Are you ready to dive in to The Sims 1, the game that started it all? Well, be sure to read on about things you should definitely know about the game!
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After 25 years, The Sims 1 was re-released today as part of The Sims 25th Birthday celebration. This is something many players have been asking for for years, and social media is already lighting up with chaotic screenshots from simmers revisiting the classic life simulator. Whether you’re new to the game or coming back to visit after two decades, there are things you should be aware of to make your gaming experience even better!
The Sims 1 Gameplay Differences
The Sims 1 released 25 years ago when technology was far less advanced and games were far more limited. If you didn’t know any better you might not even realize that The Sims 1 is a Sims game with how different it is from The Sims 4 just by looking at it. Outside of the obvious fact that it’s an isometric game instead of a fully 3D experience, there are so many other differences you might not even think about.
Compared to The Sims of today, the original game was much harder in terms of keeping sims content, but it was also simpler so there’s a trade off there. If I can offer you one piece of advice though, make sure your lots have smoke detectors and burglar alarms!
You can find a more in-depth comparison between all 4 of The Sims mainline games here, and simmer Corylea has a helpful page full of advice for new Sims 1 players.
The Sims 1 Cheats
Cheats go hand-in-hand with The Sims series like Cowplants and cake. It shouldn’t come as a surprise though that the cheats of 2000 are quite different than the ones we’re used to today. You should still be able to open the cheat console with the classic CTRL + Shift + C keyboard command; if that doesn’t work you can also try CTRL + Shift + Win🪟+ C or CTRL + Shift + B. If your computer has other functions mapped to the classic combo that can explain why it’s not working.
With that out of the way, here’s are the most useful cheats you should know for The Sims 1:
- moveObjects [on/off] is the familiar cheat you know and love that allows you to place items outside of the game’s restrictions; note that this version uses brackets [ ].
- rosebud will give the household §1,000.
- You can add the suffix ;! to the end of the cheat which tells the game to “repeat last cheat,” meaning you don’t have to enter rosebud over and over again to keep building up your funds. It can be entered multiple times at once to make things even easier.
- For example, entering rosebud;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;! should give the household §10,000.
- You can add the suffix ;! to the end of the cheat which tells the game to “repeat last cheat,” meaning you don’t have to enter rosebud over and over again to keep building up your funds. It can be entered multiple times at once to make things even easier.
- Nessie activates a Lochness Monster easter egg which can be seen in the main Neighborhood, Old Town, Downtown, and Vacation Island!
There are more cheats for The Sims 1 that we haven’t listed as they’re not as vital for good gameplay, but you can learn more about them at the Sims Wiki.
The Sims 1 CC & Mods
For a lot of older players (myself included) custom content for The Sims 1 was our first foray into making or using CC/mods in a game. While the modding community for The Sims 1 isn’t as active as it used to be, there are still plenty of resources out there for custom content. Here are a few places to look.
Note: In The Sims 1 you didn’t have the option of individual hair colors, makeup, or outfits like you do these days. Those original sims only consisted of two parts: Heads and Skins; these are the terms you’ll be seeing when looking at CC for the original game. Items referred to as Hacked Objects are modded objects that do things like affect sims’ needs or add new interactions and while caution should always be used when trying mods, the title of “hacked” doesn’t inherently mean they are dangerous.
- Simspresso is a great resource for CC from different creators, focusing mainly on Build/Buy content
- Sims Cave is an archive of The Sims 1 custom content from various creators
- Parsimonious does a little bit of every category and also has CC for other mainline Sims games
- Awesome Expression has a mix of heads, skins, Build/Buy content, and more
- Magnolia Sims has fantastic themed content with stuff for everything from Aliens to Ancient Egyptians to 1920’s flappers and more
- OddSim is a mix of everything, with many of their skins being extracted from in-game NPCs
- SimFreaks does sims and objects and even has special themed sections if you’re looking for a specific style
- Moni’s Sims is a mix of content from all categories
- Minority Creation has dabbled in multiple categories of CC though they primarily focus on objects
- Eph’s Den has content for all categories including a section of (purely cosmetic) Occult skins for things like mermaids, faeries, angels, and demons
- Inés’ Sims Bakery shares content primarily around cooking & eating food
- Fractured Sims has a small collection of heads & skins for fit female sims
- Abercrombie Sims is full of skins from the millennial-preppy A&F store
- NecroBones is your go-to for weird skins like zombies and mad scientists
- Flamboyant makes heads & skins focusing on J-Rock, J-Pop, K-Rock, K-Pop and Anime
- Vivacious features skins and heads in gothic, steampunk, and post-apocalyptic styles (slight NSFW warning on their themed skins)
- Nyx’s Stuff is mostly Build/Buy content but they have a few celebrity heads you can download too; they also have content at The Sims Emporium
- Boudoir Blanc makes stunningly detailed objects including decorative sims (called “Fakes”) to add personality to your builds
- Dramatica’s Sims Downloads is a mix of content including more decorative sims “Fakes”
- Sims 1 Mods by Corylea focuses on Objects and Hacks (many of which could be considered Quality of Life Mods) in addition to her helpful advice linked above
- Ferndale Sims makes Build/Buy content and has updated their page as recently as 2023
- Age of Aquarius has a small collection of objects but their options for beautiful flowers alone make it worth checking out
- SomeSimThings has a variety of items including conversions from other games, hacked objects, and regular Buy content
- Simlogical has a range of hacked objects that make game play much easier
- Ingrid Studio does standalone objects along with themed sets of Build/Buy content in a variety of styles
- Nocturnal Market focuses on grungy, industrial, and steampunk style CC which includes conversions from other Sims games and older Fallout games
- Olena’s Clutter Factory focuses primarily on conversions from other Sims games
- Jendea’s Sims 1 Creations has Buy/Build objects along with full neighborhood builds, and has made CC for The Sims 2 as well
- Juniper Sun made lots of innovative Build content for the game including some amazingly themed houses
- Georgia Sugarplum’s Walls has wallpapers for every room
Many websites and creators you know and love today have existed for a long time, with older content spanning all The Sims main titles. These include TSR, SIMcredible! Designs, and AroundTheSims.
Final Thoughts
It’s kind of amazing how much content is still out there for a 25 year-old game, but it only goes to show you that simmers have never stopped loving the franchise (even though it annoys us quite a bit sometimes). Fellow ancient simmers, did we miss any important cheats or CC links? Is there a resource you swear by that you want us to share? If so, please let us know in the comments!
Good luck with your foray into the world of The Sims 1 regardless of if whether it’s your very first time, or you’re revisiting an old friend from your childhood. We hope you have a great time.
Happy simming!