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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 30th Jul 2019 at 8:39 PM Last edited by LUCPIX : 1st Aug 2019 at 7:02 PM.
[HOW TO] Sims 1 on W8 & Newer OS
In order to run Sims 1 on modern PCs (more precisely, Windows 8 and all the operational systems that have been released afterwards ), people have different formulas. Most of them requiring the search and getting of NO-CD patches and other threatening methods, ha. Let's not lie: it kinda helps, once seen from the surface. However, in most computers, it doesn't help the game will, then, function at a constant, but slow frame rate; sometimes with a graphical bug here and there, making the whole gameplay experience quickly frustrating, although that is not Sims 1 on its full potential yet!

Here's the tip- All you have to do is download one of several DDRAW wrappers around the interwebs, kindly shaped as a dll proxy/file, which doesn't weight more than an... Instagram picture? Yes; unbelievable!

There is not a RIGHT wrapper you have have have to use. However, for its straightforwardness and simplicity, I strongly recommend DDrawCompat v0.2.1

DOWLOAD HERE


The website from this link has 3 files under a tab called Assets. We'll click and download "ddraw.zip", which matters to us in this case the most. Wait 10 seconds or less and it's successfully sent to your PC.


You will tell- within "ddraw.zip", there is a file named... "ddraw.dll"! The secret to apply it into a game you wish to "compatibilize" is moving that dll to the game's folder where the executable is. Next step is to run the game in question and check how it reacts to the just inserted old good ddraw accelerator and have fun! A sign that shows the dll is being truly used is the generation of a txt file, also called "ddraw", seconds before the games' reproduction... And we're done!


The main recurring effects of playing Sims 1 with this simple setting are:
- For those with W8/8.1/10... well, the game will OPEN, after all;
- The game runs considerably smoother than how it would run otherwise! Is most notably felt when you pan the camera with the right mouse button... let alone how the lot-to-lot transitions are instantaneous;
- Graphical glitches get fixed - more precisely those which display the images at a very low, distorted color depth, followed or not by an immediate crash;


If you don't have a copy of The Sims 1 in your PC right now but you fancy examining whether this tool works for you or not, I suggest you to check it quickly via a small indie game called MAGE BROS as it takes a very little time to install and, just like TS1, doesn't naturally run on its full potential without "ddraw.dll" 's support on modern, recent PCs, so its a good guinea pig.

- OTHER TESTED OLD GAMES YOU SHOULD TRY DDRAW ON...
Sim Theme Park [generally impossible to be played on W8 and newer, for the same reasons as Sims 1]
Theme Park Inc.
Hotel Giant (known for working poorly on every single OSs, which is visible after a quick read at one of the games' customer comments or whatever... until now]
Ace Speeder


...or any old game you never managed to play properly on your computer! Experimenting is essential. If you do not see a difference on how an 'x' game is processed under 'ddraw', you can undo it all just by deleting the dll file within your game's folder, or moving it to another folder.

Enough of typing; Comment down below if it worked for you, if you tested it somehow. At first given opportunity, I'll convert all the content from this thread into a self-explaining video. For now, thanks for recognizing the timelessness of those ancient toys and that Sims 1 STILL is worth playing in spite of how many sequels and spin-offs have been relased since, well, 2000!!
Tek-tek.


PIAZZI ROCKS
(so do you)
[email protected]
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 29th Sep 2019 at 11:04 AM
Thank you! My game was lagging a lot on my Win10 laptop whenever I didn't play in windowed mode (which was far too small for my liking) and it runs a lot better now.
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