Reviews

Midnight Hollow Review

Midnight Hollow is a beautiful world, and with it, the Sims 3 Store team have given a lot of players what they’ve been asking for, partly with the dark, gothic steampunk theming, but mostly by finally bringing back some aspects of Open for Business.

The theme and styling run strongly throughout the world, and this may be a deal breaker for many players, as the theme appears to be very much love it or hate it.

Many of the plants that came with the basegame have been recolored for this world (for instance black roses), many roof decorations have been added and the best part is the premium content. You can now recreate your Open for Business furniture stores with this set. This world comes with 75 build/buy objects, 29 wallpapers, 12 floors and 21 CAS items. It is just huge.

The Gold version of the world comes with the The Golden Ticket Toy Shop premium content, allowing you to make your own toys! Freezer Bunny Balloons please! The price for the standard world is 2,450 SimPoints and Gold costs 4,350 Simpoints.

Very Functional size

What is important in a world is that your sims can easily go from one place to another so they do not spend ages getting to work. It is not a very big world but very functional.

Screenshot-70

Awesome rabbit holes

The rabbit holes in this world are amazing, I especially love Simagon alley. I do wish they would give us some recolors that would work in other worlds.

[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-771.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-841.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-75.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-74.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-73.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-85.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-81.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

As always my pet peeve will be that the worlds have rabbit holes and venues for basegame only. If we could even download these separately from the world through the exchange would make me happy!

 

Cool lighting effects

The world has some cool lighting effects with really red skies! This screenshot will show you how awesome it looks:

Screenshot-19

Savvy sellers collection

The Premium Content for Midnight Hollow is the The Savvy Sellers collection. It comes with several size rugs, shelves and a till. You can place items from buy/build mode on these rugs. When there are Sims on your lot they will go over to the rug/shelf and decide to buy the item. There are many options that come with having a shop, like opening times, hiring a cashier (or not) and the markup price.

Screenshot-35

This set is a very good compromise to give us some The Sims 2 Open for Business in The Sims 3. This is something the community has been begging for and it does work well. It is however not perfect. When an item sells, you think it will disappear from the rug, it does not. So you have 1 item that you can sell dozens/hundreds of times and make crazy amount of profit!

When you have a home-shop you there is also the downside that the Sims do not seem to come by on their own. You have to invite friends over and then they will buy the items.

For stores on a community you have to own the lot and build the store items on there. You do have to be active on the lot to earn money. Here are some stores that come with this world:

[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-1021.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-101.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

 

Toy store

The gold version of the world comes with a toystore, which is a great venue. You can create your own toys on the machine (it does not need components). Here are pics of every toy you can make:

[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-981.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-100.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-97.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-96.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-95.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-34.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-33.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

In my opinion the Baby Play Mat is the best item, it keeps your baby happy (except social) without any effort on my Sim’s part. Here is a list of all the toys your Sims can make:

  • Teddy Bear
  • Doll House
  • Train
  • Robot
  • Baby Play Mat
  • Kite
  • Clown-In-A-Box
  • Drum
  • Racecar
  • Baby Bricks-A-Lot
  • Balloon Animal
  • Table Blocks
  • Random Toy

The toy store itself also looks really awesome, it has a lot of details on the walls and counters. This venue is definitely a great addition to the world! This venue will only come with the Gold version of this world and not be sold separate as it is set up with the premium content of the standard version. If it was sold separately the venue would not work properly any more cause the premium content is required.

Architecture

All the houses themselves in Midnight Hollow have a Gothic architecture which really does appeal to me. The houses have some different sizes to them than standard houses that come with other worlds.

[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-76.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-83.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-781.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-791.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-82.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-88.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-87.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-86.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]
Create a Sim

This world has a massive amount of Create A Sim options and they look truly awesome. Very quirky, cute and versatile. One of the male hair and all the clothes can especially used in other worlds, not just in this dark/broody Midnight Hollow.

Male Hair and Clothes

[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-69.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-68.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-671.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-66.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-64.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-63.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-62.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

Female Hair
[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-57.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-551.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-54.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-52.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-51.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

Female Clothes
[tabs slidertype=”images” auto=”yes” autospeed=”4000″] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-50.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-49.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-48.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-47.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-461.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-45.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-61.jpg[/imagetab] [imagetab width=”578″ height=”326″]http://www.platinumsimmers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screenshot-60.jpg[/imagetab] [/tabs]

As always female Sims do get more clothes and hair, but I think the plain (no hat) male hair is just great!

TOO DARK

The biggest downside of this world is how dark it is. I think the world has some nice details but you can simply not see them because of the darkness. This is a shame because it really does make the world unplayable in my opinion.

Screenshot-29

Of course there are differences between my monitor and other people’s, mine might not display black as well as others. But the amount of complaints about this too dark problem makes me think it is not my monitor’s fault.

There are lighting mods that will help with this, we linked to a few of them here: How to get better Lighting in Midnight Hollow? Lighting Mods!

Screenshot-52 copy

Conclusion

This world is one of those that you will either LOVE the mood/feel of it or be completely indifferent to it.

If you are indifferent to it, think wisely before spending the money. It has good parts to it that you can use in other worlds but it might become an expensive purchase if you buy it for the good parts.

Other worlds like Monte Vista and Dragon Valley have a more universal appeal than this world. If you like Tim Burton movies for instance, you might be beyond thrilled for this world.

If you do not like the world/mood itself but the toystore, objects, clothes and hair are good to have.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.