#based off of the goofing around on the sos server <3 love all of you | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mtg-thrill-of-possibility · 3 years

Text

A Reflection on Magic, the Pandemic, and the Dark Side of Arena

Hello to all the readers who may stumble upon this in the search for new Magic content. I wrote this mostly to fill a void in my life that has opened up over the last year and more of a mental health thing than some form of Magic related advice but since it is about that, I thought they’d go hand in hand. I love Magic. Or at least I have loved Magic? It’s hard to tell. Like nearly everyone on this planet, I’ve been shut off from in-person Magic and it had/has me left down. I normally volunteer at my LGS and help them organize their tournaments and judge the events and generally whatever else they ask me to do because I really love Magic. I love playing with my locals who don’t spend hundreds of dollars and craft GP/MF level decks. I love watching a group of people playing draft chaff and off beat home brews and where adults and teenagers can compete with one another on that level. I enjoy sitting off to the corner on the store’s EDH night and listening to games and drawing tokens for games in my own corner while I wait for my own games or sometimes my ow turns. I also love traveling with my wife to cities and go compete in GP/MFs where we usually both scrub out of the main event by round 3 or 4 and then hit the vendors and side events as well as explore the cities for new restaurants. I miss Welcome Days where adults bring in kids and I show them the ropes. I love meeting adults who poke their noses in and ask me “Magic is still a thing? I played that in high school” and show them the changes. I can still remember the Theros Beyond Death prerelease last year and thought how much fun it was to not work the event for once and just play. And looking back, boy am I glad I entered the THB prerelease.

February was the start of the downturn. Our EDH night was slightly less full but I just figured it was due to the weather since the winter usually has a downturn in the attendance for every event. But then the rotating cast of 10-15 FNM players was 6; Pioneer on Saturday had 3. The next week, the EDH crowd was down to from the usual 6-8 pods to 2. FNM and Pioneer failed to fire. The news that COVID-19 was starting to creep into the Midwest prompted me to ask the store what precautions we wanted to take and when we were going to stop in general.

I work in chemical research and I have a background in pharmaceuticals and once (or twice) studied the MCATs and considered going to med school. I was definitely concerned but in February it hadn’t reached my state (yet) and I wanted the store to be ready for the imminent shutdown and continued downtick in participation (my LGS and I had been strategizing how to move up in events and the store ranking on the WPN). But it’s a red state. Science denial must be a recessive trait that the Midwest incorporated into its identity for a long time and I was told that I had some freedom but to not go crazy. I thought I’m a volunteer. I’m not spending what little money I have on stuff for you guys. So, I did the best thing I could think of for free, I started a Discord server. I was really excited at the prospect. I had just bought a webcam in case my workplace started working from home and thought how cool it would be to be able to organize events in Arena and talk through Discord when the store wasn’t available. I asked if we could hang up a flyer and tell all the Magic customers that they continue with tournaments and Magic if they joined the Discord I set up in the store’s name.

My LGS asked how much this was going to cost them and I said exactly as much as it costs them now if not a little less since we don’t need the store’s utilities or a cashier behind the counter in the after hours to work the tournament. They were happy and I got the greenlight. Things worked okay at first. Those with Arena accounts showed for a few weeks. Others I knew were interested were convinced that we were overly sensitive to the virus and FNMs continued to limp along with 4-6 people until everything ground down to a halt.

Come mid-March, COVID had finally reached the state and the city. Cases were light, a few hundred people tested each day, single digit cases detected but I again was worried. My workplace had already begun educating everyone on how to wash their hands properly and disinfect every surface and everyone was issued a bleach spray bottle with their name and a serial number on it. While the mayor and governor hadn’t ordered a shutdown yet, I advised strongly that the store go ahead and if they wanted to continue that I wouldn’t be there to assist until the curve was sufficiently flattened.

I’m not sure why but they trusted me and listened. I was glad and I pushed again for people to join the Discord server. Players were reluctant but I assured them that this may be the future for some time and if they get on now, they can still get the Ravnica intro quests and start building up their Arena collections. I got more on my side, we had 8-10 and got them all to try and hook anyone else they knew to join us. However, by the end of March, my workplace had moved to 100% virtual and with my extra time, I had begun to unwittingly shift the power dynamic in the store by accident. You see, I really love Magic. I was now working from home for a job that required me to have direct physical access to hundreds of thousands of dollars or sensitive equipment that need recertification when they get moved 12 inches down a work bench and dangerous chemicals I don’t want near me unless I know there’s an inspected chemical shower nearby. When the campus shut down, I got very bored. I did what research I could from my home portal, attended virtual conferences and webinars every day, but I had tons of down time. That meant watching my wife play Animal Crossing, playing with my dogs, marathon sessions of Civilization but most crucially, I also began grinding Arena.

