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

[JEMC]

Friday news, the long part two:

Elden Ring just got ray tracing, but you might not want to use it
https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-ring-just-got-ray-tracing-but-you-might-not-want-to-use-it/
Elden Ring got an update today, and things are getting downright illuminated in The Lands Between. The 1.09 patch brings a slate of bug fixes and makes all sorts of tweaks to Elden Ring's weapons and combat, but the headline item here is that the game is finally getting ray tracing support. There's just one problem: You probably won't want to actually use it.
You can go switch ray tracing on in Elden Ring's graphics menu, but what you won't find there is a toggle for Nvidia DLSS or AMD FSR support, the miraculous frame generation tech that lets you maintain a playable framerate even with taxing graphical gewgaws turned on. That means actually activating ray tracing has the potential to slow your game to a slideshow, especially at high resolutions.

Your RTX 40-series GPU will face its biggest challenge yet next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/your-rtx-40-series-gpu-will-face-its-biggest-challenge-yet-next-month/
At GDC, CD Projekt Red is showing off the future of ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077, one bouncing neon light at a time. It's set to arrive with a new graphics preset, Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, which will come to the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 on April 11. This gives you enough time to track down an RTX 4080 and its powerful frame-generating magic. You're going to need it.
>> Probably only Yuri and TallSilhouette will be able to experience this at ok frame rates. Unless there's someone else here with a 4090.

You can try out this CoD Zombies-like co-op shooter for free in a limited-time demo
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-try-out-this-cod-zombies-like-co-op-shooter-for-free-in-a-limited-time-demo/
Upcoming co-op horde mode shooter Hellbreach: Vegas just got its first public demo alongside a physical presence at this year's PAX East. Hellbreach: Vegas' alpha demo runs from today until the 26th and offers a small slice of the full game releasing later this year.

The Diablo 4 open beta will have long queue times at launch too, Blizzard warns
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-diablo-4-open-beta-will-have-long-queue-times-at-launch-too-blizzard-warns/
Last weekend's Diablo 4 early access beta got off to a rough start. Servers were immediately slammed, which meant long waits for anyone trying to get in, and unstable connections for everyone who did. We were all shocked.
(...)
But with the open beta set to kick off tomorrow, Blizzard is warning that eager players can expect more of the same. The early access beta was limited to people who had preordered Diablo 4, along with some promotional invitations; the open beta is, well, open, and it's fair to assume that a lot more people will be crashing through the door.
>> While you wait, you can check this overpowered frost Sorceror build.

Blizzard and Nvidia investigating reports Diablo 4 is killing RTX 3080 Ti GPUs
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-rtx-3080-ti-issue/
Fresh reports suggest some RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards are running horribly, or even dying, while playing the Diablo 4 closed beta over the weekend.
Update: The Diablo 4 team are investigating reports of RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards crashing or dying while playing the game's closed beta. Customer support says Blizzard is "working closely with Nvidia to identify affected hardware configurations and gather as many data points as possible to assist in the investigation."

Anime dating sim that can prepare your taxes was removed from Steam but its developers say they want to disrupt corporations, not steal your social security number
https://www.pcgamer.com/anime-dating-sim-that-can-prepare-your-taxes-was-removed-from-steam-but-its-developers-say-they-want-to-disrupt-corporations-not-steal-your-social-security-number/
Tax Heaven 3000 is one of the more unusual genre mashups I've run into. It's a visual novel dating game, and it will also do your taxes—if you're a US citizen, anyway. Weird, right? Also weird is its extremely brief history on Steam: It appeared on the storefront earlier this week, but just a day later it was taken offline.

CD Projekt has financially written off and seemingly rebooted development on its Witcher spinoff game
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-has-financially-written-off-and-seemingly-rebooted-development-on-its-witcher-spinoff-game/
First reported by TechPowerUp, CD Projekt revealed in a March 20 announcement to investors that it is writing off expenses related to the development of Project Sirius, one of its three Witcher games currently in the oven, and seemingly rebooting the project. "The aforementioned decision is based on results of evaluation of the scope and commercial potential of the original concept of Project Sirius," the investor report reads, "and ongoing work on formulating a new framework for this project."

Witchfire reveals a surprisingly deep magic system at the Future Games Show
https://www.pcgamer.com/witchfire-reveals-a-surprisingly-deep-magic-system-at-the-future-games-show/
I've been anticipating Witchfire ever since it was announced in 2017. At first, it was all about the pedigree: It's a "dark fantasy shooter" being developed by The Astronauts, a studio founded by former members of Painkiller developer People Can Fly. (...)
Witchfire will square off against hordes of demonic enemies using both guns and magic, and while most of what we've seen of the game so far has focused on conventional firepower, a new trailer unveiled today at the Future Games Show is all about the spells. They deal impressive damage on their own, and also work in conjunction with the game's weapons to amplify their destructive capabilities.

This mythological hunting game from an ex-Skyrim dev is coming sooner than I thought
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-mythological-hunting-game-from-an-ex-skyrim-dev-is-coming-sooner-than-i-thought/
The Axis Unseen, a heavy metal bowhunting game from longtime Bethesda dev Nate Purkeypile (head and sole member of Just Purkey Games), got a fresh trailer at the Future Game Show: Spring Showcase. The trailer revealed some new biomes coming to the game, as well as a release window of some time in 2024.

