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It's a Sim Thing
Vima - I love it when a new band comes to town. Have to hop down to the lounge to see if we've found the next best thing in simming.
It's a big smiley face. Cute at first, but as I state, I hate repetitive animations. If you animate, it's a good idea to not let it loop more than 20 times just because it becomes excessively annoying after a while.
"If you can't see this graphic, it will be ready momentarily. Refresh
your browser to view it." Well, I've been back several times and
it's still not there...if you don't have it...don't make a place for it.
The colors almost match, but the mistake is that you are either mixing hues or mixing colors...don't do both. Either use different purples or different colors of the same hues. The "The Sims" Block logo slapped on the star is just hideous...get rid of it. The name "Sim" in the title, so the redundancy isn't really needed.
I really don't get this. The skins section is represented by a skin from another site. I have that blue one and it's from SimFreaks. The objects images seem to consist of objects from other sites as well. SimFreaks, 7 Deadly Sims and Moni's? The objects offered here range from fair to good. A good start I think and I really think the mini table is cute. :)
The skins section is confusing...I entered then tried to click on the pics and they don't download...guess I need to go for the links at the top. The skins are varying in quality. Wulphy and Jenny have paid attention to texture and shading. They could improve their skins slightly by also adding some shadows under the skirt lines etc...then they'd be perfect. The other skinners could learn a little from them about the shading and/or texturing.
FYI: Missing link on Sunset by Jenny. Yellow dress links to a pic of some male sim.
I clicked on the houses section and it took me to some other site. When I tried to go back it asked if I wanted to set the site as my homepage...I think NOT.
I tend to not care for contests that have no real prize....
Overall, the site isn't half bad. I was almost scared away by the design, but found a few hidden treasures. I give it 3 martinis :)
Skyler - My first response here was I totally love that smiley face! Generally I hate things moving on a page, however there's something about that BIG yellow face and the smile changing that almost wants to make you smile back. I dunno, I can't explain it, but I like it :) There's supposed to be a graphic up there that never did load for me. I have no idea what it is or was :/
Something about the colors are very girlie. I think I sorta like them, but not in a "I could look at it all the time everyday way." They keep their updates and news right on the main page, however the updates don't seem to be consistent.
On to the shopping center, then to female skins... Need something new to wear to the Lounge tonight, there seems to be a new man in town ;) Well I haven't found a thing to wear yet. While browsing the various departments I have noticed one very annoying thing. All the screen shots use great items from other sites. This is frustrating if your a new comer and would like some of these objects. I see things from 7 Deadly Sims, Sim Freaks, Well Dressed Sim, Julie's Simporium, and various other sites. How about either mentioning these sites and where to downloads can be found, or not using objects that aren't available on your site? I finally found a couple "cute" items of interest to me, but I HATE being directed to another page for downloads. I wouldn't even bother normally! I've also read quite a few people have problems downloading from Homestead, so I did try a few and had no problems whatsoever. All in all the clothing is pretty nice, with fairly good selection. Women's casual, page three I happened across heads... Would I have found these if not by happenstance? NOT! There was nothing telling anyone where to locate head... Might want to rethink that one!
On to objects... That smiley face was so cute on the main page... He's getting rather annoying page after page... They have all these cute little pictures with the "newest buys" in various areas, however if you click on them there's no link... You need to scroll back to the top of the page to get to these sections. Again with these screen shots and objects I can't get from here. I'm more interested in a few of the things I've seen in the background than the actual items featured.
I'm giving this site two martini glasses, and rudely grabbing one of CC's communion cups to throw at that #$@*&% Smiley face on every stinkin' page!
I figured I give houses a try... Just on the off chance there was something
there. The link sent me to God knows where. I must leave now. Since Vima
hasn't made formal introductions, I must take matters into my hands
Squeegee - I like the look, but the jovial face just doesn't fit in. The news portion was last updated on March 3rd. So it's been some time since the site has been worked on. The black text on a dark purple backdrop wreck chaos to these aging eyes of mine.
I like the abundant screen images that feature the skins for download. That type of feature alone makes me want to look at all the skins displayed if only to see the images.
There are broken links, and it's evident.
To sum it up this review. It's a nice site featuring work for around the Sims Community. It's refreshing to see that the site asked permission to display the work of others. And the work is displayed from the perspective of being used in the game. Which is also a plus. Why?? Because the site took time to use the goods and make a personal screenshot instead of taking the easy way of just using a copy of an image from the original work
There is much charm to this site and there can be improvements but overall it was a pleasure to browse through. I didn't download anything this time because much of the offerings I had already downloaded from the source.
I appraise this site two martinis and an extra chewed up cherry.
Storel - Well, the first page loads very quickly, which is always a good sign. Rather cluttered and busy, though, and can you say "too many exclamation points"? I knew you could. What's this broken graphic at the top? "If you can't see this graphic yet, it will be ready momentarily. Please refresh your browser to view it." Okay, refresh a couple of times. Still nothing. Right-click and choose "Show Picture". Nothing. This graphic isn't resting, mate, it's stone dead! And it appears to be the main site logo -- this can't be a good sign...
Let's check out the Shopping Centre now. Hmm, not bad. Large graphic buttons for each section: Female Skins, Male Skins, Objects, and Houses, plus a large empty graphic on the right -- oopsie! Let's try Female Skins. Oh, nice, they show the newest downloads in each section -- Casual, Formal, Underwear, Sports, Sets, and Misc -- so if you're a regular visitor, you can see which sections you don't need to visit. Nice touch.
