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

[JEMC]

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has four new Deals of the Day, that will last 46 hours, until Friday:

• The first one is Doors: Paradox, 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/doors_paradox
• The second is Universe Sandbox, still in development, also with a 33% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/universe_sandbox
• Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator comes next, with a 34% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/potion_craft_alchemist_simulator
• And the last one is Thief™ 2: The Metal Age, 86% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/thief_2_the_metal_age

Steam has two new deals:

• City of Gangsters will be 76% off until August, 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1386780/City_of_Gangsters/
• Shenmue III gets an 85% discount until next Tuesday; https://store.steampowered.com/app/878670/Shenmue_III/

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• There's a new Flash Deal (finally on time! Tho having only one is suspicious): Dead Island 2 gets a 33% discount for the next 24 hours. The keys are for the EGS: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dead-island-2
• And there's a Mystery Star Bundle, with up to 20 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-star-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4644
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4644
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:

• Madden NFL 24
• Wayfinder

Please note that this driver also includes a firmware update: This latest version brings stability improvements, better fan behavior, bug fixes, and better compatibility with HDMI connections.

Fixed Issues

• Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products:
  • UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may experience an application crash while launching game.
  • System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery.
  • Blender 3.6 may experience an application crash during render operations when Hardware Ray Tracing is enabled.
• INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL FIXED ISSUES:
  • Virtual Camera may intermittently fail to engage on the Camera page.
  • Release Notes in Intel® Arc Control driver page may show unformatted HTML data.
  • “Sort by” dropdown in the Games Page may be missing after using “Reset application to default.”
  • Toggling the Virtual Camera enablement may show as disabled during onscreen capture in the Capture page.
  • On-screen Capture and Highlights capture may turn off while using multiple displays when moving Intel® Arc Control window across displays.
  • Clean Installation option may not be available in Arc Driver page while updating to WHQL driver.
  • Preview toggle may incorrectly enable when the camera is used by the Windows camera application.
  • With Intel® Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate.
  • Background Blur effects with Virtual Camera may not change when setting blur strength from 50% to 100%.
  • On-screen camera may not come up when capturing games in full screen mode
  • Last captured image may persist in On-screen camera preview after disconnecting camera.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Tekken 8 looks glorious on PC without its awful post-process effects
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/tekken-8-looks-glorious-on-pc-without-its-awful-post-process-effects/
During the Closed Network Testing of Tekken 8, FrancisLouis released an incredible mod that disabled most of its post-process effects. As a result of that, Tekken 8 became really crisp and sharp on PC. And, to be honest, that’s how most PC gamers should be able to play it.
Unfortunately, NexusMods messed things up and just approved this mod. And, as you all know, the CNT of Tekken 8 is already over. Now I know that there is a cracked version out there, however, there is really no point downloading it. We don’t condone piracy so yeah, we are against downloading leaked alpha/beta builds, unless they differ significantly from the end product. For instance, the E3 beta demo of Duke Nukem Forever is something that a lot of us wanted to at least try.
Anyway, this Tekken 8 Mod disables Bloom, Chromatic Aberration, Film grain, Lens-flares, Motion Blur and Vignette. Moreover, it adds sharpening and Anisotropic Filtering, and it provides options to upscale the game.
>> While useless right now, it may come in handy when the game releases. The article has some comparison screenshots.

GTA San Andreas gets a new DYOM mission
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/gta-san-andreas-gets-a-new-dyom-mission/
Modder ‘Berony’ has released a cool and brand new DYOM mission for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that you can download. This mod will expand your gameplay experience, so we highly recommend it if you’re still playing this classic GTA game.
For those unaware, DYOM stands for “Design Your Own Mission”. This modification allows you to design and share your own missions without learning a line of SCM script.
The San Fierro Police Dept. Mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas allows you to play as police officer Jeffrey in the city of San Fierro. The mission is an indirect sequel of the Las Venturas Police Dept.
>> There is a short video of this mod.

This Skyrim Special Edition Mod overhauls numerous shields, armors and weapons
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-skyrim-special-edition-mod-overhauls-numerous-shields-armors-and-weapons/
Modder ‘Xavbio’ has released new mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition that overhauls numerous armors, shields and weapons.
Going into more details, this pack re-textures all Guard armors, Guard shields, Stormcloak Officer Armor and CC Civil war Champions’ Stormbear armor, shield and weapons. Additionally, it comes with optional retextures for Helgen Reborn, Falskaar, Midwood Isle and Open Face Guard Helmets. Not only that, but this pack has optional mesh replacers to add sleeves and pants to the guards and Stormcloak Officer sets.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos about this mod.

