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

[JEMC]

Let’s start the Easter week news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has four new Deals of the Day, that will last 46 hours:

• Organs Please gets a 20% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/organs_please
• Synthetic Lover is 70% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/synthetic_lover
• Pillars of Eternity: Hero Edition features a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/pillars_of_eternity_hero_edition
• And Mage's Initiation: Reign of the Elements can be yours 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/mages_initiation_reign_of_the_elements

Steam feels generous and has three new deals:

• TRYP FPV : The Drone Racer Simulator, still in Early Access, will be 15% off until the 31st of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1881200/TRYP_FPV__The_Drone_Racer_Simulator/
• Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth will be half its price until the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203630/Record_of_Lodoss_War_Deedlit_in_Wonder_Labyrinth/
• And PHOGS!, that has a demo, gets a 55% discount until the 7th of April: https://store.steampowered.com/app/850320/PHOGS/

There are two new deals at Humble:

• Humble Bundle has the Back with a Vengeance: The Best of Boomer Shooters Bundle, with 7 titles to get during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/back-with-vengeance-best-boomer-shooters
• Humble Store features the Capcom Publisher Sale, with up to 84% discounts during 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/capcom-publisher-sale/

And Fanatical has three deals for us:

• The new Star Deal is Road 96, 82% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/road-96
• Deep Silver puts its games on sale with up to 92% discounts during 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/deep-silver
• And the perfectly timed Mystery Egg Bundle is back with up to 20 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-egg-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Dragon’s Dogma 2 gets a Save Manager Mod, allowing you to start a new game, create multiple characters, and have unlimited number of save files for each character
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/dragons-dogma-2-save-manager-mod-new-game/
Modder ‘Llama’ has released a must-have mod for Capcom’s latest action RPG, Dragon’s Dogma 2. This mod allows you to start a new game, create multiple characters, and have an unlimited number of save files per character.
For those that are unaware, Dragon’s Dogma 2 does not currently feature any option to start a New Game. This obviously frustrated a lot of people. And while Capcom is currently looking into adding this via an upcoming update, PC gamers can use this mod so that they can start a new game whenever they want to.
Now what’s interesting here is that you won’t lose your progress on other characters with this mod. This is HUGE, and it’s one of the reasons we recommend using it. Yes, you could delete your saves folder to workaround this issue. However, by deleting that folder, you were also losing your progress to your previous character. Well, not anymore.
By using this mod, you can also create multiple characters and switch between them seamlessly. As said, there is an unlimited number of save files for each individual character you create. And yes, you can freely roll back to an older save.
>> Given the nature of this mod, it’s understandable the lack of screenshots or videos.

There's already a Dragon's Dogma 2 mod to get 99 copies of the 'change appearance' item Capcom is selling for real money
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/theres-already-a-dragons-dogma-2-mod-to-get-99-copies-of-the-change-appearance-item-capcom-is-selling-for-real-money/
I haven't once thought about my Arisen's mug ever since I slapped a helmet on his head, but even I'm annoyed that changing your appearance isn't a god-given right in Dragon's Dogma 2. Instead, alterations to your character and main pawn come in the form of a book you buy in towns. This book, Art of Metamorphosis, isn't bought with regular gold, but a rarer currency called "Rift Crystals" acquired by finding Riftstones and sending your pawn out to help other players.
It's a functional system on its own—I'm sitting on hundreds of RC I'm not using—but Capcom is catching reasonable flak on day one because it's also selling Rift Crystals and the Art of Metamorphosis tome as DLC. Thankfully, modders have already uploaded a workaround to make character re-creation much easier.
With the mod "Early N' Cheap Art of Metamorphosis" by Nexus user SilverEzredes, the makeover tome which usually costs 500RC can instead be purchased from one of the earliest vendors in the game for a paltry 10 gold. You'll find this vendor in Melve, the first major town in Dragon's Dogma 2.
He's well stocked, too: with 99 copies of Art of Metamorphosis available at 10g per, you can load up on all the character redos you'll ever need for the price basic sword. To actually use the tome, head to one of the Barbaries in major cities (Vernworth being the first you'll find) and select the bottom store option to "Modify Appearance." There is one downside to the mod some have noticed: once players progress to the main city of Vernworth, some are unable to find the vendor back at Melve. It's unclear if he simply disappears at some point or if he moves somewhere else.
As far as getting the mod up and running, you'll need one other mod first: Fluffy Mod Manager. It's the same manager used for other Capcom games like Resident Evil 4 Remake, Monster Hunter Rise, and Devil May Cry 5, and it seems simple to set up.
>> The article has a couple of screenshots.

