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

[JEMC]

The Thursday-Friday combo news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

We'll find three new deals at Humble:

• The Humble Bundle brings the Bandai Namco: Fights, Frights and Fantasy Bundle, with 7 games and 2 coupons during 19 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/bandai-namco-fights-frights-and-fantasy
• And the Humble Store has two new sales:
  • The Cozy Square Enix Sale brings up to 90% discounts during 5 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/cozy-square-enix-sale/
  • And the Bungie / Destiny 2 Sale features up to 67% discounts during the next 12 days. There are keys for Steam and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/destiny-2-sale/

Fanatical has new deals and bundles:

• The Star Deal is The Jackbox Party Pack 9, 50% off. It started yesterday and will last another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-jackbox-party-pack-9
• The Jackbox Quintpack, with 5 games, will be 40% off during 9 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/the-jackbox-quintpack
• And the BYO Triple Pack, Fall Edition, features 14 titles to build your 3 games pack: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-triple-pack-fall-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.10.1
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-23-10-1

Highlights

• New Game Support
  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage
  • The Lords of the Fallen
• Anti-Lag+ Support
  • Counter Strike 2

Fixed Issues

• Intermittent app crash while playing Starfield on Radeon™ RX 7000 Series Graphics Products.
• Intermittent driver crash while playing Counter Strike 2 with MSAA or FSR enabled on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• Improvements to stutter experienced while playing Counter Strike 2.
• EA SPORTS FC™ 24 may fail to open on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7800 XT.
• System freeze or black screen when playing video files on Radeon™ RX 6000 Series Graphics Products.
• The display may intermittently freeze after changing the encode format while streaming select games with AMD Link.

Valve adds new security check after attackers compromise Steam accounts of multiple game devs and update their games with malware
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-malware-attack-new-security/
The Steam accounts of multiple game developers were recently compromised and used to update their games with malware. Fewer than 100 Steam users had the games installed when the malware was added, and they've been directly notified of the risk by email, according to Valve. The company confirmed details of the story, reported earlier this week by GameDiscoverCo newsletter founder Simon Carless, in an email to PC Gamer today. Although this attempt to use Steam to distribute malware wasn't very effective, Valve has taken a major step to prevent it from happening again. Starting October 24, game developers will be required to pass a two-factor authentication check before updating the default branch of a released game—the version that Steam will automatically deliver in an automatic update to most players who have it installed.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Unreal Engine 5.3.1 Remake available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-unreal-engine-5-3-1-remake-available-for-download/
CryZENx has just released a new version of his The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake in Unreal Engine 5.3.1. This new version of this fan remake allows you to explore Kakariko village, Deathmountain Trail and Goron City.
In this Zelda fan game, you can explore the environments and fight a number of enemies. You can also use your ocarina, break objects, collect items, and speak to NPCs. Not only that but this fan remake of this classic N64 Zelda game in Unreal Engine 5 also has some cut-scenes and an inventory system. In short, it’s more than your typical “remake a map from a popular game in UE5” projects.
As CryZENx has noted, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Unreal Engine 5.3.1 uses Lumen for its lighting. However, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with what I saw in the first couple of minutes of the following video. Something about the lighting felt off. Thankfully, things get a lot better in later areas.
>> There's an over 30 minutes video of the mod.

Starfield's unofficial radio stations have made me want to keep playing
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfields-unofficial-radio-stations-have-made-me-want-to-keep-playing/
Even if you didn't love what Bethesda did to the Fallout series, you have to admit adding radio stations was a great idea. The jarring juxtaposition of doo-wop crooning and post-apocalyptic hellscape was part of Fallout from the beginning, but taking it out of the intro cutscene and making it something you could add to your playthrough at any time elevated Fallout 3 immensely.
I know I wasn't the only person disappointed by the absence of radio stations from Starfield. As always with Bethesda RPGs, modders have come to the rescue. Starfield Radio currently hosts five stations of banging tunes with a sixth on the way, and you don't even need to download a mod to listen to it. You can just play it in a browser window and pretend you're flying the spaceways even when you're supposed to be working.
Of the current assortment of stations, Sol Train: Music from the 3rd Rock is an immediate favorite. Coming to us live from the MAST District of New Atlantis, DJ Black Hole Benny plays a selection of Earth classics from Modest Mouse to Massive Attack, with a fine line in space-themed songs like David Bowie's Life on Mars and The Beastie Boys' Intergalactic. I'm also into The Dust, a lo-fi station out of Neon whose DJ does an amazing impression of the kind of perpetually half-asleep lady who hosts late-night lo-fi shows on community radio stations in our own epoch.
>> Screenshots would be useless for showing the mod, and there's no video to let you hear it in action either.

