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

[JEMC]

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has a new sale and one returning from last week:

• The new Weekly Sale is full of "dark and atmospheric games" up to 90% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211025_weekly_sale
• And the Fallout franchise Sale, with up to 75% discounts, will last another 24 hours: https://www.gog.com/promo/fallout_bombs_drop

Steam has two new daily deals:

• The first one is Stronghold: Warlords, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/907650/Stronghold_Warlords/
• And the second one is Total Tank Simulator, 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/674500/Total_Tank_Simulator/

At Humble we find five new sales:

• At Humble Bundle we find the new Paradox Stratagems Bundle, with up to 11 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/paradox-stratagems-bundle
• And at the Humble Store we get another 4 sales:
  • Publisher tinyBuild puts part of its games on sale, up to 34% off during the next 4 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tinybuild-sale/
  • There's also a tinyBuild BYOB Sale, with40 titles available to build your up to 5 games bundle. And remember, the bigger the bundle, the higher the discount, up to 60% off. This sale will also last 4 days and there are keys for Steam, GOG and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tinybuild-byob/
  • The For Honor franchise is up to 75% off during the next 7 days. Needless to say, the keys are for UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/for-honor-franchise-sale/
  • And there's a Halloween Sale featuring up to 90% discounts during the next 7 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG, EGS, UPlay and the Rockstar thing: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/halloween-sale/

And Fanatical has three new sales:

• The new Star Deal is Dead Island Definitive Collection, 84% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dead-island-definitive-collection
• 2K Games puts its catalog up to 86% off during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/2k-games
• And the new Scream Sale brings up to 96% discounts

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AI voice-acting tool xVASynth gets even better at recreating videogame voices
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ai-voice-acting-tool-xvasynth-gets-even-better-at-recreating-videogame-voices/
In January, Nat Clayton highlighted a neat tool for modders that was used to give a fan-made trailer entirely AI-synthesized voice acting. That tool is called xVASynth, and it's the work of software developer Dan Ruta, who just updated it to version 2.0.
The video above demonstrates what's new with the help of some familiar voices, recreated by AI models trained on voice data to recreate a specific character. Not perfectly, of course—they have the clipped, hurried tone that gives away synthesized speech, as well as occasional mispronunciations—but good enough for mods. You'll hear characters like Cave Johnson from Portal 2, Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite, Butch from Fallout 3, Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village, and Widowmaker from Overwatch all extolling the improvements in xVASynth 2.0.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion gets a 19GB AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-gets-a-19gb-ai-enhanced-hd-texture-pack/
Earlier this month, modder ‘Kuzja80’ released a brand new version of his AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This pack uses AI techniques in order to enhance almost all of the textures of this classic TES game.
According to the modder, this latest version brings a new quality level to the game by improving the quality details of textures. It also packs a number of optimization techniques, and removes the pixel grain effect. Additionally, it fixes the left bottom corner pixel buffer, as well as issues with “medium settings normal maps artifacts.”
>> You'll find it at Nexus Mods.

Fallout 4 Project Mojave Mod is now available in Early Access
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-4-project-mojave-mod-is-now-available-in-early-access/
Modders HcG x Grill, TheFriedturkey, C411um13 and MrColonelMustard have released an Early Access version of their passion project for Fallout 4, Project Mojave. Project Mojave is a full remake of the New Vegas strip that includes 3 functional casinos.
According to the team, this mod features a remake of roughly a quarter of the map (around Ivanpah Drylake and the I15). It also comes with 10 custom creatures, of which 3 are brand new ones. Additionally, it has 800+ brand-new remade assets and 3 player homes.
>> Head to Nexus Mods to get it.

Halo 3's been moddable for a week, so here's Dust2
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/halo-3s-been-moddable-for-a-week-so-heres-dust2/
If a game has mapping tools, the wisdom goes, you can be sure someone, somewhere, has remade Counter-Strike's Dust2 using them. That's how, after 14 years as one of the most enduring console shooters ever made, Master Chief can finally hold Bombsite B against Covenant invaders.
Last week, 343 released official modding tools for Halo 2 and 3, letting players completely rework maps, AI, gametypes and more using a suite of development tools. Given their similarity to existing tools for the original Halo, it wasn't long before folks figured out how to import custom map geometry, allowing for entirely new and original takes on Halo 3's arenas.
Or, as Redditor peakforeverthing proved, they could bring one of the most famous PC FPS arenas of all time to the flagship console shooter.

GAMING NEWS

Path of Exile: Scourge Expansion is now available on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/path-of-exile-scourge-expansion-is-now-available-on-pc/
Grinding Gear Games has released the latest free expansion of Path of Exile, Path of Exile: Scourge. In Scourge, players must fill the Blood Crucible with the blood of your enemies then shift into an alternate Wraeclast where an apocalyptic event rages, in order to slay powerful demons and craft potent items.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider runs noticeably faster without Denuvo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-runs-noticeably-faster-without-denuvo/
A few days ago, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Shadow of the Tomb Raider. As such, and after some reports, we’ve decided to benchmark the game and see how it performs now that Denuvo is no longer available. And, surprisingly enough, the game now runs noticeably faster.

Dark space-shooter Chorus gets a story trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/dark-space-shooter-chorus-gets-a-story-trailer/
Deep Silver and Fishlabs Games have released the story trailer for their upcoming dark space-shooter game, Chrous. In this game, players will assume the role of ace pilot Nara; a fugitive on a quest to destroy the dark cult that created her, facing her haunted past along the way.

Here are the official PC system requirements for Age of Empires 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-are-the-official-pc-system-requirements-for-age-of-empires-4/
Microsoft and Relic have released the official PC system requirements for the new Age of Empires game, Age of Empires IV. According to the specs, the game will require 50GB of free hard-disk space, and will be using the DX12 API.
>> My poor CPU can't run it, in theory.

New official Halo Infinite campaign trailer released
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-official-halo-infinite-campaign-trailer-released/
The first campaign gameplay trailer/video for Halo: Infinite disappointed a lot of gamers back in 2020. In fact, that trailer was the reason 343 Industries and Microsoft decided to delay the game for over a year. And, here we are today, a couple of months away from the game’s release, with a brand new gameplay trailer for it.