Comprehensive technical reference for The Sims file formats, resource structures, and modding workflows.
| Part | Title | Content |
|---|---|---|
| I. Foundations | Architecture & Concepts | Overview, conventions, getting started |
| II. Containers | File Formats | FAR archives, IFF structure, preferences |
| III. Object System | Objects & Behaviors | OBJD, BHAV, VM, interactions |
| IV. Graphics & Animation | Rendering | Sprites, meshes, animation system |
| V. Game Content | Data Structures | Characters, careers, strings |
| VI. Tools & Workflows | Practical Guides | IFFSnooper tutorials |
| I want to... | Go to... |
|---|---|
| Understand the architecture | Part I Ch.2 |
| Parse a FAR archive | Part II Ch.1 |
| Parse an IFF file | Part II Ch.2 |
| Understand object structure | Part III Ch.1 |
| Learn BHAV bytecode | Part III Ch.3 |
| Work with sprites | Part IV Ch.2 |
| Parse meshes | Part IV Ch.5 |
| Understand animations | Part IV Ch.4 |
| Edit characters | Part V Ch.1 |
| Edit careers | Part V Ch.2 |
| Use IFFSnooper | Part VI |
| Format | Location |
|---|---|
| FAR | Part II Ch.1 |
| IFF | Part II Ch.2 |
| OBJD | Part III Ch.1 |
| BHAV | Part III Ch.3 |
| BCON/TRCN | Part III Ch.4 |
| TTAB | Part III Ch.6 |
| SLOT | Part III Ch.8 |
| DGRP | Part IV Ch.1 |
| SPR#/SPR2 | Part IV Ch.2 |
| PALT | Part IV Ch.3 |
| CMX/BCF | Part IV Ch.4 |
| SKN/BMF | Part IV Ch.5 |
| CFP | Part IV Ch.6 |
| CARR | Part V Ch.2 |
| STR# | Part V Ch.3 |
| FCNS | Part V Ch.4 |
Game: The Sims (Maxis/EA, 2000)
Primary Container: IFF (Interchange File Format)
Archive Format: FAR (File ARchive)
Byte Order: Big-endian headers, little-endian content
- Objects are defined by OBJD resources and use BHAV bytecode for behaviors
- Graphics use isometric sprites (SPR2) positioned by DGRP resources
- Characters are defined by CMX/BCF (skeletons/animations) and SKN/BMF (meshes)
- Careers are encoded in CARR resources with bit-packed variable-width fields
| Convention | Meaning |
|---|---|
0x prefix |
Hexadecimal |
| BE | Big-endian |
| LE | Little-endian |
| Fields | Listed offset → size → name |
- IFFSnooper — Peter Gould's research tool
- 7DS Archive — Community documentation (archived)
- Niotso/FreeSO — Open source reimplementation
Documentation v1.1 — February 2026. Original sources credited within individual chapters.