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

[JEMC]

Today’s news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store gives away Aerial_Knight's Never Yield: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/aerial-knights-never-yield
And next week, they’ll give away Astro Duel 2.

Someone at GOG must have realized that they’ve haven’t done much this week when it comes to deals, because today there’s a lot:

• First things first: there’s a new GIVEAWAY: Nomads of Driftland: The Forgotten Passage will be free to get during 184 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/nomads_of_driftland_the_forgotten_passage
• Let’s follow with the new Deals of the Day, that will last only 22 hours:
  • Age of Wonders 4: Premium Edition will be 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/age_of_wonders_4_premium_edition
  • Hardspace: Shipbreaker gets a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hardspace_shipbreaker
  • And the third one is Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, with a 65% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/indiana_jones_and_the_infernal_machine
• The Sci-Fi Sale puts games of this genre up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240229_sci_fi_sale
• The Star Drifters Publisher Sale gets up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240229_star_drifters_publisher_sale
• The HypeTrain Digital Publisher Sale features up to 75% discounts during the next 14 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240229_hypetrain_publisher_sale
• And there’s another publisher sale with Movie Games, that puts its games up to 90% off during 14 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240229_movie_games_publisher_sale

Steam “only” has two new deals:

• Spiritfall will be 25% off until the 6th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1835240/Spiritfall/
• And Cartel Tycoon gets a 60% discount until the same March, 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1220140/Cartel_Tycoon/

There’s a new Humble Bundle: The Creative Sandbox Bundle, with up to 8 items to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/creative-sandbox-bundle.

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Dreamscaper, 85% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dreamscaper
• And the Diamond Collection BYOB has 18 titles to choose from for your 3, 4 or 5 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/diamond-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Microsoft confirms DirectSR is the 'missing link', an API designed to ease the introduction of Nvidia, AMD, and Intel upscalers into DirectX games
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/microsoft-confirms-directsr-is-the-missing-link-an-api-designed-to-ease-the-introduction-of-nvidia-amd-and-intel-upscalers-into-directx-games/
As this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) fast approaches, we're starting to see teasers and previews of what might be discussed at the sessions beginning on March 18. We'd already spotted Microsoft's DirectX "State of the Union" and its announcement of a preview to something called DirectSR, which we speculated to be a new hardware-agnostic upscaler, and guess what? Microsoft has confirmed that this isn't quite the case, but something that might be even more useful.
In a post on the DirectX developer blog, Microsoft has discussed further details around DirectSR, describing it as "the missing link developers have been waiting for" in regards to integrating Super Resolution features (more generally referred to as upscalers) into DirectX games.
The new API has been designed in partnership with GPU hardware vendors and allows a single code path to activate a plethora of different upscaling solutions, including the big names you might expect: Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS are all mentioned as receiving support from the new API, which is said to be available soon in the Agility SDK for developers to test and provide feedback.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Gets New 4K Mod, Improving the Quality of 2300 Textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-gets-new-4k-mod-improving-the-quality-of-2300-textures/
Modder ‘slowpard’ has released a new 4K mod for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, aiming to improve the quality of 2300 textures. This Texture Pack is based on the Better Cities Mod, which overhauls and enhances all the cities from the original game adding new buildings, new NPCs, and new quests.
Going into more details, the modder has cleaned and decompressed all of the original textures. He then batch-upscaled them at 4X with around 15 different models (RGB/alpha separately, color-matched to the original). After upscaling them, he chose the best results to include to the pack. Moreover, in many cases, different upscales were blended, edited or redone from downscaled samples. Normals were either upscaled (RG channels, then unit vector normalized with the B channel) or regenerated from the upscaled diffuse maps. And finally, slowpard recompressed them to dds with NVIDIA Texture Exporter.
Those interested can go ahead and download this new 4K mod from this link. Do note, though, that it might not be compatible with the previous 4K Texture Packs we’ve shared for Oblivion. At the end of the article, you can also find some comparison screenshots. These screenshots will give you an idea of what you can expect from it.

This Skyrim Mod adds 1350+ lore-friendly lines of dialogue to the existing residents of Windhelm
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/this-skyrim-mod-adds-1350-lore-friendly-lines-of-dialogue-to-the-existing-residents-of-windhelm/
Modder AdamDunmer just dropped an awesome mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This mod brings in over 1350 new lines of dialogue to the folks in Windhelm. It’s totally in line with the game’s lore, making it a must-try for an even better gaming experience. So, give it a shot to level up your Skyrim adventure.
This mod tweaks about 30 NPCs in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The modder made sure to give them major upgrades in their dialogue to capture the cold and unwelcoming vibe of Windhelm. Not only that but there are now around 30 additional scenes with NPCs having cool conversations with each other. It’s like a whole new level of interaction in the game.
So, there are now nineteen cool new scenes in Candlehearth, four fresh market scenes, and two new scenes between Viola and the Captain. If that’s not enough, there are also two new dockworker scenes in Lonely-Gale and a new blacksmith scene. Some of these scenes unlock when you complete quests like Innocence Lost, CW Imperial victory, CW Stormcloaks victory, and if you’re an Argonian, after finishing the quest “Blood On the Ice”.
>> The article has an almost 4 minutes video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Alone in the Dark gets new in-engine trailer & PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/alone-in-the-dark-gets-new-in-engine-trailer-pc-requirements/
THQ Nordic just dropped a new trailer for Alone in the Dark. In this trailer, Jodie Comer and David Harbour talk about the game’s story endings and introduce you to some of its characters. So, be sure to check it out.

Project L33T is a new PvEvP hardcore tactical extraction shooter
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-l33t-is-a-new-pvevp-hardcore-tactical-extraction-shooter/
Holmgard Games has just announced a new PvEvP hardcore tactical extraction shooter, called Project L33T. To celebrate this announcement, the team shared its first gameplay trailer which you can find below.

Mortal Kombat 1 February 28th Update Released, Adds Crossplay Support, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/mortal-kombat-1-february-28th-update-released-adds-crossplay-support-full-patch-notes/
NetherRealm Studios has just released the February 28th Title Update for Mortal Kombat 1. This patch finally adds crossplay support between PC and consoles. So, let’s take a closer look at its full list of changes.

Cyberpunk 2077 Title Update 2.12 Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/cyberpunk-2077-title-update-2-12-released-full-patch-notes/
CD Projekt RED has released Title Update 2.12 for Cyberpunk 2077, and shared its full patch notes. According to the changelog, this latest update addresses some bugs that have plagued the game. Moreover, it comes with some PC-specific tweaks and fixes.