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

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The news, part two:

CD Projekt shoots down Sony acquisition rumor: 'CD Projekt is not for sale,' CEO says
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-shoots-down-sony-acquisition-rumor-were-not-in-such-talks/
CD Projekt has shot down a persistent rumor that it is in talks with Sony about an acquisition deal, saying unequivocally that no such negotiations are taking place.

Darktide brings in the Chaos Spawn and two new levels
https://www.pcgamer.com/darktide-brings-in-the-chaos-spawn-and-two-new-levels/
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has updated its plague-zombie-shootin cooperative action with two new missions, a new monstrous enemy, and a tweak to how cosmetics are handled. This is the 10th major update since Darktide's botched launch, and brings a very iconic Warhammer baddie who also featured in previous Fatshark fantasy game Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

This sci-fi RTS gameplay trailer is so good it sparked an argument about realistic deep-space combat on Reddit
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-sci-fi-rts-gameplay-trailer-is-so-good-it-sparked-an-argument-about-realistic-deep-space-combat-on-reddit/
Hardcore sci-fi RTS Falling Frontier released a gameplay new trailer today showcasing ship-to-ship combat over the gas giant Saturn, and it's so impressive that it's got people on Reddit arguing about the realism of its depictions of combat between capital ship moving at relativistic speeds.

More than a year after launching into early access, the 'tiny MMO' Book of Travels is just about ready to starting releasing new content
https://www.pcgamer.com/more-than-a-year-after-launching-into-early-access-the-tiny-mmo-book-of-travels-is-just-about-ready-to-starting-releasing-new-content/
Despite making a strong impression when it debuted in 2021, the peaceful "tiny MMO" Book of Travels struggled to find an audience. Layoffs at developer Might and Delight quickly followed, and while the studio promised that work on the game would continue, it was easy to assume that it would eventually be forgotten, and slide quietly into oblivion.
But it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. In August 2022 Might and Delight laid out ambitious plans for the future, and in a recent Steam update the studio said that it's just about ready to "put out new gameplay content, and expand the world of Braided Shore."

Former DICE dev says Battlefield 2042 had a hard deadline and 'never stood much chance being great at launch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-dice-dev-says-battlefield-2042-had-a-hard-deadline-and-never-stood-much-chance-being-great-at-launch/
(...)
Since the recent release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which appears to be this year's punching bag, developers have been sharing their own stories about the titles they worked on that didn't turn out great, but which they loved elements of anyway. For senior backend engineer Joakim Bodin, now at Epic but until recently of DICE/EA, that game is Battlefield 2042.
"This game had many iterations, and the deadline never changed much, so never stood much chance [of] being great at launch," said Bodin on Twitter, appending a picture of the game's metascore of 68. "I'm proud though to have pushed hard to have this game have full cross play, progression and (mostly) commerce. Its online systems will serve future titles well."

AI-generated story and dialogue is not going to work, says Dragon Age creator David Gaider: 'A lot of effort is going to be wasted on this'
https://www.pcgamer.com/ai-generated-story-and-dialogue-is-not-going-to-work-says-dragon-age-creator-david-gaider-a-lot-of-effort-is-going-to-be-wasted-on-this/
Procedural generation is a powerful tool for games. From Minecraft's endless worlds, to Borderlands' "87 bazillion" guns, to Shadow of Mordor's countless orc captains, a system that can create new, semi-randomised content on the fly can enormously extend replayability.
Inevitably, in this era of renewed interest in AI-driven generation, companies are looking at whether that idea can be pushed forward into new frontiers. Does the increased sophistication of chatbot ChatGPT, for example, suggest that dialogue and story in games could be procedurally generated too? According to David Gaider—the man who created the world and story of Dragon Age—the answer is a firm "no". And he knows because BioWare tried it.

Venerable Minecraft server gets shuttered, before the old guard got back together to save it
https://www.pcgamer.com/venerable-minecraft-server-gets-shuttered-before-the-old-guard-got-back-together-to-save-it/
The world of Minecraft custom content is so large that it supports countless different ways of playing the game, from all-out anarchy to prescribed roleplay. And then there's things like Mineplex. First appearing in 2013 and subsequently becoming one of the most popular custom servers around, Mineplex's schtick is custom minigames and multiplayer maps and it was so big it used to set records for player numbers. That popularity had dwindled in recent years, however, until on May 16 an announcement was made out of the blue: Mineplex would be closing its doors.

The Sims is getting rid of a photo bug but players just want the photo bug left alone: 'Who snitched?!?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-is-getting-rid-of-a-photo-bug-but-players-just-want-the-photo-bug-left-alone-who-snitched/
Look, the Sims community can be a bit odd. I've just been reading a thread about the joys of flirting with married men with single female sims to knock out a particular baby achievement ("they won’t move out of their house so them and their wife are just stuck there hating each other") , before discovering that one of the current dramas is over an undoubted bug that Sims players would prefer is left untouched. Don't fix that problem, EA!