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

[JEMC]

Wednesday news, all in one post:

SALES & DEALS

Chinese open world RPG becomes a Steam top seller, English coming soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/chinese-open-world-rpg-becomes-a-steam-top-seller-english-coming-soon/
It seems like every few months a Chinese indie game is rising to the top of Steam's top seller list despite only being available in Simplified Chinese. Games like Chinese Parents and Scroll of Taiwu achieved massive success last year, selling well over a million copies each. It's a good reminder that Steam's second largest demographic hails from China, but it's also a cool insight into a vibrant world of games that aren't available in English.
Sands of Salzaar (or 部落与弯刀, which translates more directly to Tribe and Machete) only released on January 2, but in that time has rocketed to into Steam's global top seller list with an estimated 50,000 sales in its first week. That number is expected to reach 200,000 by the end of January. Though it's only available in Simplified Chinese, Sands of Salzaar has amassed over 2,600 "mostly positive" reviews and is currently the 31st most-played game on Steam by concurrents, with peak concurrent players reaching 21,000—in the neighborhood of games like Stardew Valley and Skyrim.

GOG's midweek sale, New Year's Resolution Sale, brings up to 90% discounts for the next 3 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20200108_midweek_sale_new_year_resolutions

Steam has two new deals and two new Midweek Madness deals:

• The first deal is Driftland: The Magic Revival, 60% off for the next 5 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/718650/Driftland_The_Magic_Revival/
• Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is 35% off for the next 8 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/690640/Trine_4_The_Nightmare_Prince/
• And these are the Midweek Madness deals:
  • Dicey Dungeons is 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/861540/Dicey_Dungeons/
  • And Surviving Mars is 66% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/464920/Surviving_Mars/

And at Fanatical there are two more deals:

• Slitherine has its games on sale, up to 90% off for the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/slitherine-ltd.
• And there's a new bundle, the Forbidden Bundle, with 10 games at a 95% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/forbidden-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Chinese is now Steam's most popular language, according to its hardware survey
https://www.pcgamer.com/chinese-is-now-steams-most-popular-language-according-to-its-hardware-survey/
Simplified Chinese has become the largest language demographic on Steam, according to the results of Valve's December 2019 Steam Hardware and Software survey. Each month, this optional survey collects basic system configuration data on a portion of Steam's 90 million monthly active users ranging from what CPU they're using to how much free space players have on their hard drive. This survey also collects data on what language users have their Steam client set to, and, until now, English was the dominant choice, typically representing around 30 to 40 percent of users.
That has changed as Simplified Chinese language users rocketed up to the number one spot in December 2019. Simplified Chinese is now the language of choice for 37.8 percent of Steam users who participated in the survey, climbing a significant 14.4 percent in the last month's survey. As a result, English users shrank to 30.4 percent.

MODS/EMULATORS

New nude mod released for Monster Hunter World, featuring boobs physics
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-nude-mod-released-for-monster-hunter-world-featuring-boobs-physics/
Battlescars has released a brand new nude mod for Monster Hunter World, featuring bouncing boobs. From what I can remember, this is the first nude mod that features boobs physics, therefore some PC gamers may be interested in it.
Unfortunately, this mod is a bit “polygonal“. Moreover, it appears that this nude mod lacks some details. For instance, the nipples appear flat and unnatural. Still, there are bouncing boobs so that’s at least something.
>> I don't know if it's a mistake on their part or if they've changed their policy, but they've actually put the Nexus Mods link to the mod.

Resident Evil 2 Remake mod unlocks the animations of distant zombies from 30fps to variable or 60fps
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-mod-for-resident-evil-2-remake-unlocks-the-animations-of-distant-zombies-from-30fps-to-variable-or-60fps/
One of the most annoying issues of Resident Evil 2 Remake was the 30fps animations of all distant zombies. This is something that annoyed a lot of PC gamers. And even though Capcom has not addressed this mechanic, there is a mod that finally unlocks it.
The “Zombies at a distance less frequently” mod unlocks the animations of distant zombies. Right now, the mod offers two options. You can either lock the framerate to 60fps, or have a variable framerate.
>> This mod is at Nexus Mods too.

