The Sims 1 on Windows 10: How it works on current systems

Older games like The Sims often become unplayable over time. We’ll show you how to get the first Sims part to work anyway.

Nothing lasts forever – a sentence that is particularly a headache for retro gamers who also want to play old classics in 2022. All true fans of the original Sims games who have an operating system better than Windows XP know the problem: as soon as the game is installed and ready to play, the message appears that it cannot be run. Fans look in the tube, especially since EA Games is probably not ready to help the fan base with patches or other solutions. But hard-working modders in the Sims fan community have now released a patch themselves. We’ll show you how to use it to play The Sims and its expansion packs on Windows 10 and better systems.

Fancy teen drama? This is what the corresponding expansion pack for The Sims 4 looks like.

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Here’s how you can play The Sims on Windows 10

First you install The Sims as normal on your computer. The installation should run without any problems. So this is it Not to illegally download the game. The problem is known: If you click on the exe file that the game should actually start with, the error message appears. Members of the Sims community have designed new starter files that will also run The Sims on Windows 10 and better systems. You can download this patch here. The download is provided neither by GIGA nor by the author. In the test, however, we used the patch for a longer period of time and did not find any problems despite multiple investigations.

The download includes the new exe files for the original game and all expansion packs. You open the downloaded file and look for the right folder for your latest Sims game. In the folder you will find the new exe file. At the same time you open the installation folder of The Sims. If you haven’t changed the installation path, it should be under C:Program Files (x86)MaxisSims condition. There is also an exe file in this folder. You delete the file from this folder and then move the appropriate exe file from the download into the installation folder. The new file virtually replaces the functions of the old one and also allows execution on Windows 10 and newer operating systems. Now you just have to start the exe file and you can play The Sims.

Retro gamers encounter this problem more often. Here’s what you can do if your game doesn’t work on Windows 10:

Important: Pay attention to the installation sequence

Basically basic knowledge for all true Sims fans, but still as a note: In addition to the base game, seven expansion packs were released for the first part of The Sims. Even though DLCs and add-ons are part of everyday gaming today, back then they were a new concept that could still be relatively buggy. For this reason, it is extremely important that the expansion packs in the to be installed in the order of their release.

Order of expansion packs for The Sims

1. The Sims – February 2000
2. The Sims: The Full Life – August 2000
3. The Sims: The Party Never Ends – March 2001
4. The Sims: Hot Date – November 2001
5. The Sims: Total Vacation – March 2002
6. The Sims: Happy Beasts – September 2002
7. The Sims: Megastar – March 2003
8. The Sims: Hocus Pocus – November 2003

It is important that you again the exe file of the latest expansion pack, once installed. So if The Sims: Hungry is your latest expansion pack, you’ll need to replace the .exe file with the one you downloaded. If you have one of The Sims Deluxe bundles, The Sims Super Deluxe bundles, or any other deluxe version, you can skip certain expansion packs. Check here on the game sleeve or in the manual which expansion packs your version includes. Want more The Sims? We tell you how you can play The Sims online.

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