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

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The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has two new deals, as well as a new set of weeklong deals:

• The new daily deal is Gorogoa, 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/557600/Gorogoa/
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, that has a demo, is 55% off for the next 2 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/449610/Monster_Boy_and_the_Cursed_Kingdom/
• And these are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Crisis VRigade 2, an VR only game in Early Access, is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1066180/Crisis_VRigade_2/
  • Airships: Conquer the Skies gets a 35% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/342560/Airships_Conquer_the_Skies/
  • Zeus + Poseidon is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/566050/Zeus__Poseidon/
  • Infested Planet is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/204530/Infested_Planet/
  • And The Town of Light gets a 85% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/433100/The_Town_of_Light/

The Humble Store has three new sales:

• THQ Nordic has its games on sale, up to 80% off during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/thq-nordic-publisher-sale/
• Bandai Namco has also put its games on sale during the next 6 days, with up to 84% discounts: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/bandai-namco-sale/
• And there's a new Very Positive Indie Sale with up to 90% discounts also during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/very-positive-indie-sale/

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Skullgirls, 90% off for the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/skullgirls
• And there's a new bundle: the Tropico 5 Complete Bundle, with the game and 12 DLCs at a 79% discount during the next 14 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/tropico-5-complete-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Steam is adding support for built-in beta testing
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-appears-to-be-adding-support-for-built-in-beta-testing/
Running a beta test on Steam is normally something of a hassle, because developers have to hand out individual Steam keys to each person who wants to take part. But Valve is apparently trying to eliminate that aggravation by adding a new option that enables developers to incorporate testing signups directly into their Steam pages.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

There is now a 19GB HD Uncompressed AI-Enhanced Texture Pack for Skyrim
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/there-is-now-a-19gb-hd-uncompressed-ai-enhanced-texture-pack-for-skyrim/
In the past few months, we’ve seen a respectable number of HD Texture Packs for Skyrim Special Edition. However, these packs were not compatible with the original version of Skyrim. Thankfully, modder “kartoffel” has released a massive 19GB AI-enhanced Texture Pack for those that are still playing the original Skyrim.
Going into more details, the modder has cleaned of compression artifacts all the textures of Skyrim Legacy Edition. In order to achieve that, kartoffel used AI-enhanced techniques. To be more precise, he used ESRGAN’s BC1smooth2 mode.
According to the modder, this HD Texture Pack requires 0.6-1.6GB more VRAM than the original version with Bethesda’s HD Textures. Thus, and if you stay below the hard VRAM limit of 3.5GB, there will be no performance impact.
Do note that Skyrim Legacy Edition is a 32-bit game. As such, the game cannot use more than 4GB of VRAM.
>> You'll find it at Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

Project Athia will be open-world, will support Ray Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-athia-will-be-open-world-will-support-ray-tracing/
Back in June 2020, Square Enix announced a new game for PS5 and the PC, Project Athia. Now while we don’t know much about this game, we do know that it looks beautiful. Moreover, it will feature the same female protagonist that was present in Square Enix’s amazing tech demos, Agni’s Philosophy and WITCH CHAPTER 0 [cry].
Thankfully, Square Enix’s president, Yosuke Matsuda revealed some additional details about it. Project Athia will be an open-world game, and will support real-time ray tracing.

Disintegration will be free to play this weekend, between July 30th and August 2nd
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/disintegration-will-be-free-to-play-this-weekend-between-july-30th-and-august-2nd/
A lot of players were excited when V1 Interactive announced Disintegration; a new sci-fi first-person shooter from the co-creator of Halo. However, it appears that the game flopped (at least commercially). Thus, and in order to let more players experience it, V1 Interactive announced a free weekend period for it.
>> Let's hope it works for them.

STALKER 2 will support Ray Tracing according to its Microsoft Xbox Page
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/stalker-2-will-support-ray-tracing-according-to-its-microsoft-xbox-page/
STALKER 2 was one of the most promising games that were shown during Microsoft’s Xbox July 2020 event. And, according to the game’s Microsoft Xbox Page, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will support real-time ray tracing effects.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has been funded in just a few hours
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/eiyuden-chronicle-hundred-heroes-has-been-funded-in-just-a-few-hours/
A couple of days ago, we informed you about a new JRPG from the developers of SUIKODEN. As we reported back then, its team was planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign today. And, we are happy to report that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has been funded in just a few hours since its launch.
>> Hiku made a thread about it.

F1 2020 Patch 1.06 released, adds black Mercedes F1 car
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/f1-2020-patch-1-06-released-adds-black-mercedes-f1-car/
Codemasters has released a new update for its latest F1 racing game, F1 2020. According to the release notes, patch 1.06 brings in the brand new black Mercedes AMG Petronas livery. This is something that a lot of Mercedes fans have been waiting for, so kudos to Codemasters.

Lust from Beyond releases in September, inspired by Lovecraft, Giger and Beksinski
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/lust-from-beyond-september-lovecraft-giger-beksinski/
Movie Games has announced that its first-person psychological horror with a bold occult and erotic themes, Lust from Beyond, will release on September 24th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team released a new trailer that you can find below.

Here is why Ubisoft cancelled Mike Laidlaw’s King Arthur game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-is-why-ubisoft-cancelled-mike-laidlaws-king-arthur-game/
In late 2018, Ubisoft hired Mike Laidlaw. Mike Laidlaw was the creative director of the Dragon Age series. Laidlaw also worked on other Bioware games such as Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
However, and in just a year, Ubisoft fired Laidlaw and cancelled his project. And, thanks to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, we finally know the reasons behind this cancellation.

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge is a new adventure experience for Oculus Quest
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-tales-from-the-galaxys-edge-is-a-new-adventure-experience-for-oculus-quest/
ILMxLAB has announced a new Star Wars VR game for Oculus Quest. Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge will release later this year, and will be a new action-adventure experience. Furthermore, ILMxLAB has shared the game’s reveal trailer that you can find below.