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

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Tuesday news, the sequel:

EverQuest 2's former creative director has a bleak vision of gaming's future
https://www.pcgamer.com/everquest-2s-former-creative-director-has-a-bleak-vision-of-gamings-future/
In the recent 30th anniversary issue of Edge, various developers shared their thoughts on the future of gaming, with particular emphasis placed on the role of AI. But they also shared more general thoughts on where gaming is at right now, and where it'll be in the next 30 years. One developer, former EverQuest 2 creative director Raph Koster, painted a particularly bleak picture of gaming's future.

Currently unobtainable Baldur's Gate 3 achievement teases a hardcore permadeath mode that I will never be brave enough to play
https://www.pcgamer.com/currently-unobtainable-baldurs-gate-3-achievement-teases-a-hardcore-permadeath-mode-that-i-will-never-be-brave-enough-to-play/
If you played through Baldur's Gate 3 in Tactician mode and thought "I've not been brought to tears enough," then I might have some good news for you. A new achievement spotted in the GOG version of Larian's RPG teases the return of Honour mode, which Original Sin players might recognise as the series' hardcore, permadeath difficulty.

Starfield community patchers are frustrated by the game's lack of mod support: 'A lot of stuff is really broken compared to the other games'
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-community-patchers-are-frustrated-by-the-games-lack-of-mod-support-a-lot-of-stuff-is-really-broken-compared-to-the-other-games/
A group of modders behind the Starfield Community Patch have expressed their frustration with the game’s lack of mod support, which is inhibiting their attempts to fix the many bugs present in Bethesda’s space RPG. They go on to claim that modding does not appear to be a priority for Bethesda's latest RPG at all, despite the company’s support for and, to some extent, reliance on the modding community to adjust and improve their games.
The claims are made in a new report from Eurogamer, which delves into the curious project that is the Starfield Community Patch. More than just a group of enthusiast modders looking to fix Starfield’s problems, the Starfield Community Patch is specifically an effort to create an unofficial patching that is open source and community-owned. As explained by one of the patch’s founders, Timothy "Halgari" Baldridge, unofficial patches for Bethesda games have previously been “directly controlled by one or maybe two people" who have complete oversight over what bugs are fixed and what aren't.

One of Embracer's top executives resigns and announces his own gaming company at the same time
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-embracers-top-executives-resigns-and-announces-his-own-gaming-company-at-the-same-time/
Former Embracer Group chief operating officer Egil Strunke announced on LinkedIn today that he has formally resigned as the company's chief operating officer—essentially, Embracer's number-two guy—and that he's now launching an all-new game company of his own.

A tech analysis of Cities: Skylines 2 proves it's rendering WAY too many polygons, making Cyberpunk 2077 look like Minecraft in comparison
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-tech-analysis-of-cities-skylines-2-proves-its-rendering-way-too-many-polygons-making-cyberpunk-2077-look-like-minecraft-in-comparison/
A technical analysis of the graphics rendering in Cities: Skylines 2 has identified the reason why the performance is just so poor. Put simply, the game is trying to draw the cityscapes using a shocking number of polygons, with few systems in place to reduce the amount when it's not needed. It's not something that should be happening in a modern game but the recent breakdown also suggests changes within Unity are partly to blame, too.
>> It's worth a read to realize how messed up is the game. The breakdown comes from a Reddit post, also in the article, in case you prefer to read it from its source.

Cities: Skylines 2 boss says there won't be paid DLC until 'performance issues are fixed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/cities-skylines-2-boss-says-there-wont-be-paid-dlc-until-performance-issues-are-fixed/
Following its launch in 2015, the original Cities: Skylines spawned a surprising number of DLC packs: a whopping 62 in total. But if you're wondering when Cities: Skyline 2 will start flinging paid DLC your way, you're in for a bit of a wait. Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen said today that paid content won't arrive until the game is running better.
>> Given the previous article, it should take a while then... and I don't know how much time will Paradox give them to fix it before they demand for such DLC.

StarCraft could return, according to Blizzard president, but not necessarily as an RTS
https://www.pcgamer.com/starcraft-could-return-according-to-blizzard-president-but-not-necessarily-as-an-rts/
During BlizzCon's opening ceremony, Blizzard celebrated its games with a cinematic that focussed on the here and now, with nods to World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone and the developer's latest game: Warcraft Rumble. With this focus on the present, one of its most important series went ignored, much as it has been for years. StarCraft didn't get a look in.
(...)
These are undeniably important games, not just for diehard RTS players, but Blizzard has moved away from the series. After a decade of StarCraft 2 support, Blizzard decided that it was time to stop developing its flagship RTS, and since then has had little to say about the series. But Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, in an interview with Bloomberg, threw those of us who still hold a torch for StarCraft a bone. Just a wee one.

The co-op survival RPG that took Steam Next Fest by storm has a release date, and it's soon-ish
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-co-op-survival-rpg-that-took-steam-next-fest-by-storm-has-a-release-date-and-its-soon-ish/
Co-op survival RPG Enshrouded had a killer run in October when it was the most played and wishlisted demo at Steam Next Fest. I was one of the people playing it, too: Keen Games' voxel-based open world RPG ticks a lot of boxes with me, like exploration, building, crafting, hunting, farming, and even grappling hooks and wingsuits. Heck, I even complained like a spoiled child that Enshrouded's eight hour demo wasn't long enough for my tastes.
So the question on everyone's fingertips is: when do we get the rest of it? Soonish. Keen Games has finally announced the early access launch date. Enshrouded will release on January 24, 2024.