This mod for Skyrim Special Edition can unlock your in-game refresh rate from 60Hz to 300Hz
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-mod-for-skyrim-special-edition-can-unlock-your-in-game-refresh-rate-from-60hz-to-300hz/
Skyrim fans, here is another must-have mod for you. While the game supports uncapped framerates, it locks your refresh rate to 60Hz. Thankfully, though, SlavicPotato has released a mod that can unlock your in-game refresh rate from 60hz to 300hz.
The ability to use high refresh rates is crucial for those that want to enjoy the game with higher framerates. In case you weren’t aware of, a 60Hz game will feel like a 60fps game even when you’re having higher framerates. As such, this mod is a must-have for those with 120Hz or 144Hz monitors.
According to the modder, the plugin is passive. This basically means that after it performs the patch, it immediatelly unloads so there’s no additional overhead.
Last but not least, the modder also suggest using the HavokFix SKSE plugin. This plugin is said to be an easy all-in-one performance-optimized solution.
>> Not enough for those new 360Hz Nvidia monitors. Anyway, you can get this mod from Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

New Fast & Furious Crossroads screenshots released
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/new-fast-furious-crossroads-screenshots-released/
Bandai Namco has shared some new screenshots from the upcoming official Fast & Furious game, Fast & Furious Crossroads. These screenshots showcase some of the environments, as well as some of the cars that will be in it.

New Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot gameplay trailer focuses on character progression
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-dragon-ball-z-kakarot-gameplay-trailer-focuses-on-character-progression/
Bandai Namco has released a new gameplay trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. This trailer shows how players can boost their stats, acquire new skills and learn Super Attacks to power up the Z Warriors.

The Royal Mail is honouring classic British games via the medium of stamps
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-royal-mail-is-honouring-classic-british-games-via-the-medium-of-stamps/
Commemorative stamps are something of a British institution. Other countries do them, of course, but we bloody love them. It's the kind of twee distraction we live for. Past collections have included Star Wars, David Bowie, James Bond, and other cultural behemoths—so it's about time videogames got a shot, eh?

Escape from Tarkov dev says the military shooter will not be getting playable female characters
https://www.pcgamer.com/escape-from-tarkov-dev-says-the-military-shooter-will-not-be-getting-playable-female-characters/
Developers Battlestate Games has stated that there are no plans to include playable female characters into the hardcore military shooter Escape from Tarkov. The statement was made as a response to questions about comments made in a 2016 interview.

Mutazione, Untitled Goose Game, and A Short Hike do battle for IGF award's top prize
https://www.pcgamer.com/mutazione-untitled-goose-game-and-a-short-hike-do-battle-for-igf-awards-top-prize/
Mutazione, the "mutant soap opera" adventure game set in a gossipy small town 100 years after a meteor strike, leads this year's selection of Independent Games Festival awards nominees with four nominations including for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Digital tabletop game studio Fantasy Flight Interactive is closing
https://www.pcgamer.com/digital-tabletop-game-studio-fantasy-flight-interactive-is-closing/
Fantasy Flight Interactive, a videogame studio launched in 2017 by board game company Fantasy Flight Games, will close its doors in February. Studio head Tim Gerritsen made the announcement in a message posted to LinkedIn, saying that he's now working to help his employees find new positions. The studio is located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Tiny houses are coming to The Sims 4
https://www.pcgamer.com/tiny-houses-are-coming-to-the-sims-4/
The tiny homes craze has quieted down for the most part, at least compared to several years ago when it seemed like every TV channel had its own show about people moving into itty bitty houses or remodeled trailers or converted cargo containers. But in The Sims 4 it looks like the trend of tiny homes is just about to kick off. A trailer for The Tiny Living Stuff Pack has arrived, showing fancy yet wee little homes that occupy 100 tiles or fewer.

Frictional Games' weird teaser is growing
https://www.pcgamer.com/frictional-games-weird-teaser-is-growing/
The purveyors of horror over at Frictional Games, developer of Amnesia and SOMA, have been teasing their next project for around a week. It remains a complete mystery, but there's a weird pulsating thing at the centre of the Next Frictional Game website, and now it's started to grow.

The Universim developer Crytivo is donating its profits to Australian wildfire relief
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-universim-developer-crytivo-is-donating-its-profits-to-australian-wildfire-relief/
Australia is still contending with devastating wildfires that have been plaguing the country all summer, exacerbated by heatwaves and drought. To help support people affected by the fires, The Universim developer Crytivo is donating profits from its own store and Steam.

Red Dead Online wants to tempt you to become a moonshiner with new bonuses
https://www.pcgamer.com/red-dead-online-wants-to-tempt-you-to-become-a-moonshiner-with-new-bonuses/
I finally got enough gold together to buy my way into Red Dead Online's moonshiner career a wee while ago by completing daily challenges for the cheap gods of the Wild West. There's a lot of repetitive work involved in running a frontier business, though, so I confess I've not been taking care of it. With the latest update, however, Rockstar is trying to get me back to work.

Overwatch 2 could launch this year, according to a deleted PlayStation tweet
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-release-date-leak/
Someone on the PlayStation Brazil social media team got a bit overexcited this week and hit 'Tweet' before thinking, telling everyone that Overwatch 2 would be hitting PS4 in 2020. Blizzard's yet to announce a release date for any platforms and hasn't commented on the tweet, which has since been deleted.