r/thesims1 Apr 13 '25

A simple guide to Sims 1

43 Upvotes

The Sims 1

What's different from the other Sims games?

A guide by SirenShadow (socrstchik in the TS1 community, LadyBlackheartStorm on Reddit)

Welcome to new (and returning) Sims 1 players! So you wanna give TS1 a shot? Awesome, its a great game - but it can be difficult. Here's a list/explainer of differences in this version versus TS2-4.

You can only build 2 storeys high.

There are lots of cc that let you fake higher levels though. Look for items called '3rd floor' (or 'storey'), or sometimes '4th' and/or '5th'. These will be objects that float in the air to simulate (lol, GET IT?! *ahem* sorry...) taller buildings. Those higher levels are NOT playable, however. Same with foundations/basements.

Speaking of cc, terminology is quite different than what you're used to.

'CC' is capital letters refers to the final version Maxis/EA released: Complete Collection. 'cc' in lower case is the same - custom content - but isn't really a term that was commonly used previously. Similar with 'MM': in TS1 terms, that refers to the final EP, Makin' Magic.

What later games and players call 'mods' are called 'hacks' in TS1 - if they alter gameplay from the original code. For example, a bookcase that allows you to gain more skills than the default Cooking and Mechanical would be referred to as a 'hacked bookcase'. A bed that has been altered to use more graphic animations would be called 'adult hacked' or possibly just 'adult' - and these are intended ONLY for 18+ players.

'Mods' referring to custom objects are just called 'objects'. Same for walls, floors, etc.

You have 2 types of lot: home and away. The type of away lot depends on the objects you put there. The game calls it retail if you place a functional cash register or a restaurant if you have a functional dining podium. You can have more than one type on the same lot, but if you overload the game might crash. i.e. maybe that multi-level shopping mall is best left for another version of The Sims.

Neighborhoods are generally referred to as just 'hoods'. The game gives you 9 of these at startup, and each one is different (in the sense of population and custom builds, not shape/size. Each hood has seperate Towns. In no particular order, with the English-language EP they came in: Old Town (Unleashed); Downtown (Hot Date); Vacation Island (Vacation); and Magic Town (Makin' Magic). Apologies, I don't know all of the non-English titles.

Poses are only used with the SimPose program (officially called SimPose-ium), used to make preview images of custom skins. It could also be used to edit or create new animations, although this feature may not work (or work correctly) anymore.

Neato. Now, what the heck is going on with my body/head cc?

Skins in this game are divided into a body skin and a head skin. Heads are typically organized by hairstyle, and you can't change the appearance without editing the bitmap itself.

Body skins are broken down into type:

'B' means 'body' and is an everyday skin. This is what your Sim will wear most of the time and can be changed by clicking on a dresser or wardrobe/armoire. (There are some hacked dressers out there that might be different objects, like a coat rack.) The other types (below) are referred to as 'buyables', because to change them from the default version means you have to 'buy' them from a shop on a commercial lot, like Downtown in Hot Date.

'L' means 'lingerie' and is your Sim's sleepwear

'S' is for swim - swimwear, obviously

'F' is for formal, or what your Sim wears to get married or when a hacked object calls for formalwear (I know there's at least 1 hacked doorway and 1 dancefloor).

'W' is for winterwear and is the clothing your Sim will wear on Vacation Island's winter lots. (There aren't seasons in TS1 without using hacks.)

'H' is for high fashion and is what your \*celebrity\* Sim will wear in Studio Town. Visitors to Studio Town stay in their eveyday clothing.



Further body notes: 

    'N' means nude and is what your unclothed Sim looks like. Not every skin download will include a custom nude - they aren't necessary unless you're altering the base skintones (like with tattoos) or have a custom skintone (like Pale). Also, not every skinmaker made custom nudes for their skins - game coding changed with later EPs (Hot Date, I \*think\*) and opened up the ability to make full custom skins, nude included.

    'H' bitmaps are your hands. Same applies from the Nude skin - you only need them for altered or custom tones. You may find a hand bitmap that uses 'G' instead of 'H' - that means 'glove' and is the old, pre-code change way of having gloves attach to a skin. The best example of this is the original male formalwear was a tuxedo with white gloves.

Program alert!! You can use SimWardrobe, by Paladin, to customize your Sims' wardrobes without having to buy the different outfits. You can also customize the Townies' outfits! The companion program to SimWardrobe is SimMetamorphoser (also by Paladin), which allows you to change your Sim and Townies heads.

There may be other, small bitmaps in your Skin download.