My local meta had been defined by the understanding that none of us were really Arena players. I had played when the Kaladesh and Amonkhet closed betas were happening, but I was turned off by the fact that all my playing of those formats amounted to nothing when it launched with Ixalan and I would start from square one. Everyone in the group typically shied away from tier 1 tournament decks because to all of us, it was more fun to goof around with RG auras and Tilonalli’s Summoner decks than it was to grind Esper Hero or the new Uro decks. And the limitation that everyone didn’t have all the shocklands meant we were all playing on roughly the same card pools with some variation due to our play styles. So when I suggested we all start playing Arena to replace the tournaments, it worked because it meant we all played the same dumb decks we’d play in person with a few exceptions of having less than perfect mana bases.

But I would find myself grinding Arena everyday where my friends and locals were not. Even though I jumped into Arena at mid-March, I finished the Theros Beyond Death mastery at level 78 when Ikoria began to creep around the corner. I had just begun to get back into Magic when Fate Reforged hit and didn’t realize how much I love wedge color alignments over shards but boy did I love Abzan in Khans standard and now I was in love with Abzan again in Ikoria standard. Grinding the way I did meant I drafted most afternoons for the first month of Ikoria (and forced Temur every time) and started climbing the ranked ladder in the evenings. Ikoria would also mark the first time I spent money on Arena. I’m notoriously spend-thrift in video games and anything you can free-to-play I do religiously because you shouldn’t make a game grindable over the course of years if you give me that option. But drafting took gems and I really love drafting but most people at my LGS are too concerned about rares than learning to do it properly and a lot of younger players feel lost when I draft a zero rare deck and go 4-0 and collect my prizes. By the end of April, I would reach Platinum in constructed and Gold in limited. But now my LGS was far less inclined to play with me. I didn’t brag about any of my rankings but the skill disparity had begun to creep in as well as the difference in our collections. Having played so much Arena, I could see the tells the software gives away that paper Magic doesn’t. I learned to read when the game would hang up on the beginning of combat and end steps because they’re holding potential responses. I began to do the full control shortcut to bluff counter spells and removal. In paper Magic, if my opponent would sequence things wrong or tap their mana wrong, we’d make jokes and rewind it because it’s one of those human errors that we all make and redo it the right way.

But Arena was different; some learned the hard way to not trust the auto-tapper, some didn’t realize that the way they normally stack triggers in paper is backwards and too late to fix after a spell or ability resolved. And I couldn’t help them. And I let them make their mistakes because I can’t change Arena. If they use the auto-tapper and they realize that Arena doesn’t tap the Castle Vantress even though they couldn’t activate it anyway and they lose a dual source, I couldn’t help them. If they have the lethal Explosion in hand but forgot to hit Control in their second main so they can stack the Wilderness Reclamation triggers in their end step, I don’t concede out of pity.

In May, I try and keep the Magic going by suggesting that we shift the format to a draft limited but they’re unconvinced of the website that allows you to simulate an 8-person draft and then import the drafted card lists to Arena. Why? Because they don’t have the cards already and I’ve changed the dynamic. They know I’m much more skilled at Arena and Ikoria drafting. The news has also been reporting that the curve was flattening, and our state was lifting restrictions on gatherings. They want to play EDH and paper Magic, not this digital intangible game. I reluctantly agree but keep grinding on Arena anyway. My friends didn’t want to play Magic on Arena and I couldn’t understand why. I was getting burned out on drafting at this point and the drafts were harder to fire off a month and a half later, work was returning on a limited schedule where I was onsite 75% and virtual 25%, it really did seem like things were returning to normal.

In June I finish the Ikoria mastery and at this point my wife had begun to show more interest in playing on Arena and trying to get her account a little more stocked since our normal paper system is I aggregate everything we typically need and I make her desired deck and hand it off to her to wreck people on FNM but since I didn’t have to judge, I got to play and we couldn’t both play from my account at the same time. I casually start hers and I get the wild hair that maybe I should make a loaner account in the store’s name and if anyone says they don’t have the cards, they can borrow the store’s account for the tournament. I make the account but put the pipe dream on hold when Wizards announces that in-store play can resume with the Core 2021 prerelease. I could read between the lines and see that the curve was trending the wrong way and thought it was a bad idea but at my insistence, everyone would have to wear a mask at all times and hand sanitizer was available every 15 feet and the store had lots of space for players to spread out. The turnout was low which helped as well, and I had everyone who showed up at least aware that I was trying to keep the Discord going and that in case there’s another shutdown that there was another avenue for them.

