Sims Legacy Collection - Creating CC

Creating Custom Content

Skins, clothing, hairstyles, walls and floors - made by you

💡

How Skins Work in Sims 1

Very different from later games

Important: Sims 1 CC works completely differently from Sims 4. The differences trip up a lot of people coming from later games.
👕 Clothing = Body Skin
A Sim's body and clothing are one combined texture file. There's no separate top or bottom layer - each outfit is a complete body image.
💇 Hair = Head Skin
Hair is painted directly onto the head texture. It's not a separate item - you change hairstyle by changing the whole head file.
🎨 3 Skin Tones
Sims 1 has light, medium and dark skin tones. If your outfit covers the body, you need three separate versions - one per tone.
⚠️ 256-Colour BMP Only
All textures must be saved as Indexed (256-colour) BMP files. Regular BMPs, PNGs or JPGs show as a white blank body in-game.
🛠️

Tools You Need

The Sims Creator (TSC) Start Here
Official Maxis CC creation tool. Provides a 3D Sim body to paint onto and exports game-ready .BMP/.CMX/.SKN files. Download free from the Internet Archive.
↗ Download from Archive.org
Home Crafter Walls & Floors
Official Maxis tool for creating custom walls and floors. Import any image and it generates the correct game file automatically. Download free from the Internet Archive.
↗ Download from Archive.org
GIMP Free
Free image editor for detailed texture painting. Critical: before exporting, go Image → Mode → Indexed (256 colours), then export as BMP.
↗ gimp.org
Paint.NET Free
Simpler free alternative to GIMP. Also supports indexed BMP export with the right plugin.
↗ getpaint.net
⚙️

Installing The Sims Creator & Home Crafter

How to get these tools running

Note: These are old Maxis tools from the early 2000s. They run fine on Windows 10/11 but may need to be run as Administrator. If you get a compatibility warning, click "Run anyway" - they are safe official Maxis programs.

Download from the Internet Archive

Click the Archive.org download links above. On the Archive.org page, click the Download button and save the ZIP or EXE file to your computer.

Extract if zipped

If the download is a .zip file, right-click it and choose Extract All. Open the extracted folder to find the installer (.exe) inside.

Run the installer

Double-click the .exe to install. If Windows shows a security warning, click More info then Run anyway. You may also need to right-click and choose Run as administrator.

Launch the tool

Once installed, open The Sims Creator or Home Crafter from your Start menu or desktop shortcut. They do not need to be inside your Sims game folder to work - they run independently and export files that you then copy into your game.

👗

Making Custom Clothing

How it works

Open The Sims Creator and choose a body mesh

Pick the body type: fit/fat/skinny, male/female, adult/child. An outfit made for a fit female won't work on a fat female body - each needs a separate file.

Export the base texture

Export the base skin from TSC to GIMP or Photoshop. You'll see the UV layout - how the flat image wraps around the 3D body. Front torso is in the centre; arms are strips to the sides.

Paint your outfit

Work in layers - keep the base skin on one layer, paint clothing on top. Use the Warp transform tool to fit patterns around the body shape. Pay attention to seam edges where body parts join - misaligned seams are very visible in game.

Make all three skin tone versions

Swap the base skin layer for each of the three skin tones (light, medium, dark), re-flatten and save separately.

Save as Indexed BMP - critical!

GIMP: Image → Mode → Indexed → Export As .BMP
Photoshop: Image → Mode → Indexed Colour → Save As .BMP
Do not save as 24-bit BMP, PNG or JPG.

Import back into TSC and export

TSC generates the .BMP, .CMX and .SKN files. Place all three directly in GameData\Skins\ with no subfolders.

💇

Making Hair & Heads

The process for hair and faces is the same as clothing - you're editing the head skin file rather than the body skin file. Hair is painted directly onto the head texture, so to add a new hairstyle you paint it onto the head file, and to change colour you edit and re-save it. There is no separate hair item in Sims 1.

Export a head template from TSC

Or find an existing head skin in GameData\Skins\ to use as a starting point.

Edit in GIMP/Photoshop

Paint the new hairstyle, adjust facial features. The head texture includes the face, ears, neck and hair all in one image.

Save as Indexed BMP and place in Skins

Same rules as clothing - Indexed BMP only, directly in GameData\Skins\ with no subfolders.

🏠

Custom Walls & Floors

The easiest type of CC to make

Create your design

Make any image in GIMP, Photoshop or even MS Paint. Square images work best. Aim for at least 128×128px for a decent quality result.

Open Home Crafter

Launch Home Crafter (download it from the Internet Archive link in the Tools section above if you don't have it yet).

Import your image and export

Home Crafter generates the .WLL or .FLR file automatically. Place it in GameData\Walls\ or GameData\Floors\.

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Tutorials & Further Reading

Simblr.cc - Retexture Tutorial
Detailed walkthrough using Sims 2 Body Shop textures as a source for Sims 1 clothing. Highly recommended for beginners.
Read Tutorial ↗
The Sims Depot - Adding Skins
Guide to adding skins and meshes in Simpose. Good for understanding how skins and meshes relate.
View Guide ↗
Sims 1 Tutorials - Awesome Expression
Advanced: creating custom Sim animations and poses using Simpose. For experienced modders.
View Tutorial ↗
r/thesims1 - The Sims 1
Reddit community dedicated to The Sims 1. Good place to ask questions, share finds and connect with other players and modders.
Visit Subreddit ↗