A throwback to the sheer agony of The Sims Build Mode

Building In The Sims 1

The Sims has been around for over 20 years. For those who did not play the original version, this is a throwback to just how bad Build Mode used to be.

The Sims franchise has come a long way since the first edition of the game was released over 20 years ago. While we all still long for the return of burglars (amongst other things), sometimes a trip down memory lane can be a good reminder of just how bad things used to be.

And this is by no means meant to be an excuse for the shortcomings of The Sims 4, but wow? things were?.challenging.

Nevermind the whole Comic Sans font thing and the really odd textures, just building a room and decorating it was a character-building experiencing. And the gallery that (despite its issues) exists now? Nah, forget it. If you wanted to download and place creations from fellow Simmers, you had to do so by overwriting the existing house in the neighbourhood of your choice.

The Sims original build mode: No choice in your views

Builders, we are spoilt for choice with the current version of The Sims. The first edition offered very few angles for build mode. Rotation happened at a set of predetermined degrees and you weren?t allowed to customise that angle.

While the walls up/down/cutaway existed even back then, the game was not nearly as intuitive with walls cutting away as it is now.

The luxury of rotating furniture with ease in The Sims 4 (and with even more precision if you use the Sims 3 camera), just wasn’t a thing back then.

Customising roofs never used to be a thing in The Sims

Roofs Sims 1

Probably why so many of us OG Sims players still absolutely suck at creating roofs. Back in the early days of The Sims, you got what you were given.

Building Roofs In The Sims 1

There were a few options in terms of roof tiles and the angle/pitch of your roof, but it was automatically added.

The Sims 1 Roof Pitch Build Mode

Actually, maybe this is something we don’t actually mind that much….you know, as a kind of levelling of the building field for those of us (me, I mean me) who just cannot get their heads around fancy roofing methods.

You can’t paint where you are not looking

Painting Exterior Groundfloor Sims 1

It seems kind of bizarre now, but unless you were building on the ground floor, you should not paint the exterior of the house you were building when The Sims was first released.

Something in the way

The Sims 1 Move Objects

No, not the Nirvana song. Build Mode in The Sims never used to be quite so forgiving with cutting walls through windows. While the much-loved move_objects cheat was a thing even back then, there wasn’t much room to manoeuvre in build mode in general.

The Sims 1 Build Mode Restrictions

There was no sledgehammer tool and if you wanted to place a wall where you had already placed a window, you had to move that window first.

Deleting your Sims in Build Mode

This was actually part of a cheat. Before the days of MC Command Centre, improving your Sims’ mood involved picking them up and deleting them in Build Mode. Literally.

Deleting Sims In Build Mode

With the move objects cheat turned on, you could toggle into Build Mode in the first edition of The Sims and just delete anyone from the household. Clicking on their profile back in Live Mode would see them return (with their needs all filled).

First published on 21 December 2020.