On arriving at Casual Wear, I realize that I am probably too old to appreciate these skins, as they seem to cater to teenagers -- surely nobody else would like clothes this ridiculously trendy. Lots of bare midriffs, several that have no texture or shading to speak of, some color combinations that could make you go blind, and not just one but two Britney Spears outfits. And that's just the first page. Formal Wear was not much better, nor were the other sections. (I can't even tell you what the Misc section looked like, because the link to it went nowhere.) I'll spare you the page-by-page commentary and cut to the chase: if you are the type of person who likes these kinds of clothes, then these are the kind of clothes you will like. If you're out of your teens, though, you probably don't want to bother.
I'll pass mercifully over the Male Skins, except to say that the Misc section here is great if you're looking for skins of the game's male Non-Player Characters (NPCs): they have just about all of them, including the fireman, repo man, tragic clown, pizza dude, and so on, plus well done costumes such as Santa Claus, the Grinch, and the Devil. Good job there.
I will briefly mention my greatest irritation with all the skins sections: the screenshots. You're supposed to be looking at the clothes to decide if you like them, right? So why do so many of the screenshots have your view of the clothes obstructed by things the Sim is carrying, standing behind, or sitting behind? Why is there so much non-clothing stuff in the pictures to begin with? One shot featured a sculpture in the middle of the screen, with the actual outfit on the far right edge of the picture, partially obstructed by the Sims logo in the bottom right corner. Another one, for the "Trashy Skirt" outfit, cut off the model's legs so high up you couldn't even see the skirt's hemline. Just take their word for it, it's trashy? I don't think so. Stop trying to catch candid snapshots and just pose them, for Pete's sake.
On to the Objects section. This was the best part of the whole site. The objects were uniformly well made, with good texture and shading, and everything viewed from the correct angle (a pet peeve of mine). Some of the recolored objects weren't to my personal taste, like the Leopardskin Sofa, but they were still well done technically and I give them good marks for that. (The one exception was a Winnie-the-Pooh kid's bed where the blanket appears to be rising at a 45-degree angle from the mattress. Well, nobody's perfect...)
I particularly liked the Decorative, Lighting, and Misc sections. Decorative had some nice rugs by Monica and ArtStudio versions of several famous paintings. I know some folks think the ArtStudio frames are boring, but the paintings were still good. The Lighting page specializes in lights that don't look like lights, with several very creative lights including a holly centerpiece, a teddy bear, and lighted hedges in two sizes. The Misc section had some well done kid's toys and a Looney Tunes easel that I immediately snabbed (I love Warner Bros. cartoons), as well as an ironing board and a buyable baby.
The Electronics section also deserves mention. It's not large, but it contains the original Farbie versions of the Teleporter, Baby Monitor, and Elevator, three widely-used and frequently cloned objects. These are handy if you're an object creator wanting to make sure you clone the original objects, or if you're just trying to complete your collection of teleporters or elevators.
As far as the other parts of the site go, the Staff section has brief bios and contact info for the site's staff, and brief thanks to the guest artists (a classy touch); the Help section has a good "How to Download" procedure and contact info for other tech support issues; the Contest section would have been more interesting if it mentioned any of the previous contests and their winners; the Chat room was deserted; the Message Board was a tiny little EZboard forum that had gotten a total of 4 messages since it opened in mid-February; and the Reviews section was another non-existent link (phooey).
Overall, this is a pretty good site if you like objects, NPC skins, or too-trendy clothes. The objects are generally above average, the site's organization is pretty good, and the pages all seem to load quickly despite lots of graphics. They need to clean up some technical sloppiness with bad links and broken images, and they really need to rethink their screenshots for skins, so I'll deduct a bit for that and award them three martinis with an extra lime.
Whew, thank goodness I'm back at the lounge. That was a big site, and my legs are aching. Time to sink down in an over-upholstered arm chair with a large drink and relax. Hey, Vima, lookin' good. What's that you're drinking?...
Sister Cecilia C. Simser:
Church of Simmintology. - Goodness Gracious
me...being somewhat attention deficit, I could end up very confused and
have to be carried out of here. Stand by with a stretcher just in case.
Looks colorful but very busy. I did stand mesmerized for quite some time
watching the smiley face go from teeth to no teeth. Luckily I carry smelling
salts and was able to shock myself out of the trance. I don't know that
the Good Lord wants a person to be that happy. We learn when we suffer.
Praise be!
First to the skins, that should help me decide if this place is as bright and cheery as it seems or if that is just to hide underlying SIN. After much trepidation, I ventured in and found that there were some nice clothes for the ladies, if you like that sort of thing, not much you could wear to services mind you! The men's clothing was well crafted, everyone properly covered as God intended. The "underwear" page was guarded by a burly construction worker type. Not that I wanted to enter.....get thee behind me!!! Just thought I should mention it so you don't come here with thoughts of lust in your mind.
Oh! Some of the faces did scare me quite badly...complexions just didn't look natural.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of......Oh objects here we are! Well, well, yes that is what I like to see, children with large trucks having fun. And lights with angels heralding the good news, I am starting to feel right at home. There are some good objects, some of them strikingly familiar however, considering the fact that I have never been here. But I didn't see that there was a resident object maker just special guest artists, so that could explain it.
Quite a large site here, and I fear my tired old legs cannot walk anymore. I will barely make it back to the lounge, public transportation being what it is this time of night. I am giving three communion cups. I would give more, but there is a particular birthday cake and I cannot be sure if...well never mind, we'll save that discussion shall we?
Until later my pets, remember I will be on the lookout for Evil regardless of its many disguises, and of course praying for my dear Sister, The Church Lady! (I hope Skyler has not been in my Piety Corner, dancing on the table again. I found tassels there this morning that I know don't belong to me.) Wicked, Wicked!
