Apparently, a rerelease is in the works:
https://simscommunity.info/2025/01/...lc-confirmation

The thread at the Sims 2 board is catching along:
https://modthesims.info/t/689311

I love that the Sims 2 board's thread is popping and this one is... zero replies.

I am curious if this is more likely to not crash on Windows 10 (you'd think!). But at the same time I'd be hard-pressed to consider getting it unless there were very specific things it did and didn't do.

Like, I just paid $2.50 to reinstall my actual discs (a pointless reinstall, BTW, though I didn't mind the cheap disc resurfacing it made me have to do to get Makin' Magic's first disc to work). This was less than four weeks ago that I did this. Why would I install it twice in one month if there were not tangible positives to doing so?

(Something else I think is driving this is that I paid like 75 cents to get most of my expansions originally (my Deluxe disc I started with (at least until I lost half of it and had to rebuy now I have two disc 1s for Deluxe) was completely free because my cousin gave me her old copy). That means I paid like 7-10 dollars altogether for the game which means I judge every other way of getting the game (and its positives and negatives) against that price tag. XP)

Personally there are only two things that would make me rebuy this. First being support for modern operating systems. Second would be widescreen support. If it has neither of those I'm not interested.


Well, MTS was originally started as a modding website for 2, so it makes sense.

Yeah, fair. XD I used to avoid this site like the plague because I thought all Sims 2 players were space aliens and this site would have nothing to offer for a Sims 1 player. And now it's the place where I've shared every object I've put work into that required actual SimAntics knowledge (as in the last place I shared objects was, like, one or two recolors back on Simblesse Oblige).

For me I don't need widescreen support. I gave the early patch instructions (back when the prevailing method was explaining how to manually edit hex values in the exe yourself) a try like a decade ago but they never did it for me other than novelty, particularly because I much prefer playing windowed. (Which is to say I guess I want it to still have windowed support.) Greater stability would have me eyeing it but the fear of needing Origin to get and/or run it would have me avoiding it (that--not wanting Origin on this computer--is about 20% of why I don't have Sims 2 on this computer... the other 80% being that I'm not that into 2 XD).

I already have The Sims 1, so I'm not excited, but if they make it work on Windows 10 and 11, it means I can FINALLY stop my unpaid job as tech support for people trying to get their game to work! :-)

I sold my physical copy of the game years ago once they stopped making laptops with disc drives and I realized that you could download the game for free on abandonware websites

Of course, this rerelease almost definitely means that those abandonware websites will have to remove the game, so maybe this will be worth looking into? It honestly depends on if they fix the egregious glitch that freezes the game if you minimize it with no solution beyond force quitting. That was the main glitch that drove me up a wall, and I’d be willing to pay for it to be fixed.

...I have never had that freezing issue (not counting the times I've dragged my window to a second monitor and had it refuse to visually update on that monitor only). Is it because I play windowed?



The rerelease wouldn't have anything to do with it. In the US, there's no legal protection AFAIK for abandonware or orphan works and they are not a specific legal classification at present (abandonware as a subtype of orphan work). If EA wasn't rereleasing it, they could still go after those sites and issue takedown requests or take them to court, because they own the copyright until after most of us are likely to be dead. However, some companies do become more takedown-happy closer to releases like that than they are otherwise (for example: Nintendo is always a little takedown happy but special recognition goes to when they were really really takedown happy about certain types of modded Breath of the Wild right before Tears of the Kingdom (its direct sequel/the next Zelda game) came out).

As with most people, I don’t expect a lot from the rereleases, but the fact Maxis is tangibly acknowledging TS1 as the first piece of the franchise's 4-piece jigsaw is crazy enough. Both Sims 2 and Sims 1 were the all-time best-selling PC gaming of their time. It's about time they ditch their abandonware status at once!

I have a feeling they’ll go down the same route as Nintendo’s treatment of the first three major Super Mario 3D titles in that brief Nintendo Switch collection. There will probably be a few upgrades for the sake of bringing things to a modern setting —custom resolution, maybe some texture rework (like the neighborhood menu backdrop, which gets quite tiny on HD+ screens) and solidify its condition as a renewed copyrighted product that will be sure to be a win win for users and company alike, sort of like a film that returns to Netflix. My wildest (realistic) dream would be seeing the 3D elements (Sims, props) running at 60fps, though I’d understand if that’s not something the rerelease team bothers to put their hands on. As a dataminer, most of my excitement lies in discovering if there’s anything interesting lurking in the file structure.

Oh, drat! I just realized that I'm going to have to buy the re-release -- even though I bought the game and all seven expansion packs the first time around, and paid full price for them, too -- to make sure that my mods work with the new version.

Can’t help but wonder about The Sims 1’s old HTML page generation button and the The Sims Exchange-based dynamics —the kind of stuff that became instantly obsolete the moment the official Sims 1 website shut down. They wouldn't just rerelease the game without paying attention to it, right? Even if "paying attention to it" just ultimately means quietly scrapping it and leaving a blank space where the buttons, text and other resources associated with this feature used to be :P

This was shared on the Sims 2 forum in case people here didn't see it:
https://www.the-sims-y2k.com/

Apparently people are having crashing issues with Sims 1's rerelease. I wonder what part of it is making it more likely to crash, assuming it's some sort of changed thing in the game doing it. (I say this as someone who has random crashing issues on Win10 on my original copies.)