First screenshots for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines with RTX Remix Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/first-screenshots-for-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-with-rtx-remix-path-tracing/
Modder ‘Safemilk’ is currently working on an RTX Remix Mod for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, and has shared the first screenshots for it. This mod will implement full Ray Tracing/Path Tracing to Troika’s RPG. So, let’s take a look at them.
This mod is in a very early development stage. However, Safemilk plans to provide a proper RTX Remix, with all its bells and whistles.
Alongside the Path Tracing effects, the modder also plans to improve the game’s 3D models and textures. And, the following screenshots, give us a taste of this.
>> The article has three screenshots.

Cyberpunk 2077 Just Got a New 12GB Ultra 4K Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-just-got-a-new-12gb-ultra-4k-texture-pack/
Modder ‘Xerme’ has released a new Ultra 4K Texture Pack, that weighs around 12.4GB in size, for Cyberpunk 2077. This pack promises to overhaul the textures for a lot of objects with the ultimate aim of improving the game’s visuals.
(...obvious warning that this mod won’t be compatible with other similar mods...)
The Ultra Texture Remaster Repack upgrades all the old textures in the game with super sharp 4K versions. As such, everything will look better now, from signs to walls and roads.
To showcase the new 4K textures, Xerme shared the following screenshots. To be honest, though, I’d prefer a comparison video. Still, these screenshots can give you an idea of what you can expect from it.

Baldur's Gate 3 mod tools won't be as extensive as Divinity's: 'We're not a tools company,' says Swen Vincke
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/baldurs-gate-3-mod-support-GDC-update/
The RPG Larian made before Baldur's Gate 3 included an extensive mod development kit which could be used to build whole new campaigns with custom maps and NPCs and quests—something like Bethesda's Skyrim Creation Kit. It's part of the reason I voted to make Divinity: Original Sin 2 our 2017 Game of the Year, but sadly, the complicated, crash-prone tools didn't lead to a thriving custom campaign scene for Original Sin 2.
For that and other reasons, we shouldn't expect the forthcoming Baldur's Gate 3 mod tools to be as comprehensive as those Divinity Engine tools, Larian boss Swen Vincke has indicated.

Power-mad modder puts Sonic the Hedgehog at the heart of the most tedious game ever made, so you can speed boost to the end in 3 straight hours instead of 8
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/power-mad-modder-puts-sonic-the-hedgehog-at-the-heart-of-the-most-tedious-game-ever-made-so-you-can-speed-boost-to-the-end-in-3-straight-hours-instead-of-8/
Some dreams cannot be denied, even though they absolutely should be. A modder named Weezley has taken the time and energy to recreate 1994's Desert Bus—widely regarded as one of the worst and most tedious games ever made—entirely within the confines of Sonic Frontiers. Why? Great question, my friend, great question. If you're not in the know, Desert Bus is one of six minigames off the '94 Sega CD compilation Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of deliberately terrible games intended for you to spring on unwitting friends. Although Smoke and Mirrors never actually released, unearthed review copies mean that the games have circulated anyway, with Desert Bus in particular—a game about an eight-hour drive between Tucson and Las Vegas—garnering notoriety both for how much it sucks and for the role it plays in the annual Desert Bus for Hope charity streaming marathon.
Desert Bus Frontiers is Weezley's version of the classic, and recreates the Sega game almost to a tee, save for the presence of a hedgehog with attitude instead of a bus. "Welcome to Desert Bus Frontiers," reads the description, "the action-packed 580 km long trip from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, where Literally Nothing Interesting happens."
The original Desert Bus was fiendish. Although the entire trip took place on a straight road, you couldn't just weigh down the accelerator button and leave. The bus veered slightly to the right at all times, and the second your tyres left the road was game over. That meant you had to stay there, nudging the bus left, for the full eight-hour journey.
The Frontiers version is much the same way. "Just like in the original Desert Bus, Sonic will move slightly right over time. Make sure to correct Sonic's position every once in a while so as to not run off the road!" Weezley has also nixed the game's usual background music, replacing it with desert wind ambience. All the better to not distract you from your task.
But it is 2024, so generous Weezley has allowed us a few modern comforts. For instance, the Frontiers take on Desert Bus has a checkpoint every 50 kilometres where the original forced you to start from the beginning the second anything went wrong. The biggest convenience, though, is Sonic's boost capability. Real-life buses are not as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog, you see, meaning the original Desert Bus took eight hours to complete at the bus' default top speed. Sonic's powers mean he can cover the same distance in three hours.
>> The article has a screenshot, in case you’re interested. To me, both the original game and this mod sound like torture.

GAMING NEWS

Unreal Physics is a new free game on Steam, aiming to showcase the advanced physics of Unreal Engine 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-physics-is-a-new-free-game-on-steam-aiming-to-showcase-the-advanced-physics-of-unreal-engine-5/
Jilted Generation Productions just dropped a cool free game on Steam called Unreal Physics. This is a 3D sandbox where you can experience all sorts of amazing physics demos made with Unreal Engine 5. So, be sure to get it.