Sim Theme Park, also known as Theme Park World in the UK, is a theme park simulator released in 1999. This is an OLD game, but still one of my favorites to this day. I recently started streaming the game and knew I would get questions. So, I made this guide on how to play the game on Windows 10.
Please note: These instructions are for Windows 10. If you have an earlier version of Windows, this method may not work for you.
Download Link
The game is considered abandonware and can be downloaded in its entirety from this website. You need all three files – the Windows 8-10 compatibility patch, the Sim Theme Park CD Image, and the Theme Park World Patch v2.0.
Please Note: This is the UK version of the game, Theme Park World. It works exactly the same as the US version. The only difference is the advisor has a different accent. I have not been able to find a working US version. You can usually buy a disc version really cheap on Ebay, but I’m not sure if it installs the same as the download.
Install Sim Theme Park
Download and extract the files from the link above, then you’re ready to start installing.
- Right click on the “Theme Park World” disc image file. Click on “Mount.”
- A new folder will open. Double-click on “autorun.”
- The installer will appear. Choose your language, click on “Install,” and then choose “Yes” when the window appears asking if you want to allow this app to make changes.
- Sometimes the installer will not launch. If it DOES NOT launch, skip to step five. If it DOES launch for you, skip to step nine.
- If the installer DOES NOT launch, open your Task Manager. Under “Background Processes” you will see “32-Bit Setup Launcher.” Right-click on it and choose “Go to Details.”
- The executable will now be highlighted. Right-click on it and choose “Analyze Wait Chain.” A new menu will appear with a setup.exe on top and one or more processes running below it.
- Click the checkbox next to the processes BELOW setup.exe. (DO NOT click the checkbox next to the first setup.exe option.) Then choose “End Process.”
- The installer will now begin. You will see box in the right bottom corner of your screen asking you to wait. So wait. This may take several minutes.
- The setup wizard will now appear. (If it doesn’t, repeat steps 5-7. I’ve had to kill the additional processes multiple times before.) Follow the instructions on the screen to continue installing the game. DO NOT LAUNCH THE GAME AFTER INSTALL!!!
- When you get to the final screen UNCHECK LAUNCH GAME NOW. DO NOT LAUNCH THE GAME OR YOU WILL HAVE TO UNINSTALL AND START ALL OVER!!!
Patch Sim Theme Park
Now that you have the game installed, you MUST patch it to get it to work in Windows 10.
- Double-click on the “tppatchtwoeuroamer20000324a” application that you downloaded above. This is the Theme Park World v2.0 patch. It will run very quickly and you may see a progress bar for a split second before it disappears. That’s all you need to do with that one.
- For the next patch, copy all the files from the “Sim Theme Park Win 8-10 patch” folder into your game folder at C:\Program Files (x86)\Bullfrog\ThemeParkWorld. You will be prompted to overwrite files. Say yes.
- Double-click on the “tp” registration entries file. A box will appear asking you if you’re sure you want to continue. Click “Yes.”
- Now right-click the icon on your desktop and choose “Run as Administrator.” The game should load up! You’ll probably want to increase the graphics to High once you get in the game, but don’t worry about changing the resolution in-game. It’s already set externally to the highest possible – 1280 x 1024.
I hope this guide helps you get Sim Theme Park (Theme Park World) working on your Windows 10 computer! If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help. There is also a subreddit dedicated solely to this game that can provide help if you need it.
I have found a resolve for the no cursor issue that can be experienced.
In the game’s files, there are SAM files named low, med, and high. I needed to edit these files properties to give permission to edit and save them and then opened them in notepad.
Once in notepad, change the following: GraphicalOptions.RENDER32 and GraphicalOptions.TEXTURE32 to 1 and save. This made the cursor display for me.
I accidentally booted the gam on my first pass through. I’ve since deleted all files multiple times and it still won’t work. I’m so so sad that I can’t play this game. I wish I had paid more attention and been more careful. I worry that I can never fix this.
