Sims Legacy Collection - IFF Hacking

IFF Hacking

Create your own gameplay mods and object hacks from scratch

📄

What Is an IFF File?

Every object in The Sims 1 is an .iff file - a container holding multiple resources that together define how an object looks and behaves.
🖼️ Sprites
The visual frames of the object at different zoom levels and angles.
🌳 BHAV Scripts
"Behaviour" trees - the logic controlling what interactions the object offers and what happens when a Sim uses them.
🔢 BCON Constants
Numeric values like price, skill gain rate, motive impact and decay rate.
📝 STR# Strings
All the text you see in-game - object names, interaction menu labels, descriptions.
IFF hacking means editing these resources to change how objects behave, adding new interactions, or creating entirely new objects.
🧰

Tools

All free - all from the same GitHub repository

Always clone first. Use Transmogrifier to create a copy of any object before editing it. Never modify original game files directly - you could corrupt your game.
ToolWhat It DoesLevelDownload
Transmogrifier (TMog)Clones any game object as a new .iff - always start every mod here🟢 BeginnerSimlogical ↗
IFF Pencil 2Full .iff editor - sprites, BHAV scripts and all other resources🟡 IntermediateGitHub ↗
Constant ContraptionEdit numeric values like price, skill gain rate, motive impact🟢 BeginnerGitHub ↗
Career Creator 3Specialised editor for creating new career tracks🟢 BeginnerGitHub ↗
Strings ScavengerEdit text labels - object names and interaction menu text🟢 BeginnerGitHub ↗
FARxExtract individual .iff files from .FAR container bundles for editing🟡 IntermediateGitHub ↗
Simpose / SimposiumCreate custom Sim poses and animation sequences🔴 AdvancedAwesome Expression ↗
🚀

Your First Mod - Changing Object Values

A beginner-friendly starting point

A great first mod is changing an object's price, skill gain speed, or motive impact using Constant Contraption. No BHAV scripting needed.

Open Transmogrifier

Find the object you want to modify and click Clone. This creates a safe copy to edit without touching the original game file.

Open the clone in Constant Contraption

The BCON entries list numeric values for the object. Labels will help you identify what each value controls - prices, skill rates, energy impacts etc.

Change the values you want

Edit the numbers - for example, increase a bookcase's skill gain value to make it teach skills faster, or lower a sofa's price.

Save and test

Place the cloned .iff in your Downloads\ folder, launch the game and test. If something seems off, go back and adjust.

💬

Adding New Interactions

Intermediate - requires understanding BHAV trees

This is how mods like "change outfit at a mirror" would be created. It's more involved than value tweaking, but very achievable with practice.

Clone your target object with TMog

Example: clone a mirror .iff to add an outfit-change interaction to it.

Open in IFF Pencil 2 and find the main BHAV

The main BHAV controls what options appear in the pie menu when a Sim clicks the object. Look for the BHAV labelled "main" or "root".

Add a new branch

Add a new interaction option to the pie menu, pointing to a new BHAV you create that performs the action (or calls an existing one from another object).

Study existing BHAVs

Look at how the dresser's outfit-change BHAV is structured to understand how to call the same routine from your mirror. The Simblr.cc community is helpful for questions.

💼

Creating Custom Careers

Replaces an existing career - this is a Sims 1 engine limitation

Important - you cannot add new careers, only replace existing ones. This is a hard limitation of The Sims 1 engine and there is currently no way around it. Career Creator 3 lets you fully customise a career's name, job titles, wages, schedules and requirements - but the result will overwrite one of the 10 base game career tracks. Choose which career you're least likely to want your Sims to use and replace that one. Your custom career will appear in its place in the newspaper and computer job listings.
Career Creator 3 handles all of this through a simple form-based interface - no raw BHAV coding needed. The end result is a modified .iff file that goes into GameData\Objects\ (not Downloads - it's replacing a base game file).
Download Career Creator 3 from the GitHub Sims1Tools repository ↗. It's in the same toolkit as IFF Pencil 2 and the other tools.

Decide which career to replace

The Sims 1 has 10 career tracks: Business, Entertainment, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Military, Politics, Pro Athlete, Science, Slacker and Xtreme. Pick whichever one you're happy to lose - your custom career will take its slot completely. Sims already in that career will continue in it but the track will now have your custom names and values.

Open Career Creator 3 and load the career

Launch the tool and open the .iff file for the career you're replacing. Career .iff files are in your game's GameData\Objects\ folder - they're named things like career_business.iff. Loading the original gives you all the existing values to work from.

Set up the career basics

Change the career name and set the number of job levels (up to 10). Each level gets its own job title, daily wage, and work schedule. Think through the progression - entry-level jobs typically pay less and have more days worked per week.

Configure each job level

For each level, fill in the job title, salary, work days and hours, and the number of friends required for promotion. You can also set which skills are needed to advance - requiring Cooking or Charisma, for example, before a Sim can move up.

Set the carpool vehicle

Choose which vehicle picks your Sim up for work. Options correspond to vehicles available in your installed expansions. Purely visual, but worth setting to something that fits your career theme.

Save and install

Save the modified .iff file and drop it into GameData\Objects\ - not the Downloads folder. Since you're replacing a base game file, it needs to go where the original lives. Back up the original .iff first so you can restore it if needed. Launch the game and the career should appear with your new name and values in the job listings.

📚

Further Resources

Sims 1 Must Have Tools/Programs
Comprehensive list of IFF hacking and modding tools.
View Directory ↗
Simblr.cc Community
Post questions and get help from the most active Sims 1 modders currently working on Legacy content.
Visit Simblr.cc ↗
Corylea's Sims 1 Subreddit Post - How to Get Started Hacking Sims 1 Objects
Post questions and get help from the most active Sims 1 modders currently working on Legacy content.
Visit Simblr.cc ↗
Awesome Expression - Animation Tutorial
Advanced guide to creating custom animations using IFF Pencil 2 and Simpose.
Read Tutorial ↗
Sims 1 Tools on GitHub
All modding tools in one place - IFF Pencil 2, FARx, Career Creator, Constant Contraption and more.
View on GitHub ↗
Woobsha's Guides to IFF Hacking for Sims 1
Extensive tutorials covering majority of the different types of hacks/changes that can be made to files.
View on GitHub ↗