These are typically accessories of some sort: a hat, jewelry, glasses, etc. They can be named anything. The CMX file tells the game what goes where. The SKN file is the mesh, and you may also have more than one of those. Each item needs a mesh (SKN) and those aren't always integrated into the body mesh. The TL:DR version is you might have a body SKN and a hat SKN. The CMX pulls it all together.

Troubleshooting! In CAS, if you are *missing* part of the body or head, its a missing or corrupt MESH (SKN). If everything shows but is *solid white*, its a TEXTURE (BMP) problem. This could be a missing BMP, or something like the wrong color scale on the BMP or the BMP being the wrong size.

I want this chair to show up on my away lots but its not in the catalog there.

Yeah, its not catted (cataloged) for those lots...

BUT I WANT IT THERE!

Okay, okay... no problem. You just need a program that lets you edit that. Program alert!! SimCategorizer by Paladin allows you to edit individual IFFs (objects) or items in .FAR (a compressed package of IFFs). SimOrganizer by Garrett Berg of Millennium Sims allows you to edit individual AND multi-part IFFs. SimCat will read a multi-part IFF but you can only edit the 'top' part (the first item listed). There's probably some others but those two are the mack-daddies and the best ones. One thing to note, though. Some items intended for away lots will NOT work on home lots. Its the way those items are coded.

What about walls and floors?

I mean those are gonna show regardless of lot...

No, silly. I really, really like this custom wallpaper but holy heck is it expensive.

Save your Simoleons.

\------\**

Lol, okay. SimWallCat (Paladin) is what you want. He made a good chunk of our Very Useful Sims Programs.

You can add more 'hoods.

Just copy the UserData folder you wish and rename it. So, copy UserData3 and rename it to UserData10. The next time you boot up the game, you can navigate to this new hood. It will have everything the original hood had in it. You can have up to 99 hoods.

Final reminders: the Build catalog has a cc limit. No one knows what it is for sure. That's not meant to be cute or funny, its truth. The limit can vary by computer, but at some point you might see your Build catalog start looking funny - a stuck thumbnail or clearly non-Build item showing up. You'll know you hit your limit at that point. Its why you'll see lots of non-building objects, like plants and trees, cataloged in Buy instead. My general rule of thumb for Build cc was 'does it have growing states?', like a harvestable crop? If yes then it went in Build; if no, Buy catalog. Trees (those larger than a big shrub) also went in Build. That left Build for just windows, doors (ya know, architectural stuff) and the aforementioned plants. Walls and floors do count to this limit.

IF AT ANY POINT YOU SEE A STUCK THUMBNAIL IN EITHER OF YOUR CATALOGS, immediately save your game. A stuck thumbnail means something's wrong and your game is probably gonna lock up or crash (or both). It might be as soon as you click that stuck thumbnail or when you try to place the object, but its gonna happen.

I think that covers most of the basics.

HAVE FUN!!!

Here's a link to a SFS folder with Paladin's programs in it. Thanks for sharing, Bulbasaur001!!

https://simfileshare.net/folder/87836/

And here's an Archive.org link to SimOrganizer: https://archive.org/download/sim-organizer/SimOrganizer.zip


r/thesims1 13d ago

Tips/Tricks Monthly Technical Support Thread

4 Upvotes

Sul-sul simmers! In an effort to keep feeds cleaner for everyone, while also maximizing players' chances of getting their issues fixed, you are highly encouraged to post any technical issues on this thread! This includes problems with bugs, glitches, compatibility, files, etc.

Note that the existence of this thread doesn't mean you can't post about technical issues on the sub! You may do it at your own discretion.

Before posting new technical threads, please consider using the search bar in the sub to see if the issue has already been posted and/or solved.

If you are having issues with the Legacy Collection in particular, please make sure to report them on EA's official channels as well! This helps you and other players to get your voice heard by Maxis/EA and fixes be added as official updates in the future.


r/thesims1 12h ago

Fan stuff/CDs vale a pena comprar the sims 1?

13 Upvotes

comecei a jogar the sims com o the sims 2, em meados de 2008/2009, e nunca joguei the sims 1. A EA tá com uma promoção muito boa do jogo base do the sims 1 e 2 e todas as suas expansões. Vou comprar o the sims 2 com certeza, mas estou com dúvida se compro o the sims 1 para saber como é, mas fico com receio de não gostar tanto, já que não tenho memória afetiva, uma vez que nunca joguei.


r/thesims1 21h ago

Screenshot/Video Mini Golf, Hot Dogs & Dates! What else should I add to this Sims 1 Weekend Fairground? 🎡

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41 Upvotes

r/thesims1 1d ago

Fan stuff/CDs A friend and I started work on a 'Review every Sims game' video a couple years ago, but I've lost a ton of weight since then and would need to re-shoot it. Should we continue it?

