SimFreaks

Vima - The name is scary, but when you enter this place, it's really just a big site of great stuff. I'm a little biased, but I'll try to remain objective. The design is very basic. Not a lot of scripting of fancy work. The colors are dull but pleasant enough to keep you happy and unique enough for you to remember.

Updates occur almost daily and the front page always contains the newest updates, except on special occasions. For example, just yesterday they held a big Easter egg hunt and little eggs were placed about the site for people to find. Each egg had a prize and that was just really fun, although their site seemed to drag a little due to the heavy increase of traffic this idea caused.

They have a lot of original objects. The themes section has some very unique items. I love the Buddhist temple and the pirate theme.

The walls on this site are mostly interior with a few exterior stucco walls. The older ones are a bit rough, but as I remember, they don't like them much either. I wish they had some siding and stone walls.

A large variety of tiled floors with a promise for more on the way, I love the way these look in my home. Only a few out of the hundreds actually didn't quite meet the quality check, but there are so many to chose from, it really doesn't matter that much.

The houses section is a little skimpy, perhaps it's because the layout is a bit complicated and I wish I could just download the whole thing instead of everything in pieces. I'm a little bit lazy when it comes to having to click on so many links.

The sets section is a wallpaper and floor area that are combined in little groups. Some of the older styled bath-tiles look really strange on the page, but if you get them into the game, they take on a whole new look.

The skins are fabulous. The detail some of the artists put into their work are just above and beyond...Rainman and Veronica put the highest amount of detail in their skins and theirs are my favorite.

The creation tips are useful, but the area is small right now. The forums are useful, but also a little personal. The team seems to like to joke a lot, I read that thread on SimLounge. hehe I take it all in stride, but it seems that there are some little devils behind those freakish smiles.

The navigation has some slight inconsistencies, but for such a big site, you really can't ask for much better. I've seen some changes recently. I'd like to see the objects section split up a little more, with maybe a different section for recolored objects and the paintings could be split into a section for Art Studio and the transmogrified paintings.

So what should I give this site...every site has room for improvement, this one is not an exception, so 4 martini glasses.

Skyler - Sim Freaks... Why on earth do they want to be reviewed? OK, along with 7 Deadly Sims, and Well Dressed Sims, Sim Freaks already knows they're a great site. And I really don't think Heather Castillo could give a flying rats ass what people think of her. She been known to come across kinda bitchy in a way, and she not easy to get to know. She's cordial and all when she responds to e-mail, I know this first hand because I had the need to write her a couple times inquiring about a couple times I wasn't able to find. Don't expect a warm fuzzy response though, because your not going to get it! LOL :)

I love the colors on the site, and always have. The navigation is easy, and all the news is right on the main page with links to all the new stuff.

But on to the site... What can I say, I love it, love it, love it! I don't even know where to start. How about objects... They have some of the best object creators available. Gorgeous walk in closets made by David, unbelievable, a great dog Max, that seems to need a bit more fur, poor pup looks like he's been shaved for the summer. They even have a bunk bed for the kidlets, though it can't be used it's still rather cool to decorate with.

Their themes are unbelievable too. You must actually see them to believe what they're able to with meshes. At Christmas time they made the Grinch, and a snowman. Their Pirate theme I believe was the first. I had been coming to their site for months and never read the story until one day I happened across it. It was marvelous, with so many wonderful downloads available throughout. Now all of us reviewers are very familiar with the wedding theme, since CC used it for her recent nuptials. She was a lovely bride, although none of us could figure out why she wore white, rather then the off-white... And that's all I'll say about that ;)

They have a fabulous roof selection, if your looking for a color you haven't found, try Sim Freaks, they have many designs and colors! Same with floors wonderful, wonderful floors, but the absolute best is the Berber carpet they recently put out, I just love it, but I also must mention the hardwood floors, the "forest" collection. They have many colors to choose from and they tile up perfectly which you usually don't see on a hardwood in the Sims world.

On to walls... Who doesn't love Kate's walls? I generally stick with the fine simplicity collection. I just love it, but all the walls have class written all over them!

Last but not least, I have to mention Veronicas wonder skins and faces... I love her faces. If you could say a Sim has good complexion, it would be hers your talking about, every bit of coloring on them is flawless and perfect. She makes gorgeous women for our games.

Then of course there's Fionn... The entire Sim world LOVES Fionn's hair messes. I hardly use anything but his. Between his hair and Veronicas faces, I have the perfect Stepford neighborhood :)

All you Sim Freaks on the team, if I didn't mention you by name, I adore all your work! Please keep up the great and unique jobs your doing. We all have much admiration for such talented people!

I not only give Sim Freaks 5 martinis, but also buy a round for everyone on me!

CC, put that book away and party tonight! :)

Squeegee - It's the first day after Easter and here I am sitting down for a couple of minutes so that I can give a candid review of one of the more admired Sims related websites that has ever hit the Internet.

And it would be in my "hard but fair" approach to add in right here and now that the damned Easter Egg Hunt that was held at SimFreaks was one of the hardest I have ever had. This includes when I was a toddler who couldn't even keep my own equilibrium and would then fall face first into lawn and lose all those collected eggs. Shoot, more flashbacks of childhood trauma..

I can share that I found ONE, yes ONE egg icon in the whole website. Is it just me or do individuals sometimes find it hard to navigate the website?? I am well aware of the size of the place, but I have always felt that there could be a more user friendly way to navigate the site.

