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

[JEMC]

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 passes 25 million players in just 5 days
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-warzone-2-0-passes-25-million-players-in-just-5-days/
Activision has announced that Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 has just surpassed 25 million players in just five days. For comparison purposes, the first COD: Warzone hit 30 million players in two weeks.

Brace yourself, Steam's Black Friday discounts will kick off with today's autumn sale
https://www.pcgamer.com/brace-yourself-steams-black-friday-discounts-will-kick-off-with-todays-autumn-sale/
It's that time of year again, by which I mean time to call my bank and assure them that, no, no one's stolen my debit card. Steam will be joining the rest of the world in the Black Friday deals apocalypse later today, when its annual autumn sale begins at 10 am PST, 1 pm EST, and 6 pm GMT (plus 4 am AEST on November 23 for people living in the future, otherwise known as Australians).
The sale will run until November 29, at which point none of us will have any money left anyway, and will run alongside the now-familiar Steam Awards voting process, giving you a chance to vote on your favourite games of the last year and—I have to assume—earning you a few trading cards in the process. You should probably sell those cards, by the way: You're gonna need every penny you can get.
>> Because of this sale, there aren't many new deals:

• There are some weeklong deals that will last until November 28. There aren't many, so it's easier for you to check them by yourselves.
• And there's also ICEY, that will be 60% off until December 1st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/553640/ICEY/

Fanatical has new deals, sales and bundles:

• The new Star Deal is God of War, 39% off during 24 hours or until they run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/god-of-war
• The former is part of a Playstation PC LLC Games Sale, with up to 79% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/playstation-pc-llc
• There are 14 new dollar bundles. They're too many to list so you'd be better checking them out by yourselves: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle
• And here's the usual contest, with a chance to win store coupons, money to be spent on the store, games and even a Steam Deck. Learn more here: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/black-friday-spin-to-win-how-it-works-what-prizes

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 & 4080 get new firmware to address blank screen launch issues
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-4080-get-new-firmware-to-address-blank-screen-launch-issues/
NVIDIA has released a new firmware that will address the blank screen launch issues for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080 GPUs that some users have reported.
Let’s take things from the beginning though. When NVIDIA launched the RTX 4090 and we started benchmarking it, we encountered this blank screen issue and reported our findings to NVIDIA. We were able to reproduce this issue multiple times, and we suggested the following firmware solution. And thankfully, the green team updated the Graphics Firmware Update Tool with support for both the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080.
This blank screen issue only occurs when you connect your RTX 4090 or RTX 4080 to a DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 monitor. This issue also only occurs if you have enabled Resizable Bar and disabled CSM on your motherboard BIOS. Furthermore, and despite some false reports, you CAN load your BIOS when your display is blank (and when entering the BIOS, your monitor will start working).
>> Check the article for the download link.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Unofficial Remaster to be released on December 25th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-shadow-of-chernobyl-unofficial-remaster-to-be-released-on-december-25th/
Back in June 2022, we shared some screenshots from an unofficial remaster of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl. And today, we are happy to report that this unofficial remaster will release on December 25th.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Rebuild is basically being rebuilt in the OGSR Engine, which is an evolution of the X-Ray Engine. This unofficial remaster will have higher-quality textures for select objects/surfaces. Players can also expect new sounds (from mutants to dialogs and weapons, replacing with high-quality ones, creating and adding new ones), better NPCs (also with some new NPC models), better shaders effects, and more.

These Cyberpunk 2077 mods can significantly increase traffic density
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/these-cyberpunk-2077-mods-can-significantly-increase-traffic-density/
Modders ‘NattyKathy’ and ‘tduality’ have released two new mods for Cyberpunk 2077 that attempt to increase the game’s traffic density. As such, and by using these mods, Night City can feel more lively, especially while driving.
Going into more details, NattyKathy’s mod increases spawn range slightly, pedestrian and vehicle density on foot, and adds more traffic in various “zones” of the city. Furthermore, it increases vehicle density while driving and lowers pedestrian density to claw back some CPU cycles.
(...)
On the other hand, tduality’s mainly focuses on fixing the game’s “behind-your-back” crowd and cars density issues. In case you weren’t aware, the game lowers the crowd and traffic settings behind your back. As a result of that, the game feels empty the moment you look behind your back. Not only that, but tduality has added an optional version with 20% more cars.

Cyberpunk 2077 dips into white collar crime with this working stock market and news mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-dips-into-white-collar-crime-with-this-working-stock-market-and-news-mod/
For all its faults, Cyberpunk 2077 is still an impressive achievement. Night City is a glimmering nest of skyscrapers that tower above a wide ocean of social rot. But one thing has always been missing: Why can't I monetise the rot?
Thanks to a new mod from keanuWheeze and scornthegreat (and uploaded by NexusGuy999, just winner names all around), you can! Stock Market and News System finally extends the dead hand of finance capital into Cyberpunk's day-to-day. As you can probably surmise from the mod's name, it adds a "fully useable" stock market system as well as a news service, both of which respond to your actions in-game.
That means 33 stock tickers you can monitor and invest in for the likes of Arasaka, Militech, Lazarus and others, all of which will bounce and dip depending on your completion of quests. It works like the stock market in GTA 5—massacring a bunch of a corp's goons can tank its stock (and give you an opportunity to buy low), but doing the same thing for that corporation's competitors could send stock skyrocketing.
The news service, meanwhile, comes with 66 news updates that are triggered based on the completion of missions and certain player actions. At long last, you too can have your name in lights if you just commit a crime of serious enough magnitude to warrant a news slot. You can even get notifications about your heinous deeds sent to your (in-game) phone. Convenient!

GAMING NEWS

Need for Speed Unbound gets a proper gameplay trailer, focusing on Speed Race
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/need-for-speed-unbound-gets-a-proper-gameplay-trailer-focusing-on-speed-race/
Electronic Arts has released a proper gameplay trailer for its upcoming arcade racing game, Need for Speed Unbound. This trailer focuses on the Speed Race event, and finally packs gameplay sequences that are longer than 5 seconds.

Forza Horizon 5 November 21st Update released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/forza-horizon-5-november-21st-update-released-full-patch-notes/
Playground Games has released a new patch for Forza Horizon 5. According to the release notes, the November 21st Update fixes a number of bugs that plagued the game.
Going into more details, this patch fixes five specific issues. Moreover, it packs some general stability improvements. However, it does not restore the Auction House which remains unavailable.

ONE PIECE ODYSSEY gets a new 6-minute gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/one-piece-odyssey-gets-a-new-6-minute-gameplay-trailer/
Bandai Namco has released a new 6-minute gameplay trailer for ONE PIECE ODYSSEY. In this trailer, we get to explore Water Seven and learn more about the grand adventure ahead.

Lost Soul Aside gets a new gameplay trailer, captured on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/lost-soul-aside-gets-a-new-gameplay-trailer-captured-on-pc/
Sony has released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming action RPG, Lost Soul Aside. This trailer features both in-engine cut-scenes and gameplay sequences, which were captured on PC. Thus, this trailer basically confirms that the game will be also coming to our platform.

Battlefield 2042 Update 3.0.0 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-2042-update-3-0-0-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
Electronic Arts and DICE have kicked off Season 3 for Battlefield 2042 by releasing Update 3.0.0, and revealing its full patch notes. This update adds a new map (Spearhead), a new Specialist (Rasheed Zain) and a new vehicle (EMKV90-TOR). Furthermore, it adds new weapons, throwing knives as a new gadget, and new vault weapons.