Creative Assembly's extraction shooter Hyenas gets a playable alpha tomorrow
https://www.pcgamer.com/creative-assemblys-extraction-shooter-hyenas-gets-a-playable-alpha-tomorrow/
Total War and Alien Isolation studio Creative Assembly has been working away at Hyenas for some time now. It's a PvPvE extraction shooter set on a planet where the wealthy have decamped to Mars (hooray) and left everyone else to fight to the death on a hostile planet (goddamnit). At the Future Games Show today, a new playable character was revealed: Hero-Ki, who is a cosplayer. More importantly, he can transform himself to resemble his foes.
He'll be one of the playable characters available during the next Hyenas alpha test, which is apparently its biggest so far. It offers a meaty ten days to put the game through its paces, and you can sign up here. It kicks off tomorrow, and given Creative Assembly's pedigree, it's probably worth a shot.
>> I'm not sure if the tomorrow of the article means today, Friday, or is actually tomorrow, Saturday.

Go-Go Town is a cozy mix of life and management sim: 'Instead of conveyor belts like Factorio, we've got people belts'
https://www.pcgamer.com/go-go-town-is-a-cozy-mix-of-life-and-management-sim-instead-of-conveyor-belts-like-factorio-weve-got-people-belts/
This boom period for life sims and management games shows no signs of recession. Here's another cozy-looking town building game which endeavors to steal away our nighttime hours with the thrill of friendship and logistics: Go-Go Town puts you in charge of a struggling tourist destination, and got a new trailer at the Future Games Show today, embedded above.

Team Fortress 2 players forlornly gaze at Counter-Strike 2 reveal: 'Maybe our day will come in another decade'
https://www.pcgamer.com/team-fortress-2-players-forlornly-gaze-at-counter-strike-2-reveal-maybe-our-day-will-come-in-another-decade/
Valve has announced Counter-Strike 2 is on the way and all the world is smiling. Well, nearly all. While plenty of people are happy to see Steam's perennial most-played game getting a much-deserved update, at least one other Valve game community feels, uh, a little neglected by the attention lavished on CS2.

Pioneering MMO designer details the hard lessons learned about griefing, skinning pets, and 'time to penis'
https://www.pcgamer.com/pioneering-mmo-designer-details-the-hard-lessons-learned-about-griefing-skinning-pets-and-time-to-penis/
At this year's GDC Richard Vogel gave a talk about, essentially, how hard it is to develop systems driven multiplayer games. And if anyone should know, it's this guy. Vogel worked on the groundbreaking Meridian 59, the first 3D MMO, before being headhunted to join Origin Systems as a senior producer on Ultima Online (UO), one of the most important and interesting MMOs ever made. 26 years on from release UO is still going strong, still producing great stories, and still has lessons for those looking to build the virtual worlds of tomorrow.

UK regulator U-turns on Activision acquisition, takes Microsoft's side on Call of Duty
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk-regulator-u-turns-on-activision-acquisition-takes-microsofts-side-on-call-of-duty/
If you can cast your mind as far back as last month, you might recall the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) suggested that if Microsoft was truly serious about acquiring Activision Blizzard, it should consider breaking up Activision Blizzard. (...)
Well, clear that from your mind. The CMA now says it's received "a significant amount of new evidence" in response to its findings last month, and has now reached a new provisional conclusion that the Activision acquisition "will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming in the UK," particularly insofar as COD is concerned.

And now, let's look at the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• There's a new GIVEAWAY: Neurodeck: Psychological Deckbuilder. Available during the next 69 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/neurodeck_psychological_deckbuilder
• These are the 9 new Deals of the Day, that will last the whole weekend:
  • PositronX is 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/positronx
  • Archvale gets a 30% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/archvale
  • Meat Puppet is also 30% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/meat_puppet
  • Power of Ten gets a 50% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/power_of_ten
  • Superliminal also gets a 50% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/superliminal
  • Axis & Allies 1942 Online is 57% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/axis_allies_1942_online
  • Avernum 3: Ruined World gets a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/avernum_3_ruined_world
  • AMID EVIL is 66% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/amid_evil
  • And the last one is The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf, with a 70% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_smurfs_mission_vileaf

+Steam

• Square Enix puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until March 27: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/squareenix_publishersale23
• The Digital Tabletop Fest 3: Blood & Dice! brings up to 90% discounts. The sale should last until the 27th, but some deals will last much longer: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/tabletopfest
• The Digging the Earth Bundle, featuring the games The Longing and Mutropolis, will be 52% off until March 30, same as the individual games: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/18084/Digging_the_Earth_Bundle/
• Rakuen gets a 70% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/559210/Rakuen/
• Celeste gets a 75% discount until Thursday, 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste/
• Dovetail Games's March Madness Sale puts its trains up to 80% off until the 30th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/dovetailgames/sale/marchmadness2023
• STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order sports a 90% discount until the 30th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172380/STAR_WARS_Jedi_Fallen_Order/
• Curve Games' Buddy Up Sale features up to 74% discounts until the 6th of April: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/curvedigital/sale/curvebuddyupsale
• And while it's not a discount, Men of War II runs another Tech Test this weekend. If you want to join, check here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

And that's it. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.