Slaved/repositoried = Textures are usually removed from the file, and they're instead linked to another object (Master) that uses the same texture. This is to save space, time spent making a ton of recolors, and (possibly) to make loading quicker. Often used with larger sets where their UVmapping (mesh outlay) can use the same textures, and for mix-and-match purposes with ingame or other textures. Items slaved to Jonesi's bed blanket, or to the EAxis bed or crib are very common.

Hack/mod are interchangeable, but mean roughly the same. Hack is often used to describe small fixes or changes to the game, and mod is more often used to describe a larger game-changing hacked item or a larger hack with several functions - but there's no set rule for what's what. A hack or mod usually changes how something works ingame, fixes something, gives access to hard-to-get ingame functions, or similar. There's also hacked/modded objects that add game behavior that's either heavily changed from how the game works or adds entirely new functions.

And a few much used descriptions:

EAxis/Maxis/default = anything that's shipped with the game

CC/Custom Content = anything for the game that you can download off the web or make yourself.

EAxis/Maxis Match or MM = Anything meant to blend with what's shipped with the game. It's a relatively loose description, but essentially means furniture, clothes or recolors that match the ingame style.

(Just to clarify - Maxis was the original name of the production company that made TS1 and the start of TS2, then EA took over the Maxis company and renamed it, though the more or less original but now renamed Maxis team was more or less part of the production of the Sims franchise for a while yet (with a small sidetrack to Spore), though how many from the original Maxis team was involved when and where in the rest of the Sims timeline is a bit unclear. EAxis is a merged nickname for EA and Maxis).

Default replacement (sometimes just "default") = A file that replaces the textures or mesh of an ingame item. Replacements for clothes and furniture textures are most common.

We perhaps should also say that binned hairs work with the in-game genetics whereas straight custom hairs don't.

Townified, on Body Shop stuff, means that it can appear on any newly-generated townies.

Compressorized means that the .package file was run through DJS Sims' The Compressorizer! This decreases the file-size and may reduce loading times as well (though results have varied).

Townified also means it can randomly appear on playable sims in CAS and when sims grow up, not just townies.

Geneticized means modified so that it blends with the default colors, usually for skins and eyes. They're numbered on a scale, so if a couple has S1 and S2 skins, they can also get any geneticized skins with numbers between those skins, the same way a couple with S1 and S4 skins can get a baby with S2 and S3 skins in an unmodded game. It does have some downsides, in that if you're not careful, sims can get babies with completely different looks than their parents, not just different colors. Removing these skins and eyes can cause some issues with future generations, too (missing textures).

Custom (as opposed to default, geneticized or towniefied) means the items (usually) show up in the Custom (*) bins in the hair/eye/skin/etc. categories. These usually have dominant genetics (skins/eyes) when applied to a sim, but won't show up randomly on sims unless you change the sim's appearance (clothes, etc.). Items made in Bodyshop nearly always start out as custom.

Pookleted/Remi'd/etc. - Often used for hairs, means they're colored with Pooklet's or Remi's (or any other creator who's been verbified) hair color actions and/or textures.

Thank you all!! Like I said I'm pretty new to the Sims 2 modding scene and.. oh boy its different from TS4 or TS3, haha.

Yeti, poppet,Piggi and CuriousB Colour palettes. Goat woods, iCAd woods (There are probably more) These are colour actions made by simmers who are so well known that that somebody might say "I used Poppet's" If you aren't in the know that can be confusing.

Poppet is also well known for eyes. People often talk about Remi vs Pooklet hair, again these were well-known creators. Any well known creator or well known sims 2 custom content might be name dropped without explanation. You might hear the word "Jonsi" again referring to a creator and their well known bed blanket.

There's also a couple of popular mods that are often namedropped without reference.

InTeen is the InTeeminator, a mod that adds a lot to the teenage lifestage (allowing them to WooHoo, get pregnant, move out, and stuff like that). It's a big mod, though, and conflicts with a lot of things.

ACR is Autonomous Casual Romance, a mod that allows Sims more leeway about what romantic actions they can do autonomously. They can also pick their own partners, and there's some changes to jealousy. It's very customizable though, so you can disable the autonomy for certain Sims or limit it to their spouses.

InSim, the Blender, and the Manipulator are three mods that provide a lot of options such as changing your Sims' motives, personalities, aspirations, skills, and, well, pretty much everything. About 90% of their options overlap, so you might only want one, but they do work side-by-side without problems - I use all three.

The Batbox is Pescado's FFS Lot Debugger, which provides some troubleshooting options such as fixing stuck expressions, clearing Sims who get stuck offworld, and things like that.

No Sim Loaded (or sometimes NSL) is a mod by BoilingOil that removes "sim loaded" tokens, which aren't really used for anything. More importantly, it can suppress the somewhat dreaded "hug-bug," which is a glitchy test interaction by Maxis that sometimes gets activated. While it's fairly harmless (especially when compared to neighbourhood corruption), it can be quite annoying. This mod also requires Smarter EP Check.

Cyjon's Smarter EP Check is just a little mod that tells other mods (such as No Sim Loaded) what expansion packs you have installed.

The HCDU is the Hack Conflict Detection Utility, which is a program by the now-defunct SimWardrobe that tells you if two different hacks are trying to change the same bit of code. If a mod behaves in ways that aren't expected, it's a good idea to run it to check if something else is overriding it. It also can't hurt to run it when installing the mod, either.

There's a lot of other well-known mods. These are just the ones from the top of my head.

CLT for Community Lot Time Mod, OMSP for One More Slot Position which is a CC item that lets you put things on these movable shelves which you can then make invisible.

hack (in any game) to me seems to be a changed object; mod, changed function/functions.

Yes, but in sims 2 a mod means a hack. In other games mods refer to textures, clothes, objects, any CC. People coming from sims 3 or 4 or other games to sims 2 tend to call all downloaded content 'mods'.

Technically, all items added to the game are mods - but in TS2 the words mod and hack are more used for a file or set of files that changes or adds gameplay, or "hacks" the game in some way. Regular outfits, furniture, etc. are called Custom Content. I think this has carried over to TS3, but perhaps in a smaller degree for TS4? I don't know - I've not used much CC for those games.

It does get confusing when "uninitiated" players start talking of mods when they mean pieces of regular custom content. I vaguely remember someone wanted to find a "hair mod" in the WCIF section once, and I started thinking of the mod that changes the hair color dominance because that's the only one I could think of at that moment - but they just wanted to find a regular hair.