Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Tuesday news:

SALES & DEALS

A third of Cyberpunk 2077 digital preorders on PC have been on GOG
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-third-of-cyberpunk-2077-digital-preorders-on-pc-have-been-on-gog/
A third of Cyberpunk 2077's digital preorders on PC have been made on GOG, according to developer and platform owner CD Projekt Red. An exact figure hasn't been given, but the reception to the recent release date announcement and Keanu's E3 cameo almost certainly ensures that the numbers are pretty big.
"Thank you for your support—it's breathtaking," CD Projekt Red said on Twitter, repeating a phrase that will absolutely follow the John Wick star around for at least another year. I really wouldn't be surprised to see Johnny Silverhand, his character in Cyberpunk, referred to as breathtaking as a nod one of E3's most memorable moments.

GOG has a special 2K Games sale, with up to 80% discounts for the next 13 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20190709_special_sale_2k_publisher_sale

On the Humble Store there are two new sales:

• The Sale of the Seven Seas features up to 90% discounts on pirate games and other marine games for the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/seven-seas-sale/
• And the One Piece franchise is also on sale, up to 80% off for the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/one-piece-franchise-sale/

At Fanatical, Men of War: Assault Squad 2 is 80% off for the next 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/men-of-war-assault-squad2

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Valve says sorry for Summer Sale Grand Prix confusion, gives away 5000 more games
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-says-sorry-for-summer-sale-grand-prix-confusion-gives-away-5000-more-games/
The Steam Summer Sale Grand Prix has sputtered to its inevitable finish, with an easy win for Team Corgi and a promise from Valve to do better next time around.
The summer sale for 2019 was relatively unremarkable as these things go, but the Grand Prix event was something else entirely. It confused the hell out of everyone, and some indie developers worried that it was leading users to dramatically cut back their wishlists. Valve tried to compensate with rule changes aimed at cutting into Team Corgi's huge off-the-line lead and making the game more "fun to play," but Corgi still won and I still don't really understand why. Or how.
"Thank you to everyone who participated in the Grand Prix. We realize that the race track had some unexpected turns—we tried to straighten them out when we could, and we’ll anticipate the curves better next time we invite you to the races," Valve wrote in its checkered-flag wrapup.
"As an extra gift for those that participated, we have randomly selected 5000 users that contributed from any team in the Steam Grand Prix to receive the top game from their wishlist. Users that were randomly selected will receive their gift within 48 hours from the end of the Steam Grand Prix."
>> It was a mess, there's no denying. Also, good luck, I hope you're selected for one of those games.

MODS/EMULATORS

Keanu Reeves’ John Wick & Johnny Silverhand now playable in Metal Gear Solid 5 thanks to this amazing mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/keanu-reeves-john-wick-johnny-silverhand-now-playable-in-metal-gear-solid-5-thanks-to-this-amazing-mod/
Keanu Reeves fans, here is something for you today. After the gaming community embracing Keanu Reeves, we were expecting the first mod based on the actor to be for CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3. However, it appears that the first Keanu Reeves mod is available for Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
Created by modder ‘JinMar’, this mod allows you to play as John Wick or Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077. Naturally, these 3D models are based on Keanu Reeves so we are pretty sure that his fans will be very pleased with this mod. Now imagine if the modder could also, somehow, add the “You’re breathtaking” line.
Naturally, and since this is a 3D swapper, it does not alter/change the voices so it will be a bit weird listening Keanu with Kiefer’s voice. Furthermore, this is still a WIP project, meaning that there might be some glitches and graphical issues (in the John Wick screenshots you can clearly notice the different skin colours of the neck and head for instance).
>> Get this mod from Nexus Mods.

First-person mod for Mass Effect: Andromeda, with FOV slider, is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-person-mod-for-mass-effect-andromeda-with-fov-slider-is-now-available-for-download/
Last month, we informed you about the amazing first-person mods for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. And today, we are happy to report that a brand new first-person mod, from a different modder, has been released for the latest part in the Mass Effect series, Mass Effect Andromeda.
Created by modder ‘wavebend’, this mod adds a fully-featured, toggleable first-person mode, and does so while leaving the default third-person camera intact. What this ultimately means is that players are free to switch between first and third perspectives on the fly while exploring hubs or during combat.
Now contrary to the previous first-person mods for Mass Effect 2 and 3, this one for Andromeda appears to be working great. Not only that, but there is also a FOV slider that PC gamers can adjust, something that we were not expecting to find in a mod.
>> This mod is available from Nexus Mods, but be wary that you'll need the Frosty Mod Manager in order to run it.

