Sims Newsgroups:

 

alt.binaries.games.simcity - really a group for Simcity binaries, some people post The Sims binaries there as well.

alt.binaries.games.thesims - For The Sims related binaries.

alt.games.the-sims - the main group for discussing the Sims

alt.family-names.sims - actually a place for people named Sims, this was used originally for the Sims before the above. Still gets some traffic for the Sims (and almost zero traffic by those named Sims).

 

Good Sims Sites:

I'm mostly going with lesser known sites - most Sims fans know about the Sim Resource, the Simlane jerks, Simzonline, etc.
And for the most part, these are sites where you don't need a #&*!$ cable modem or the latest browser to browse correctly. I sites that take 10 minutse to load, have tons of Javascript, and then have litttle or lame content.

Ordered by when I added them, not how good they are. .

Jenny's Sim Stuff - Lots of good stuff here. Her paintings are what gave me the idea to make them myself. (She also has a version of Flaming June, but hers has a nicer frame)

Slink's Burrow Online - Lots of objects, families, and tons of technical info. Very very good. New Address!

Sim Objects - Some interesting new (and very odd) objects like a Do Not Enter sign, an Ape. Gotta love a site with monkeys...

Steve's Skins - While it's a bit on the tacky side with supermodels and porno stars, a lot of the skins are excellent.

Well Dressed Sim - Mostly really nice skins, but also some really nice furniture and faces. Updates regularly - new skins on Monday, New Heads on Weds, etc. One of the best Sims sits around.

The Sims Estates - Mostly houses. But they're nice houses

Threnrody's Chic Boutique - The skins by Threnrody are excellent. She also has a good tutorial. Her guest artists stuff is of variable quality, but are better than what I can do.

Rick's Sims - Mostly links to object sites with pretty good descriptions. Probably the largest objects links site around. Also has some original objects

SimTool's Home Page - The current home of the Transmogrifier. Also has a new fountain. Their main site makes custom shirts and mugs and such.

Tesseract's Sim Space - The page of Tesseract, one of the nice denizens of alt.family-names.sims. Has some transmogrified objects (including 3 Lava Lamps, my favorite), and some WNBA wallpaper.

Simfreaks - a whole grab bag of stuff - new objects (including some nice paintings), new skins, and literally hundreds of walls and floors. Easily one of the best Sims sites around.

The Sims Dot Com - Mostly new objects. Pretty cool - an arcade video game, satelite dish, some other cool stuff.

JM's Simpley Elegant II - Pretty much every type of thing -walls, floors, new objects (including some nice paintings). A little heavy on the graphics, so it 's really a slow load. But very very nice looking.

Helena's Sim Site - A whole bunch of paintings made with Art Studio, Walls, Floors, Links, and more.

SimHomes - Homes you can download

http://www.thesims.be.tf/ - . Features a really useful program that allows you to view and edit an objects id. It can also list all the object ids used by your transmogrified objects. Also some nice items.

Licensed II Sim - A lot of pretty nice skins , including one of the best female head skins around, Vicki , a bunch of Art Studio paintings (boo, anyone can make those...:-p )

Top 50 Sim Artists List - A list of 50 sims sites, ranked on their popularity.

Darkside of the Sims - Gothic clothing and objects and such. While I find the whole goth thing pretty silly, they are snappy dressers. Some adult content apparently, but I really didn't see anything you wouldn't on a talk show or broadcast TV.

Sims History 1995-1996 - Pretty neat, it's a page by a former Maxis guy (Jamie Doornbos, I think) who had been working on the Sims for a long long time. This shows a precursor or very early version of the Sims, along with early versions of the editing tools. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the current editor (Edith), so we can't really compare how it looks to the older version. So it's a bit of a tease.

Simworks - Page of a guy that's working on an object editor, Sim Tool Box. Also has some technical information. It would be much much nicer if Maxis just gave out the information to everyone, not just a few privelidged people, so people wouldn't have to reverse engineer the file formats..

Moni's Sims - Like pandas? Really really like pandas? Then this site is for you. Has several objects with panda bear themes, as well as panda bear floors and walls. Besides that, a lot of other neat objects, like 'Dickie the monchichi', which is apparently a stuffed toy monkey. I've said it before many times, and I'll say it again - you've got to love a site with monkeys. Also some Van Gogh paintings. Pretty cool site.

Simplicity - Has, uh, farm animals. Don't ask me why, but they do. All in all a pretty nice site, which just about every type of download imaginable, but seems to have something of a rustic flavor. On the plus side, they do have pictures of cats all about. Also very well designed in both appearance and size.

The Skindex - D'oh! I can't believe I didn't add this site earlier. It's great. Mostly features skins of fiction characters, from comic books, sci-fi, tv, etc. Really really really good.

Sims Mailing Lists: (All on Egroups, I think)

SimTransmogrifier Mailing List - This list is for official announcements from the author of the Transmogrifier (which is the program that lets you clone objects in the sims and alter the graphics). So, obviously, it's very low traffic, as only he ever sents posts. If you join, you can test beta versions of transmogrifier updates. So, if you are interested in that, join.

Sim Watch - Apparently created at the behest of Maxis, this is a huge list. Over 1000 members. But because it's moderated, there's not much traffic, and the traffic on it tends to be a bit inane.

Transmogrifiers - Apparently created by one of the people behind the really great site, Simfreaks. Is more aimed at people already familiar with the use of the Transmogrifier and Paint programs, rather than for the new user.

Egroups The Sims Group Listing - Has (as of now) 18 The Sims related mailing lists

Ramtalk - Okay, not a Sims list, but a list for the world's coolest (and now greatest) football team, the Rams.

Good Sources for Images

Big Gallery.com - They Sell Posters. Have the dogs playing poker posters among other things

Van Gogh Gallery - Pretty much all his works.

Barewalls.com - Another big poster store with lots of preview images

CGFA - Scans of many dead artists works. You can browse by artist name, time period, nationality, etc. Pretty sweet if you like classical artists

The Poster Warehouse - Another poster site

Art Cyclopedia - Lists of artists and links to sites that have their work. Can browse by movement, gender, subject, etc

Postershop.com - Yet another poster store.

www.Yahoo.com also has a lot of artwork online, and they have a lot of sports photos taken from the AP and such. (Got a whole bunch of cool Rams photos from there)

 

Misc. Sites That I Like and may or may not interest you.

Paul Van Dyk's Official Site - PVD is quite probably the worlds best trance DJ/artist/remixer.

DJ Tiesto's Official Site - If PVD's not, then this guy is. The 6rh cd in his Magik series just came out, and is amazing.

Net in Arcadia - Nice site on contempory classicalism (which is basically living artists of today painting in the classical style, which is by far my favorite). The works by Elsie Russell are outstanding IMHO.

Rennes Le Chateau - A neat site on the mysteries of RLC, which is related to Poussin's works (and possibly Guercinos, and even quite possibly Da Vincis and a couple others)

Gold Web Designs- Need a web site made professionally? Visit here - high quality work and reasonable prices. (It's the business of one of the regulars in alt.games.the-sims)

The HERD's E-ZINE- St. Louis Rams Electronic Magazine - A e-zine writen by fans of the coolest (and right now the best) pro football team in the world, The Rams.

Saucer Smear - the scanned in version of a print 'zine that focuses on Ufoology, which is basically following (and mocking) the comic antics of so-called 'Ufologists'. Since the Sims will have a paranormal career, somewhat apropriate.

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