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

[JEMC]

It's Thursday and these are all the news, in one single post:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away 911 Operator: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/911-operator (the link may not work).
Next week, they'll give away Out of Line and The Forest Quartet.

Steam has three new deals:

• The Last Oricru will be 75% off until September, 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663640/The_Last_Oricru/
• Talisman: Digital Edition, with its DLCs, goes on sale with up to 90% discounts until the same 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/talismandigital
• And Call of Duty also celebrates its 20th anniversary (I have to be honest, I thought it was older than that given how many games there've been) with up to 67% discounts until the 26th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/callofdutyfranchise

We've got a new Humble Bundle: Cities: Skylines Build Today Plan For Tomorrow features up to 22 items (the game, 1 coupon and the rest DLCs) during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/cities-skylines-build-today-plan-for-tomorrow.

And Fanatical has four new bundles, with three of them being dollar bundles:

• The BYO Bento Bundle 3 comes with 23 titles to choose for your 3, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-bento-bundle https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-bento-bundle
• And these are the dollar bundles: Unity of Command Trilogy Bundle (1 game +2DLCs), Leisure Suit Larry - Retro Bundle(7 games) and Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Double Pack(2 games)

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4824
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4824
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:

• The Crew Motorfest
• Mortal Kombat 1

Fixed Issues
Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products:

• Fortnite (DX12) may exhibit flickering corruptions during gameplay.
• Device fan may ramp up frequently on certain Intel® Arc™ Graphics products.

Intel® Core™ Processor Products:

• Tactics Ogre Reborn (DX11) may exhibit flickering corruption during dialogue sequences

INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL FIXED ISSUES:

• Intel® Arc™ Control may fail to launch application on certain multi-GPU system configurations.
• Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning settings may not retain after graphics driver update.
• Arc Control Studio Capture may fail to capture when multiple monitors are connected in clone mode.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Starfield may soon get a first-person landing and takeoff mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/starfield-may-soon-get-a-first-person-landing-and-takeoff-mod/
YouTube’s ‘Bub’ is currently working on a mod for Starfield that aims to enable first-person landing and takeoff. In order to showcase what this mod will do, the modder shared the following video so be sure to watch it.
Now as you’ll see, this mod will not attempt to make landing and takeoff seamless. In other words, there will still be loading screens. However, it will retain the first-person/third-person view perspective, allowing you to experience the landing and takeoff from your cockpit.
These early tests appear to be quite smooth, so my guess is that we’ll see this mod in a matter of days.
>> The video is less than a minute long.

Starfield modder adds dark mode to its terminal screens, which is also something a modder in 2330 would do
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-dark-mode-mod/
There's now a Starfield mod that puts the in-game terminals in "dark mode," with light text on a dark gray background, just like the many official and unofficial "dark modes" we use in browsers and other applications.
I assume that people are still hacking unofficial dark modes into software in the year 2330, when Starfield takes place, which means it's reasonable to imagine that Dark Mode for Terminals creator Animandan could be a character in Starfield—hanging out in Neon, perhaps, making their next terminal plug-in on a dark screen.
Animandan says they've even made an effort to keep their terminal colors Web Content Accessibility Guidelines compliant. Assuming those haven't changed in 300 years, that makes the mod even more realistic.
>> There is one screenshot.

GAMING NEWS

Garry of Garry's mod says 'Unity can get f*cked' and in-passing mentions Rust 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/garry-of-garrys-mod-says-unity-can-get-fcked-and-in-passing-mentions-rust-2/
Yesterday Unity announced big changes to its pricing system that, among other things, will see developers charged on a per-install basis once certain thresholds are met. Developers are up in arms about this and not shy about cutting the crap: Tom Francis, the developer of Heat Signature and a PC Gamer alumnus, described the change as "an astonishing scumbag move."
(...)
Now Garry Newman, of Garry's mod fame, has posted a blog with the succinct title "Unity can get fucked." Newman briefly summarises the announcement and some of the criticisms being levelled at the change, and various reasons why it isn't in his eyes feasible.

Why every game developer is mad right now, explained
https://www.pcgamer.com/why-every-game-developer-is-mad-right-now-explained/
Yesterday, game engine company Unity announced changes to its pricing plan that will see developers charged each time someone installs their game after certain revenue and installation thresholds are met. Unity has been around since 2005 and is one of the most popular platforms for game creation, used for big-budget titans like Genshin Impact as well as games like Vampire Survivors, Pokémon Go, Cuphead, Among Us, Subnautica, RimWorld, BattleTech (2018), and Hollow Knight.
(...)
The backlash has been nothing short of furious: Individual developers and indie studios of different sizes all came together with the sort of unity—ahem—that's usually only seen during international sporting events. Some developers predicted Unity would very quickly abandon the new pricing scheme (so far, it has not), others suggested parts of the plan—specifically the retroactive contract changes—might not even be legal, and many swore they'd walk away from the Unity engine completely.
>> There's no way that the retroactively part of the changes are legal, but it shows how little they care at Unity.

