PMBD

Lately Carla Niven' site, with its fugly stuff and overly high prices, has become the symbol of crappy paysites.
Everyone agrees that their stuff is bad quality.. or even worse XD.

But there's another site that really bugs me but isn't mentioned alot. As the title says, I'm talking about SimChic.

[RANT mode ON]

I've never actually liked their downloads alot but, while at the beginning they had average looking stuff, not very hq but still not fugly, it seems to me that not only their quality level hasn't improved, it looks like it has gotten worse.

With the exception of a few guest artists, all the stuff on the site is made of low quality, badly photoskinned, weird, designer clothes that *I* would never make my poor sims wear.

When today I saw these clothes on Bines' finds,
(http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8063/simchic1km0.jpg)(http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/9377/simchic2wq6.jpg)
my eyes tried to commit suicide and I felt the urgency to run into the bathroom and puke.
Instead, I decided to wrote my own personal rant here ;P

So, why is Simchic better than Carla Niven? But most of all, how in the world so many people actually like and subscribe to Simchic?(Someone might point out that Simchic is cheaper then Carla Niven. I don't think this is very important though. Personally, I'm against the whole pay per download idea, wichever the price is.)

It would be interesting to debate about this on a bigger board followed by a wider variety of people (I guess it's hard to find someone here who likes paysites XD) but I doubt that a mature and polite debate could be possible  :?

[/RANT mode OFF]

So, what do you think? ;P

I actually don't mind most of SimChic's stuff. I've seen far worse. I wouldn't pay for them, but if it was a free site, I would probably download from there.

But yeah, those images you posted are...ugh!

SimChic has a lot of terrible stuff, but there are a few really good things in there.  And their meshes are widely used and distrubuted, which is of benefit to the community.  They still must be destroyed, but they're not nearly as bad as Niven, who has no skins worth downloading and contributes nothing to the community... except amusement.

I like 10% of SimChic's stuff.

I've never been enthusiastic about SimChic's stuff. There are a few things I like, but for the most part I wouldn't download them.

Honestly, I have never even looked at their clothes.  But most of it is the same ol same ol.  They like to focus on the "as seen on" and hip celebrity stuff that you will probably see a gushing lot of, now that the grammy pics are up.  But their work is no better than any other photoskinner.

Eww, ROFL @ that nasty orange jacket/shirt outfit.  Simchic has several nice things, but NO...I would never pay for their stuff either.  I've downloaded a lot of their free stuff. But, hell, their free stuff is as good as the pay stuff to me.

the only good thing about simchic is the free-to-distribute meshes, but even those are the same ol' boring high heel meshes

I don't like simchic's stuff, especially their meshes with those terribly deformed high heel feet.

i'm different in the sense that i download practically all their clothes lulz.

however what pisses me off about them is they will have a picture of a gorgeous piece of lingerie/swimwear showing only the torso and when you get it in game:

(http://www.cardboardcutout.net/sites/1/images/prod23/primary/small/000361.jpg)

for God's sake nobody wears high heels to go swimming.

I'm glad someone else thinks that those feet look retarded and lumpy.

A lot of high-heeled feet are just freaky looking.

And, as someone who's worn high heels probably three times ever, it annoys me that every damn mesh has to have high heels with it.  I hate sites where every outfit comes with stillettos.

I don't like their stuff neither. I used to subscribed for one month just to get some meshes ( that finally I didn't use...). But I like the distribution policy, so simple...and some meshes are nice (from my point of view of course!) I don't understand why people download all those celebrities stuff. When I play, I rarely get my sims wear formal. Maybe people who are doing contest can see the utility of these.

Some things are nice, but most is really ugly. I usually like photoskinned clothes when wrinkles are at the good places. The red jacket is scarry...someone have an iron...it looks like that a car passed over it...arrrgg!

Lots of SimChic stuff is absolutely fucking awful.  A little bit of it is quite nice.  It varies from artist to artist, and also from day to day.

My eyes are currently blind from that site though, so there's no going back!

I've never understood SimChic's popularity.  Their photoskins aren't the worst I've ever seen, but it's still nothing I would ever put in my game.  The male clothing is the worst.  The pants in those pictures look blurry and terrible, and the artist was too lazy to even line up the sleeves on the jacket.  They can't even be bothered to make a simple correction that would only take a few minutes?

I really don't like SimChic's original textures for most of their stuff.  Photoskinning is almost always terrible.  Their mesh shapes are okay and I haven't seen any terribly stretched mapping, but the animation's pretty bad... they are using Meshtool for bad, bad things.  Knees coming through hems and suchlike.  It's not a pretty sight, and it offends me as a mesher, knowing that's totally fixable and just a sign of shoddy meshing.

I think with most of these sites don't really give a crap if the mesh is quality or not just as long as they can get someone to pay for it.

