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

[JEMC]

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

6 million people played Ghostwire: Tokyo
https://www.pcgamer.com/6-million-people-played-ghostwire-tokyo/
Ghostwire: Tokyo may not have set the world on fire with its combination of open world collectathon, first-person spellcaster, and horror game, but it certainly had its fans. Enough of them that the official Twitter account is now boasting, "6 million players have explored #GhostwireTokyo's spooky streets! That doesn't make those eerie alleyways any less haunted, of course…"
It certainly helps that Tango Gameworks' 2022 release is available on Game Pass, though even there a game has to make it above a certain threshold of interest for people to bother installing it. Especially if it's got an install size over 20GB, as Ghostwire: Tokyo does.

GOG has two ne Deals of the Day and three new Sales for us:

• These are the Deals of the Day, that will last until Wednesday:
  • The first one is Blasphemous 2 Digital Deluxe Edition, 10% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/blasphemous_2_digital_deluxe_edition
  • The second one is the Heroines of Swords & Spells + Green Furies DLC bundle, with a 55% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/heroines_of_swords_spells
• The Atari Publisher Sale brings up to 75% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_atari_sale
• Publisher Kagura Games will put its titles up to 75% off during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230918_kagura_publisher_sale
• And there's a Warhammer Sale with up to 90% discounts until September 25th: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230918_warhammer_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• Wall World will be 25% off until the 24th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2187290/Wall_World/
• And DNF Duel gets a 60% discount until September, the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1216060/DNF_Duel/

The guys at Humble Bundle have launched the Untold Tales of Adventure Bundle, with up to 11 items to get during the next 16 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/untold-tales-adventure.

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Dead Island 2, 33% off during 48 hours. The keys are for EGS: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dead-island-2
• And Bethesda puts its games on sale with up to 87% discounts during 9 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/bethesda-softworks

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity apologizes for controversial new pricing scheme, 'will be making changes to the policy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-apologizes-for-controversial-new-pricing-scheme-will-be-making-changes-to-the-policy/
When game engine company Unity announced a change to its pricing plan last week, the response from developers was overwhelmingly negative. The change would mean developers would be charged an increasing fee as they crossed set thresholds every time their games were installed. It was called, among plenty of other things, "an astonishing scumbag move".
In addition to criticism from game developers, Unity was sent a "potential threat" that was serious enough the company closed two of its offices and canceled a CEO meeting after receiving it.
Now, Unity has issued an official apology and explained that it will "be making changes" to the announced policy. "We have heard you", the statement begins. "We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback."
>> Imho, too little, too late. The damage is done and I don't see a way they can fix it because, even if they scrap all the announced changes, the trust is gone. By the way, the threads were made by an Unity employee (source: Eurogamer).

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Starfield gets a 4.5GB 4K Mod that overhauls numerous textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/starfield-gets-a-4-5gb-4k-mod-that-overhauls-numerous-textures/
Modder “Skurkbro” has released a new 4K Texture Pack for Starfield that weighs around 4.5GB in size and overhauls a lot of the game’s textures.
This pack is compatible with the 8K planet textures we shared a while ago. And, since there is no ETA on when Starfield HD Reworked will come out, we highly recommend using them (at least for now).
This pack promises to utilize everything that the current engine is capable of, such as a full PBR system with a lot of attention to details. All textures available here will only be in 4K currently, and there are no plans for any 8K version of it.
This pack is a WIP and currently covers gravel surfaces, sand, wood, concrete, and a part of New Atlantis.
>> There are some screenshots and an almost 4 minutes video.

Fallout 4 gets an extremely detailed LOD Mod that reduces distant objects/shadows/textures pop-ins
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/fallout-4-gets-an-extremely-detailed-lod-mod-that-reduces-distant-objects-shadows-textures-pop-ins/
Modder ‘RX9000’ has released a must-have HD LOD Mod for Fallout 4 that improves the game’s distant objects and textures. Since this mod will improve the game’s dated LODs and will reduce objects/environmental pop-ins, it is a must for everyone who wants to replay this Fallout game.
According to the modder, this is a beautiful, modern LOD Mod with defined textures, and more 3D models. UltraLOD Feather attempts to have minimal pop-in with all resources optimized to the maximum to obtain the maximum possible performance.
Going into slightly more tech details, the pack features terrain textures that were formed in 512. The modder has also edited these improved textures to remove the pattern using a grain blend filter.
>> There are some comparison screenshots.