Well, I got my wish because within a week of the launch of Core 2021, my state had regressed, and cases were exploding and gathering restrictions were sent back in place. Shortly after that, Wizards suspended in-store play again and with that I created the store’s Arena account. At the time, things were pretty good. The locals weren’t playing as much and my server was still fairly empty but most of the Magic Twitch community I interacted with had strongly adjusted to the new paradigm. EDH streaming was commonplace, I had my new Arena account to focus on building up as well as my own. Pro level events and Opens were being held on Arena and the expansion of Amonkhet Remastered gave me hope that Magic was on the mend. But I also think it was with Core 2021 that things started to slide into the negative for me. Grinding the second account was frustrating me a lot. The lack of human interaction was tilting me out for no reason. Some days the server would have me wait a whole minute (the horror?!) for a game and then my opponent would be the world’s slowest red player where everything seemed delayed. There would strings of games I would play where I couldn’t get a third land drop after a mull to 4 and other times where I’d flood out and would have won if it weren’t for generic whiny reason why everyone says they lose.

Maybe it was when I began to see that Arena is not Magic the Gathering as much as it is a video game that it began to really sour on me. For those of you who don’t play a lot of Arena and instead interact with humans over webcams is that Arena is designed for you to not play off beat home brews except in direct challenges with your friends. The game is meant for you to play the best combination of 75 cards and for you to help it machine learn through millions of matches what is and what is not the correct play pattern based on the available information you have. It wants you to play the very best decks in a format against the other best decks. I started to see this in Ikora standard when decks would scoop if you were on the play and went turn 2 Agonizing Remorse. Decks were and still are so linear that they can’t handle that kind of disruption or it’s a matter of the players know it’s faster to accumulate wins by scooping than grinding out a long game.

If you need evidence of whether or not this is true, you should play Arena now and see how often people scoop against the double Ruin Crab opener with a Fabled Passage back-to-back. Or if an opponent against your Lurrus Auras deck will time out when they know they can’t win. In paper Magic, when you drive 4 hours to a major venue, pay your entry fee, you never see your opponent rage scoop unless it’s Legacy and you know what your opponent’s on and you mull to zero so you can see what’s in their deck. You call a judge to your table if they start stalling. Nothing is more annoying that an opponent spamming “Good Game” at you through a match when it’s obvious that you’re not killing them that turn but they’re empty handed and have nothing relevant on board.

I’ll admit myself that what my wife calls “Wizard Chores” for the Daily quests, if I’m 1 red spell short of finishing a quest, I’ll log in for one more game and Boulder Dash my opponent’s creature or cast Shock to face and immediately scoop. Who is that helping? I’d spend the week at work in my down times thinking about what dumb cards I hadn’t played with from a set, start making a list, furiously find the cards on a Friday afternoon and grab dinner with the wife and then race to my LGS for FNM. Magic used to be something I only got to do twice a week with people in a shared setting and we’d unroll our playmats, shuffle up our jank, and laugh and generally have a good time for three to four hours. With Magic at my fingertips, Arena is a distillation of efficiency at spell slinging combined with the minor rewards system we’ve come to recognize the free-to-play traps to “encourage” us to play different things. If I want to play 100 matches in a day, all I need to do is sit at my computer long enough. If I want to play my old jank on Arena, I can’t even count on the Casual play channel to help since it’s always filled with people with 55 of the 60 cards that make the best deck learning how to play before they commit the wild cards for the deck.

Zendikar Rising has been a pretty dark point for everyone on Arena I believe. It seems like a lifetime ago that Omnath was printed and that I had immediately cashed in four mythic rare wildcards for the deck I would get to play with on Arena for 2 weeks before Wizards realized their mistake. Honestly before I had started writing this in the week before Kaldheim will hit Arena, I forgot that Omnath was part of the most recent set as all I can remember Zendikar Rising giving us is the extremely irritating Ruin Crab and Soaring Thought Thief. The few locals I had left on my Discaord server when ZNR released had lost interest in Arena since they enjoyed the Ravnica standard that was rotating out and Pioneer was not yet available for Arena. I’ve encouraged nearly everyone I know from my LGS to buy webcams since October given that the current state of the COVID world is not likely to go away and the new culture and channels that have opened up in the world to fill the void of EDH has some level of benefit even when in-person play resumes. Not many people play and I’ll search for an occasional game on the official Discord when the craving strikes. Some of my friends have been taking advantage of the webcam world and started playing older formats with me over webcam such as Pioneer and Modern to rekindle their love for Magic and the hope that we can start playing tournaments over webcam. Finishing up the ZNR mastery passes on my two accounts and my wife’s account has been giving me a much-needed break from Arena and honestly, it’s probably done the most to lift my spirits.

