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What Is a Retexture?
Changing how an object looks without touching gameplay
A retexture changes the visual appearance of an existing game object – its colour, pattern, or design – while keeping all of its behaviour, interactions, and stats identical. The original object stays untouched in your game. Your retexture appears as a separate item in the Buy Mode catalog.
Tools You Need
TMog for the retexture workflow, plus any image editor
Step-by-Step: Retexturing an Object
Using the Pink Flamingo as an example – the same process works for any object
Open Transmogrifier and find your object
Launch TMog. The left panel shows a list of every object in the game. Scroll through or type in the search box to find the object you want to retexture. For this example, find flamingo in the list and click on it.
The right side of the screen shows information about the selected object – its filename, how many objects are in that file, and a list of objects you can work with. The flamingo file contains one object called "Flamingo."
Clone the object
Click "Clone Object File…" at the top right. A dialog appears asking for three things:
- New Object File Name: Give your clone a unique name. TMog suggests one with random numbers – you can change it to something meaningful like
green_flamingo. - Magic Cookie Number: Enter 0 for personal use, or your number from the Magic Cookie Database if you plan to share. See the section above for details.
- Select Objects to Clone: The flamingo file only has one object, so it's already selected. For files containing multiple objects (like dining chairs), pick the specific one you want.
Click OK. TMog creates your clone as a new IFF file and saves it automatically in Downloads\Transmogrified\ inside your game folder. You'll see your clone appear in TMog's object list.
Export the sprites
With your clone selected in the list, click "Export Object File…" (this button was greyed out before cloning – it only works on files you own).
The Export Whizzer dialog appears with several options. For a simple colour change, the defaults are what you want:
- "Just Change Colors" should be checked – this tells TMog to preserve the z-buffers (depth information) and alpha channels (transparency) from the original object. You only need to change the colour pixels.
- "Export All Zooms" exports sprites at all three zoom levels (near, medium, far view). Leave this checked.
Click OK, then choose where to save the export. TMog creates a folder containing:
- An XML file (e.g.
green_flamingo.xml) – this is the import map that TMog reads later - A sprites subfolder containing BMP image files for each sprite at each zoom level and rotation angle
The flamingo exports 6 BMP files: front and back views at large, medium, and small zoom. Other objects may have more – animated objects or multi-state objects (like a TV that can be on or off) will have sprites for each state.
Paint your retexture
Open the exported BMP files in GIMP or Photoshop. Each file shows the object on a bright background colour (usually yellow or magenta) – this is the transparent colour that the game replaces with whatever is behind the object. Don't paint over the background – only change the pixels that are part of the object itself.
Paint your new colours directly over the existing ones. The flamingo is pink – paint it green, blue, gold, or whatever you like. Try to keep the shading and highlights from the original to maintain a natural look.
Save each file as BMP when done. Keep the same filenames – TMog matches them up using the XML file.
Import the painted sprites back into TMog
Go back to TMog. Make sure your clone is still selected in the list, then click "Import Object File…". Navigate to the XML file you exported earlier and select it. TMog reads the XML, finds your edited BMP files in the sprites folder, and writes them back into the clone's IFF file.
You'll see an import progress bar. Once it finishes, the retexture is done – your clone now contains your new sprites.
Test in game
Your finished clone is already in the right place – Downloads\Transmogrified\ inside your game folder. Launch The Sims and open Buy Mode. Your retextured object should appear as a new item in the catalog alongside the original.
Check it at all three zoom levels (scroll wheel to zoom in and out) and rotate the camera to see all angles. If something looks wrong at a specific zoom level, go back and repaint that specific sprite – the filenames tell you which zoom and angle each one is (e.g. large_front, medium_back, small_front).
Finishing Your CC
Update the name, description, and thumbnail before sharing – or even just for yourself
Step 1 – Update the catalog name and description in TMog
With your cloned object selected in TMog’s left-hand object list, look at the right-hand panel. You will see fields for Name and Description – these are what appear in the Buy Mode catalogue when someone hovers over or clicks your object in game.
Click into the Name field and give your retexture a distinct name. Then click into the Description field and write a short description. Standard Sims 1 CC convention is:
Name:
Green FlamingoDescription:
Recolour of Maxis “Pink Flamingo”. Made by [Your Handle] – [your site or contact]
The reason for this format: if someone downloads your CC and wants to know who made it, or wants more of your work, the description is the only place inside the file that carries that information. A name like “Green Flamingo” also prevents your retexture from showing up in the catalogue as “Pink Flamingo” alongside the original, which would be confusing for anyone with both installed.
Your Magic Cookie number is baked into the object’s GUID automatically when you clone it – you do not need to write it into the description.
Step 2 – Update the catalog thumbnail
The thumbnail is a separate small image stored inside the IFF file (called a BMP_ resource). TMog’s sprite export does not touch it – it stays as the original Maxis image until you replace it manually using IFF Pencil 2.
Create a thumbnail image
Take a screenshot of your retextured object in game, then open it in GIMP, crop tightly around the object, and resize it to match the dimensions of the original Maxis catalogue thumbnail for this object. The fastest way to check those dimensions: open the object's IFF in IFF Pencil 2, look at its BMP_ resource at ID 2000 (labelled Catalog), and match those dimensions when you resize. The thumbnail does not need to be detailed – it is very small in the catalogue – but it should clearly show your new colour or design rather than the Maxis original.
Open the clone in IFF Pencil 2
Launch IFF Pencil 2 (right-click the .exe → Properties → Compatibility → Windows XP SP3 mode and Run as administrator, if on Windows 10/11). Go to File → Open and navigate to Downloads\Transmogrified\ inside your Legacy Collection folder. Open your cloned IFF file.
In the left panel you will see a list of resource types. Click BMP_ to expand it. You will see one or more bitmap entries listed by ID number. The one labelled Catalog (usually ID 2000) is the Buy Mode thumbnail.
Import your new thumbnail
Right-click the Catalog BMP_ entry → Import → browse to your thumbnail image and select it. IFF Pencil will replace the image. Then go to File → Save. The Buy Mode picture will now show your version of the object rather than the original.
Going Further
Beyond visual changes
Once you are comfortable with retextures, there are two natural next steps:
- Build objects from scratch – model a new shape in Blender, render the sprites, and compile a brand-new IFF. Covered on Creating New Objects.
- Change behaviour, not just appearance – edit the object's price, motive effects, catalogue category, interactions, and more. Covered on IFF Hacking.
For a detailed walkthrough of the flamingo retexture using TMog (the "Green Flamingo" tutorial by the tool's creator), see the official TMog Tutorial 1.