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

[JEMC]

Friday news, the sequel:

EA CEO talks AI, says the usual stuff before the bong rip hits and he starts blabbing about a future where 3 billion people are creating EA's games with it
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ea-ceo-talks-ai-says-the-usual-stuff-before-the-bong-rip-hits-and-he-starts-blabbing-about-a-future-where-3-billion-people-are-creating-eas-games-with-it/
It's 2024 and everyone who's anyone is thinking about how to get AI to do the heavy lifting for them. Among that number? EA CEO Andrew Wilson, who recently had a natter with Morgan Stanley (via TechRaptor) about his vision for AI and how it could impact EA's development processes in the years to come. Are you nervous? I'm nervous.

'All your save files will be fully intact': Eric Barone confirms that Stardew Valley's 1.6 update isn't out to delete your progress
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/all-you-save-files-will-be-fully-intact-eric-barone-confirms-that-stardew-valleys-16-update-isnt-out-to-delete-your-progress/
We're weeks away from the launch of Stardew Valley's 1.6 update, which is set to add all sorts of stuff to different aspects of the game, like festivals, dialogue, and even a new farm type. But as the clock winds down to March 19, some players are worried about what will happen to their save files. 

Ambitious indie RPG Unforetold: Witchstone is halting development and laying off staff
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ambitious-indie-rpg-unforetold-witchstone-is-halting-development-and-laying-off-staff/
Unforetold: Witchstone showed a lot of promise when it launched into early access in January, but much of that potential was buried under jank: It's "damn impressive" when it works, Fraser Brown wrote back in February, but in its pre-1.0 state, much of it "is undone by bugs and wonky systems."
Sadly, it seems the game won't ever have the opportunity to overcome that roughness and truly shine, as developer Spearhead Games is halting further development of the game and laying off most of its team.

Cowboy Bebop is the second anime collab coming to Overwatch 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/cowboy-bebop-is-the-second-anime-collab-coming-to-overwatch-2/
Overwatch 2's second anime collab event, starting on March 12, will let you wear skins and other cosmetics based on the main crew in Cowboy Bebop.
If Blizzard's approach to these events hasn't changed since the One Punch Man collab last year, Overwatch 2's heroes are now canonically fans of the space western anime. The crossover skins are like cosplay for the characters of Overwatch, art director Dion Rogers told Xbox Wire last year: "Our heroes are basically aware of the anime and are fans too."

Overwatch 2 director admits the overwhelming power of DPS heroes 'may be pushed a bit too far', details new patch to fix that
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-director-admits-the-overwhelming-power-of-dps-heroes-may-be-pushed-a-bit-too-far-details-new-patch-to-fix-that/
Overwatch 2's latest season dramatically changed how the game is played by giving DPS heroes the ability to reduce the healing their enemies receive. The ripple effects from this change left many tanks and support heroes struggling to stay alive.
In a blog post reflecting on the changes, game director Aaron Keller admitted that the amount of power it gave DPS heroes "may be pushed a bit too far." "There can be moments where it feels a bit too dangerous, even as a tank, to expose yourself, or where your health can burn down quicker than expected while being healed," he said.

'F*** it, let's go all the way with this:' How a side project for Dusk snowballed into a complete overhaul of the beloved boomer shooter's visuals
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/f-it-lets-go-all-the-way-with-this-how-a-small-side-project-for-dusk-snowballed-into-a-complete-overhaul-of-the-games-visuals/
Dusk wasn't originally supposed to get a full graphical remaster just five years after launch⁠. In its initial reveal at the 2022 PC Gaming show, New Blood head honcho Dave Oshry called it an update "nobody asked for, so we're doing it anyway," and the "HD" moniker for the tastefully updated weapon and enemy models was really more of a bit. Hell, the guy who made most of it wasn't even a professional developer at that point: "I saw the trailer for Dusk HD and was like, 'Oh, haha, Dusk but HD, what a joke,'" David "Garumin" Bonin told me in a recent interview. 

Helldivers 2's latest order sure looks like a setup for players to liberate their own mech suits… for democracy!
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2s-latest-order-sure-looks-like-a-setup-for-players-to-liberate-their-own-mech-suits-for-democracy/
Helldivers 2 has announced the latest twist in its galactic war, and it's one that will have Helldivers rushing in en masse. The planet under attack by the Automatons is Tien Kwan, a name that will be familiar to any liberty-loving patriot who saw Arrowhead's mech tease a few days ago: Yep, this is the place where they make mechs.
>> The boss has also apologized for what some moderatoes/devs have said after the balance patch.