Whenever I boot it up all the intro logos are fine but I physically can’t get into a game, all the animations are frozen and doesn’t allow me to see anything or load into a park!
ssame
So, the game pulls up perfectly and loads to the main menu, however from there things get glitchy. Even more so than ever before. The only way I can get it to progress forward, the little helper dude to talk or the screen to progress through zooming in, flashing to the different parks to choose from etc…i have to continually ALT Tab back to it…but then it only goes a little bit further and stops until I ALT Tab again. please tell me what is the issue? lol
I have this same issue is there a fix? Will this work better in WIN 7?
I get the same issue, switching to software mode allows the main menu to play our smoothly and can select any of the worlds just fine and load into them, however when getting into the themepark to build, it’s the same issue where no animations play and it’s as if the game is paused, alt tabbing seems to do the same thing but much slower. I cannot find a fix for this and feel like this is the final hurdle to get the game to play
8/14/2021
Hi
I have the (non gold edition) disk. I ran the installer, killed the sub process, ran the v2 patch, copied the data folder, usp11.dll file, and tp.reg file to the install location. I ran the registry file, and yet still no boot from the .exe on my desktop.
Where could I have gone wrong in the install? Do these patches still work?
Many Thanks!
Hello. I installed the game and then it stopped opening. I tried to uninstall and download again. and now there is no install button! what to do?
Hi, Love all ur mods and everything u have on the website, I just downloaded Sims Theme Park and for some reason, I don’t have a Mouse Cursor when enter the game, everything running great, but just cant play without mouth haha
Has anyone had same issue or got problem resolved??
I hope this thread is still active cos this is a bit of a nuisance.
The whole thing works amazingly! Thank you so much! I’ve got the disk still but it just doesn’t work for some reason! And the scottish helper is bring back so much nostalgia!
However, first time from booting up PC I right click as admin and works perf. Boom. BUT if I then have to exit the game and go to run it again, doesn’t respond. SO i’m having to reboot the whole PC just to get back into the game.
Any clues?
hi the game works but I don’t have a mouse cursor. do you know anything to fix this?
Error: Engine failed to initialize
Hi! I am stuck on #2 of Patch Sim Theme Park. I cannot find the Program Files (x86) File. What am I doing wrong?!? Please Help!
I did everything you said to do but when I go and click ‘run as administrator’ nothing happens.
So, I got this to work like 2 days ago, by following your instructions (bless you btw), and the game was running perfectly. But now, when I try to start the game I get the error “weacityr.dll not found”. I’ve restarted my computer. Anybody got any tips please? Thank you
I’m not sure, but you could try this: https://www.dlldown.co/W/2013/0611/weacityr_dll_73002.html#.YHLm1ehKiUk
I figured out why it does this, at least for me. In that file, “weacityr.dll,” the anti-virus software detects a threat and deletes the whole file. I’ve tried copying the original file and replacing the patched version, plus using the patched version, and both cause the anti-virus software to delete it, thus making the game unable to run. Whether there’s an actual virus, or it just gets flagged as one, I don’t know. But I’m not willing to risk destroying my computer over a game, no matter how nostalgic it might be. :,(
It is 100% NOT a virus.
With this in mind, I’ve found a workaround, at least for users who have McAfee! Go into your McAfee terminal and turn OFF “real-time scanning.” You can set a timer to turn it back on, even, so you don’t forget. Once that was done, it booted up perfectly! <3
Please NEVER do that!
All anti-virus software has the option to exclude directories from real-time scanning. Just disable the themepark game directory and it will no longer delete any files, but the anti-virus will still work for all other processes and directories.
i did everything but as soon as i click run as adiminstrator on the desktop shortcut it says weacityr.dll is not found??????????????????
Thank you for this! I was beyond excited to see it start up. Unfortunately it just continuously freezes and is unplayable. But! So much nostalgia. Thank you!