I’ve been taking a lot more time to reflect on why I love Magic and I plan on doing in the future. The first thing I know I’m going to do and stick to is not get a Mastery Pass for mt LGS store’s account. They don’t pay for all the work I put into the one already grinding multiple accounts is not good for my mental well-being. The second thing I know I am going to do is relearn how to have fun in Magic again. Not really hinted at in this article so far is the fact I love the art in Magic and I’m often inspired by my own crazy mind to illustrate my own works or reimagine my favorite cards with my own art. Since the release of Rise of Skywalker, I had been working on a personal project of creating a second expansion to the largely underground Star Wars the Gathering card game and ended up making 200 unique, draftable cards. I wouldn’t call myself an artist because I’m still learning and I don’t necessarily aspire to an artist but I would love to improve my skills and one day make a piece that’s so good someone wants on a card. Over the last two years, I’ve been deeply jealous of how amazing and hard working the Magic cosplayers are and that I should put my art to good use and make my own cosplays. And then there’s the playing of Magic. I miss the Gathering part of Magic. So this brings us to the bedrock of this piece. I hope to continue this blog steadily as time moves forward. I’m rarely ever satisfied or have my attention on any one project for too long but 2021 is a new year. And I hope that the title is a hint to the future. Whatever it is; whether it’s deck construction, art alters, or Magic cosplay, story, general discussion, that’s what I’m here for. It’s the Thrill of what I might work on next and I promise because I’m terrible right now at doing so, I’ll be sure to take pictures and try and stream when I can to keep myself honest about the whole deal. I hope you’ll all join me or at least join the Discord to yell at me.

1 note · View note

acecombatmutual · 4 years

Note

I’ve been considering watching hermitcraft after seeing your posts about it actually!! Who would you suggest I watch?

first off-- feel free to come off anon and chat too!! ;3;

so, like, okay, there’s a ton of people on the server, and each person has a really distinctive video style, so i’d say go to hermitcraft.com and see what strikes your fancy, maybe just watch around a little bit, see what you vibe with & stuff. but ill give a rundown of my personal favorite hermits and why i rec them here:

1. renthedog - ren is a treasure, his videos are very well edited and they always have a very clear and followable narrative (video or like, legit narrative, this season he did an entire set of episodes where he roleplayed as a cowboy), and he’s all around just really good. he doesn’t necessarily do redstone or building the best way i can describe him is that he’s here for a good time and loves a good goof

2. etho - youve probably heard of etho, super popular mcyter whos been around for a while. all his content is very.. idk its very calming, but his hc content specifically is just him genuinely having fun on the server with no real, like, Theme i guess? he’s mad good at redstone tho! i rec him just as another general choice

3. vintagebeef - another old hermit, NHO rise up.. super good builder, does a lot of that all-around content, just a fun dude to watch. this season he spent an entire episode building a ghast farm just to build ONE small facet of his base.. also he spent an entire episode building a llama sanctuary by his base. jsp he’s just a general joy i love him

4. tangotek - tango said ‘i’m gonna build an iron farm where ravagers kill the golems, also i’m gonna build a creeper farm that shoots them out of a cannon, just for fun’ and he did. tangos video style is kinda all over the place but very good nonetheless. super entertaining guy

5. impulsesv - impulse is one of tangos friends, his base this season looks crazy good, and also he’s got this kinda dad personality that i enjoy a lot... this season he’s been doing a lot of farms so if you like technical content i do believe hes a good choice

6. iskall85 - hes the only good swedish youtuber and i love him to bits. hes kinda a builder, kinda a redstoner, kinda general? also he’s very goofy but a joy to watch

7. mumbojumbo - youve likely heard of mumbo or seen him on the trending page or something, he’s mad popular and very good at redstone.. his videos tend to have that same followable narrative feel as ren’s, and i know some people dont like his editing style (i didnt like it at first) but i’d say just see how you like his content..

8. zedaph - last on this list but not least is zed. zed’s content is all about visual humor and just doing goofy stuff. a few eps ago he made a zombie farm that functions like a plinko machine if that gives you an idea of what he does. just a really entertaining guy, i always find myself watching all the way through his episodes

10. just kidding i forgot another one: joehills. joe has no discernible content style, but he is building his base based on a vineyard from a dnd book which is neat as hell.. he also sometimes reads poems at the ends of his videos if the videos don’t have midroll ads. again just that one u gotta watch to test the waters with

11. one more. xisumavoid is another one i keep telling myself i have to catch up with but i never do for some reason? his content at least as far as i’ve seen (most of the back half of his s6) is super chill & lowkey.. very good to just have on as bg noise i think! he’s kinda technical and kinda a builder afaik... his streams are a little insane but i HAVE spent mobile data at school to watch them during classes so take that as you will

that’s everyone i’m super mega keeping up with at the moment, honorable mention to zombiecleo & bdoubleo!

