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

[JEMC]

Thursday news, part two:

'We were in such dire need of talent'—Persona 3 Reload director explains why Episode Aigis was removed from the main game amid a tough development
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/we-were-in-such-dire-need-of-talentpersona-3-reload-director-explains-why-episode-aigis-was-removed-from-the-main-game-amid-a-tough-development/
Persona 3 Reload wasn't the "complete experience" that Atlus had promised, but the development process for Episode Aigis was apparently so chaotic that it nearly didn't happen. In an interview with Famitsu, DLC director Yu Hashizume and creative director Kazuhisa Wada explained why developing Episode Aigis was so difficult, and why it had to be removed from the original release. 

Enshrouded's new 2024 roadmap has dozens of features players have been clamoring for
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/enshroudeds-new-2024-roadmap-has-dozens-of-features-players-have-been-clamoring-for/
Co-op survival RPG Enshrouded got off to a great start in early access with over 2 million players diving into its massive fantasy world to build elaborate bases, battle monsters, and… well, honestly, mostly to build elaborate bases. 
While player feedback has been almost entirely positive, there have been a few requests (technically, a few thousand requests) of how the game could be improved—and it looks like a lot of those requests are going to be answered this year.

RuneScape creator unveils new MMO after 10 years of development: 'At times it has felt like an insurmountably ambitious task'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/runescape-creator-unveils-new-mmo-after-10-years-of-develoment-at-times-it-has-felt-like-an-insurmountably-ambitious-task/
Game designer Andrew Gower, who created the legendary, still-active RuneScape MMO with his brother Paul in the early 2000s, has just unveiled a new MMO, and it's releasing this year.
Brighter Shores has been in development for 10 years, according to Gower's studio, Fen Research. It aims to provide "a relaxing respite from daily life," casting players first as town guards in a "cozy" fantasy world—but not so cozy that the whole game is about snoozing next to a portcullis. Players' concerns will quickly reach "far beyond the town walls."

Palworld is looking for beta testers for future updates, but warns that tests are 'not intended for free play or experiencing new content early'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/palworld-is-looking-for-beta-testers-for-future-updates-but-warns-that-tests-are-not-intended-for-free-play-or-experiencing-new-content-early/
Palworld developer Pocketpair is looking for players to join its new testing program to help work out bugs in future game updates. There's just one catch: This one is actually a beta test, and you'll be expected to put some effort into it.

42 games from legendary British indie Jeff Minter's psychedelic back catalogue are now bundled with an 'interactive documentary' on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/42-games-from-legendary-british-indie-jeff-minters-psychedelic-back-catalogue-are-now-bundled-with-an-interactive-documentary-on-steam/
Jeff Minter is a legendary developer who's been doing his own thing since the early 1980s on platforms like the Sinclair ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, and C64. His best-known work is probably Tempest 2000 for the Atari Jaguar, although saying so will likely spark heated debates in some corners of the internet—some will no doubt argue that 2007's Space Giraffe or the 2016 psychedelic shooter Polybius is a better call.
In any event, the man has been prolific, but most of his creations were lost to time and older formats. However now you can play a whopping 42 of his old-time classics on modern PCs by way of Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, a new "interactive documentary" from Digital Eclipse that's now available on Steam.

Summer Game Fest returns to fill the E3-shaped hole in our hearts on June 7
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/summer-game-fest-returns-to-fill-the-e3-shaped-hole-in-our-hearts-on-june-7/
E3 may be dead but the Summer Game Fest is alive and well, and will return to action for 2024 on June 7 with another live-and-livestreamed show happening at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

'Probably one of the worst launches of all time': Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection players tear into Aspyr for bugs, crashes, and 3 64-player launch servers for nearly 10,000 users
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/probably-one-of-the-worst-launches-of-all-time-star-wars-battlefront-classic-collection-players-tear-into-aspyr-for-bugs-crashes-and-3-64-player-launch-servers-for-nearly-10000-users/
Aspyr sure is running hot and cold at the moment. Right after last month's well-regarded remasters of the first three Tomb Raider games, the company has put out the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, an uprezzed repackage of the original, beloved Battlefront games. It came out today and, well, oh dear.
With over a thousand Steam user reviews already in, the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection has spiralled down to a "Mostly Negative" overall rating, as fans complain of bugs, crashes, server issues, and a borderline-unplayable multiplayer mode.

Tim Sweeney emailed Gabe Newell calling Valve 'you assholes' over Steam policies, to which Valve's COO simply replied 'you mad bro?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/tim-sweeney-emailed-gabe-newell-calling-valve-you-assholes-over-steam-policies-to-which-valves-coo-simply-replied-you-mad-bro/
Valve is currently embroiled in a US antitrust lawsuit with Wolfire, a developer that alleges the Steam platform holder uses its position to unfairly crowd-out rivals and control game prices. Valve tried to have the suit dismissed, but in May 2022 the court ruled it could go ahead with some changes and enter the discovery phase: the juiciest part of the legal process where, among other things, plenty of internal correspondence from the companies involved is made public.
>> Another thing that has emerged: in 2018 Steam made more money per employee than any other tech company.

'Balatro is the first deckbuilder I ever played,' says developer who singlehandedly made Balatro
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/balatro-is-the-first-deckbuilder-i-ever-played-says-developer-who-singlehandedly-made-balatro/
(...)
Despite making the best poker deckbuilding roguelike around, solo developer Localthunk told PC Gamer last month that he doesn't play poker at all. Which is a surprise! But given how meticulously designed the game feels—and how neatly it sidesteps a lot of my frustrations with other games in its genre—surely he's at least a deckbuilder fan? It turns out that, no, he hadn't played those either.

Paradox says where we're going, we don't need no marketing plan as it just shows off and chats about the unannounced Europa Universalis 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/paradox-says-where-were-going-we-dont-need-no-marketing-plan-as-it-just-shows-off-and-chats-about-the-unannounced-europa-universalis-5/
While other developers stick loyally to promotional schedules crafted at great expense by dedicated professionals, publisher Paradox Interactive knows that with some things there's no need to bother. All you do, see, is show off a bit of a world map, start talking a little bit about population complexity and, like hungry sharks drawn to the blood of the chum, the Europa Universalis massive will materialise.
A new blogpost by Johan Andersson, studio manager at Paradox Tinto, basically just straight-up starts talking about and showing off elements of Project Caesar, a game that is very clearly Europa Universalis 5. Andersson is the creator of the series and, after over 25 years at Paradox, established Paradox Tinto in 2020 which initially worked on supporting Europa Universalis 4.

Last edited by JEMC - on 14 March 2024