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

[JEMC]

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Sludge Life is free on Steam because Sludge Life 2 is coming later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/sludge-life-is-free-on-steam-because-sludge-life-2-is-coming-later-this-year/
Sludge Life is a "vandalism and photography sim" that launched on the Epic Games Store in 2020 and then came to Steam a year later. It's a weird but oddly compelling first-person open world game about the drudgeries of existence, filled with lowbrow humor (a cat with two buttholes, "press F to fart," that sort of thing) and also a surprising amount to see and do given the relatively small size of its setting.
Developers Terri Vellman and Doseone, whose past collaborations include the also-weird-but-good shooters Heavy Bullets and High Hell, recently announced that a sequel is on the way, and while there's no obvious direct connection to that bit of news, it's probably not a coincidence that the first game is now free, for a limited time, on Steam.
>> It will be free until March 30.

CS:GO smashes player records as Counter-Strike 2 hype mounts
https://www.pcgamer.com/csgo-smashes-player-records-as-counter-strike-2-hype-mounts/
The prospect of Counter-Strike 2 has a lot of people playing CS:GO, with a new all-time peak player record of 1,519,457 being set today. That's a number reported by both SteamDB and Steamcharts, and it's wildly higher than CS:GO's prior high water marks. CS:GO's previous high point was in April 2020, when pandemic lockdowns across the world saw many games—and Steam itself—report record player numbers.

GOG's Spring Sale is still going on, and today brings 9 new Deals of the Day, that will end in 46 hours:

• A Space for the Unbound is 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/a_space_for_the_unbound
• The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos - Ultimate Edition gets a 41% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_dungeon_of_naheulbeuk_the_amulet_of_chaos_ultimate_edition
• Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms, still in development, is 50% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/alaloth_champions_of_the_four_kingdoms
• Duskers will also be half its price: https://www.gog.com/en/game/duskers
• Cloudpunk gets a 65% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/cloudpunk
• The GOG-Opera GX Platformer Bundle bundle (learn more here), is 69% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gogopera_gx_platformer_bundle
• King's Bounty: Crossworlds GOTY features a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/kings_bounty_crossworlds_goty
• Luftrausers is also 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/luftrausers
• And Children of the Nile Complete gets a 77% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/children_of_the_nile_complete

Steam has two new deals:

• Digimon Survive will be 30% off until April 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/871980/Digimon_Survive/
• And INDUSTRIA gets a 50% discount until the same April 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172650/INDUSTRIA/

There are a few new deals at Humble:

• At Humble Bundle we find the Scary Games to Play in the Dark Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during the next 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/scary-games-to-play-in-dark
• At the Humble Store we find the following:
  • The Rockstar Publisher Sale features up to 70% discounts during 4 more days. There are keys for Steam, EGS and Rockstar's thing: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/rockstar-publisher-sale/
  • Private Division puts its games up to 75% off during 4 days. There are keys for Steam and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/private-division-publisher-sale/
  • The Best of Bandai Namco Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during 4 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/best-of-bandai-sale/
  • The Multiplayer Madness Sale brings up to 90% discounts during 4 days. There are keys for Steam and GOG (3): https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/multiplayer-madness-sale/
  • And lastly, there's 2K, that puts its games up to 95% off during another 4 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/2k-publisher-sale/

And now comes Fanatical has three new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, 44% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/marvel-s-spider-man-miles-morales
• Devolver Digital puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/devolver-digital
• And the Diamond Collection BYOB - Spring 2023 comes with 14 titles to choose for your 3, 4 or 5 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/diamond-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Gomps is a free tool that adds “multiplayer” features to any single-player Unity game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gomps-is-a-free-tool-that-adds-multiplayer-features-to-any-single-player-unity-game/
Our reader ‘elliotttate’ has informed us about a cool free tool, called Gomps, that adds basic “multiplayer” features to any single-player Unity game.
By using Gomps, you get to see other players’ ghosts around you in real-time, and leave notes throughout the game worlds for other players to read. However, other players can’t see or affect what happens in your game. So yeah, don’t expect proper multiplayer functionalities.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

You can now play Dark Souls 3 in first-person mode
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/you-can-now-play-dark-souls-3-in-first-person-mode/
Dark Souls 3 fans, here is something special for you today. Modder ‘Dasaav’ has released a mod that allows you to play the third part in the Dark Souls series, Dark Souls 3, in first-person mode.
As its description reads, “First Person Souls for Dark Souls 3” offers a unique opportunity to replay the game from a new perspective.
One of the key features of this first-person mod is its Haid Tracking support. In Dark Souls 3, select animations have full head tracking. As such, the camera moves and rotates together with the head. The mod fully supports Head Tracking and greatly enhances overall immersion. Additionally, Head Tracking for rolls and heavy hits is optional, and you can turn it off.
Furthermore, in first-person, it is now possible to smoothly zoom in with aimed weapons. Not only that, but the mod includes custom configuration options in Dark Souls 3’s own settings menu.
>> There's an over 3 minutes trailer of the mod.