Baldur's Gate 3 modders have added WASD controls, letting you jog around the Sword Coast like it's an MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-modders-have-added-wasd-controls-letting-you-jog-around-the-sword-coast-like-its-an-mmo/
Look, I like isometric games as much as the next RPG nerd. It's fun to sweep over the battlefield and shuffle my adventurers with pinpoint precision. Especially in a game like Baldur's Gate 3, which sees you grappling with terrain, line of sight, friendly fire, ground effects, Astarion's luscious hair—the bird's eye view is basically required.
I can't help but feel a twinge of envy, however, for the steam deck adopters and controller players. I would never dream of using the game's radial menus for combat, since I have so many skills to on my bar to contend with (this is totally the game's fault, and not mine for making a bunch of fiddly multiclass builds).
For the purposes of running around and chatting to people, though? The near-seamless analog movement and immersive camera angle's enough to make me go green as a Gith with envy. It's also left me slightly confused as to why this perspective on the Sword Coast is barred from PC players without a controller.
Thankfully, modders are here to save the day. A mod by Nexus user Ch4nKyy has added WASD movement to the game—and, combined with Ershin's "Native Camera Tweaks", the Forgotten Realms can now be explored on foot from the comfort of your four favourite letters. You can see a video example, provided courtesy of the Youtube channel dimetequiero, below.
>> The video is 1:31 minutes long.

This Baldur's Gate 3 cheat mod delivers every weapon and armor in the game right to your camp
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-baldurs-gate-3-cheat-mod-delivers-every-weapon-and-armor-in-the-game-right-to-your-camp/
We still haven't seen traditional Baldur's Gate 3 cheat codes and console commands appear, but that doesn't mean you can't take a few shortcuts in the RPG. There are already mods that increase your carry weight, let you earn XP twice as fast, and even increase your party size from four to eight.
But the All Items mod is the closest thing we've seen to a Baldur's Gate 3 cheat code so far. It sticks a barrel in your camp and fills that barrel with every weapon, armor, ring, and amulet in the game. Now that's some good cheating!
>> The article has a link to imgur to see a video/gif.

A mod has fixed Baldur's Gate 3's most annoying quirk—NPCs running away in fear from your pets
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-mod-has-fixed-baldurs-gate-3s-most-annoying-quirknpcs-running-away-in-fear-from-your-pets/
Dungeons & Dragons is rife with horrors—shapeshifting doppelgangers, mind flayers, Shadowheart's sub-optimised starting ability scores, the list goes on. You'd think, at this point, that any denizen of the Sword Coast would be used to them. As it stands, however, NPCs in Baldur's Gate 3 can be startled by something as pedestrian as a ranger's bear.
For those pet-free adventurers who are unaware, having any kind of summon out—a ranger pet, a conjured elemental, a zombie, even a druid wildshape—can cause NPCs to lose all sense of composure and self-preservation. In a recent Reddit thread, user Dadecum even had a key quest NPC bolt into an unsafe area of Act 2 and die.
I'm currently in Act 3 myself, and I can't even fathom the mayhem that'd ensue on the streets of Baldur's Gate were I playing a necromancer or conjuration wizard. Luckily, modders are already on the case—a mod created by Nexus user pwybman removes this unintentional game of lemmings from an otherwise stellar RPG.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos about this mod.

GAMING NEWS

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Patch 1.815.0.0 fixes some crashes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-patch-1-815-0-0-fixes-some-crashes/
Nixxes has just released Patch 1.815.0.0 for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and revealed its complete changelog/update notes. According to the team, this update is mostly a Quality-Of-Life hotfix that addresses some crashes.

Crimson Desert, Black Myth: Wukong and STALKER 2 will be present at Gamescom 2023
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crimson-desert-black-myth-wukong-and-stalker-2-will-be-present-at-gamescom-2023/
Crimson Desert, Black Myth: Wukong and STALKER 2 are three of our most anticipated games. And today, we are happy to report that all three of them will be present at Gamescom 2023.