It still says I need the disc. How do I play without the disc?
Apparently I dont have enough space in the folder to do this step
For the next patch, copy all the files from the “Sim Theme Park Win 8-10 patch” folder into your game folder at C:\Program Files (x86)\Bullfrog\ThemeParkWorld. You will be prompted to overwrite files. Say yes.
Hey, I hope you’re still trying this!
I got that error message when I accidentally tried to copy it into the downloaded folder, not the folder on the Local Disk (C).
Try going through Windows Explorer and copying it in there. That should work
“Setup has detected that uninstallShield is in use. Please close uninstallShield and restart setup” (while doing the patch thing.) I’ve tried literally everything and it appears this message every time. Any solution?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT2nEC7U0cI – this fixed it, go to local disk, windows, scroll for isuninst and delete that. once done redo that step and itll work
Hi! The game runs well but I don’t have any mouse pointer! I’ve check the low.sam, med.sam and high.sam files and the RENDER32 and TEXTURE32 are already at 1… Do you know any other tricks? Thanks!
Same for me as well -_-
i don’t want the british voice guy :(((((((((
I made a temporary mediafire download. hopefully someone will reupload a permanent link.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/hgksi6z5ljhzvy2/Sim_Theme_Park.iso/file
The game crashes during load after a GPU driver update but was unstable even before that on my Surface Book 3
This is the USA version. the crash is frustrating because it worked well on my older laptop. The gold edition disc I downloaded from somewhere doesn’t install, but I manually extracted the relevant files: https://www.mediafire.com/file/mknd46twokxcakj/Gold_DLC.zip/file
For the patch I am on step 3 but I don’t see the file you are supposed to double click “tp — registration entries” I tried to follow the steps. If I cannot figure it out should I uninstall and attempt to find another source. Thanks for posting, this was one of my favorite games growing up.
Hi Marissa. The name of the file is just “tp.” Registration entries is the type of file. If you don’t have it, you’re either looking in the wrong folder or you missed downloading one of the parts. It comes with the downloads and will be originally located in the folder named “Sim Theme Park Win 8-10 patch.” If you have that folder, you have the file. Make sure to copy it into C:\Program Files (x86)\Bullfrog\ThemeParkWorld. Hope that helps!
This doesn’t work for me.
after the intro videos it loads the new player screen, but nothing happens. it freezes. if i run it in safemode (directions found from the original readme, basically drops all graphics options to lowest) it doesn’t freeze but it won’t let me click on anything. i can’t create a new player, or exit.
Windows compatibility mode and running as admin have done nothing.
Restarting did solve this issue, but now a few days later, i’ve changed nothing, and it’s not working again. it gets to the map screen and lags like mad. if i use software rendering it runs great for about 30 seconds then starts locking up for 5-10 seconds every 30 seconds.
it worked flawlessly for hours just a few days ago. super frustrating.
OMG ! I use to play this all the time and there was always on theme park i couldn’t unlock, i think i have the disc floating around somewhere.
Totally had forgotten about this!
It’s such a fun game!!
I don’t have a ‘registration entries’ file to finish patching. Did I do something wrong? 🙁
Hi Brianna! Maybe. The name of the file isn’t “Registration Entries.” That’s the file type. The name of the file is just “tp” as shown in the picture. It’s included in the “Sim Theme Park Win 8-10 patch” folder that you should have downloaded from the link in the first section. You need to copy it into your C:\Program Files (x86)\Bullfrog\ThemeParkWorld folder. If you don’t, it won’t be there. I hope that helps!
Not technically, but the company who made this game is no longer functioning. It’s effectively “abandoned” so no one is monitoring it for copyright, and there’s no other way to purchase the game. Basically, no one cares if you download a 21 year old game made by a defunct studio. But that’s your decision to make! 🙂
I always get confused, so its legal to DL abandonware?
I’ve tried multiple times to get this game working and your method is the first time it’s worked! Thank you so much.