Cyberpunk 2077 gets a new Deus Ex/Dishonored-inspired Stealth Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-gets-a-new-deus-ex-dishonored-inspired-stealth-mod/
Modder ‘RMK’ has released a pretty cool new mod for Cyberpunk 2077 that most Deus Ex and Dishonored fans will appreciate, called Stealthrunner.
As the modder noted, the core of this mod is a system that adds stealth-related objectives to every applicable main quest, side/minor quest, gig, and NCPD scanner hustle. The aim is to motivate and reward stealthy gameplay, enhancing the vanilla experience by tracking these objectives as rewarding challenges to complete.
By completing those objectives you get XP, Street Cred, Ninjutsu XP, money, and recipes (depending on the objective). Completing enough of each type also unlocks rewards including perk points. Yes, this mod adds a new all-new stealth-focused perk tree with new abilities.
>> There's a less than 2 minutes long video of the mod.

18 minutes of gameplay from Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s fan remake in Unreal Engine 5.2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/18-minutes-of-gameplay-from-zelda-ocarina-of-times-fan-remake-in-unreal-engine-5-2/
CryZENx has shared a new video, showcasing 18 minutes of gameplay footage from his Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake in Unreal Engine 5.2.
Going into more details, CryZENx has recreated Bottom Of The Well. Additionally, the modder has showcased a reworked model for the sub-boss Dead Hand.

GAMING NEWS

Battlefield 2042 Update 4.1.0 releases next week and here are all its changes, tweaks & fixes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-2042-update-4-1-0-releases-next-week-and-here-are-all-its-changes-tweaks-fixes/
DICE announced that Update 4.1.0 for Battlefield 2042 will release next week, and revealed its complete changelog. This new update will bring three new vault weapons (AEK 971, RPK-74M and MP443), IBA Armor Plate Overhaul, and a number of improvements.

Satisfactory will be now using Unreal Engine 5.1, key features detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/satisfactory-will-be-now-using-unreal-engine-5-1-key-features-detailed/
Coffee Stain Studios has just announced that it will upgrade Satisfactory to Unreal Engine 5 coming in Update 8. Satisfactory is a first-person factory building sim that came out in Early Access in 2020.

Here is another short PC trailer for The Last of Us Part I Remake
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-is-another-short-pc-trailer-for-the-last-of-us-part-i-remake/
Sony and Naughty Dog have released yet another short PC gameplay trailer for The Last of Us Part I Remake. This trailer lasts 22 whole seconds, and highlights some of the features that will be present in the PC version.

Counter-Strike – Source vs Source 2 vs Unreal Engine 5 Graphics Comparison
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/counter-strike-source-vs-source-2-vs-unreal-engine-5-graphics-comparison/
YouTube’s ‘CS:GO MEMES’ shared a new comparison video between the Source, Source 2 and Unreal Engine 5 versions of Counter-Strike. This video will give you an idea of what you can expect from the recently announced Counter-Strike 2.

Here are all the changes of Sons Of The Forest’s Second Major Update
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/here-are-all-the-changes-for-sons-of-the-forests-second-major-update/
A few days ago, Endnight Games released the second major update for Sons Of The Forest. Patch 02 comes with a lot of improvements, tweaks, fixes and new features, so time to take a look at them.

New Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora screenshots have been leaked online
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/new-avatar-frontiers-of-pandora-screenshots-have-been-leaked-online/
It’s been a while since we last heard of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. However, that’s about to change as two new screenshots from it have been leaked online. Furthermore, it appears that a gameplay video may soon surface online.

WILD HEARTS runs 30-40% faster on AMD’s CPUs, still stutters like crazy
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/wild-hearts-runs-30-40-faster-on-amds-cpus-still-stutters-like-crazy/
Omega Force has released a new patch for the PC version of WILD HEARTS that, among other things, improved CPU performance, particularly for AMD processors. As such, we’ve decided to re-benchmark the game on our AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D.