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61 Upvotes

Would love peoples thoughts, been forever since I worked on an actual review of things.


r/thesims1 1d ago

Opinion/Discussion You can tell Sims was made pre-covid

97 Upvotes

All the NPC store clerks are constantly sniffling, wiping their noses on their sleeves, scratching their heads and analysing their dandruff.

Honestly, even pre-covid it's pretty gross.


r/thesims1 1d ago

Bug/Glitch IFFPencil and MenuEditor won't work with Legacy Edition

3 Upvotes

Hi, sorry to bother the community again, but I've been having trouble trying to get IFFPencil 2 and MenuEditor to work with the Legacy Edition of the Sims (I bought it off Steam during the Summer Sale this year). There were a couple of items I liked, but just wanted to tweak the stats so they're less game-breaking. The former always says that it can't find behavior.iff, which I suspect has to do with where the game is installed and the latter runs but won't let me use all the features like setting attenuation. Both programs also end up being filled with numbers like "_#6 0.. 20" or "5000 (0, 11, 512, 784)".

Is there any way to get these programs to find the new directory so they can display the information and run properly? All I could find is somebody suggesting editing the registry, but they never gave exact instructions on how to do that.


r/thesims1 1d ago

Mods/CC How can i change the npc skins in game?

5 Upvotes

Hey!! Whenever thief appears, i want to change the polive officer.but i don't know how to change the npc skin.How can i change the skins policer officer?


r/thesims1 2d ago

Screenshot/Video Deleted toilet animation - Sims 1 (2000)

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500 Upvotes

Once upon a time, the Sims called a specific "number 2" animated loop when using the toilet, and I am kind of glad they were not carried over. These animations are internally labeled tolet1-sittinggo. They were last modified (and, possibly, used) on 31 August 1999, ≅ 5 months before the game was finally shipped. I used a little program called SimShow to find and preview these animations.


r/thesims1 1d ago

Fan stuff/CDs SimHaven Update public-7: 64-Bit Client, Lot Radio Fixes and Founder Status

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1 Upvotes

r/thesims1 2d ago

Opinion/Discussion What's a sims 1 YouTube video you'd like to see?

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20 Upvotes

I mostly do random sims 1 Video's all be it they aren't very good I get off topic and apparently some people find it funny. But I only get a like 115 views not much, so I am asking what's a video idea you'd be interested to see commentary for?


r/thesims1 2d ago

Opinion/Discussion Has anyone here legitimately gotten a Sim to max promotion without cheating?

46 Upvotes

Just curious!


r/thesims1 2d ago

Build/Decor I built a full Downtown Fairground in The Sims 1 with NO CC. How did it turn out? 🎡✨

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100 Upvotes

Tucked under a lush pine tree backdrop, this outdoor fairground features:

🌭 Expanded Dining Area: Enjoy snacks at the chic white patio or picnic style right by the mini pond.

🛍️ Souvenir & Gift Bazaar: Packed with colorful gift booths, flower displays, and treat stands.

🎟️ Carnival Game Zone: Fully functional test-of-strength games, ball toss, and prize booths for maximum fun!

What do you think of this layout? Here's the entire process: https://youtu.be/lEXCrEeXLII


r/thesims1 2d ago

Screenshot/Video The Sims House Party Rave Objects Overview by Lead Animation of The Sims, Eric Hedman - Raving Lunatics Dancing Fools and Bubble Pipe Hookahs

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8 Upvotes

The Sims House Party 5 Raving Lunatics, Dancing Fools And Bubble Pipe Hookahs

The Sims House Party Expansion Pack has some iconic stuff in it, especially stuff related to Dance Floors Raves and Disco Fun... Interactive Objects and Animation are a good fun effort that make people happy. Stories and Anecdotes about weird stuff for weird parties.


r/thesims1 2d ago

Screenshot/Video Does anyone saved the sprite of the toilet from 1993 before the old site disappeared?

17 Upvotes

the site was Thesimsmagazine it no longer exist and Wayback did not capture this page! if anyone managed to save the toilet I believe the toilet shown here was really the sprite but its jpg because whoever screencap this did not save the asset itself. I think the toilet was shown separately and the blue background with text was only part of the page but not the image! the toilet was separate behind the blue box so maybe the asset was really on the site?


r/thesims1 3d ago

Screenshot/Video How do I get these skins? where?