Helldivers 2 devs say they're gonna tone down the heavily-armoured creeps: 'We're currently looking at changes to the spawn rates and health pools'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-devs-say-theyre-gonna-tone-down-the-heavily-armoured-creeps-were-currently-looking-at-changes-to-the-spawn-rates-and-health-pools/
(...)
In case you're new to the hell(dive) of difficulties seven to nine, let me lay out the issue: Higher-difficulty missions against bugs set you against two major headaches, the bile titan and the charger—both of which have heavy armour which cause most conventional weapons to simply bounce off their exoskeletons. 
(...)
That'll change soon, though. As spotted by GamesRadar, a recent message by Arrowhead's associate community manager on the game's Discord is promising an end to charger woes. 
>> They’ve also announced a new Warbond (battlepass).

Tribes 3: Rivals needs just 10GB of storage space and the rest of the system requirements look relatively undemanding too
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/tribes-3-rivals-needs-just-10gb-of-storage-space-and-the-rest-of-the-system-requirements-look-relatively-undemanding-too/
I monitor my storage space like a hawk, keeping a strict regimen that means if a new, 100GB+ game is added to my system, I make sure an equivalent is removed to make room, keeping my PC in a state of zen-like equilibrium. Looks like I won't have to worry too much about Tribes 3: Rivals however, as the early access system requirements have been revealed and it only demands a relatively tiny 10GB of precious storage. 

Starfield's new patch busts one of the best early exploits in the game and stops Sam Coe telling his daughter to tell jokes to a corpse
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/starfields-new-patch-busts-one-of-the-best-early-exploits-in-the-game-and-stops-sam-coe-telling-his-daughter-to-tell-jokes-to-a-corpse/
Gosh, but haven't passions cooled on Starfield? For years and years, Bethesda's space sim was the most hotly anticipated game in development by anyone at any studio, and when it came out you couldn't round a corner without encountering some kind of hot take on it (some of them were even ours). But now it feels like everyone has pretty much come to accept Starfield for what it is: A mostly fine, unspectacular open-world thing. Elite: Dangerous with a dialogue box.
Not a bad foundation to build on, to be honest, which is exactly what Bethesda continues to do. Today, the studio dropped Starfield's 1.10.30 update in Steam beta ahead of a likely imminent full release, adding new Photo Mode poses, letting you undo a digipicking move without losing a pick, and—I think most important of all—preventing Sam Coe from telling his 12-year-old daughter to try out her stand-up material on a corpse.

And now, the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• Let’s start with the new Deals of the Day, that will last until Monday’s refresh:
  • The first one is Dead Cells, 50% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dead_cells
  • UNCHARTED™: Legacy of Thieves Collection gets a 50% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/uncharted_legacy_of_thieves_collection
  • Bee Simulator features a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/bee_simulator
  • The last one is Mordheim: City of the Damned, 90% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/mordheim_city_of_the_damned
• I missed it when it launched, but there’s a Weekly Sale with up to 90% discounts during another 4 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240305_weekly_deals_1_march
• The French Week Sale will let us explore lots of games that are up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240308_french_week
• The Microids Publisher Sale also features up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240307_microids_publisher_sale
• The last deal is the Take a Hike Sale, with games featuring great scenery up to 92% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240308_take_a_hike

+Steam

• The Women’s Day Sale 2024 features up to 90% discounts until the 10th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/womenday24
• Valheim, still in Early Access, gets a 50% discount until the 11th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/892970/Valheim/
• Gamedec - Definitive Edition will be 60% off until the 11th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/917720/Gamedec__Definitive_Edition/
• The Digital Tabletop Fest 4: Roll of the Dice features up to 90% discounts. Most deals will end on March, 11: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/tabletopfest
• A Space for the Unbound, that has a demo, will be 40% off until March, the 13th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201270/A_Space_for_the_Unbound/
• House Flipper 2 will sport a 20% discount until the 14th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1190970/House_Flipper_2/
• The Early Access title Travellers Rest will be 33% off until the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1139980/Travellers_Rest/
• Mortal Kombat 1 will be free to try during another 2 days and 40% off until March, 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1971870/Mortal_Kombat_1/
• And last, but not least, there’s the Capcom Publisher Sale, with up to 84% discounts that I have no idea how long will last since it onle says “Limited Time Offer”: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CapcomPubSale

And that’s it. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.