Simchic has some nice meshes, but most of their stuff I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I've only browsed 'chic after its stuff ended in the booty - and no, I don't want anything from there, thank you very much. It's so average and boring that it's fit for nothing, either for serious use or for laughs (like Niven's kitschy stuff can be used). I guess it's the case of being 'popular because it's popular'.

Agreed. I have all their meshes in game-but none of their textures :lol:

That is the only reason I've downloaded anything from them.  Many sites use their meshes but do a better job with the textures.

God!  I know, I despise those crappy shoe meshes, I have complained about it before, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about.  They just have like this weird triangle thing between the heel and the rest of the shoe, some of their clothes are decent, then the shoes just ruin it all.  I try to avoid their stuff now, because I get in in game and just can't stand to look at those hideous shoes!  I've never seen any of their pay stuff, but I'm sure it's not any better than the crap they have for free.

I use some of their meshes for my clothes, but I agree, that their heels are disgusting :(
I never use their clothing in my game.
and I have sort of dejavu, when I see this dress
(http://simchic.com/i/Image/Catalog/2548_jenn.jpg)
I've made this one myself and I've seen at least 3 copies of it, 2of which were pay! I'm starting to hate this dress :D
It is so sad, that there are not so many nice meshes and I have to use their ones :(

I don't like their stuff that much either.

I have so many retextures for this fullbodybootcut mesh in my game, it is the mesh with the most retextures I have in my game - but only because a close friend changed the mesh for me, so that the waist isn't so rediculous small and the butt so strangely big anymore. It overwrites the original mesh, but uses all textures...

I also have some more meshes in my game, but only because other talented people retextured them and included the mesh.
Some of Simchics everyday clothes are quite nice, it really depends on the creator.

Their clothes were good once. Before Shortyboo's time... now they simply suck! I don't even download their stuff for free anymore!
the meshes are okay I guess. No one else is providing meshes with shoes that look "normal" except Sera sometimes (who cares that shes stealing?)

Eheh, well, I guess I'm pretty partial it comes to SimChic.
Lets just say I wouldn't download their stuff even if it was a free site.
I make skins myself, and I notice very easily when a texture was made badly, and SC skins are.
They look like they were rushed off, with no care over details at all. All of the most of their textures looks like the creator just took the picture and pasted it over the skin, with no further adjustments.

Speaking of meshes, I gotta say that some of their meshes are useful; not pretty, not well done, but useful, since they're so many and they're freely redistributable. I can't judge for their technical quality since I'm not really an expert mesher.
It's a bit of a sham to admit it, but I even liked a couple of their meshes.. I loved the "nails" accessory mesh when it came out, for example.

This is very far from saying I like their meshes, tho. As someone else mentioned, their feet are.. erm.
The heels are not the problem; I like stiletto heels. The whole foot is disturbing. So thin, small, and yep, the heels are probably a bitt to much high.
Marylin did (http://www.simplystella.com/icons/asd.gif)
I confess: I like sim swimwear with shoes and heels, and I even made a couple as well (http://www.simplystella.com/icons/asd.gif)
I rarely make my sims actually *swim*, I'm more likely to just take them and bring them to the beach to eat sandwiches, play darts and stay with friends. And what's wrong in going to the beach wearing heels? I mean, I do that.
Seriously, I love stiletto heels (even if I can't walk on em and they make me look like a drunk goose, *cough*cough*), and I quite like meshes with heels (stiletto or not) (http://www.simplystella.com/icons/grin.gif)

The worst thing is that "the artist" is CrecheBaby herself. I wouldn't find it so offensive if they were made by someone else of the staff, or a guest artist. I mean, why should they even care about quality? It's not their site. I believe they're paid on the basis of how many skins they make.
But Creche? She's the site owner. I would be fuc*ing embarassed to have such things on my own site.

Would you share it privately? I hate that mesh too.. so unrealistic, in a sort of weird, pinup-ish way  :?

I wanted to point out to you, Simplystella, that SC's nail mesh is really shoddy.  The ring finger nails are not only shifted toward the front of the hand, but they're not even on the same level as the rest of the nails.  I can spot a SC nail recolor from a mile away. The only way to sucessfully photograph those nails is to look at them dead on.  MTS2 has a MUCH better nail mesh.

:oops: I must be the only person in the world who likes SC's heels-with-bikinis, huh? I dunno why I like them, and they're naff when they're actually swimming, but they look good for clicking about the backyard by the pool...
I like a lot of SC's stuff, but the celeb stuff is mostly shit.
*has a sub there*

EDIT: *cancelled sub today coz everything is rubbish now*

I think some of their stuff is ok, but the shoes... ugh :(

I used to download some of their free things before they wen to complete shit and even then I had to wade through a bunch before I found one or two I liked. I only like a couple of their meshes and that's all I have from them in my game. When the booty first came up, I downloaded all of SimChic's stuff but once I got it in game...oh my god. I remember I spent one entire weekend deleting that crap. Also, THANK YOU! for saying something about those heels. Those feet are way deformed and misshapen. It drives me crazy to finally see a dress I like but then I look down at the shoes and just...ugh.

