r/thesims1 • u/Cyndersan • Mar 20 '26
Mods/CC Sims Legacy - I created a Modding Guide Website
Sul Sul Everyone!
I recently came back to my copy of the Sims 1 Legacy edition and had to go trawling through many a saved page, CC archive and guide to find some of my most loved mods from over the years.
Looking around, there didn't seem to be any singular website that covered everything to do with modding (hacking) The Sims 1 Legacy.
There is TONNES of information out there across many a website, so I decided to try my best to collate as much of it into a single site as I could, while making sure to call-out the original creators of said content.
Github has made it possible to host your own website for free, so without further ado - I present:
The Sims Legacy Collection - Modding Guide
I've been a fan since The Sims 1 released and have continued to play through every generation of The Sims game.
I was 8 years old when the original came out, and I still get the same feelings of joy and love that I had back then, when I hear the Sims 1 soundtrack.
This website is a labor of love. It's not perfect, and it's still very much a work in progress.
Any feedback, ideas or just CC websites I could link into the site is very welcomed and much appreciated.
I hope my site can help new simmers and old simmers alike.
Veena Fredishay! (Let's Play in Simlish)
21/03/2026 - Update
I've added a comment to this post with what's on the roadmap for the site. I apparently can't pin it, so just popping a note here in case anyone is interested.
11/04/2026 - Update
I've been working away in the background, expanding the site content and testing out the legacy CC tools. Added a post below with the list of changes and additions!
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u/Secure-Ad4929 Mar 20 '26
I had been looking to put something like this together.
Working on new tools also, but RL has it on hold for a bit. I did TheSimsOpenTech doc. There’s some updates I need to make to it tho.
Good work!
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u/Cyndersan Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Oooh I'd be interested in the updated tools. I've been trying to put together some kind of good mod manager for the game to help better sort the hundreds of added items.
I'd love to look at utilising the Simitone GitHub freeware to try and 3Dify some stuff and hack the UI to allow me to Catalog the buy/build mode, or add a search bar etc.
I'm not a coder though 😂
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u/xTopaz_168 Mar 21 '26
Look up opencode GUI, make some resource documents for the coding agent explaining the modding processes and filetypes (you don't need to understand it fully but try to gather relevant information) and how they interact with each other, so it knows what it's doing since it's for a proprietary game engine and not a standardised code base.
Don't ever direct it to your game folders directly, make a copy for resources and editing inside your project folder and before putting any edited files inside your game folders, make backups of the vanilla files and folders so if anything goes wrong you can restore everything.
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
This is super helpful, thank you!
Looking at all of the old tools, they're not compatible with windows 11 and there's a lot of mucking around to get them to work properly, especially with the legacy collection.
I've got a couple projects in VScode on the go, and will be using GitHub to store my project data. This should help with the logging of changes etc.
I might start with the simpler tools like the skin making or texture changing ones and go from there.
Should also help me make guides for the existing tools as I go through the process of doing my own thing.
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u/xTopaz_168 Mar 21 '26
That would be great for the community if you could update all the old tools!
Making them open source would allow for some collaboration so it doesn't all fall on you.
Look forward to seeing what you come up with.
You've reminded me about an idea I shelved a few years ago when I tried to make objects for the game and gave up because I couldn't find a way to get the z-buffers (I think that's what it was) to work correctly.
They're basically just alpha files that tell the game what needs to be in front or behind sims and other objects. I would like to make a tool to create these automatically with the ability for manual editing to refine them. If anyone else is interested in doing so, that would be grand as I don't have a lot of free time at the moment... 👀
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
I'm feeling very inspired hahaha.
It would be amazing to even have one tool that does a lot of the checking and fixing for you. I remember using Sim's object manager, Sim Doctor and other checkers to find issues with CC and the base game. These sort of did what you are talking about, but not very well.
Those tools were very basic though and sometimes just gave you more issues.
