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

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The second part of the Monday news:

Disney Dreamlight Valley ditches free-to-play plan at the last minute, will launch in December as a premium game
https://www.pcgamer.com/disney-dreamlight-valley-ditches-free-to-play-plan-at-the-last-minute-will-launch-in-december-as-a-premium-game/
Less than two months ahead of Disney Dreamight Valley's full release, developer Gameloft has announced that it won't be a free-to-play game after all. Instead, the studio said that based on its "learnings" from a year in early access, "we've made the decision to remain a paid game for the foreseeable future."
>> I guess people aren't as interested in throwing loads of money at it as they thought.

Fallout co-creator settles over two decades of fan debate about who nuked who with a single off-hand comment
https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-co-creator-settles-over-two-decades-of-fan-debate-about-who-nuked-who-with-a-single-off-hand-comment-on-a-podcast/
Tim Cain is a storied man. Fallout co-creator, Arcanum maker, owner and proprietor of the best channel on YouTube, Cain's accolades stretch beyond counting, and there are more game design secrets locked up in his head than we'll probably ever know. But hey, we can know some of them, and thanks to Cain's recent appearance on gaming documentary channel TKs-Mantis (via GamesRadar), we know one about Fallout specifically: Who was it that dropped the first bomb?

We ask Valve if Counter-Strike 2 will introduce new weapons: 'Yes'
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-asked-valve-if-counter-strike-2-will-introduce-new-weapons-yes/
Counter-Strike 2, the first direct sequel to one of the most important games in PC history, released on September 27 after roughly six months in a limited test period. PC Gamer recently had the chance to ask the Counter-Strike 2 development team at Valve a wide-ranging bunch of questions about the game, its history, and its future: and one of those was about the in-game hardware. Does Valve have plans to introduce new weapons over the game's lifespan?
>> This comes from an interview they had with Valve that you can read here.

On NFTs, Valve says it's only interested in 'things our players care about'
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-has-delivered-on-the-promise-of-transferring-valuable-items-from-one-game-to-another-but-dont-mention-nfts-valves-only-interested-in-things-our-players-care-about/
(...)
"From the start of development we knew that CS2 would ultimately replace CS:GO," says the CS2 dev team, "and we wanted to ensure that players could keep as many of their CS:GO skills and items as possible. So, early into the process we started the work to support all of the CS:GO weapons, stickers, agents, and music in CS2.
"There were non-trivial challenges in getting older items to fit into the look and feel of the new game, but the feature was something we knew would be very important to players. For us, bringing the items forward is just the customer-centered way to bridge between a game and its successor. Sometimes people talk about NFTs in the context of Counter-Strike items, but to be honest we don't know enough about NFTs to weigh in on that conversation. We just try to make the best decisions we can about the things our players care about."

Counter-Strike 2 doesn't have Arms Race and others yet, but Valve says relax: 'those modes haven't been forgotten!'
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-2-doesnt-have-arms-race-and-others-yet-but-valve-says-relax-those-modes-havent-been-forgotten/
Counter-Strike 2, the first direct sequel to one of the most important games in PC history, released on September 27 after roughly six months in a limited test period. PC Gamer recently had the chance to ask the Counter-Strike 2 development team at Valve wide-ranging questions about the game, and one of those was about the modes CS2 doesn't have.
(...)
"Those modes haven't been forgotten! We have plans to re-introduce popular game modes and explore others," says the CS2 dev team. "That being said, all game modes, regardless of their rules, fundamentally depend on solid core gameplay. So in the short term we have been keeping our development focused on the spaces where players spend the overwhelming amount of their collective time.

My favorite survival game of 2023 just cooked up a new way to destroy me: with an army of killer robots
https://www.pcgamer.com/my-favorite-survival-game-of-2023-just-cooked-up-a-new-way-to-destroy-me-with-an-army-of-killer-robots/
This year colony survival sim Stranded: Alien Dawn left early access, but that doesn't mean it's done. Not content to wipe out your colony of hard-working survivors with giant alien bugs, debilitating injuries and illnesses, and deadly weather events, developer Haemimont Games is throwing something new at you next month: killer robots.

One of the most-played games on Steam right now is a highly-destructible FPS in open beta
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-the-most-played-games-on-steam-right-now-is-a-highly-destructible-fps-in-open-beta/
In what's proven to be a monster month for the multiplayer FPS, another challenger has entered the scene. The Finals, the highly destructible competitive FPS led by ex-DICE developers at Embark Studios, is running its first open beta, and the people are interested.

Our favorite horror game of 2022 is on sale for Steam's horror sale and just fixed our biggest issue
https://www.pcgamer.com/our-favorite-horror-game-of-2022-is-on-sale-for-steams-horror-sale-and-just-fixed-our-biggest-issue-with-it/
There are almost no excuses left to skip Signalis, our favorite horror game of 2022. It's 20% off for the Steam horror sale and it just received a patch that lets you bypass our biggest problem with it.
(...) In our review of Signalis, Dominic Tarason said it "takes a hundred familiar elements, inspirations and references and weaves them into something entirely new, and thoroughly worthwhile."
Tarason's only issue was its tedious inventory management, which developer Rose Engine just addressed in a patch this week. Update 1.2 adds a list of changes to the game (and some juicy unwritten changes) as well as an option to increase the size of your inventory and prevents your flashlight and camera tool from taking up slots by default. While it might water down the homage to Signalis' classic horror game influences, the option will save you from having to return to a safe room every few hours to clean out your pockets.

One of Alan Wake 2's expansions sounds like it's going to take us back to Control
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-alan-wake-2s-expansions-sounds-like-its-going-to-take-us-back-to-control/
Alan Wake 2 is out today, and despite some trepidation about its daunting system requirements on PC (which fortunately appears to be misplaced), it's going very well: Early reviews, for the most part, are positively glowing. (We'll have our own review up soon.) With the new tale of the struggling author now out the door, Remedy has offered the world some insight into what it has in mind for future chapters.

Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 overhaul was inspired by the 'old school design' of Diablo 2's skill trees and Doom's 'relentless' combat
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077s-20-overhaul-was-inspired-by-the-old-school-design-of-diablo-2s-skill-trees-and-dooms-relentless-combat/
Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 update changed so much about the game, it'd probably be quicker to list things it didn't touch than the systems it tweaked or wholesale refinished. (...)
"After we discussed what improvements we wanted regarding perks in update 2.0, the team investigated progression systems of various games, including Dying Light, Borderlands, and even Dota 2," gameplay design lead Karol Matyasik said in an interview with PC Gamer. Those are popular games, and I can see why Dying Light and Borderlands 2, especially, would be useful reference points for Cyberpunk 2.0. But what Matyasik said next really makes sense when you look at how CD Projekt changed things up.
"When it comes to the structure of 2.0 perks, I think the old school design of Diablo 2 skill trees, with their clear paths and progressively more powerful (and fun!) abilities, is what we often referred to in our discussions."