First trailer for Half-Life 3 Citadel Unleashed Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/first-trailer-for-half-life-3-citadel-unleashed-mod/
Ancient Freeman Media has released the first gameplay trailer for its Half-Life 3 Citadel Unleashed project. Half-Life 3 Citadel Unleashed is basically a mod for Half-Life 2 that continues the story of Half-Life 2 Episode 4 Eli.
Now in case you didn’t know, Ancient Freeman Media has already released two HL3 mods, aiming to continue the story of Half-Life 2. The first one is called Half-Life 2: Episode 3 The Return and the second is Half-Life 2 Episode 4 Eli. These mods are relatively short, so don’t expect much from them.
The modding team claims that Half-Life 3 Citadel Unleashed will be longer than its previous mods. To be honest, though, I wasn’t really particularly impressed by its gameplay trailer. It looks fine for a mod. However, it’s nowhere close to what I was hoping.
Now I know, this project is from a single modder so we should all temper our expectations. Still, its title seems more exciting than the mod itself. So, here is hoping that Ancient Freeman Media will pleasantly surprise us whenever it decides to release this mod.
>> There's an over 3 minutes long video.

Portal 2 VR Mod is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/portal-2-vr-mod-is-now-available-for-download/
Modder ‘Gistix’ has just released the first version of the Portal 2 VR Mod that lets you experience Valve’s puzzle game in VR. Portal 2 VR allows you to experience the entire game in 6DOF VR with full motion controls.
In order to showcase this mod in action, YouTube’s ‘Flat2VR’ shared the following video. This video packs 20 minutes of gameplay footage, and it will give you an idea of what you can expect from it.
Do note that this is still a WIP project. In future versions, Gistix plans to improve overall CPU usage as the CPU is currently underutilized. The in-game UI and pause menu are also broken, and the 6DoF and Roomscale need to be reimplemented.

Mortal Kombat 1 just got an unofficial patch, enabling 60fps in Intros, Fatal Blows & Fatalities
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/mortal-kombat-1-just-got-an-unofficial-patch-enabling-60fps-in-intros-fatal-blows-fatalities/
Modder ‘ermaccer’ has released an unofficial patch for the PC version of Mortal Kombat 1 that enables 60fps in Intros, Fatal Blows and Fatalities.
For those unaware, Mortal Kombat 1 has its cinematics, intros, fatal blows and fatalities locked at 30fps. So, basically, this unofficial 60fps patch removes this cap from most of them. Do note, though, that the cinematic cut-scenes still run at 30fps.
As ermaccer noted, this 60fps patch may also introduce a number of graphical glitches. For instance, some elements might be broken during previously capped sections such as character faces or eyes. And while all fatalities are now at 60fps, their animations are still at 30fps (as that’s how NetherRealm recorded them).
In short, while this is an amazing patch that most PC gamers will appreciate, it’s not perfect. And, from the looks of it, the only ones who will be able to provide a proper 60fps patch are the developers themselves. However, since Mortal Kombat 11 never received a 60fps patch for PC, we can safely say that QLOC won’t bother unlocking the framerate for the game’s cinematics.
>> The article has a roughly 1 minute long video.

GAMING NEWS

Deep Silver and Starbreeze have removed Denuvo from PAYDAY 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/deep-silver-and-starbreeze-have-removed-denuvo-from-payday-3/
Deep Silver and Starbreeze have just announced that they have removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from PAYDAY 3. PAYDAY 3 currently has its open-beta phase and apparently, a lot of players complained about its presence. And, instead of ignoring them, Deep Silver and Starbreeze decided to do the right thing and remove it.

Ghostrunner 2 PC demo is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ghostrunner-2-pc-demo-is-now-available-for-download/
505 Games and One More Level have released a PC demo for their upcoming hardcore FPP slasher that is set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future, Ghostrunner 2.