Can anyone confirm if the installation directory structure has changed at all?

Also any word on what downloads are included?

For The Sims it includes all expansion that was in the original game.

For Sims 2 its missing the IKEA pack.

The Sims:
The original game you know and love. For Windows 10/11. Create a neighborhood of Sims and guide their lives through careers, friendships, and romance — or create chaos with open-ended gameplay that lets you shape their destinies. The Sims Legacy Collection includes The Sims, The Sims 4 Throwback Fit Kit, and the following The Sims packs: The Sims Livin’ Large, The Sims House Party, The Sims Hot Date, The Sims Vacation, The Sims Unleashed, The Sims Superstar, and The Sims Makin’ Magic.

The Sims 2:
The game you know and love. For Windows 10/11. In The Sims 2, you direct your Sims over a lifetime. Guide their characteristics from one generation to the next. Includes The Sims 2, The Sims 4: Grunge Revival Kit, The Sims 2: University, The Sims 2: Nightlife, The Sims 2: Open for Business, The Sims 2: Pets, The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, The Sims 2: Seasons, The Sims 2: FreeTime, The Sims 2: Apartment Life, The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack, The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff, The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff, The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff, The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff, The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff, The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff, The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff, The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff.

I don't own it (and probably won't own it), but this is their answer about what changed.

The gameplay and graphics are the same, but there are some important updates:

it can now run on Windows 10 and Windows 11
it has an updated rendering engine
updates for more versatile pixel resolution scaling on large monitors.

(Pixel scaling makes the game, running at its original resolution, look bigger.) https://help.ea.com/en/help/the-sim...m-requirements/ explains more and is where I got these answers

This is what they say about using old houses ("save files"):

Yes, any old save files you still have for The Sims 1 will work with the current version. The save paths for The Sims 1 have changed so you’ll need to copy your save files into the new location.

First, remove current saved files:

Go to My Documents.
Open the Electronic Arts folder.
Click on The Sims folder (this is your save folder) and select Cut.
Paste this folder to a different location and rename it so you know it’s your alternate save file.

To import your old save file:

Rename your old save file folder The Sims.
Go to My Documents.
Open the Electronic Arts folder.
Copy The Sims folder into the Electronic Arts folder.

So at MINIMUM UserData is now in the user's documents folder and not in Program Files. (EDIT: Someone on Discord says this file path may be wrong? IDK.) EA also says:

Will Mods still work with The Sims 1?

Mods capability for The Sims 1 remains the same. Maxis hasn’t tested Mods, and doesn’t support Mods. It’ll be up to individual Mod creators to ensure Mods work with the new version of The Sims 1.

So it's in theory possible downloads will work differently if the directories have changed AND they rely on a specific directory structure to function (i.e. if they have custom sounds) but IDK.

EDIT: Additionally, they say they include DRM (specifically EA app requirements and Denuvo Anti-Tamper) but also someone in the Sims 2 thread says they saw someone say it looks like they don't ACTUALLY have either of those? *Oprah "what is the truth" gif* (On Steam someone said that, and then speculated the DRM was specifically for the included Sims 4 content.)

The re-release of The Sims 1 has the same file structure as before, the same .far files, and so on. The Sims.exe file is a lot bigger, but it won't launch for me. I put in the cracked Sims.exe from the old version of the game, and it runs fine using that. The cracked version doesn't have the widescreen support and so on, but at least it actually LAUNCHES.

Yeah, I'd imagine the exe is larger due to the added DPI scaling and maybe the updated rendering. I can't imagine the "runs on Windows 10" was much more than "remove/circumvent SafeDisc" (what the NoCD does), which wouldn't significantly bloat the file (actually, it shrinks the file of the original game from 3833kb to 2972). (If it actually does have new DRM (EA/Denuvo) then that'd bloat the file too I imagine but all not-from-the-stores reports I'm seeing are "runs fine and doesn't seem to have those" so...)

There are some details here about the Legacy version:
https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims1/c...se_so_you_dont/

Do not want. Unless they fix those bugs (or until the community does). For now, I'll keep playing the original.

I have bought the Legacy version on Steam.
The game runs fine. But I only tested it for 2 hours.

Any downloads/CC now goes into:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims Legacy Collection

And you can not delete the Sims 4, which came with it, from your Steam Account. I tried. You can only delete the whole Legacy Collection, which also deletes The Sims 1.
But you can hide The Sims 4. So it does not show in your owned games.

I love that this is the first thing you tried, a true early sims enthusiast!
Thanks for the info about the userdata location.

It really was the first thing I tried.

I like the Sims 1, I looooove the Sims 2, and I'm ok with Sims 3. But Sims 4... uff, no.

There's a solution to the Failure to Launch problem! A user found it, not EA, but EA is at least publicizing it.

Download and install BOTH the x86 and the x64 versions of Visual C++, which you can get at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/c...butable-version. If you have older versions, you'll need to uninstall those.

This worked for me!

Out of curiosity, what's the Sims.exe version for Legacy (or in-game v key popup if that still works)? Is it the same as Complete Collection (or Makin' Magic(?), 1.9?)? Or has it been changed? (I'm curious about a lot of the differences, but I've been wondering about the version number for like four hours so I figured I should probably ask. XD)

1.10.0.0