Starfield's first hotfix is live: 'Our priority initially is making sure any top blocker bugs or stability issues are addressed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfields-first-hotfix-is-live-our-priority-initially-is-making-sure-any-top-blocker-bugs-or-stability-issues-are-addressed/
Bethesda has released the first hotfix for Starfield that will take on "a few top issues" with the game, including potential quest blockers and stability and performance issues.

Islands of Insight is a shared-world puzzle game that's like The Talos Principle crossed with Myst, and I'm having a great time with it
https://www.pcgamer.com/islands-of-insight-is-a-shared-world-puzzle-game-thats-like-the-talos-principle-crossed-with-myst-and-im-having-a-great-time-with-it/
Islands of Insight is an open-world first-person puzzle game from Lunarch Studios and Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive that's currently in the midst of an open playtest on Steam. I've been playing it quite a bit since the weekend (the playtest began on September 7) and so far, I'm happy to say that I'm having a really good time with it.

The creator of Fallout 4's best settlement mod says Starfield's outpost system 'basically makes the people meaningless'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-creator-of-fallout-4s-best-settlement-mod-says-starfields-outpost-system-basically-makes-the-people-meaningless/
You might be wondering how Starfield's outpost system compares to Fallout 4's settlements. Are Starfield's player-made bases better than Fallout 4's, or worse? Did Bethesda improve on the system, or does it not quite stack up?
I could think of no one better to ask than the player who essentially reinvented Fallout 4's settlement system, modder King Gath. He's the creator of the outstanding Sim Settlements and Sim Settlements 2 mods, which are so good they should be part of the Fallout 4 base game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a total nostalgia play, but dammit, it's working
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-is-a-total-nostalgia-play-but-dammit-its-working/
This year's new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is full of old maps from the original 2009 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which is confusing both in terms of the series timeline, and because this is a new $70 game, not a remaster. And yet, despite the mild embarrassment that comes with feeling nostalgic for Call of Duty maps, I have to say I'm a little excited.

A Dreamcast rail shooter from 2000 that never released in the west is coming to PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-dreamcast-rail-shooter-from-2000-that-never-released-in-the-west-is-coming-to-pc/
10 years ago it was conventional wisdom that most popular Japanese games would never come to PC. Fast forward to now, and not only is it rare for a Japanese game to skip PC, but we're getting deep cuts from the back catalogue too. Case in point: Rainbow Cotton was a Sega Dreamcast exclusive when it was released in 2000, and not only that, it was never released outside of Japan. Oh, and it reviewed pretty poorly too. Hardly a game you'd expect to get the remaster treatment in 2023, but never mind: now it's hitting Steam.

FF14 releases a paid cosmetic you can recreate for free in-game, and oh boy are people unhappy about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/ff14-releases-a-paid-cosmetic-you-can-recreate-for-free-in-game-and-oh-boy-are-people-unhappy-about-it/
We've been giving Final Fantasy 14's cosmetic store bigger and bigger passes as time's gone on. (...)
Square Enix revealed the Iceheart's Attire on Twitter/X yesterday. For the uninitiated, this is the outfit of a central character from the Heavensward expansion, Ysale (otherwise known as Lady Iceheart). They've sold similar outfits in the past, allowing players to pay a few bucks to get NPC-specific gear for their Warrior of Light, either for virtual cosplay reasons or as unique options for entirely new outfits.
The only problem? You can basically recreate this drip in-game, for free, as Inksrocket on the FFXIV subreddit points out in a post that's garnered over 3,000 upvotes at the time of writing.

Valve said Counter-Strike 2 would be out this summer, now says it 'launches soon'
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-said-counter-strike-2-would-be-out-this-summer-now-says-it-launches-soon/
(...)
Early in 2023 the Counter-Strike community got all aflutter following various claims from dataminers, players and journalists that something big was on the way. It was: Valve announced Counter-Strike 2, a direct sequel to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is going to be free-to-play and will carry over all of players' precious cosmetics.
Since then it's been in a limited beta, which initially was quite restrictedwith only a small percentage of the CS:GO playerbase allowed in, and Valve saying the game would release in "summer". A couple of weeks ago the gates were thrown open to more-or-less anyone, which set my Spidey-senses tingling. And at the end of its 20th anniversary Steam post Valve says it's now coming "soon"