Simitone

A Modern Frontend for The Sims 1

Alternative C# frontend for The Sims 1, based off of FreeSO. Play with modern resolutions, custom lighting, 5 story buildings, and quality-of-life improvements. Optional 3D mode.

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About This Project

This is a forked version of Simitone with updates that are not in the current release of the original. This is not affiliated with the Simitone Team. View the original Simitone repository by riperiperi.

Simitone is an alternative C# frontend for The Sims 1, built on top of FreeSO. It reimagines the classic game with modern resolutions, improved lighting, optional 3D mode, and quality-of-life features. Play in your preferred visual mode with F12.

On modern operating systems, The Sims 1 has nagging issues that make it less than playable. Simitone serves as a tool to improve the playability of your existing installation of The Sims.

Requires a legitimate copy of The Sims: Complete Collection or The Sims: Legacy Collection.

Features

Custom User Interface

Custom user interface that works at modern resolutions. Working on a more desktop oriented interface. Includes catalog name search and build/buy filtering.

Quality of Life

Improvements from later games in the series; eyedropper tool, catalog search, camera rotation via mouse wheel, free will toggle, and more.

Improved Performance

Better graphical performance with support for high resolutions and refresh rates on modern hardware.

3D Mode (Optional)

Optional 3D rendering. Default is the familiar hybrid 2D look. 3D uses community-generated models and FreeSO meshes. Use whichever you prefer.

Custom Lighting

Directional lights with smooth falloffs and shadows for a more atmospheric look.

Cosmetic Weather

Rain, snow, hail, and storms — toggled via the cheat console (Ctrl+Shift+C) for atmosphere. (No gameplay impact.)

Click a photo to view full size

Rain weather system in The Sims 1
Rain weather system with the 3D mode
Eyedropper tool in action
Eyedropper tool from later games now in The Sims 1!
Snow weather system in The Sims 1
Snow weather system
5 story buildings in Simitone
5 story buildings; more than the base game allowed!
Catalog name search in build and buy mode
Catalog name search in build and buy mode
Simitone running on Linux
Simitone running on Linux

What's Different in This Fork?

This is a forked version of Simitone with updates that may not be present in the original Simitone repository. Key additions in this fork include:

  • Cosmetic Weather System; rain, snow, hail, and storms toggled via cheat console (currently has no impact on gameplay)
  • Linux Support; Will now run on Linux!
  • QOL Features; improvements from later games in the series; eyedropper tool, catalog search, camera rotation via mouse wheel
  • And More!

For a complete list of changes, compare the original repository with this fork on GitHub.

System Requirements

Supported Platforms

Platform Status Notes
Windows Supported Windows 10/11 recommended. Requires .NET 9.0 Runtime + ASP.NET Core 9.0.
Linux Supported Tested with Ubuntu and Linux Mint. Requires SDL2 and OpenAL.
macOS Not Functional Builds but does not work. PRs welcome!

Runtime Requirements

Windows: .NET 9.0 Runtime and ASP.NET Core Runtime 9.0
Linux: libsdl2-2.0-0, libopenal1
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 libopenal1
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install SDL2 openal-soft
  • Arch: sudo pacman -S sdl2 openal

Game Files

A legitimate copy of The Sims: Complete Collection or The Sims: Legacy Collection. Windows version only, although it will work with Linux, as Simitone just needs the data files.

Quick Install

Windows

  1. Download the latest release for Windows.
  2. Extract the ZIP to your preferred location.
  3. Run Simitone.exe.

First-Time Setup

On first launch, Simitone automatically scans for The Sims 1 installations:

  • Portable install (relative path ../The Sims/)
  • Windows Registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Maxis\The Sims)
  • Steam installation (via Steam registry and libraryfolders.vdf)
  • Default install (C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\The Sims\)

If one installation is found, it's auto-configured. If multiple, a selection dialog appears. If none, you can browse manually.

User Data Location

Configuration and save files are stored to: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Simitone\

Simitone uses separate save files from The Sims 1. Your original saves remain untouched.

Linux

  1. Download the latest release (Note: This has only been tested on Ubuntu and Mint.)
  2. Extract the archive to your preferred location.
  3. Run ./Simitone.

First-Time Setup

Auto-detection scans: Portable (../The Sims/), Steam Proton (~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/The Sims/), Wine prefixes, or fallback.

Alternatively, specify the path directly:

./Simitone -path"/fully/qualified/path/to/The Sims/"

User Data Location

Linux: ~/.local/share/Simitone/

Optional Command-Line Arguments

Argument Description
-path"<path>"Specify custom Sims 1 installation path
-dx / -glForce DirectX or OpenGL rendering
-3dEnable 3D mode in the game (toggle with F12)
-jitEnable JIT compilation for SimAntics
-hz <rate>Set refresh rate
-ideLaunch Volcanic object editor
-lang <code>Set language
-nosoundDisable audio

Known Limitations

The following features are currently incomplete or have known issues:

  • Incomplete Fame career track
  • Cannot save while on vacation
  • Cannot evict families from lots
  • Buy mode on community lots is non-functional
  • Rudimentary blur censoring (original censor difficult to implement)
  • Custom objects with custom animations may not work properly
  • Some stock objects have bugs that can make certain lot types unplayable

Community & Resources

Original Simitone Repository The original project by riperiperi. FreeSO Website The FreeSO project; the foundation Simitone is built on. This Fork's Github Repo Source code, releases, and project information. Issue Tracker Report bugs and request features for this fork. 3D Mesh Pack Download community-created 3D meshes for the game. Latest Releases Get the most recent version of this fork for your platform.

Building from Source

Easy Mode: GitHub Actions

Don't want to set up a build environment? Fork this repository and use GitHub Actions:

  1. Fork this repository on GitHub.
  2. Go to the Actions tab (you may need to activate actions).
  3. Click "Build Simitone" in the left sidebar.
  4. Click "Run workflow", select Release, pick your platforms, and click "Run workflow".
  5. Wait ~4-5 minutes or so, refresh the job page, and download the release artifact.

Windows

Prerequisites

Steps

git clone https://github.com/alexjyong/Simitone.git
cd Simitone
git submodule update --init --recursive
dotnet restore Client\Simitone\Simitone.sln
dotnet restore FreeSO\TSOClient\FreeSO.sln
dotnet build Client\Simitone\Simitone.sln -c Release --no-restore

Or use the PowerShell build script:

.\build.ps1          # Build (Release)
.\build.ps1 -Run     # Build and run
.\build.ps1 -Clean   # Clean before building

Linux

Prerequisites

Install runtime dependencies first (see System Requirements above).

Steps

git clone https://github.com/alexjyong/Simitone.git
cd Simitone
git submodule update --init --recursive
./build-mac-linux.sh

# Optional: self-contained release build (no system dependencies needed)
./build-mac-linux.sh --publish

Run the built executable:

# Standard build
cd Client/Simitone/Simitone.Desktop/bin/Release/net9.0/
./Simitone -path"/path/to/The Sims/"

# Self-contained build
cd publish/Simitone-Linux-x64/
./Simitone -path"/path/to/The Sims/"

Troubleshooting

  • "FreeSO folder is empty" — Run rm -rf FreeSO && git submodule update --init --recursive --force
  • "Unable to locate the .NET SDK" — Install the .NET 9.0 SDK (not just runtime), restart your terminal, and verify with dotnet --info.

Attributions