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

[JEMC]

Here come the Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

NBA 2K21 was the top-earning game of September, Marvel’s Avengers sold 2.2 million digital copies
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nba-2k21-was-the-top-earning-game-of-september-marvels-avengers-sold-2-2-million-digital-copies/
Each and every year we hear NBA 2K fans express their disappointment and frustration about each and every new iteration of this basketball game. Yet, despite this fan backlash, NBA 2K manages to sell like hotcakes, each and every year. And, according to Superdata, NBA 2K21 was the top-earning game of September 2021. Moreover, Marvel’s Avengers sold 2.2M digital units in September 2020. Additionally, Crusader Kings III broke records for PC strategy games, selling 1.1M digital units in September 2020. Not only that, but Rocket League’s transition to a free-to-play business model paid off for developer Psyonix.

GOG starts the week with three new deals:

• The usual weekly sale has been replaced with a Halloween Sale that brings up to 81% discounts on more than 850 games for the next 7 days. Check out the different sections (tricks, treats, Ghostly Indies, Spooky RPGs and Scariest Discounts) over here: https://www.gog.com/news/the_halloween_sale_on_gogcom_has_been_unleashed
• Pumpkin Jack launches on the store with a 20% discount until November 2: https://www.gog.com/game/pumpkin_jack
• The Outer Worlds also launches on the store with a 50% discount until the 2nd of November: https://www.gog.com/game/the_outer_worlds

And Fanatical has several deals:

• The new Star Deal is Blood: Fresh Supply, 90% off for the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/blood-fresh-supply
• Northgard is 60% off for the next 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/northgard
• SEGA has its games up to 77% off during the next 8 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/sega
• Devolver Digital also has its games on sale, up to 90% off during the next 9 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/devolver-digital
• There's a Scream Sale for Halloween with up to 92% discounts. Check out the deals here: https://www.fanatical.com/en/on-sale
• And there are two new bundles:
  • The Platinum Horror Pack features 3 games with a 83% discount for the next 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/platinum-horror-pack
  • And the Monster Mystery Bundle comes with up to 8 unknown games to grab for the next 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/monster-mystery-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Deleting or deactivating your Facebook does the same to your Oculus account
https://www.pcgamer.com/deleting-or-deactivating-your-facebook-does-the-same-to-your-oculus-account/
Facebook does not want you to stop using Facebook, it seems, because if you deactivate your account for a little break you'll also lose access to your Oculus Profile. Perhaps worse, if you delete your Facebook account you'll also delete your app purchases and achievements. "You will no longer be able to return any apps," says Facebook, "and will lose any existing store credits." So buyer beware: If you purchase an Oculus Quest 2 you'll need a Facebook account, and that account will have to be active at all times and, presumably, in good standing if you want to use your Quest 2.
>> Keep that in mind if you're thinking about getting a VR helmet.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout 4 & Fallout: New Vegas mods add support for Vulkan via wrappers
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/fallout-4-fallout-new-vegas-mods-add-vulkan/
Fallout 4 and Fallout New Vegas fans, here is something special for you. We all know that these two games have performance/optimization issues on the PC. However, modders were able to improve performance by adding support for the Vulkan API via wrappers.
You can download the Vulkan mods for Fallout 4 and Fallout New Vegas from here and here, respectively. All you have to do is drop the contents of the zip files to your game’s root directory, and you are good to go. Do note that if you’re using an ENBSeries mod, you’ll have to do some adjustments/tweaks.
Do note that these mods do not add native support for the Vulkan API. These are just wrappers that could potentially improve performance. This can happen on AMD’s GPUs that have high memory overhead due to AMD’s mediocre DX11 drivers. And, according to a number of reports, these wrappers do indeed improve performance under various scenarios.

Portal Reloaded is a new mod for Portal 2, to be released in April 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/portal-reloaded-is-a-new-mod-for-portal-2-to-be-released-in-apirl-2021/
Jannis Brinkmann has announced a new free community mod for Portal 2, Portal Reloaded. The mod will release on April 19th, 2021, and will build on the concepts of the main game by allowing you to place a third portal, which enables traveling between two different timelines.
According to the modder, Portal Reloaded will have 25 brand new mind and time-bending puzzles. You play as test subject [4-5-0-9] that awakes from stasis by an automated AI.
In Portal Reloaded you get a hold of the Triple Portal Device, which allows you to shoot three different portals. The familiar blue and orange portals, connecting two different places in space and a third green time portal, which connects two different timelines.
>> There is a trailer for it.

