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

[JEMC]

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(Click here for the top 100)

GOG has launched the Dragon Sale, it's New Lunar Year Sale, featuring up to 92% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_lunar_sale_dragon_year.

Steam has new sales and weeklong deals:

• Thymesia will be 40% off until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1343240/Thymesia/
• There's a Disney Publisher Sale, with up to 75% discounts until February, the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/disneypublishersale2024
• There is no announcement or anything like that, but most Playstation games are on sale with up to 75% deals until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/playstationstudios
• There's another publisher sale featuring Excalibur Games, that puts its games up to 80% off until the 12th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/excalibur-games/sale/excaliburgamespublishersale
• Square Enix does a New Lunar Year Sale with up to 90% discounts until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/squareenix/sale/lunarnewyear
• Microsoft also does a Xbox Game Studios & Bethesda Lunar Sale, putting its games up to 85% off. Most deals will last until the 13th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/lunar2024
• Headbangers: Rhythm Royale is on sale with a 33% discount until February, the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1761620/Headbangers_Rhythm_Royale/
• And these are a glimpse of the weeklong deals you'll find:
  • Longvinter, still in Early Access, is 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1635450/Longvinter/
  • UNDYING gets a 30% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/638990/UNDYING/
  • Master of Magic is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1623070/Master_of_Magic/
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition features a 68% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/704450/Neverwinter_Nights_Enhanced_Edition/
  • Craft The World will be 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/248390/Craft_The_World/
  • And Zombie Army Trilogy gets a 90% deal: https://store.steampowered.com/app/301640/Zombie_Army_Trilogy/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The Playstation Lunar Sale brings up to 75% discounts during 5 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/playstation-lunar-sale/
• And the Celebrate Diversity Sale has games up to 90% off during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/celebrate-diversity-sale/

And Fanatical has a new Star Deal and a sale:

• The new Star Deal is RAGE® 2 - Deluxe Edition, 90% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/rage-2-deluxe-edition
• And Koei Tecmo puts its games on sale with up to 58% discounts: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/koei-tecmo-games-co-ltd

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Witcher 3 Mod removes the fake “hero” lights from cut-scenes
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-witcher-3-mod-removes-the-fake-hero-lights-from-cut-scenes/
Modder ‘oldflipgamer’ has released a new mod for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen that aims to remove the fake “hero” lights from its cut-scenes. As such, the game will now look more realistic than before. For those unaware, developers use fake “hero” lights in their games to highlight some of their characters. This can make some characters look weird and unnatural. And, since The Witcher 3 now supports RTGI, it would make sense to remove them, right? Well, CDPR did not, which is something that prompted oldflipgamer to release this mod. (...) Do note that this mod will make the game’s cut-scenes look darker. This is to be expected. So, if you don’t want a more realistic approach to the game’s dialogues, you can skip it. If, on the other hand, you want a bit more realistic graphics, you can go ahead and download it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find some comparison screenshots. The vanilla version is on the left, whereas the modded version is on the right.

The 32-bit classic RPG, The Legend of Dragoon, has received an unofficial PC port, supporting 4K and 60fps
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-legend-of-dragoon-unofficial-pc-port/
Now here is something that came out of nowhere. A team of modders has been working on an unofficial PC port of the 32-bit Playstation JRPG, The Legend of Dragoon. This unofficial PC version supports native 4K resolutions and 60fps, and you can already download it.
For those unaware, The Legend of Dragoon is a game that used pre-rendered backgrounds, similar to those found in the 32-bit Final Fantasy and Resident Evil games. The game also had a combination of turn-based mechanics and real-time commands. And no. The Legend of Dragoon has NOTHING in common with Panzer Dragoon.
So, its unofficial PC port is called Project: Severed Chains. This is a reverse-engineered PC port and a full reconstruction of its game engine. So, it’s quite incredible what this team has managed to achieve.
This unofficial PC port has higher-quality audio and more accurate controller input. It also has full mouse support for its menus. It also aims to have near-0 loading times with instant save. And yes, there will be unlimited save slots.
>> Is BraLOD still on the site? Because he'll lose his sh*t over this. By the way, the article has an almost 5 minutes video of the port.

This Quake level pack transforms iconic multiplayer maps into thrilling singleplayer death mazes
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-quake-level-pack-transforms-iconic-multiplayer-maps-into-thrilling-single-player-death-mazes/
When I was a kid, I used to boot-up multiplayer maps in games like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament and wander around them alone. I loved exploring the design of spaces like Facing Worlds and de_dust2, but was less enthused by the other people trying to kill me in them. I like my FPS enemies to be distinctly non-human, able to blast me into a quivering chunk of meat, but unable to call me "n00b" afterwards.
So it was with considerable joy that I learned about the Remix Jam map pack. It's the result of a recent level design jam, whereby Quake mappers have taken iconic multiplayer maps, and redesigned them to work as single-player levels. The result is a 30-map Quake episode that takes you on a whistle-stop tour of multiplayer shooter history, with dozens of enemies to blast along the way.
I had a little poke around the map pack's innards this morning, and it's a surprisingly comprehensive experience. The map has its own Quake-style hub level that lets you jump through a slipgate to any of the available maps. I picked one at random and found myself crawling through the vents of GoldenEye's classic Facility level, but with the guards and scientists replaced by Quake Enforcers. Other maps I recognised included a Death Knight filled de_dust2, and Unreal Tournament's Facing Worlds, reworked with a squirrelly theme. I was impressed by how well the latter functioned as a single-player map despite its geometric simplicity, with canny enemy placement keeping the action consistent.
>> The article only has a couple of screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

First major patch for Enshrouded brings performance and optimization improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-major-patch-for-enshrouded-brings-performance-and-optimization-improvements/
Keen Games just dropped the first big update for its co-op survival RPG, Enshrouded. This update will improve the game’s performance. Plus, there are numerous bug fixes. So, let’s check out what they’ve done.