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

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Monday news, part two:

Final Fantasy 14 won't evict you from your in-game house during the coronavirus pandemic
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-wont-evict-you-from-your-in-game-house-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
Final Fantasy 14 is putting a freeze on housing evictions, its developers announced yesterday, so that players don't have to worry about their virtual property during the coronavirus pandemic.

Become a cyberpunk detective in the Chinatown Detective Agency free demo
https://www.pcgamer.com/become-a-cyberpunk-detective-in-the-chinatown-detective-agency-free-demo/
Chinatown Detective Agency is a cyber noir adventure set in a futuristic Singapore and it's currently on Kickstarter asking for 57,000 SGD by the end of April.

Corona Relief Done Quick will fight the coronavirus with speedruns
https://www.pcgamer.com/corona-relief-done-quick-will-fight-the-coronavirus-with-speedruns/
The bad news is that Summer Games Done Quick, the nice-weather edition of the Games Done Quick charity speedrun extravaganza, has been delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak and is now scheduled to run August 16-23. The postponement means that all existing game submissions will be wiped on April 26, followed by a new submission stage beginning on April 29. Everyone interested in volunteering will also have to reapply to do so, although if you've already submitted an audition, you will not need to submit a new one.

Resident Evil Resistance open beta delayed on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/resident-evil-resistance-open-beta-delayed-on-pc/
Resident Evil Resistance, the asymmetrical multiplayer Resident Evil spinoff starring Martin Sandwich, is slated to come out in April, following an open beta that was set to begin today. The beta launched as planned on Xbox One, but the PC version on Steam (and the PlayStation 4 version, if that's your thing) has been delayed.

Blizzard polls World of Warcraft Classic players on possible The Burning Crusade Classic
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-polls-world-of-warcraft-classic-players-on-possible-the-burning-crusade-classic/
Blizzard has sent a survey to a select number of World of Warcraft Classic players asking their opinions on a number of issues, including several questions geared towards the release of expansion The Burning Crusade in “Classic” form. Screenshots of the poll were posted to Reddit, after which they came to PC Gamer’s attention. The first of two questions is simply a gauge of interest in “a ‘Classic’ version of The Burning Crusade,” with response options ranging from “Not at all interested” to “Extremely interested.” The second polls players on how they’d envision starting in “Classic” Burning Crusade, and has a range of options already being hotly debated on social media.

Approachable space program simulator Mars Horizon opens beta signups for April 27th
https://www.pcgamer.com/approachable-space-program-simulator-mars-horizon-opens-beta-signups-for-april-27th/
Space program simulation game Mars Horizon is having a beta next month, and you’re invited. Described as a “strategy simulation game about space exploration,” the game has you take charge of a major space agency and attempt to get humans to Mars. Mars Horizon was developed with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) , with advice on the actual science and planning that goes into the process of space missions. The beta test is open to sign ups, and will take place starting April 27th. The beta will be about eight hours long, taking players from the early stages of space flight to the Moon and back. Players will be able to play as the European, Russian, and American space agencies, upgrading rockets and building facilities and sending people to space—all the stuff you'd expect. Mars Horizon isn’t quite as hardcore as other space program simulations, like Kerbal Space Program, so it might be a good one to try if you’ve always been intimidated by the complexity of those games.

The Crusader Kings 3 team is working hard to make the game easier to learn
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-crusader-kings-3-team-is-working-hard-to-make-the-game-easier-to-learn/
In their latest developer diary, Paradox Interactive has gone into detail on their efforts to make Crusader Kings 3 a more accessible experience compared to prior grand strategy games. Though Crusader Kings 2 was a smash success, a common complaint among those interested in it was that the interface and mechanics were a chore to comprehend. “We’ve put a lot of effort into making the interface more approachable for people,” says programmer Matthew Clohessy, “just so that the difficulty and complexity comes from playing the game well and having good strategies instead of finding what number you need or tooltip to find out a piece of information, or Googling what a specific term means.”

Cute village-builder Charterstone becomes the first legacy board game to go digital
https://www.pcgamer.com/cute-village-builder-charterstone-becomes-the-first-legacy-board-game-to-go-digital/
Just under two years after it was announced, the legacy board game Charterstone has released on Steam. In Charterstone, players compete to develop a new settlement, each trying to become the most famous and powerful among the local leaders. Charterstone is the first legacy board game to come to a digital platform.

Accidental crossplay between Star Wars: Jedi Academy on PC and console is a slaughter
https://www.pcgamer.com/accidental-crossplay-between-star-wars-jedi-academy-on-pc-and-console-is-a-slaughter/
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy first released in 2003, and its innovative and still-unique lightsaber dueling mechanics garnered a fanatical group of players that have kept up the game for nearly 17 years. Just this week developer Aspyr Media re-released Jedi Academy on PS4 and Nintendo Switch with updated controls for modern consoles, and it seems like the appeal is still strong—plus, the general multiplayer modes are fully functional. It does nearly everything the old PC game does.

Gabe Newell was a World of Warcraft gold farmer
https://www.pcgamer.com/gabe-newell-was-a-world-of-warcraft-gold-farmer/
Gabe Newell: CEO and co-founder of Valve, recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship award, billionaire, and as we have now learned a gold farmer in World of Warcraft (retired). The topic came up in a recent interview with Edge Magazine, where Newell discussed the evolution of Steam, explaining that at a certain point Valve started thinking of games "as productivity platforms" rather than just entertainment.

After a disastrous launch, Steam top-seller Last Oasis is temporarily going offline and giving full refunds
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-a-disastrous-launch-steam-top-seller-last-oasis-is-temporarily-going-offline-and-giving-full-refunds/
Last Oasis, like a lot of multiplayer games, has not had a smooth launch. The Early Access survival MMO released on March 26 but by that evening was suffering from widespread connection issues which quickly got worse until the game was unplayable for most people. Three days later and Last Oasis is still not working, despite its developers working around the clock and providing frequent updates. But with no end in sight for Last Oasis's server issues, developer Donkey Crew has decided to take servers offline for a week and offer players a full refund regardless of play time.

Despite an earthquake, Scum's developers are still updating their game
https://www.pcgamer.com/despite-an-earthquake-scums-developers-are-still-updating-their-game/
Prison riot survival game Scum was released in Early Access in 2018, and has been updated regularly since by Croatian development studio Gamepires. Their latest update comes in the wake of an earthquake in Croatia's capital Zagreb, where their office is located, which was apparently the worst quake the city has suffered in 140 years.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is out now, after 7 years of waiting
https://www.pcgamer.com/mount-and-blade-2-bannerlord-is-out-now-after-7-years-of-waiting/
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has been one of our most anticipated games since it was announced all the way back in 2012, and after seven years it's finally out now in Early Access. You could be playing it this very second instead of reading PC gaming news.

Minecraft with RTX is "coming soon", here's how to create textures ripe for ray tracing
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-with-rtx-coming-soon/
Nvidia has released a new sneak peek of the upcoming Minecraft DXR update, 'Minecraft with RTX', and it's once more promising the ray tracing overhaul is "coming soon". But before all that, you can take a look at three new worlds designed by some of Minecraft's top creators—Razzleberries, BlockWorks, and GeminiTay—along with two presentations on the in-game path tracer and how to go about building textures for real-time ray tracing yourself.