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

[JEMC]

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

Zombie survival classic Unturned hits new highs for no reason other than that it's free and fun
https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-survival-classic-unturned-hits-new-highs-for-no-reason-other-than-that-its-free-and-fun/
2014 zombie survival shooter Unturned is trending right now, shattering eight years of concurrent player records for a whopping 93,161 players on October 4th. It's currently got over 50,000 players on, with a peak this weekend equal to its launch peak of over 60,000. (Thanks for the stats, SteamDB).
Why would this happen, you ask? Some major update? A showcase from a popular Twitch streamer? None of that. It's just free, fun, and has been consistently updated for eight years. You can have fun playing it competitively, cooperatively, or by yourself. That's it. That's the deets.

GOG has two Deals of the Day and two sales:

• The first DotD is Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness, 38% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/black_geyser_couriers_of_darkness
• The other DotD is Broforce, with an 80% discount until Wednesday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/broforce
• The Weekly Sale features RPGs with up to 75% discounts until next Monday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20221010_weekly_sale
• And the Devolver Digital Sale features up to 90% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2022_devolver_publisher_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• The new daily deal is BLUE REFLECTION: Second Light, 40% off (it's part of a Blue Reflection Sale that was well hidden and will end in 24 hours): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1423600/BLUE_REFLECTION_Second_Light/
• And This War of Mine will be 80% off until October 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/282070/This_War_of_Mine/

We can find three new sales at Humble:

• At Humble Bundle we find the Warhammer. Vermintide Franchise Bundle, with up to 21 games and DLCs to get during the netx 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/warhammer-vermintide
• The Humble Store has two sales:
  • The Phenomenal Physics Sale features up to 90% discounts during 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG, EGS and UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/phenomenal-physics-sale/
  • The Far Cry franchise Sale brings up to 80% discounts during 6 days. Thereare a couple GOG keys, but the rest are for UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/far-cry-franchise-sale/

And Fanatical has two new sales and a lot of bundles:

• The new Star Deal is Persona 5 Strikers - Digital Deluxe Edition, 68% off during 48 https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/persona-5-strikers-deluxe-edition"> https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/persona-5-strikers-deluxe-edition
• Paradox Interactive puts its games up to 81% off during 8 more days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/paradox-interactive
• And there are 17 new bundles, way too many to list them all. You can check them out here.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unreal Engine 5.1 Preview 1 is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-1-preview-1-is-available-for-download/
Epic Games has released the first preview build of Unreal Engine 5.1 to the public. Developers and enthusiasts can download this preview build for free via the Epic Games Launcher.
According to Epic, Unreal Engine 5.1 offers performance improvements with Lumen, Nanite, and Virtual Shadow Maps (VSM), allowing games to run at 60 fps on current-gen consoles and PCs.

EA's Origin is officially dead
https://www.pcgamer.com/eas-origin-is-officially-dead/
Back in 2020, Electronic Arts announced that its Origin launcher was being updated and rebranded as the EA App. More than two years later, it's finally ready to go: EA announced today that the app is now out of open beta and will soon step over Origin's corpse to take its place as EA's "primary PC platform."
"The EA app is our fastest and lightest PC client to date," EA said. "With the new streamlined design you will easily find the games and content you’re looking for and discover your new favorite games. With automatic game downloads and background updates you can ensure that your games are ready to play when you are."
Along with all the usual launcher stuff, the EA app will also connect to other platforms, including Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, so users will be able to integrate their friend lists and stay on top of what everyone else is doing.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

New Fallout 4: New Vegas screenshots showcase the NCR Ranger Safehouse
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/new-fallout-4-new-vegas-screenshots-showcase-the-ncr-ranger-safehouse/
The team behind the Fallout 4 New Vegas project has released a new set of screenshots for it. These screenshots showcase the NCR Ranger Safehouse which will be featured in this total conversion mod.
Fallout 4: New Vegas aims to recreate Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout: New Vegas in Fallout 4’s Creation Engine. This mod will come with all of the original quests, story and content. Furthermore, it will have additional gameplay elements and systems from the new and improved engine.

