It's true. I have been watching the devlog videos on H3VR (Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades) since forever, then a couple years ago a friend of mine lent me his VR headset. I believe it was a Meta Quest model, which got me a first-hand experience into the world of VR, which I wasn't too interested in (and I still am). However, this game was something from my dreams.
A firearm and ordinance simulation unlike anything else on the market—I did try Pavlov for a while also but it's not as elaborate and nuanced as H3VR. The sandbox and various scenes provide an endless game loop, finding a particular weapon to mess around with, try out different ammunition types, the attachments, and of course the shooting.
The feeling of awe and childlike wonder, is displayed by my gaping mouth and unblinking stare that is glued to my headset, as I fire a bullet at a grenade shell and hear it explode sending everything around me flying, I realized what I've done after the smoke cleared. Or, when I tried out the musket for the first time, after the confusing process of reloading the thing. I was baffled by what I saw after I fired the thing, and said to myself out loud "Oh.. too much powder." the musket was in two pieces, one in my hand and the other somewhere else.
Any gun-nut worth his salt should get this game or, at least try it.
I'm still learning the mechanics and different aspects of this game. I'd love to see mod support in the future, and the ability to switch the sosigs(the game's NPCs) with a more humanoid NPCs.
My first exposure to this gem was from this video. I enjoy a bit of Real Time Strategy games, however, not all RTS games are created equal, literally. Most RTS games are way too zoomed out, with multiple fronts and battalions. These aren't my type of games; I get easily overwhelmed by the amount of resource and army management aspects, resulting in a mostly menu gameplay without the fluff —looking at the animations of the units, soaking in the ambiance of the environments, and so on— So, when I saw how you could arrange your units' formations in this game, along with the firing line mechanics, with no menus to speak of, I got really excited to try it for myself!
Aww Shucks!
Now, I only managed to finish the French campaign and when I tried to start the Prussian one, it dawned on me; after playing the first mission I just couldn't stand how the AI was blatantly cheating with the amount of resources and units it had. It soured my experience a bit so I decided to stop playing this game before my opinion on it would change from positive to a more negative one.
Love the flanking unit hiding in the woods.
The game has some slav jank, but it compensates for it with fun stuff, like: building cannons and attaching them to horse carriages to get them to the frontline faster and having some beautiful art, sprites, architecture, and overall environment.
From my short time playing this game my biggest complaint (other than the cheating AI) is the quick depletion of coal, used in making gunpowder for your army. It runs out way too fast, in my opinion.
The soundtrack is generally nice, with my favorite tracks being: Britain, Egypt, and France.
The game has some charming FMVs that appear on the bottom right of the HUD. I wanted to share them here but, looking for these videos on the internet proved fruitless so, I took matters into my own hands and made this little compilation of the videos I found in the game's files. The videos are muted by default so I added the soundtrack from the game to them. They have poor resolution due to their miniscule size on your HUD in the game. Believe me when I say: It looks better in game.
I have to say, pictures don't do this game justice. The game looks way better in motion than it does in screenshots. Still, I'll leave you with my remaining screenshots:
Marching to the Prussian's town!
And thus the siege began..
Advance!
Reporting to the emperor himself.
Alternate history.
A bit unrelated (maybe?), I came across this unorthodox video about the history of Napoleon except, it's about his favorite dish!
Today, I want to share some photos and videos about some of my favorite types of cars—American Classics.
Now, this type can encompass different sizes and configurations from many eras, so let me zero it in more. I am generally attracted to American V8s made roughly between the 1950s to 1974 (known as the start of the Malaise Era, in American automotive history; in consequence to the Oil Crisis of 1973).
I have to add that—I'm not interested in speed, power, or loudness. All what I'm looking for is aesthetics, style, vibe, and feel. It is very subjective and/or abstract even, it's either you understand it or you don't. My taste has developed from watching movies with old car chases and playing Driver: You Are The Wheelman, at an early age.
I shared this intro before in a previous post, and I'll share it again; since I believe this intro single-handedly shaped my perception and taste for cars, for as long as I can remember.
I typically steer away from "fast back" designs, I prefer hard top versions better. I really love tailfin styling and finder skirts, which are extinct on contemporary cars.
I'll list some of my favorite American cars, that don't get much attention 'usually':
I'm going to share a website I found a while back; since this is as good an opportunity as any: BRUU Tea Club. This site introduced me to a variety of cool facts about tea grading among other stuff.
Love it or hate it, Isekai has become one of the most prominent genres in Anime; having both good and bad, fun and sad themes and motifs. In recent years, I noticed a certain theme blossoming within Isekai that involved your typical villainess (usually the love rival of the main character), with the twist being that our MC is the villainess herself, but not exclusively. This subgenre more generally encompasses female main characters who are supposed to be hated in their world or story. Almost always having the Ojou-sama tag, with the usual royal affairs and sprinkled politics.
I devised this name to encompass all of my favorite Animes of this subgenre and dubbed it Akujo / Reincarnated Damsel. Here is the list:
Starting with a banger—Dr. Stone: Science Future. This show never disappoints in bringing some of the most hype and fun the Shounen genre has ever produced.
Next is an Anime that I never expected much from, but was pleasantly surprised by—Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four!. It gave me a certain vibe, like it's a fantasy of a many salarymen in Japan: an overworked and unappreciated salaryman that gets reincarnated for his talents and gets appreciation and recognition for his work. Still it was a fun time.
When you say "fiction" a certain feel, or maybe different worlds or ways of thinking start to emerge. However, for me, this Anime—The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You Season 2 comes to mind when I think of "Peak fiction"; due to it's fantastical premise and nonsensical series of events. I adore this series and can't wait to watch more.
I was waiting for this one. Akuyaku Reijou Tensei Oji-sanis the latest release of one of my favorite subgenres—Akujo / Reincarnated Damsel, another fun twist on the Villainess trope.
One of my friends has an interesting way of grouping shows that would be disregarded usually. He calls them—Junk food; he would watch these without really committing to them or taking them seriously, and Botsuraku Yotei no Kizoku dakedo, Hima Datta kara Mahou wo Kiwamete mita is certainly one of them. It's kind of a power fantasy Anime, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's an OK show.
Magic Maker: Isekai Mahou no Tsukurikata has a cool premise, in which the main character invents and discovers magic in another world. Also has cute siblings with a somewhat of a tear-jerker in this Anime and that's really about it. It's alright.
~Bonus~
This Anime came out before the winter season, but I'll include it here since it is a pretty neat show—Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite. It's about Europe in the dark ages, when the church ruled and dictated that Earth is the center of the universe i.e. Geocentrism.
(Spoiler) If I were to describe the theme in one word it would be: Succession.
I'll paste here what I wrote back when I was watching it:
"It's an alternate universe(?), in which theocracy dictated the flow and orbit of the heavenly bodies, as; the Earth being in the center of it all. As a result, scholars of astronomy are seen as heretics, due to their adoption of a heliocentric view of the solar system. I'm not sure why they didn't go the route of giving characters their real-life names."
And:
"Episode#6 I can't express, how much I feel so moved by this. Truly God's creation is magnificent, whether here, or up there."