UnrealHD v3.0 is now available, overhauls all classic Unreal & Unreal Tournament skins
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unrealhd-v3-0-overhauls-all-classic-unreal-unreal-tournament-skins/
Unreal and Unreal Tournament fans, here is something special for you today. Lightning_Hunter has released a new version of his high-resolution skins pack for Unreal and Unreal Tournament, UnrealHD.
As you may have guessed, UnrealHD is a mutator that replaces all the old and blurry Unreal/RTNP skins with detailed, high-resolution versions. Do note that this pack only overhauls the skins of enemies, NPCs and weapons; it does not replace any of the environmental textures.
According to the modder, UnrealHD v3.0 comes with enhanced skins for Unreal Tournament, Unreal, and UT99. In addition to this, it includes many custom skins from popular single-player maps. Furthermore, it fixes the longstanding FOV issue of the weapons in widescreen.
>> Available from ModDB.

Someone made Among Us in VR and it actually kind of works
https://www.pcgamer.com/someone-made-among-us-in-vr-and-it-actually-kind-of-works/
Social deception game Among Us blew up recently, becoming one of the biggest games on Twitch. The resulting burst of creative energy—like cosmic rays from a supernova, except memes—has inevitably led to this: Among Us recreated in VRChat, with a full 3D version of the Skeld map, wires to connect, cards to swipe, and buttons to push. And you can actually play it like Among Us, with imposters, murders, and voting rounds.
Despite the name, you don't have to play VRChat with a VR headset, so it's possible to experience this 3D Among Us map on your monitor like any other game. First, you need VRChat, which is free-to-play on Steam. With it installed, you can launch the Among Us world here or just search for "Among Us" in the world browser.
The map was made by Jar, who builds VRChat game worlds with a bit of funding from Patreon. It isn't the entire game redesigned in 3D, but you can actually play rounds of Among Us in it. I tried it (without a headset), and as one of the two imposters, I managed to kill two crewmates. The players who were using their microphones for speaking and not just making weird noises (VRChat is a place for free expression) were speaking Russian (I think), so I don't know if they suspected me, but they didn't vote for me after either of my kills. I eventually won, even though my imposter partner left the game early and I'm not sure what triggered the victory—maybe a crewmate quit, or it was just a bug.

The fan-made Mario 64 PC port is getting ray tracing
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-fan-made-mario-64-pc-port-is-getting-ray-tracing/
I think the Mario 64 port might be the coolest thing to happen on PC in 2020. Yeah, yeah, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Cyberpunk 2020, blah blah blah—here's a beloved game that has been brilliantly reverse-engineered and programmed to run on the PC, inspiring a community of modders to learn how it works and do entirely new things with it. There are tons of texture mod projects giving it a better makeover than Nintendo is doing with its own re-release on the Nintendo Switch, but that's really just the beginning of it. Modder Darío has something more ambitious already working inside Mario 64: ray tracing.
As with Minecraft and Quake 2, there's something especially striking about ray tracing in an older, simpler graphics engine. I think in modern games that are already incredibly detailed, it's a lot harder for the reflections in a puddle or the beams of light coming through a window to really stand out. But a 25-year-old game suddenly getting realistic lighting and surface reflections? That is noticeable. Also, I think it's really funny.

GAMING NEWS

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – Remaster versus Original Comparison Screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/need-for-speed-hot-pursuit-remaster-versus-original-comparison-screenshots/
Electronic Arts has released some comparison screenshots between the upcoming remaster and the original versions of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. These comparison screenshots showcase the graphical improvements that the team has made to this upcoming remaster.

Little Nightmares 2 gets an official Halloween trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/little-nightmares-2-gets-an-official-halloween-trailer/
Little Nightmares 2 is still a few months away, but Halloween is almost upon on. And since Halloween is known for the scary and creepy, Tarsier Studios decided to publish a new trailer.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies Onslaught will be timed-exclusive on PS4/PS5, coming to PC in 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war-zombies-onslaught-will-be-timed-exclusive-on-ps4-ps5-coming-to-pc-in-2021/
I’m pretty sure that most of you saw this coming. Activision has released a new trailer for the Zombies Onslaught Mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, revealing that it will be timed-exclusive on PS4 and PS5.

“Silent Hills P.T.”-inspired horror game, Visage, fully releases on October 30th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/silent-hills-p-t-inspired-horror-game-visage-fully-releases-on-october-30th/
SadSquare Studio has announced that its psychological horror game, which is heavily inspired by Silent Hills P.T., will fully release on October 30th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released a new trailer that you can find below.

Viking City Builder will support Ray Tracing & DLSS 2.0, comparison screenshots released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/viking-city-builder-ray-tracing-dlss-2-0-comparison-screenshots/
Roslagen, the creator of Viking City Builder, has announced that this upcoming strategy game will support Ray Tracing and DLSS 2.0. In order to showcase these Ray Tracing effects, Roslagen shared the following comparison screenshots.