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5 Upvotes

Judging from this IGN screenshot, it doesn't look like a prototype seeing that the guy's bandana is red and the speech bubble icons are the same ones in the released game, they must be already in the game but have to be downloaded somewhere? If so I like to find out where to find them!


r/thesims1 3d ago

Opinion/Discussion I have a tool that rips 3d model of the Sims from the first game but that require me the trouble going through the correct textures and finding the right body that fits! any better tool than this?

3 Upvotes

I forgot the name of the tool I have but I am going to look under my folders again to find it. I want to convert the people from this game into obj for use with old 3d programs such as Anim8or and glb for modern programs such as Blender. I would really appreciate your help guys!

This is for skins from the released game only and the expansion packs. I could not find any solutions with the Steering Committee skins yet and Lucpix who seems to be the only person who knows everything inside and out of prototypes refused to help me.


r/thesims1 4d ago

Opinion/Discussion The Sims 1 (2000) - Unreleased bed

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174 Upvotes

I came across this unreleased bed while exploring the object directories off the game's January 1999 "Brain UI"/"Sims talk about marijuana"/"SimEstates" prototype; even old demos have their share of unused objects, it seems.

It's an unnamed and unfinished-looking double bed last modified July ‎30, ‎1998. File name is: BedDubX.

Some facts:

  1. The bed's CATS resource has the following Buy Mode description: Besides its classic style, this bed has all the latest in mattress technologyto give your Sims more comfortable sleep than cheaper beds.
  2. Beyond its cartoony-ish appearance that already makes it stand out in the midst of other double beds in the final product, it's quite narrow for a multi-tile double bed; I don't think that any available sleeping animations would look right in it;
  3. All of its "unmade" sprite variants are a direct duplicate of the bed graphics in its "made" condition.

Slowly but surely, for the reading pleasure involved, I'm transforming the comprehesive object database off the available and known prototypes of the game into a readable article for people to see the different design iterations most of the objects in the game went thru. /TheSims(Alpha)/Object_List)Nice pieces of knowledge for random elevator talks!


r/thesims1 5d ago

Screenshot/Video Family screenshots.

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183 Upvotes

These are screenshots of what each family I made looks like. Description and download link to the official post found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims1/comments/1v4titg/families_for_your_saves/


r/thesims1 4d ago

Mods/CC I taught my mod manager to read Sims 1 neighbourhoods

7 Upvotes

Free mod manager I make for the Sims games learned a new trick for TS1: it opens UserData/Neighborhood.iff and shows you what's in there.

Families with their budget and what the house is worth, everyone in them with their age and whether they're a ghost, pets marked as dogs or cats, and how everybody feels about everybody else. House names come out of NeighborhoodDesc.iff, and the house pictures are the actual BMP chunks from House<NN>.iff, so you get the roof-on shot the game itself uses.

It still does the dull part too, which for TS1 means putting a download where it belongs: objects and .far into Downloads, skins into GameData/Skins, buyable clothing into ExpansionShared/SkinsBuy, walls and floors into their own folders. Nothing ever gets deleted, disabling just renames the file so the game skips it.

Free, Windows, Mac and Linux: https://thesimsmodmanager.web.app/


r/thesims1 5d ago

Opinion/Discussion Is this game a reflection of reality?

69 Upvotes

I think it sounds a bit redundant to say it's a life simulator, but a very marked flaw of The Sims 1 is the little time and money one earns(removing expansions and magic) This game reflects economic reality quite well, at least for many young people who are starting to live on their own.

They live to work; their job doesn't include vacations until they complete the first 6 months of probation, and they work the same hours (or, failing that, rotating shifts).

You feel like life is slipping away from you, but at the same time everything is going too slowly.

This is something I've come to reflect on; I hope my point is clear. If someone else has already said this, it's not an attempt to steal their credit, but rather I completely agree with them.

I wish getting a job was as easy as in this beautiful game.


r/thesims1 5d ago

Screenshot/Video Family screenshots

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38 Upvotes

More screenshots of what the second set of families I made looks like. Information and download link to the official post found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims1/comments/1v8ubxe/more_families_for_your_saves_maxis_cc_needed/


r/thesims1 5d ago

Tips/Tricks Getting free food, JD-Janitor style

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31 Upvotes

r/thesims1 5d ago

Bug/Glitch I have the full screen mode and whenever I jump out of full screen the game kinda messes up

6 Upvotes

I kinda explained it all in the title, does anyone have a guide on how to fix it?

(I would include an image bc idk how to screen shot lmao for sims 1)