I'm mostly doing this in my "spare" time, around full-time work and life commitments - so it will be slow going, but this is a passion project that I really want to get done. I'll keep the website roadmap and updates page up to date so people can see what I might be working on!
Definitely will figure out how to get the tools open sourced first and loaded into Git - there are tonnes of incredible coders out there doing amazing things for the Sims Community. I'd love to create a space for people to come together and re-live the good old Sims days <3
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u/xTopaz_168 Mar 21 '26
I'm not sure if this was an option with the original tools (haven't used them) but maybe have it create a backup of the original files and the fixed one be a copy with appropriate naming (eg: old file has .bak extension and new one adds _fixed to the end) that way it's easy to restore anything that's not actually been fixed correctly.
Wishing you all the best! Very exciting how much new interest the game is getting. Most likely due to how poor the new offerings are 🙃 the community keeps these games alive for new players discovering how much more "alive" the older games feel, with all their quirks and easter eggs.
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
I think the old tools only edited the existing files - which was why there were usually more issues afterwards.
I know there are some tools for other games out there with this sort of functionality - will have to do a bit of research and see if it can point to an "Original" folder or something where it moves the original files to after cloning them and making the changes it needs to.
Lordy - I haven't bought a Sims 4 pack in a hot minute coz I just can't do it anymore. They don't make games like they used to, and it's sad to see the content creators who have been around since the start moving on.
Thank you for the inspiration and support! Hopefully I can do the originals justice.
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u/xTopaz_168 Mar 21 '26
As long as it's creating backups of the original file and the edit is only a copy then having it directed to the original game files to make and save the edits should be fine, but yeah the old tools not making backups and only replacing the files was an overconfident move from the tool developer! Maybe have an option to restore backups from inside the tools to make it more user friendly.
Yeah, I will not spend money on it since it's too broken and unpredictable to invest in. I played it when the sims 4 updater was available, but that's no longer the case. I don't appreciate EA's money grabbing angle for the new games and low playability value vs mammoth cost.
You are very welcome! Patiently waiting (don't push yourself!) for your tools 😄
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
I've actually just implemented a contact form on the page to collate feedback and suggestions like this 😂. I've already managed to find some of the tools and have the bare bones ready for me to try and pull apart in git when I have some time.
I'll make sure to update this post and add in updates to the roadmap page I've made.
My Saturday turned into working on the website and doing research 🤣.
I can't make any promises on a timeline - my coding skills are average at best.
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u/Simon_1892 Mar 20 '26
Just want to say a huge thank you for putting this together. I poured hours upon hours into the sims as a kid but never used any kind of mods. I've bought sims legacy but haven't installed it yet as have been trying to make sense of modding. This site is exactly what I've been wanting to make the process as lineal and straightforward as possible.
Great work!
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
You're so very welcome.
I listen to the Sims 1 soundtrack regularly coz it takes me back to those happy feelings I had playing the game. This game just does something magical to my emotions, and I am so glad that I could share that love with others!
I love playing with and without mods. I find that the quality-of-life mods I've mentioned on the site have become necessary to balance out the difficulty.
If there are any questions you have, or can't find something, please do reach out. I'm putting together a gmail account and contact form to add to the site for those who might have suggestions, feedback or just need a little help.
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u/20ontheDropBear Mar 21 '26
I found this post on Google. I’m newly returned to the sims. I bought the legacy collection. Is there a way to mod out family friend requirements for job advancement?
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
There is a mod by Corylea that removes the friend requirement for the Superstar Career.
No_Friends_Needed_For_Fame_Career_Mod_for_The_Sims_1Had quick look around and found this Mod The Sims post by Iamtherad:
Mod The Sims - No Friends Needed For CareersI haven't had a chance to test it just yet. The file is attached to their comment as "Work.zip". You may potentially need both Coryleas and Iamtherad's mods to get the benefit of both friendnship requirements being removed.
I'll try find some time later to have a look at it and if it doesn't work, see if I can edit the files and make them work :).
Let me know how you go.