The pastel colors and how they all blend in do make this site a favorite of mine. I would much rather have the better looks then the crappy navigation any day. At least you can feel cozy when you have to spend a few hours looking for those eggs!!

SimFreaks hosts some of the well known individuals that are involved in the Sim Community. So I always enjoy checking up on what Jerome is working on as well as that enthusiastic (is he really a person??) Bil Simser who is the creator of the never finished Blueprint.

As a person who does make skins often. I do like the quality and detail that is placed into the skins section. I would like to emphasize the work done by Fionn as being the BEST that I have ever seen. I would even go as far as to suggest that even the Maxis employee's can not hold a candle to his "Real" head collection.

I do check SimFreaks daily. It's a must. The collections of walls and floors are so plentiful that I can not fault them at all. If there were any flaws they would be mild to compare with the amount of different selections offered. So, I do not have one negative in that whole area.

The "Objects" and "Themes" areas are one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the pirate theme that was highlighted a good 6 months ago. I do admit that my computer holds a large amount of goodies from the site.

I am trying to recall my past history as a fan of SimFreaks. I have had the game crash on me numerous times because of a bad ("corrupt") downloads. In time, I would find that the corrupt object/skin would be from SimFreaks. But, this is tolerable because of the ratio of things offered that are fine is so much different to the small percentage that have trivial mistakes. Also, I do think that the "Recall" area was the perfect resolution to counter any "bad" download one would get. I sure wish other sites would have something like this. But, overall the volume of content and adding the quality is second to none.

What I favor in the sites that I review. Are personal touches to a site. That can differ from anything like a small Bio of the staff to even the distinctive format of the website itself. The things that I tend to remember the most. Are creative ideas such as the most recent Easter Egg Hunt and also the stories that come with new skins and objects (the Pirate theme). This is far more soothing to me then the most eye pleasing graphics or the way the navigation is structured.

I also have praise for the online presence of SimFreaks. There is usually someone in the numerous BBS boards who is trying to answer questions or pointing a person to a website that offers what they are looking for.

I am adding all of this together and also weighing the negatives that I had mentioned. And I can say that the negatives are minor. But not minor enough to not mention them. In my own personal opinion. I sure would love to see some sort of graphic navigation menu. Not something that would take away from the look and feel of the site. But something that would make it less hard to navigate. To me, when you are looking around in the skins area (can go for most of the other areas) there is only so much of "Faces 1", "Faces 2", "Skins 1", "Skins 2" that a individual can take at one time.

Ah, that reminds me.. The colors that are used on the test that tell the user if they have visited that area yet are too damned close in shade. This might be more of a problem to me then the way the navigation is set up. I really have to strain to make out the two colors that tell the user if they already had visited a page or not.

Oh, I am glad that the eggs were all listed after the hunt was over with. I will praise the Holy Gerbil for a week!!

I am going to submit a review of four martinis and a half chewed cherry.

Sister Cecilia C. Robertsim
Pastor of the Church of Simmintology - Sim Freaks, I asked Vima to please let me get out of this one. I just do not like the thought of going to a place with a name like that and a bit of a reputation too, of being involved in "organized" crime. Of course she said I had signed on and should be willing to review which ever sites I was given. Oh where is my sister the Church Lady when I need her?

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not fear...the Lord will protect! I have heard very frightening stories about going in to this place, stories about people going in and never coming out! There was even a rumor that the Lounge members were a part of Sim Freaks!! Oh my the Good Lord would not like to hear such nonsense as that. To be honest, with my work at the Donna Reed Simulated Cooking Academy and the ministry I really would not have time nor inclination to help run one of these places. Praise Be!

Oh how green, it is a nice greeny blue, but I do not like the picture at the top. The three little faces, I see that those must be the Freaks...which one is Heather? ::Clutching the Good Book!::

My heavens this place is huge, my sciatic is going to kill me by the time I get through here! I don't know that a place has to get so big that you cannot navigate it all in less than an eight hour day. For each section, floors, walls, objects, skins, there are at least fifteen different subsections. I need to sit for a moment and regroup!

It seems to be all a bustle in here people going to and fro...but none seem to notice me at all. I do not like what they are wearing, strange skins outfitted with tubes and wires, some I had to look twice to see if it was really a person...There are also some others in cubicles against the walls, sleeping??? Oh this place is giving me and uneasy feeling. Oh Lord Protect me from unrighteous dominion!

The sooner I get out of here the better!

Objects...lots to see. There are a great deal of recolor objects and then also quite a few original ones as well. The thing I like more than anything else in this place is the "+" button that you can push to make things larger for those of us who are getting on in years. Things are of a good quality I will give them that. We have to remember that they have been doing this for a while though. It would have been interesting to review them when they were still fledglings.

I am getting very tired, I just went through rooms and rooms of objects, I really do not know how much more.....

Skins are next, Oh my goodness...I really cannot recommend much in the way of clothing here, most of it has too much bosom showing or leg for good taste! It cannot be denied however that it was here that the most groundbreaking work in meshes was created, by Fionn. The hairstyles are possibly more elaborate than the Lord would want a good God fearing individual to wear but in all fairness they are nicely executed, though it pains me to say this. Knowing as I do that the Lord cares not for the outer trappings.

::Staggers::

Oh my I really am getting quite....I need to sit down just for a moment....

::world going dark all of a sudden::

Pat is that you? Skyler?? VIMA?!?!?

"Resistance is futile, YOU will be assimilated!"

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Tell them back at the Lounge that I fought as long as I could, and I am giving the Freaks here four communion cups! Oh Lord Help me...be warned children come here but at your own risk!