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

[JEMC]

These are the Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

DayZ's just hit its highest-ever player count a decade after its standalone release
https://www.pcgamer.com/dayzs-just-hit-its-highest-ever-player-count-a-decade-after-its-standalone-release/
The original DayZ mod was released in 2012 to near-instant popularity and, come December, it'll be ten years since the standalone game entered early access on Steam. Originally launched in a pretty barebones state, the idea was always to build-out DayZ over the years to come and Bohemia Interactive has done just that: with a sizeable patch last week leading to the game's largest number of concurrent players ever: 69,449, per Steamdb.

GOG has launched two new sales:

• The Ziggurat Publisher Sale brings up to 70% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20231114_ziggurat_publisher_sale" target="_blank"> https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20231114_ziggurat_publisher_sale
• The Emotion Flow Sale has games up to 90% off during 7 days. The games are organized around the hormones that you'll release while playing them:

Steam has new deals for us, including new weeklong deals:

• Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition will be 50% off until the 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466860/Age_of_Empires_IV_Anniversary_Edition/
• The Deponia Full Scrap Collection, with four games, has a 91% discount. It doesn't mention how long thid deal will last, but given that the individual games are on sale until the 16th, you can guess the same for this bundle: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/18569/Deponia_Full_Scrap_Collection/
• The Czech & Slovak Games Week 2023 has demos and at least 80% deals until the 20th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41475492/sale/CZSKGamesWeek2023
• Grounded will be free to try during two more days and 40% off until November, 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/962130/Grounded/
• The Arkane Studios Sale features up to 90% discounts until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/arkanestudiossale
• And this is a very small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Gaia Trek is 21% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2273170/Gaia_Trek/
  • Will You Snail? gets a 30% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/
  • RagingBlasters is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1464550/RagingBlasters/
  • Battle Royale Tycoon has a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/851930/Battle_Royale_Tycoon/
  • And the last one, Super Pixel Racers, is 85% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/501020/Super_Pixel_Racers/

The Humble Store has the new Construct & Command Sale, with up to 90% discounts during 6 days. There are keys for Steam, EGS and direct downloads: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/construct-command-sale/.

And Fanatical has three new Flash Deals and a contest:

• These are the 24 hours Flash Deals:
  • The Classic Board Games Collection, with three games, is 80% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/classic-board-games-collection
  • The Star Wars Collection, with 14 games, gets an 81% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
  • Iron Harvest has an 85% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/iron-harvest
• And there's a new Wishlist & Win contest to win one of the 25 prizes of $10 in-store cash: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/wishlist-and-win

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4953 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4953
Fixed Issues
Intel Arc Graphics Products:

• Starfield (DX12) may exhibit flickering color corruption in the sky during night scenes.
• Alan Wake 2 (DX12) may exhibit corruptions on water and reflective surfaces.
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection (DX11) may experience lower than expected performance with the Xbox Game Pass version.
• World War Z (DX11) may experience lower than expected performance with the Epic Games Store version.

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 546.17 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-gameready-546-17
Highlights
Game Ready for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 3 technology including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Starfield.

Fixed Issues
Fixed Gaming Bugs

• [Alan Wake 2] Addressing gradual stability and performance degradation over extended periods of gameplay [4334633]
• [Counter Strike 2] Improved NVIDIA Reflex functionality and performance [4361128]
• [Starfield/Cyberpunk 2077] Stutter observed on some Advanced Optimus notebooks [4341762]
• [Control] Game stability issues over extended periods of gameplay [4313811]

Fixed General Bugs

• [OBS] Tearing issue when recording high resolution video [4359771]
• [Notebook] GPU can become frozen in maximum performance state [4364631]
• Windows 10 transparency effects are not displaying correctly after driver update [4335862]
• Random Bugcheck may be observed on certain systems [4343844]
• [Wallpaper Engine] Wallpaper shows tearing when cloned in multi-monitor configuration [4364562]
• [Firefox Beta] Increased page file memory use when enabling RTX Video Super Resolution [4359080]

After earning $544 million in its most recent quarter, Unity says even more layoffs are 'likely'
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-earning-dollar544-million-in-its-most-recent-quarter-unity-says-even-more-layoffs-are-likely/
It looks like game engine maker Unity is going to be laying off even more employees. Six months after putting 600 people out of work in the year's third round of layoffs and announcing plans to close half its offices worldwide, the company said in its most recent quarterly financial report that despite a 69% year-over-year increase in revenue in its third quarter, it's still bleeding money, and more people will probably have to go.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Here’s your first look at GTA 5 with DLSS 3 Frame Generation
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/gta-5-nvidia-dlss-3-frame-generation/
Modder ‘PureDark’ has released a video, showcasing Grand Theft Auto 5 with DLAA and DLSS 3 Frame Generation. This mod aims to improve the performance of GTA5, though it would be better if the modder focused on GTA IV.
(...)
Anyway, with DLSS 3 Frame Generation, owners of the RTX40 series graphics cards can almost double their performance. This will be great for those that have heavily modified GTA5. With DLSS 3, you can get amazing framerates in 4K with the best graphics mods, such as NVE, QuentV and ENB. Not only that but DLAA (as well as DLSS Super Resolution) can improve the game’s image quality. Let’s not forget that GTAV uses TAA for its anti-aliasing solution. So yeah, DLSS 3 Super Resolution will be a must-have in this game for all RTX owners.
And now for the bad news. As with all DLSS 3 mods from PureDark, this one will also be behind a Patreon wall. So no, you won’t be able to download and use it for free. This sucks but hey, it is what it is. Let’s at least hope that other modders, like LukeFZ, will release free DLSS 3 mods for both GTA5 and GTA 4.
>> There's an over 8 minutes long video.

GAMING NEWS

New Starfield Beta Update 1.8.84 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/new-starfield-beta-update-1-8-84-released-detailed/
Bethesda just dropped a new beta update for the PC version of Starfield. This new one, Beta Update 1.8.84, has got a bunch of fixes. Most of them are about the new DLSS 3 Super Resolution and Frame Generation Bethesda added.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-official-pc-requirements/
SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku revealed what kind of PC you’ll need for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the new Yakuza game coming in 2024. And guess what? You don’t need a super fancy computer – it’s not asking for a high-end one.