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

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The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

More people playing Cookie Clicker than Rainbow Six Siege, Civ 6, Phasmophobia
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/more-people-playing-cookie-clicker-than-rainbow-six-siege-civ-6-phasmophobia/
The introduction of Cookie Clicker to Steam has destabilized the collective consciousness of gamers to the point where not only are they giving it Overwhelmingly Positive reviews, they're also leaving it open to the point where it's in the top 15 most-played games by concurrent users.
Cookie Clicker is a notorious idle game, first released in 2013, that's become emblematic of the first wave of idle development. Heck, an alternate name for the whole idle genre is Clicker for a reason.
Its current position on the most-played Steam games is 14th, which puts it ahead of Rainbow Six Siege, Civilization 6, Phasmophobia, and Warframe. Only one of those games is free.

GOG has a new sale and two returning ones:

• The new Weekly Sale brings up to 90% discounts on point'n'click games: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210906_weekly_sale
• 505 Games' 15th Anniversary Sale with its up to 80% discounts will last another 3 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/505_games_15th_anniversary
• And the Fantasy RPG Sale, with up to 90% discounts, will also last another 3 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/rpg_month_fantasy

Steam has two new daily deals:

• The first one is Dreadlands, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054690/Dreadlands/
• The second daily deal is Partisans 1941, 67% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227530/Partisans_1941/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Humongous Back to School Bundle, with up to 37 games to grab during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humongous-back-to-school

And Fanatical has three new deals:

• The Star Deal, that started yesterday and has very few keys left, is Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, 70% off for another 24 hours or until it runs out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-definitive-edition
• There's a Labor Day Sale with up to 91% discounts. Plus, you can save another $1 using the LABORDAY code (for purchases higher than $5).
• And the Build Your Own GEMS Bundle, features 19 games to choose you 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-gems-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This Fallout 4 Mod adds around 18000 additional trees to the game
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-fallout-4-mod-adds-around-18000-additional-trees-to-the-game/
Modder ‘Oynlen’ has released a new forest mod for Fallout 4 that adds around 18000 additional trees to the game. As the modder noted, Another Pine Forest adds thousands of Pine and Aspen trees to the Commonwealth.
The modder has taken steps in order to avoid trees clipping with others in their vanilla placements. Furthermore, the mod enhances both Nuka World and Far Harbor (which now feature updated LOD files).
You can download this mod from here. Do note that, according to the modder, you’ll need all of the game’s DLCs so that the mod can work properly. Additionally, you can find at the end of the article some screenshots from this mod.

This amazing mod for Age of Empires 2 lets you experience Doom as a strategy game
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-amazing-mod-for-age-of-empires-2-lets-you-experience-doom-as-a-stategy-game/
Now here is something truly amazing. Modder ‘HELLKNIGHT61’ has released a mod for Age of Empires 2 that lets you experience the classic Doom game from a totally different perspective.
This Doom mod for Age of Empires 2 features an isometric camera, and lets you control the Doomguy and fight against DOOM monsters with a third-person shooter perspective.
This mod also features some of Doom’s mechanics. For instance, the Marine can use his “Sprint” ability. The Marine can also interact with switches, elevators and teleportation devices. Additionally, he can use “Standard Shotgun”, “Double Barreled Shotgun”, “Rocket Barreled Shotgun”, “BFG” and “Soul Cube” items.
What’s also cool here is that the mod features a totally unique story. Still, there are some similarities with Doom (1993) and Doom 3 (2004) games in some aspects. For example, the main villain is Betruger (who is obviously inspired by Doom 3).
>> Available from ModDB.

Grand Theft Auto Underground Mod has been officially canceled
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/grand-theft-auto-underground-mod-has-been-officially-canceled/
The UG team has just announced the cancelation of the GTA Underground project. GTA Underground was a mod that attempted to combine the San Andreas, Liberty City, Vice City, Manhunt I/II, Bullworth, and custom maps into one big map.
(...)
This obviously does not surprise us. Back in July, Take-Two took down this project (alongside some other mods for Vice City and San Andreas).

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with over 1200 mods & Reshade Ray Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-with-over-1200-mods-reshade-ray-tracing/
Last month, we shared a video showcasing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with 500 mods. And yesterday, Digital Dreams shared another video, showing this TES game with over 1200 mods and Reshade Ray Tracing.
Digital Dreams used Elysium’s Modlist that you can find here. This modlist features all sorts of mods. Alongside its graphical mods, it also comes with a wide variety of new quests and encounters. It also packs some gameplay mods to flesh out all aspects of the game.
Now as we said in our previous articles, these mods will most likely stress even high-end GPUs. Thus, you may encounter some performance issues on mid-tier hardware.