6 notes · View notes

zumwaltlord · 5 years

Text

IL-2 1946: Apex of World War II flight simulators

Disclaimer: This review will cover IL-1946 as a whole of the IL-2 Sturmovik (2001) and its expansions, since it is the ultimate version of the game.

World War II is a topic often depicted in various media (in some cases a little too much with only few aspects of it covered). Flight games are no exception. Every now and then you’ll see a game with valiant Spitfires (and overlooked yet just as vital Hurricanes) fighting against Bf-109′s or American P-40′s or other lads fighting against the infamous Zeroes. But there is one game that stands out among them.....

Introduction

IL-2 Sturmovik, named after the famous Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik, known for being the most produced military aircraft of all time (Josef Stalin himself said that Sturmovik is essential to Red Army as bread), is flight combat simulator developed by 1:C Maddox Games. What sets this simulator apart (along with many things) is its focus on realism and it does not hold back. Does the focus on realism make it “less fun” (since exactly actual realism, not graphical, is not exactly welcome in gaming)? Absolutely not, now I shall proceed on what makes IL-2 such a marvel.

For the full read go below

Customization of the base game (OPTIONS)

Don’t want the game to be too realistic? No issue, because you can customize your game to be much more on the arcade side! While it is ideal to play the game with joystick, but you can play with keyboard just fine if you take some compromises. If something like stalls & spins annoy you, you can just turn them off by your liking. You can even turn off vulnerability if you want to just goof around. Essentially, you can do whatever you wish with settings....but that’s just the base game!

Aircraft Heaven (Variety)

Generally speaking, World War II games, if not media in general, focus just on the most famous aircraft (examples: Mustang, BF-109, Spitfire, Zero, etc....)....not this game. This game covers not only aircraft from Eastern front, not only lesser known aircraft from lesser known factions (Hungary and Slovakia come to mind), but also proposed aircraft as well. So in this game you can play something as famous as:

-Supermarine Spitfire (and it’s MANY variants).

Something just as famous, like the revolutionary Messerschmidt Me-262 Schwable (Sparrow)

Something not as famous but notable enough: J8A (Finnish version of Gloster Gladiator, this one has Swedish colors)

or something obscure but bizarre and actually built in real life such as BL-1 (I do not recommend flying that one).

or....yeah (This is Heinkel Lerche, an actual proposal that Germans had during WW2. It was supposed to be a VTOL tail sitter fighter, but it was never built).

Oh, you can also fly:

TB-3 Mothership

Mistel.

Overall, to say that you get plenty of choices for aircraft in this game is a massive understatement. Here’s a catch though: although IL-2 1946 (base) has been beaten in terms of variety and quantity of flyable aircraft by the likes of War Thunder, in those games you have to grind a lot for the desired aircraft or at least pay some money for it. Here, you have such selection of flying machines from the start. You can just hop in Quick Mission Builder and pick a plane of your liking and voila! Have fun flying it (unless you picked BL-1, then...I wish you luck).

The game itself has plenty of types of (flyable) aircraft from all the factions, be it Allied or Axis. You can pilot monoplane fighters, biplanes, twin engine aircraft (heavy fighters and bombers) four engine aircraft and (early) jets. Sadly, selection for four engine aircraft is rather short, since you only really have B-24 Liberator and Pe-8. It has more, but those are NPC only.

Mechanic’s dream (Details + Gameplay)

The amount of detail this game puts into flight models is incredibly impressive, almost like it was married with the concept. It would do something other games wouldn’t even dream of doing. For example:

Vought F4U Corsair uses its wheels (without the tail wheel) as its air brakes, which is something that is true with the real thing.

Aircraft with liquid cooled engines (such as Hawker Hurricane) have this quirk that their engines cut off when they go in a dive. Prolonged dives can make engines cease working.

You can turn on cockpit lights, recommended during the night.

If AAA (Anti Aircraft Artillery) is turned on, the lights on the airfields will turn on and start searching for the adversary aircraft.

Overall, flight models and other things as well are, especially for its age, very detailed, although some of the details about certain situations....

...can be a little graphic. (Wait until you see what happens to Heinkel He-111).