Half-Life: Enriched announced, graphical overhaul for the original HL game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/half-life-enriched-announced-graphical-overhaul-for-the-original-hl-game/
Modder ‘Hezus’ has announced a complete overhaul mod for the original Half-Life game, called Half-Life: Enriched. In addition, the modder has shared some screenshots that you can find below.
According to its description, Half-Life: Enriched aims to rework all of the original Half-Life maps in the single-player campaign. Since this mod will rework all of the maps, it will cut down on the loading mid-points by merging maps together. This will get rid of many of the issues surrounding the loading points. Additionally, it may open up new possibilities for gameplay.

Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast VR Mod released in Early Access
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/star-wars-jedi-knight-2-jedi-outcast-vr-mod-early-access/
Back in March 2022, we informed you about a VR mod/remake for Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. And today, we are happy to report that this mod is available now in Early Access.
Unfortunately, this first Early Access version is only available to Team Beef’s Patreon members. However, and once it’s out of Early Access, Dr. Beef plans to release this VR mod to the public for free.
>> There's a video (not even 2 min. long).

Duke Nukem Forever: Enhanced Mod 1.1 available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/duke-nukem-forever-enhanced-mod-1-1-available-for-download/
Modder ‘vini1264’ has released a new version of Duke Nukem Forever: Enhanced. Duke Nukem Forever: Enhanced is a mod for the 2011 release of DNF that aims to improve the gameplay of the original game and make it play more like a classic shooter.
Going into more details, this mod removes sprinting and makes the player move faster by default. Additionally, it increases jump height and swimming speed (players can also hold their breath underwater for 45 seconds instead of 15). Furthermore, the mod removes the 2/4 weapon limit, removes the Depth of Field effects, and forces a first-person mode for the game’s driving sections.
All in all, these gameplay tweaks aim to make the game a bit better than its vanilla/original version.
>> There are some screenshots.

My kind of modders are re-building the first Vampire: the Masquerade in Skyrim
https://www.pcgamer.com/my-kind-of-modders-are-re-building-the-first-vampire-the-masquerade-in-skyrim/
A group of ambitious modders is working on recreating the first World of Darkness videogame, Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption, as a total conversion mod for Skyrim.

GAMING NEWS

A Plague Tale Requiem requires an RTX 3070 for 60fps at 1080p/Ultra
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/a-plague-tale-requiem-requires-an-rtx-3070-for-60fps-at-1080p-ultra/
Focus Entertainment has revealed the official PC system requirements for A Plague Tale Requiem. And, according to the specs, PC gamers will need an NVIDIA GeForce RTX3070 in order to play the game at 1080p with 60fps on Ultra settings.
>> A 3070 or a 6800XT, and a min of 16GB of RAM. That means that this game will be either the most visually challenging game ever, of one of the worst optimized. We'll see which one is.

9 minutes of leaked in-engine footage from Star Citizen Squadron 42
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/9-minutes-of-leaked-in-engine-footage-from-star-citizen-squadron-42/
A new video surfaced yesterday, showcasing 9 minutes of brand new in-engine footage from Star Citizen and Squadron 42. This video was from an internal review, and its scenes are rendered on client (these aren’t pre-rendered scenes).

Here are the PC system requirements for Sonic Frontiers
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-are-the-pc-system-requirements-for-sonic-frontiers/
SEGA has revealed the official PC system requirements for Sonic Frontiers. Sonic Frontiers will be using the Hedgehog Engine 2 and according to its specs, PC gamers will at least need an Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 with 8GB of RAM.

Leaked gameplay video for Embark Studios’ THE FINALS surfaces online
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/leaked-gameplay-video-for-embark-studios-the-finals-surface-online/
A video from the closed beta phase of THE FINALS has been leaked, showcasing 7 minutes of gameplay footage from it. THE FINALS will be a free-to-play online fast-paced first-person shooter, created by ex-DICE developers.

Gotham Knights, Sonic Frontiers & Valkyrie Elysium will be using Denuvo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gotham-knights-sonic-frontiers-valkyrie-elysium-will-be-using-denuvo/
Warner Bros, SEGA and Square Enix have updated the Steam store pages for Gotham Knights, Sonic Frontiers and Valkyrie Elysium, revealing that these three games will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech.
>> Shame.