Who am I? Why am I nuts?
Well, let me get started.
I enjoy The Sims 2. After playing Sims related products since Simcity 2000, I've only recently begun sharing my "creations" in photographic form on Sims2Community.
For those wondering what my computer specs are, and how my computer can handle a full neighbourhood, full graphics and around 3GB of custom content, my specifications of note are:
Windows XP
3GB DDR RAM
nVidia GeForce 8600GTS (or something along those lines).
I created Denali River just before Christmas 07, and while I had no idea it would balloon into a cult following, I continued to work on it, tweaking it to my usual anally retentive perfectionism.
My playing style would be erratic at best, I have fits & spurts of wanting to play certain houses or not. But I generally keep families that are related to have the same era of relatives. For example, I dont have baby Tommy being and elder, when infact his older brother is still in College. There are some houses in my neighbourhood who are relatively unplayed, they're mostly used as dating and breeding prospects for my Sims.
I have default replacements for most things. So I have no real balloon headed townies. And after having to restart Denali River due to the fact residents were showing up at weddings wearing Santa outfts (WTF EaXis?!), I downloaded many weird clothing and hair hiders.
The skintones I use seem to be different to the majority of the players, however, I like my Sims to look realistic, and I've never been a fan of KenDoll men. Because of this, most of my Sims use the HairySkinTone range by AllenBBQ(sp?) at InSimAdult. I find his skins match the Maxis tones, without the weird shiny doll-like appearance.
I also believe wholeheartedly in the illegality certain Sims websites engage in when it comes to charging for access under the disguise of "donations" and the more blatant label of "subscription". While I participate at PMBD and lurk at MATY, I don't think I could get too engaged in the fight to free everything. Afterall, it is just a game. Although, I must say, I do download, without guilt. I also find a perverse pleasure in reading the thoughts and actions of the Carla Niven threads. So much so, that I decided to download the infamous "Meat Slab" Dress and threw it on one of the most Drag-Queen like Sims I had ever created. Let's just say, she had her own neighbourhood, so as to not interfere with the residents of Denali.
Now, more about me. Born in '85. I live in Western Australia, which, surprisingly is NOT on the border of Bavaria. I live reasonably close to the beach, despite the fact I deplore sand and large bodies of water, I also have an aversion to pointy and slimey things. My educational history has been colourful at best. I left school in Year 11 due to medical reasons, I then worked for a period of time before returning to study some more. After then working full time in a major retailer (and kicked ass at sales), I decided to return and complete my studies. In '06, I finished Mature Age TEE and began studying for a Bachelor of Forensic Biology & Toxicology and Molecular Biology, I came to the realisation that playing around with blood and guts was not my forte, nor was my attempts to destroy the Chemistry labs and arm with Hydrochloric Acid a wise move. I gave that up, and made the switch to Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of PR and a Minor in History. All of which I am enjoying thus far.
I also write in my spare time. It's not really a story that I consider serious, but I have a legion of followers on my MSN group, who made the switch from Nifty.org. Essentially the story is a bit of slash fiction involving Jake Gyllenhaal, who I have a soft spot for. Because of this, one of my favourite movies of all time would have to be October Sky, for multiple reasons.
My musical taste is a bit "out there" too. I seem to have accumulated a range of weird music ranging from trashy Eurovision stuff, to heavy rock, to classical music. My musical mentor at the moment would have to be Roger Cicero. If you haven't checked him out, he's German, and while his Eurovision song SUCKED, his albums Männersachen and Beziehungsweise are definitely worth picking up. Even if you can't understand German, the Jazz/Swing beat is fabulous.