The gameplay itself is quite rich and detailed, you can feel like you’re inside of the plane, maintaining it and utilizing it in many ways. You do need to bind some keys to make your game easier though and obviously getting a joystick is optimal for any simulator.

Glorious Hell of a War (Single Player content)

IL-2 Sturmovik offers us two ways to play in single player mode: Single Missions and Dynamic Campaign.

Single Missions are pretty straightforward: you play a selected mission in a certain aircraft and you must do this task. Difficulty can be customized if you wish. For single missions, Eastern front and Pacific have most of them. There is not much of British missions though, although you can download additional of them if you want.

Dynamic campaign is basically a career mode. You choose your faction (plenty of options on both sides!), a pilot, the period and which plane are you going to fly. The missions change on how you carry out the mission. If you do your job really well, you’ll get rewarded! If not....lets say some factions are not the most forgiving types. What is really cool is that the campaigns focus on the life of the pilots, regardless of side which you picked. It shows us that even in the most horrible regimes, there were just men carrying out their duty. If you thought that life of a pilot is simply expendable, the game will remind you that it’s anything but. Just a fair warning, these missions can be quite long (there even is a disclaimer that the Pe-8 mission takes 2 hours).

Air War: DIY STYLE (Mission builders)

There are two ways you can build your missions: Quick Mission Builder and Full Mission Builder.

Quick Mission Builder is useful where you just want to hop in and play a short session. You can set what aircraft are you going to use, where are you going to fight and what mission is it gonna be. However, it is limited and you can’t do much with the missions themselves.

Full Mission Builder, on other hand, allows you to go nuts. You can place anything you desire on any map you want. A similar builder appears in games such as Digital Combat Simulator World. However, it is quite complex and requires a lot of time and dedication to work with it.

What a joyous view from the cockpit! (Graphics)

It is an old game, indeed, but its graphics are quite astounding.

Aircraft models and landscapes are especially gorgeous. That being said, some of the ground vehicles and humans can be a little crusty.

Glory, glory, hallelujah! (Music)

There are few tracks in this game that play in the menus, but they’re quite jolly good. The Soviet one pumps me like no other song, the American one makes me feel determined and prepared to face anything that comes in my way, German one actually references Erika and is quite jolly, meanwhile Japanese one contrasts all of them above by sounding absolutely imposing, just like the empire of the rising sun was in the early years of the war.

Just like a butter on toast (Optimization)

Okay, hear me out. I have a crusty Linux laptop (how I play it? Steam Play compatibility). It’s a gamble that games can even work here. If they do, they’re usually quite laggy (when I played Garry’s Mod, sometimes it felt like a literal powerpoint presentation).

This game?

It runs so smooth that I can’t believe it myself. It’s quite a game, but I always get consistent framerates with it, which is why I give it bonus points.

This, along with Red Orchestra, are one of the few games that play absolutely clear and smooth on my computer.

I’ve talked about base game most of the time, but now comes the time to talk about the most impressive thing about the game that isn’t even official....

We shall fight on the beaches (Community)

If it wasn’t for the community and its amazing efforts, this game wouldn’t have been for what it is. The amount of planes in base game? The mods have expanded the list of flyable to an unbelievable degree. They can make this game from just a WW2 flight sim to a simulator that can cover, without exaggeration, EVERYTHING. You can fly Sopwith Camel or McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in the game with the help of mods.

Fair warning though, those mods are as complex as enigma to install and quite massive.

But seriously, the community of IL-2 is one of the best and most fun to be around. Those fellas are the reason why IL-2 keeps going strong (there’s been a newest update as of now) and that’s why they’re lovely. The community offers a lot of plane skins and missions, to which you can use them all you want in your game.

Does the game have flaws?

Well every game does:

-Multiplayer is kind of very complicated so to say. You require Hyperlobby to even go to servers, although latest updates made it much easier.

-Some of the models can be a little outdated.

-Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1

I do not like it one bit.

And here you have it, fellas. My review of IL-2, my favorite game of all time. It’s endless replayability and satisfactory gameplay always make my day better. Even if you’re more on arcadey side, I absolutely recommend checking out this game. It’s like no other. I can safely say that IL-2 Sturmovik is the apex of World War II flight simulators.

-Zumwaltlord

#game review #review #il-2 #il-2 sturmovik 1946 #plane #game #gaming #flight simulator #simulator #ww2 #world war ii #world war 2 #wwii #aircraft #military aircraft #zumwaltlord

0 notes

masterofmunson · 7 years

Text

Chase You Down (2)

Mobster!Bucky x Reader

Based off of Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND

Summary: The infamous Brooklyn mob boss, Bucky Barnes, has a tendency of sleeping around and killing people on a short fuse. So what happens when a certain girl catches his eye and turns his already shitty world upside down?