I use simchic nails simply beacause the mts2 nail mesh is shiny, and they re aren't alot go realistic non-designed textures for the mts2 nails.

If someone could remove the shine, then i would sue them

Yeah Simchic is hit and miss - I do like some of their stuff but others like that outfit you posted are horrible. While they aren't as bad as Niven there are many free sites that make better clothes.
I mainly collect their stuff for sharing purposes rather than to put in the game.

I like some of their stuff... about 5% of the site. When I found PMBD, I went to SimChic to see what could I download from donation section, cause everyone said i's a great site, but I ended up downloading nothing.

They're not as horrible as Carl though. But I think they should be free, considering the quality.

Wouldn't you get stuck in the sand and be eaten alive by the beach crabs? I mean, crabs normally pose no threat to people because you can easily outwalk them and they don't do enough damage on their own to threaten you, but if you were get stuck in the sand because of those stupid heels, you wouldn't be able to kick them away, and they'd swarm over you and eat you alive in small bits slowly and painfully.

You're talking about the long nail mesh by shadylady?  It's not shiny.  I'd use a shiny mesh before I'd use one that was all f'd up anyway.  Quality comes first.

Oh, yeah i use the shadylady one, and for some odd reason, they come out looking shiny for me, but maybe i should sue them, the simchic one leaves this little weird mark that you can see when you have your sim click on something.

Only on Christmas Island.

I am so tired of seeing sleepwear and swimwear meshes with deformed high heels.. like who goes to bed wearing their shoes and I definately do not wear heels to go the beach, unless it's a stroll at night along a boardwalk or something and even then it would not be my first choice of footwear.

That irritates me too! SimplyElau and I think MissCutipie also create such meshes. High heels ruin perfectly nice swimsuit.

I've made a swimsuit with a heels once, but actually I do not consider it to be a swimsuit, it is sort of a stripper costume, that's why I made it with heels.

Yeah, but in most cases it's pretty easy to lop them off and render it into a regular swimsuit, even for one as lacking in skills of an artist as myself. All you need are the select tool, the delete button, and sometimes the flood fill tool.

Wouldn't the mesh still have them on tiptoes?

It's pretty trivial to revert such things back to the standard Maxis mesh, though.

It's not a lot of work, but some meshes have different proportions in the hips/waist.  Lines that match a slim mesh will look royally retarded on the frumpy maxis nude.

SimChic’s not my kind of a place to ‘shop’, but since BlueSoup’s obvious distress and sulky comments made me curious, I had to see what was so bloody awful about them. Stupid me! No wonder Soup's so bloody grumpy.

So... I skipped the clothing parts and went straight to the furniture files - only to see some blurry... blurries! Cute, but retina tiring. Batman help us if they ever decide to photoshop some whirly and glittery things upon them. Honestly, what is with the pay-sites making the preview pictures so terribly small?

Ok, boys, pop quiz, how many items can you count? Supposed number: 17. I got something around... thirteen (!?) and this is the only piccie they offer.

(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/7738/2406angelowhiterk8.jpg)

Since everything was ultramodern rubbish apparently anyway, I didn’t even bother to fire up the booty and had some rendezvous with the celebrity fashion don’ts.

Glitter is something that should be never simmified.

I’m scared.

you werent counting the "decor" items on the shelves?
rug, plant, sofa, loveseat, 2 bookcases, 2 paintings, "sideboard", and the little decor items that serve no real purpose...thats where they got the "17".
I wouldnt even download that if it were free...and I've seen almost the exact same thing on free sites.

i've gotten some nice stuff from their free section before, but i don't think they update it anymore.

I've got some stuff of them...they're not bad nor good, ratproductions is better for example but Carla Niven is worse...sometimes I'm just lazy.  :lol:

I spent a while typing out my thoughts and eventually caved and visited simchic. Urgh.
Anyway, this is their list.

I don't see 4 armchairs but maybe there are 4 different whites.
I don't see any arm chairs, I thought it was all just a sectional sofa with 2 parts, with and without back.

...they have updated recently.

Erg! They have some of the shittiest looking footwear that I have ever seen on Sims! What in the hell is wrong with LOW heeled boots that come up to the thigh!? They are easier to move in and much more handy to stash a nice flask into. Plus, the female doesn't look like a whore. Or are they making these to reflect their thwarted ambitions? THEY wanted to be hookers but couldn't cut it so they make whore clothing for sims and play with them all they want? EWWWWWWWWW! Scuse me, I gotta spew after seeing some of that shit!