Unusable Starfield mod morphs every ship's reactor into Thomas the Tank Engine, trapping them inside a horrific cocoon—creator says 'Life isn't always fair'
https://www.pcgamer.com/unusable-starfield-mod-morphs-every-ships-reactor-into-thomas-the-tank-engine-trapping-every-ship-inside-a-horrific-cocooncreator-says-life-isnt-always-fair/
It's time. Starfield finally has its most important mod—more important than the script extender, more vital than StarUI—something that changes the game entirely. Thomas the Tank Engine is not, by any means, looming horrifically in the dark corners of my room and forcing me to write this.
Ominously titled "Really Useful Starfield", this mod by the aptly-named Nexus Mods user Trainwiz mutates every ship into Thomas the Tank Engine. This is tradition, a requisite for every Bethesda game—and it's not even Thomas' first foray into the stars, either. Though he's now transcended the body of Vasco, spreading across the galaxy like a locomotive plague.
(...)
This has two implications. Firstly, the Tank Engine hasn't replaced anything—instead, he's just surrounded them like some kind of parasitic shell, trapping them in a point of stasis like AM imprisoning the humans in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.
Secondly, to properly swallow every ship in the universe, the model for Thomas has to be enormous. This is confirmed in screenshots Trainwiz provides of the shipbuilder (which this mod renders completely unusable), and of the landed Thomas, which looms like a monument built to a dead god.
According to Trainwiz, this also makes ship combat really bad: "Due to the size and shape of Thomas, it can make shipbuilding and flying in third person a big issue. This mod's more of a novelty to begin with, so it's something you have to deal with. Life isn't always fair."
>> The article has a couple of screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Grand Theft Auto 6 has been rated MA15+ on the Australian Classification board
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/grand-theft-auto-6-has-been-rated-ma15-on-the-australian-classification-board/
Grand Theft Auto 6 is the worst-kept secret right now. And although Rockstar has not officially revealed it yet, the game has been rated MA15+ on the Australian Classification Board.

UFO Robot Grendizer – The Feast of the Wolves gets a new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/ufo-robot-grendizer-the-feast-of-the-wolves-gets-a-new-gameplay-trailer/
Mecha fans, here is something for you today. Microids has released a new gameplay trailer for UFO Robot Grendizer – The Feast of the Wolves.

Lords of the Fallen will “never feature the Denuvo anti-tamper tech”
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/lords-of-the-fallen-will-never-feature-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech/
Lords of the Fallen will be released later today and according to CI Games, it will never feature the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. Truth be told, CI Games never used Denuvo in its games. As such, we are not really surprised by this news.

Battlefield 2042 is free to play until October 16th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/battlefield-2042-is-free-to-play-until-october-16th/
Electronic Arts has announced that Battlefield 2042 is free to play until October 16th. Interestingly enough, this free-to-play period is the exact same as the Open Beta phase of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
>> It will also be 84% off until October, 26th, in case you like it.

EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 is coming to PC in Spring 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/earth-defense-force-6-is-coming-to-pc-in-spring-2024/
D3Publisher has announced that the latest entry in its popular series, Earth Defense Force 6, will be coming to PC in Spring 2024. As the press release reads, this next monstrous installment is set to deliver an adrenaline-pumping experience for veteran players and new fans alike.