BEFORE YOU READ: this is a semi-oc fic! You can still insert your name into the fic, that’s not changing. However, ‘you’, will have some characteristics that ‘you’ might not actually have in real time. It just fits the story better if I actually describe it instead of leaving holes in the story. Enjoy!

Warnings: swearing, angst

Word Count: 1.8k+

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Hiring Y/n was one of the best decisions my staffer---bless his heart---has ever made. Now, months later into her job, she only has to work for me, not that I mind anyway. I love having her around. Not only does she draw in big crowds and make me a ton of money, but she makes me happy, not that I would tell her of course. If I ever do, I would be putting her in harm's way. I can't risk losing her, she means too damn much to me. I'd never be able to live with myself if she ever got hurt. Seeing her now, though, up on stage, in her element with my best pal Steve, hurt even more.

She's laughing at him in between breaths and she's out of focus. Normally, she's so into it, distractions like Steve never seemed to phase her, so now why were they?

I can't help but feel a little jealous inside. Seeing her laughing and goofing off with Steve hurt a lot more than I'd care to admit. I want to be the one that's she's laughing at. I want to be the reason why she's smiling so hard. I want to be the person to sweep her off her feet. Not Steve. Me. He's so damn good at sweeping girls off their feet, and now he has Y/n in the palm of his hand. Now, all he has to do is act.

“Okay, folks! That's it for me tonight! Have a wonderful rest of your evening. This is Chrissy handing the mic over to Daisy! Bye!” Y/n grins, placing her trumpet into her case and snapping it shut. She hops off stage and starts walking towards me--the bar. She climbs up onto the stool and her drink of choice, whiskey, is already waiting for her. She turns towards me and grins. “Hiya, Boss! Did ya enjoy the set Steve and I put together?”

“You know I always enjoy your sets. We need to talk, come with me to my office,” I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Her expression falls, but she nods anyway. She hops off the bar stool and trails behind me towards my office. I open the door and hold it open for her.

“What's up, Buck?” she asks, leaning against my desk.

“What's your motive?” I ask, getting to the point. I cross my arms over my chest, attempting to seem intimidating.

“Excuse me?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at me. She fixes her stance and stands up straight. She crosses her arms over her chest and stands defensively in front of me. “What do you mean?”

“Your motive. Why are you working here? Are you attempting to exploit me? Is that why you're so kind to me?” I accuse, my voice rises with each accusation and I grit my teeth.

“Where is this coming from, Buck? Did someone say something to you to make you think that?” she asks gently, reaching for my hand. I step away from her and her face falls.

I fight the urge to answer her questions. She's concerned for me. She's confused. She wants to know what happened to the Bucky she knows instead of the Bucky she's looking at right now; the Bucky that's pushing her away. “Just answer the questions.”

“I'm working here because I want to, because I'm happy here, because I feel safe here. I don't know what's gotten into you to think this way. I'm not exploiting you. I care about you because you're sweet and kind. Behind the tough exterior you wear, you care so much and so deeply for the people you care for. I admire you for that,” she mutters.

“I'm a monster!” I howl, causing her to flinch. “I kill people. I hurt people. People are suppose to fear me. Why don't you fear me?”

“Because I've seen who you are!” she retaliates. “You're sweet and funny and incredibly smart and I---”

She stops speaking after that, afraid that she's already said too much. She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “And you what?” I ask, pressing her for more.

“I--it's nothing. I'll see you later.”

“What is it? What won't you tell me?” I ask again, reaching out for her arm.

Her eyes meet mine and she swallows hard. She glances at the ground and then back up to me. She takes a deep breath before pulling herself up on her toes. Her mouth touches mine delicately and fireworks erupt from my toes all the way up to the hairs on my head.

Her lips are soft against mine and I breathe her in. She tastes like whiskey and minty gum. She curls her fingers into my hair and tugs lightly. My hands hold her face gently and my eyes close. I push her away from me gently and create distance between us. “I can’t, Y/n. I won’t risk losing you. If any of my enemies found out about you, they’d do everything in their power to exploit you. I’m sorry.”

She forces a smile onto her face and it breaks my heart to do this. Now I know she feels the same way I do about her. She nods in understanding and kisses my cheek. “It’s okay, Bucky. I understand. I’ll see you later,” she smiles, squeezing my forearm. She grabs her coat and trumpet case before leaving my office.