This modded Minecraft sponge is so powerful it can slurp up an ocean
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-modded-minecraft-sponge-is-so-powerful-it-can-slurp-up-an-ocean/
Sponges in Minecraft are pretty darn absorbent—a single sponge block can suck up a total of 65 blocks of water before it becomes completely filled and needs to be dried out in a furnace.
(...)
A modder named Quanted on Reddit wasn't happy with the absorbency of Minecraft's vanilla sponges, so they created their own modded sponge. And boy can it sop up water. A lot of water. All the water?
When placed in water, the modded sponge spreads in six directions, replacing water blocks with empty air (and leaving a lot of confused squids flopping around). The intention is for the sponge to expire after 150 blocks, but as Quanted demonstrates, the mod code can be tweaked for the sponge to simply keep absorbing water forever. You might need some of that water to put out the flames on your GPU, from the looks of it.

Make Pathfinder: Kingmaker's combat turn-based with this mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/make-pathfinder-kingmakers-combat-turn-based-with-this-mod/
Some people love the realtime-with-pause combat of Baldur's Gate and games like it, and Pathfinder: Kingmaker was made with them in mind. In the 90 hours it took me to finish Kingmaker, I have to say that combat never grew on me. I spent the whole time wishing it was turn-based instead.
...
But now, thanks to modder Hsinyu, Kingmaker does. The turn-based combat mod even reinstates one of the Pathfinder tabletop game's rules that didn't work with a realtime system—the free five-foot step a character who doesn't take a regular move action is allowed, which gives spellcasters, archers, and other ranged attackers the ability to reposition away from attackers without drawing an attack of opportunity.
Maybe the biggest advantage of turn-based combat in Kingmaker is that area of effect spells, which it has quite a lot of, can now be set up and cast reliably. No more lining up a burning hands spell then watching as the enem
>> Before grabbing this mod, you'll need to install AND RUN the Unity Mod Manager, to let it know which game you're tweaking and to set up a mods folder wherever Kingmaker's installed.

GAMING NEWS

Gearbox shares new details about Borderlands 3 social, streaming, accessibility & pinging features
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gearbox-shares-new-details-about-borderlands-3-social-streaming-accessibility-pinging-features/
Gearbox Software and 2K Games hosted two panels during Guardian Con in Orlando, FL this past weekend. During Friday’s panel “Borderlands 3: At the Corner of Social and Streaming,” Gearbox shared new details about three key aspects of the Borderlands 3 experience: social features, livestreaming tools, and accessibility options.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey patch 1.4 comes out today, is 5.6GB in size, full release notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/assassins-creed-odyssey-patch-1-4-comes-out-today-is-5-6gb-in-size-full-release-notes-revealed/
Ubisoft has announced that brand new update will be coming out for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey today. According to the release notes, this patch will upgrade your game’s version to 1.4, is 5.6GB in size on the PC, and comes with a number of changes and tweaks.

System Shock – New comparison screenshots between original 1994 version and Unreal Engine 4 Remake
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/system-shock-new-comparison-screenshots-between-original-1994-version-and-unreal-engine-4-remake/
Nightdive Studios has released some new comparison screenshots between the original 1994 version and the upcoming Unreal Engine 4 remake of System Shock. These screenshots showcase the visual improvements – and perhaps slight changes to the environments – that will be featured in the upcoming remake.

FIA European Truck Racing Championship releases on July 18th, gets new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/fia-european-truck-racing-championship-releases-on-july-18th-gets-new-gameplay-trailer/
Bigben and N-Racing announced today that FIA European Truck Racing Championship, the official racing simulation of the ETRC developed by KT Engine, will be available on July 18th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the publisher has also released a new gameplay trailer that you can find below.

Anno 1800 patch 3.2 available for download, fixes numerous issues, improves stability
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/anno-1800-patch-3-2-available-for-download-fixes-numerous-issues-improves-stability/
Ubisoft has released a brand new update for its latest strategy/city building game, Anno 1800. According to the team, this latest patch will update your game’s version to 3.2 and comes with numerous bug fixes as well as stability improvements.

Kingdom Under Fire 2 is coming to PC in 2019, to be published by Gameforge, new screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/kingdom-under-fire-2-is-coming-to-pc-in-2019-to-be-published-by-gameforge-new-screenshots/
Gameforge — the leading Western publisher of popular multiplayer online games, including AION, Elsword, Guardians of Ember, OGame, SoulWorker, and TERA — today announced that it has acquired the North American and European publishing rights to Kingdom Under Fire 2, the long-awaited and highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online action roleplaying game from South Korean developer Blueside.