New mod allows you to play The Witcher 3 in first-person mode
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-mod-allows-you-to-play-the-witcher-3-in-first-person-mode/
In 2017, we shared a mod that allowed you to play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in first-person mode. And yesterday, modder ‘ExtremeDotneting’ released a reworked version of this mod that aims to address some issues and glitches.
This First Person Camera Reworked Mod attempts to resolve some of the issues that were found in First Person Improved and modFirstPerson. Do note that it’s still not perfect. However, it appears that the game is now playable via a first-person perspective. Or at least it’s in a better shape than before. As the modder noted, this reworked version makes control more convenient and fixes some problems. For instance, it does not display swords or crossbows (an issue that affected the previous FPS mods).
>> There's a video to showcase it, and you can get the mod from Nexus Mods.

Cyberpunk 2077 gets an enhanced Photo Mode Unlocker
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-gets-an-enhanced-photo-mode-unlocker/
Modder ‘SilverEzredes’ has released a new enhanced Photo Mode Unlocker for Cyberpunk 2077. This new Photo Mode removes most restrictions, adds new features and is compatible with the game’s latest patch 1.3.
Going into more details, Photo Mode Unlocker 1.3 increases max camera distance from V by 100x. It also increases LOD0 distance by 100x. Furthermore, it provides a wider range of values for Field of View, Camera Rotation and Depth of Field Aperture.
>> If you're interested, you'll be able to find it at Nexus Mods.

Minecraft mod Mammoth will allow servers to host thousands of players without keeling over
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/minecraft-mod-mammoth-will-allow-servers-to-host-thousands-of-players-without-keeling-over/
The 'world record' for concurrent Minecraft players in a single world is 2622, a messy accomplishment where none of those players was able to actually do anything but, hey, they were there. This just wasn't good enough for coder Jackson Roberts, who at the beginning of 2020 wanted a lockdown project, and decided to create a gigantic Minecraft server that could host thousands of players without lag. Minecraft's existing single-threaded server software clearly wasn't up to the job so Roberts and collaborator Harvey298 decided they would work out how to build their own, calling the project Mammoth.

GAMING NEWS

New Battlefield 2042 gameplay footage focuses on Specialists
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-battlefield-2042-gameplay-footage-focuses-on-specialists/
Electronic Arts and DICE have released a new gameplay video for Battlefield 2042 that focuses on its Specialists. This new gameplay video shows Mackay, Boris, Falck and Casper (you can find more details about these Specialists here).

Turbo Overkill is a new retro cyberpunk FPS that is inspired by Doom, Duke Nukem & Quake
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/turbo-overkill-is-a-new-retro-cyberpunk-fps-that-is-inspired-by-doom-duke-nukem-quake/
Apogee has just announced a new FPS that is heavily inspired by Doom, Duke Nukem and Quake, and comes with cyberpunk visuals, called Turbo Overkill. Turbo Overkill promises to be one of the most savage first-person shooters, and below you can find its announcement trailer.
>> Either I'm having a severe déjà vu, or this game was already announced earlier this year.

New Diablo 2 Resurrected trailers showcase the Druid, Amazon, Sorceress & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-diablo-2-resurrected-trailers-showcase-druid-amazon-sorceress-more/
Blizzard has released some new gameplay trailers for Diablo 2 Resurrected. These new trailers showcase the Druid, Sorceress, Amazon, Barbarian and Paladin classes.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns won’t have loot boxes but will have cosmetic MTX
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/marvels-midnight-suns-wont-have-loot-boxes-but-will-have-cosmetic-mtx/
2K Games and Firaxis have announced that Marvel’s Midnight Suns won’t have any loot boxes or gameplay-related microtransactions. Instead, the game will have some cosmetic character skins that players can purchase (that do not affect game balance in any way).

Official PC Requirements for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/official-pc-requirements-for-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodhunt/
Sharkmob AB has revealed the official PC system requirements for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt is a free-to-play battle royale game set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, that will hit Steam Early Access on September 7th.

Forza Horizon 5 full map revealed + new screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/forza-horizon-5-full-map-revealed-new-screenshots/
Microsoft and Playground Games have revealed the full map for Forza Horizon 5. In addition, the teams shared three new in-engine screenshots that you can find below.