I don’t see Y/n for another four days, and it isn’t even at the bar. She’s working behind the counter at Lake Shore Diner, the same diner she left only weeks prior. The diner’s busy, so I doubt she sees me enter with Dot, one of the girls I had been seeing on and off over the last couple of months. Her hand snakes around my waist and we take a seat in one of the far booths. Dot picks up the menu almost immediately and my eyes are still glued onto the girl whose maneuvering about the floor with ketchup in her bright blonde hair.

“Y/n! Table 24 has been waiting for awhile!” someone barks from behind the counter. Y/n’s head turns towards the counter and I can see her face flush.

“Sorry, Boss! Liz ‘n I are the only ones on floor!” she replies, tucking a tray under her arm, and to my horror, coming straight towards me. “Hiya, folks. I’m Y/n and I’ll be your server for today. What can I---”

She cuts herself off when her eyes meet mine. They’re as big as the tray she’s holding and there’s nothing more that I want to do right now than to just scurry out of the diner. Her eyes move towards Dot and she takes a deep breath. I know seeing me here with Dot hurts her. Hell, it’s hurting me. I don’t want Dot in my arms. I want her.

“What a pleasant surprise!” she exclaims through gritted teeth. “It’s nice to see you Dot. Mr. Barnes. What can I get you two to drink?”

Ouch. That hurt a lot more than I’d care to admit. She hasn’t called me that since we met. Now it’s like we’re strangers. I don’t blame her though. I hurt her. I rejected her even though I wanted--want her.

“Oh, hiya! It's Y/n right? Don't you work for my baby?” Dot asks, running a perfectly manicured hand up and down my arm. She pulls on my chin and captures my mouth into hers. I'm stunned and she pulls away just as quickly as she kisses me. I grit my teeth. I know Dot’s baiting her. The two hate each other. Dot doesn't like competition and Y/n doesn't like pretentious snobs.

Y/n’s back straightens and her fingers grip her notepad. Her jaw locks and she forces a smile up on her lips. “Yes, that's right. I do work for Mr. Barnes. What would you like to drink?”

“What's the healthiest thing here? I'm on a cleansing diet,” Dot asks, her eyes drilling into Y/n’s.

“Uh--water and the lettuce on the burgers. Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but coming here on a cleansing diet probably wasn't the greatest idea. I'll come back in a few minutes once you decided what you want,” Y/n answers, leaving our table.

My eyes follow her around the restaurant as she takes orders and places food on the tables. She hurries behind the counter and into the kitchen.

“James, are you listening to me?” Dot asks, pulling my attention back onto her. I blink at her and she sighs. “Do you wanna go to the exposition tonight?”

“I have to do something at the bar, so probably not,” I lie, running a hand through my hair.

“It's okay!” she grins at me.

My eyes watch the kitchen door and Y/n comes out with a tray of drinks. She walks back over to where Dot and I are sitting and sets a glass of water in front of her and a coke in front of me.

“Oh! Thanks, we didn't order anythi--”

“Lucky guess,” Y/n cuts her off. “What do you want to order?”

I look at the ground. I know she knows my order by heart. I always get a double-cheese burger with a large fry to share with her. Dot orders her meal and I do too. She walks off and I don't see her until her shift is over.

Her coat is snug against her arms and her arm tugs on her purse. “I'll see you tomorrow, Robert! Call the house if you need me!” she shouts out the door, walking down the street towards her house. I kick the wall behind me and walk behind me.

“Y/n, can we talk?” I ask, meeting her pace. She stops and turns towards me.

“I have nothing to say to you, Barnes. Excuse me, I’d like to walk home in peace,” she snaps, storming off.

“Wait!” I beg, reaching out to grab her arm. “Please, let me explain.”

“Don't touch me!” she screams, pulling her arm out of my grasp. “There's nothing to explain. I saw it loud and clear in the diner. Why didn't you tell me that you're dating Dot?”

“I--we’re not---”

“Save it! I'm not one of your stupid Call Girls! I don't deserve this. You should've told me, maybe we'd still be friends! I feel like a fucking idiot! My friends warned me about you, and I didn't listen, because they were wrong. I refuse to believe that you're anything like how they say you are. You're sweet and kind and incredibly charming and I was stupid enough to think that I'd ever had a chance with you,” she interrupts, looking up at the sky.

My chest hurts and it hurts to breathe. I hate this. I hate making her cry. I hate hurting her. I hate that she wants nothing to do with me anymore. Goddammit, I just want to love her, but I’m so goddamn scared. She sniffs and a tear slides down her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I croak, feeling my throat tighten.

“I know. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she sighs, walking away from me.

A/N: yikes i really love the pain??? oh well. tell me what you think!

TAGLIST: @jessevans @gingerbatchwife @ria132love @aenna-4@bubblyaschampagne @inlovewithmydreams

94 notes · View notes