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

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The news, part two:

The Sims 4 free update adds vitiligo skin details in continued effort for more inclusive character creation
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-4-free-update-adds-vitiligo-skin-details-in-continued-effort-for-more-inclusive-character-creation/
As part of its continuing efforts to diversify The Sims 4 character creation, Maxis has added new skin details to Create-A-Sim. These patches of depigmented skin are caused by vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 1% of the US population and 100 million people worldwide. Maxis says that Sims of all ages can have vitiligo with varying amounts of coverage and symmetry on their face, torso, and limbs as part of a free base game update that launched today.

Helldivers 2 starts recruiting more devs for the war effort after its galactic success, aims to 'accelerate and beef up [its] content plans'
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-starts-recruiting-more-devs-for-the-war-effort-after-its-galactic-success-aims-to-accelerate-and-beef-up-its-content-plans/
Helldivers 2, a solid third-person co-op shooter about blasting bugs, has been doing damn well for itself—too well, in fact, slamming right into the ceiling of Steam's global top sellers chart like a kid who didn't expect mentos to mix with coke quite so explosively. As a result, there have been some hefty server and performance issues.
Though given the game's positive reception, none of that's been enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm. Players are downright patriotic for Helldivers. As a direct result of the game's success, its studio Arrowhead has begun a recruitment drive for more devs—that's according to its CEO Johan Pilestedt on Twitter.

Microsoft Flight Sim's free DLC finally adds what we've all wanted: giant mechanical dragonflies, decolonisation, and the chance to win a magical floating Xbox controller
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-flight-sims-free-dlc-finally-adds-what-weve-all-wanted-giant-mechanical-dragonflies-decolonisation-and-the-chance-to-win-a-magical-floating-xbox-controller/
We're all a bit iffy about flying Boeings ever since that plane had its door ripped off, so why not try an alternative? For instance, the gargantuan mechanical dragonflies that dotted the skies above the Butlerian Jihad of 200 BG to 108 BG? Those have so many moving parts that could go horribly wrong that you probably won't even think about the doors.
If you're tempted, then I've got good news: Microsoft Flight Sim's free Dune expansion is out now, bringing the Royal Atreides Ornithopter from those Denis Villeneuve films into the wide, flighty world of the game and giving you a chance to, uh, realistically simulate flying them. Can you realistically simulate a fictional thing? Yes. No further questions, please.

Deep Rock Galactic's first spin-off is out now in Early Access, and it's the best auto-shooter since Vampire Survivors
https://www.pcgamer.com/deep-rock-galactics-first-spin-off-is-out-now-in-early-access-and-its-the-best-autobattler-since-vampire-survivors/
Playing Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor's demo last year, I already felt like I'd discovered a promising vein of gold. Playing a preview of the game's full Early Access build this week has been like digging through and finding a whole glittering cavern of riches. As a big fan of Vampire Survivors-inspired games, I think this is my favourite yet—and it's out today.

My favourite game of 2023 that gave me all the feels is trying to give me, uh, different feels with its giant cosmic dildo
https://www.pcgamer.com/my-favourite-game-of-2023-that-gave-me-all-the-feels-is-trying-to-give-me-uh-different-feels-with-its-giant-cosmic-dildo/
It's Valentine's Day, and what better way to celebrate than trying to win a dildo of cosmic proportions?
I finally got around to playing The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood last month and it's become one of my all-time favourite games. It's gorgeously witchy and ethereal, all the vibes that I bloody love. The art and music are beautiful, I love the DIY tarot card system, and while the story isn't the strongest it was still enough for me to plough through multiple playthroughs and get a couple of tears out of me.

Forget Skull and Bones, there's another pirate game out on Steam this week that's plundered my heart with turn-based naval combat and pirate presidential campaigns
https://www.pcgamer.com/forget-skull-and-bones-theres-another-pirate-game-out-on-steam-this-week-thats-plundered-my-heart-with-turn-based-naval-combat-and-pirate-presidential-campaigns/
After years of delays, disappointing previews, and a beta our own Tyler Wilde described as "cheesy and unnatural", I think it's fair to say a bit of scepticism about the launch of Skull and Bones this Friday is sensible. Hopefully it is good, but if it does turn out to be a load of old hornswoggle, I think I've at least found an alternative.
Just released on Steam, Tortuga - A Pirate's Tale is a pirate sim that really revels in the details. As a captain out to pull off a historic score by plundering the Spanish treasure fleet, you're free to build up your power by sailing the Caribbean taking down merchant convoys, scrapping with other pirate factions, trading between ports, completing mercenary contracts, and generally making a nautical nuisance of yourself.

Football Manager players are exploiting a bug in its naive AI to buy the best players in history for less than 1% of their value
https://www.pcgamer.com/football-manager-players-are-exploiting-a-bug-in-its-naive-ai-to-buy-the-best-players-in-history-for-less-than-1-of-their-value/
The thing about football (or soccer, for our cross-Atlantic cousins) is that it's just as much about the art of the deal as it is about the art of the beautiful game. The sport's best and brightest are traded between clubs for price tags in the hundreds of millions, and assembling a dream team requires haggling, cajoling, and leveraging whatever angle you have to get the best players at the best price.
Unless you're haggling in Football Manager 2024, that is, in which case it's simply a matter of exploiting the poor AI with a very specific set of contractual terms that it will always, always accept, trading away players who should be worth nine-digit sums for the pittance of €2.5 million.

Palworld dev says talk of player dropoff is 'lazy' and 'it is fine to take breaks from games'
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-dev-says-talk-of-player-dropoff-is-lazy-and-it-is-fine-to-take-breaks-from-games/
Palworld is 2024's first surprise hit, combining all the familiar elements of the popular survival genre with an irresistible layer of Pokémon-inspired Pals to do your bidding. It's a game with no firm endpoint but a finite amount of stuff to do, and so unsurprisingly plenty of players picked it up, played it, and moved onto other things.
(...)
The game has been dinged for its player numbers going down when, really, anyone could've seen this was inevitable. Palworld's not an MMO, it's not a live service game, and it's not something like Counter-Strike 2. The criticism seems to have stung one Pocketpair dev, anyway, who has doubtless just enjoyed the busiest month of their entire life.

Suikoden creator Yoshitaka Murayama has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/suikoden-creator-yoshitaka-murayama-has-died/
Yoshitaka Murayama, known as the writer and director of the Konami RPG series Suikoden, has died. Murayama's death was reported by Rabbit & Bear Studios, which he founded in 2020. In a statement published Wednesday, Rabbit & Bear said he passed away on February 6 due to complications arising from an "ongoing illness."
>> Hiku made a thread about this sad news yesterday.

In case you don't have enough survival games this month, Sons of the Forest leaves early access next week (and it's getting raccoons)
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-case-you-dont-have-enough-survival-games-this-month-sons-of-the-forest-leaves-early-access-next-week-and-its-getting-raccoons/
(...)
We're only in February and it's already been a massive year for survival, first with record-setting critter-catcher Palworld and then with smash-hit open world RPG Enshrouded barely a week later. Now we're looking down the barrel at three more survival games all arriving next week: co-op Victorian gaslamp fantasy Nightingale, singleplayer driving survival game Pacific Drive, and the 1.0 launch of last year's tremendous survival hit Sons of the Forest. Yep. All next week.