For example, I download an archive of stuff from Eisbaer’s Yahoo group this morning. Between my 50 year old high school German and the translation page, I’m doing okay with file names, but we all know that file names aren’t everything. Pictures are few and installation instructions are nonexistent. (Every zip has a TOU txt file, but hardly ever a “here is where you stick these to make it work” file. I had a folder from another creator that I had to install three different ways to get it to work last night so I’m still feeling a bit cranky about missing special instructions).

This happens with Yahoo groups and if a website was members only the Wayback Machine only has the front page.

Is there a program to preview? Or a way to repurpose another program? It seems like there ought to be

Edited to add: I am not complaining about the creators and I realize that some of the items in these archives were graciously provided by players from their own collection so that these wonderful things would not be lost. The files maybe aren’t packaged the way they were intended. I’m glad to have them even without a jpg or instructions, but sometimes it’s like a big box of chocolates without a map. Each piece is potentially nice, but you’d like to tell a crème from a nougat without taking a bite since you can’t possibly eat them all

What I do is I keep two copies of the game -- one clean for my play, and one I use for testing mods. If they are mods that are supposed to work with the base game, then you can use this version of Edith to test them:

https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=685286

The CC is varied, and there's no single program that handles everything, but if you're looking for programs to preview content:

https://beyondsims.com/games/sims-1/downloads/

Custom content installation guides:

http://parsimonious.org/support/sim...-your-game.html

https://www.thesimsresource.com/hel...201%20Downloads

https://www.thesimswiki.com/wiki/Ga..._custom_content

There are also some mod managers you can use, but I don't know how reliable they are -- I haven't used them.

Custom sound files (XA/WAV/MP3) should remain where they are intended to be installed by the author, in their appropriate folder and with the same name (otherwise they will not work) -- the usually have a fixed path:

http://www.awesomeexpression.com/cu...s-tutorial.html

A bit of context:

Mods were a relatively new thing back when The Sims came out. Maxis provided installers for their downloads/mods (which no longer work on modern Windows systems). The community just learned the structure of the game, and where to place what files -- and sometimes included instructions in a text file accompanying the download, and/or on the site.

Mod managers were not really a thing back then (some existed, but their use was not widespread, and their reliability was questionable). You had software you could preview certain files in, but that was about it.

What we had was trust that the site we were downloading those mods from was reputable, and we were following its instructions. With mods/downloads, you were always taking a risk back then.

Apart from knowing what file goes where in the game from the guides, the best thing you can do today when browsing these aggregate mod archives is to have two copies of the game: one for testing mods, and one for play.

Advanced Guide:

Apart from skins, the only other thing that goes into GameData/Skins is animations and animation meshes/objects. If you see BMP, CMX, SKN, CFP, BCF, or BMF files in the mod, then these go in the GameData/Skins folder.

BMP - texture
CMX - skin construct text file
SKN - 3D mesh
CFP - animation

BCF - binary compiled CMX file
BMF - binary compiled mesh (SKN) file

Objects (IFFs) that use custom animations will have these.


XA, WAV, MP3, HIT, HOT, and HSM files are sound related files. Leave them with the object or where they were meant to be installed. They have a fixed path, and if you move them somewhere else or rename them, the custom sounds for the object will be missing/broken.

If you are not sure where the XA/WAV/MP3 files need to go, open the HOT file in a simple text editor, like Notepad, and you'll see the path (you can also change it here).


IFF files contain the objects themselves. You can open and edit them in an editor like IFF Pencil 2, or using the Transmogrifier. Everything about the object(s) is contained in this file -- including the categorisation, description, price, and the object graphics, as well as the object's actions/programming.

Depeding on whether the object is overwriting an existing object, or it is a new object, it will go in a different place. New objects go in the Downloads folder. IFF files that are meant to override a game default object go either in the appropriate ExpansionPack folder, or in GameData/Objects, or GameData/UserObjects.

FAR files are archive files (like a zip file) that The Sims can read without having to extract them. You can use a FAR extractor like FAR Edit, or FAR Out to see/extract the files in them if you want to edit the mod/object. But it's best to leave them as they are if you do not need to edit the mod/object.

When an IFF and a FAR file are next to each other, the IFF file overrides the IFF file by the same name inside the FAR archive.