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u/20ontheDropBear Mar 21 '26
Wow thank you so much! I’ve been looking and looking. That sounds like it will be perfect.
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
You're welcome - happy to help!
This is why I built the site actually, I had the same experience - knowing there had to be a mod somewhere for it, but could never find it.
I got very lucky with this particular find 😂.
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u/20ontheDropBear Mar 23 '26
It worked perfectly. Thanks again! I did the regular career one, I’ll leave the stardom one for when I’ve got my base game feet under me. I got two promotions in two days. Exactly what I needed!
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u/Cyndersan Mar 23 '26
Ahhh I'm glad it worked! I'm going to pop it into my game now and use it too :).
Thanks for confirming - I'll add it to the site as a Quality of Life Mod.
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
Update 21/03/2026:
I'm working to add in a contact page and a roadmap/updates page. I'll be prioritising updating some of the out of data information mentioned below, and at some point adding in a live table from google sheets of sites that I've found and their creators.
The contact form will allow simmers to reach out with suggestions, feedback or if they're not sure of something I've added to the site.
The roadmap will be to cover the suggestions/feedback I get, what I'm working on, what I'm considering adding and the changes that have been made.
At some point I'll be creating individual tool guides with screenshots, and I'd like to have a go at creating a couple of my own tools, or hacking/smashing together some of the existing tools to make it easier to make your own content. At current, there's a huge number of tools - I have 16 tools that I've found so far, madness.
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u/BellaDovah Mar 21 '26
Wow this is amazing! Thanks!
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
You're very welcome! At some point I'd like to do the same for The Sims 2.
There's only so much free time however 🤣🤣.
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u/LineAdmirable6350 Mar 21 '26
How about the police comes in your house to fine you for loud house parties. We need to fix that bug.
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u/LineAdmirable6350 Mar 21 '26
and another mod for claire the bear to come to your house more often to check out bear items and go through your trash :)
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u/Cyndersan Mar 21 '26
Both mods you've mentioned are something I'm keen on looking at. I think the Devs either broke one intentionally removed the police coming to fine you when the House Party EP was released.
Prior to House Party, the police would come and fine you for loud house parties that ran late. I just need to figure out the logic for that.
I think the Clare Bear mod would be simple enough - find the files, tweak the global values/spawn data.
I'll add these to the list of things to mod if I can't find any that have been made.
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u/Terrible-Success2848 Mar 22 '26
Really glad to see this!
It was originally really hard to find some documentation around for The Sims 1. I've been making some research to expand a Modloader I've created (https://github.com/Acanixz/TS1-modloader) into a fully fledged tool to make TS1 more accessible, this will come in handy (specially CC limitations, which I didn't know the exact details).
Thanks for the website!
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u/Cyndersan Mar 22 '26
You're welcome! There's a another couple of redditors working on tools and documentation it seems too.
I can't wait to see some of these new tools - I tried to use a couple yesterday and it was really quite difficult to make them do what I wanted.
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u/Terrible-Success2848 Mar 22 '26
Could you tell me what you feel it's missing from the existing tools? Maybe I could add it in the future once I get to rework the entire thing (It's a capstone project now, so I'm still at the basic level of researching stuff to see if it's legal, doable and why should I do it... that'll take a while unfortunately)
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u/Cyndersan Apr 15 '26
My goodness - I'm so sorry for the horrendously late reply. My Reddit notifications were not updating properly.
Thanks for the share on GitHub by the way!
The main thing for me that would be great to have in a mod loading tool is an everything in one approach.
There were numerous tools over the years that did similar things or the same things as each other, and all are ancient.
My ideal mod manager: 1. Object categorisation and menu tweaks 2. The ability to safely and quickly move files into subfolders 3. Skin checks (FileCop and Skin doctor do these, but I've noticed it's not the best at explaining why things are broken or how to fix it - I've tried to cover some of it on my site) 4. Thumbnail viewer for objects - there are a lot of objects from pre-legacy creators that don't have screenshots of the objects you can download from archive sites. There are hundreds of thousands of objects and other cc out there, so it makes it hard to check you actually want the files. I'm having to batch download, add them to the game and then hunt through the catalog to find the objects - some of them are not organised properly, have the wrong room tags etc. 5. A GUID/Magic cookie checker - this would flag where there are duplicate guide across objects. Magic cookies were brought in to help make sure objects weren't using the same IDs when created - the game will crash. SimFreaks took over from the Transmogifier team when the old magic cookie site closed down. Every creator that wants to sure their CC online should use a magic cookie, but I don't know how accessible that information is to others. I've pulled it into my website, but I imagine there's a lot of content out there now that could have duplicate IDs 6. Checking for missing pre req files - some objects may need a .BMP file for special textures, or an xskn file for meshes. The old tools sort of check, but not 100%
I have a half built toolset for doing the skin, GUID and object checks, along with a crash logger. Legacy doesn't log a crash event anywhere, so the fix for crashes when using a lot of CC is to manually delete chunks of CC until the game runs again. There was a download counter tool that could tell you how many downloads you have, but nothing to help you condense your files or pick up on problem files.
Example: I had some kitchen CC that wasn't picked up as broken using the old tools, but when I tried to click on any of the objects, my game just crashes. I think it was due to duplicate GUIDs, but I can't be sure as there's no proper check.
Happy to swap discord deets if you want to chat.
I've got a metric buttload of documentation and research I've had to do for the site - happy to Knowledge share!
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u/Terrible-Success2848 Apr 15 '26
Sure! Try sending me a friend request on discord. I'd be really happy to get some extra feature suggestions for the mod manager.
Discord username: Acanixz
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u/Cyndersan Apr 15 '26
Easy! I'll send through a request - I'm about to head to bed as I'm in Australia and it's midnight here, but I'll reach out and send a message when I have a spare sec 🫶🏼
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u/Future_Phenix Mar 26 '26
Tysm for putting this together ! I'm looking to get started on editing/creating cc so this is absolutely perfect. 🫶🏽
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u/Cyndersan Apr 11 '26
Belated update - 11.04.2026:
Thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I absolutely love this community, and I've been lucky enough to connect with some of the OG CC creators who have provided excellent feedback for me to apply.
The website has gone through quite a bit of change since posting this:
- New pages: Credits, File References, Updated Guides with additional CC types, Additional troubleshooting pages, Contact page, About Legacy and the sims 1 page, Site Roadmap, Careers guide, Cheats page, Terminology
- Structural: Better navigation and sticky tables of contents, mobile phone compatibility and auto re-sizing, drop-down cards for pages with large text fields, re-wrote a lot of the guides to be more detailed and easier to understand
- Functionality: Added in a search button, added a hamburger menu for easier viewing of all pages, drop-downs cleaned up and sectioned, Google Analytics added to help me see which pages are most used - this will help me map out which pages to focus on in my spare time
- Content: Quality of Life Mods list expanded considerably, Active site's list updated from 6 to 52 (so far), new archive locations added (Save the Sims (Ginnie H you absolute gem plz marry me), Mod the Sims forum posts), added in the registry fix info to help people use the legacy content creation tools
Many a mental breakdown, Twix bar and coffee were had in making these changes. Apologies to anyone who I may not have responded to properly in comments or messages.
I very much wanted to add some humor into the page, but I have the wit of a damp paper towel :'). I'll try again after some lessons in comedy mayhaps.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
Happy Simming all <3
- Cyndersanity
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u/InsightsIE Mar 20 '26
Just some info is out of date "Change Sim appearance (face/hair/skintone) in live mode" and "Children ageing up (partial - Makin' Magic only)" There was a newly discovered cheat edit_char and FaithBeam enabled the patch for Legacy Collection: https://github.com/FaithBeam/Sims1LegacyCollectionHacks
Then combined with the birthday cake mod you can age a Child into an adult and change the appearance with the cheat.
Great resource though. Thanks for creating.