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

[JEMC]

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

'Banana', a game where you rapidly click on a jpeg of a banana and nothing else, has an all-time peak of 31,124 players on Steam—here's why
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/banana-a-game-where-you-rapidly-click-on-a-jpeg-of-a-banana-and-nothing-else-has-an-all-time-peak-of-31124-players-on-steamheres-why/
If you happen to check the SteamDB charts from time to time, you might be wondering why Banana, a free-to-play game where you apparently just click on a jpeg of a banana and nothing else, is currently sat at number 47—just four ranks shy of Cyberpunk 2077, and ranking above actual videogames like Fallout 76, Diablo 4, and Slay the Spire.
So was I. So were all of us at PC Gamer, actually, sitting in a call this morning, staring baffled at tens of thousands of active players all clicking a jpeg. Because my torrid work is never finished, I bravely jumped on the grenade and did a little digging—turns out, there's a whole genre of these things, which I shall henceforth dub "egglikes" because I have lost my mind.

The Epic Store givers away Chivalry 2: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/chivalry-2.
The game from next week is a mystery once again.

Today GOG brings four DotD and a new sale:

• These are the Deals of the Day, that will end tomorrow:
  • Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance is 12% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/terminator_dark_fate_defiance
  • RimWorld gets a 20% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/rimworld
  • Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition features a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/icewind_dale_enhanced_edition
  • The last one is Space Trader: Merchant Marine, 85% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/space_trader_merchant_marine
• And Publisher Focus Entertainment puts its games on sale with up to 87% discounts during the next 11 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240530_focus_publisher_sale

Steam has three new deals:

• Besiege will be 75% off until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/346010/Besiege/
• Port Royale 4 gets a 75% deal until the 5th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1024650/Port_Royale_4/
• And Lost in Play features a 60% deal until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1328840/Lost_in_Play/

Humble Bundle has launched the Let’Em Cook Bundle, with up to 9 items to get during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/let-em-cook.

And Fanatical has three new deals:

• The Star Deal is A Plague Tale Bundle, 61% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/a-plague-tale-bundle
• The Team 17 Publisher Sale features up to 92% discounts during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/team17-digital-ltd
• And the BYO Tabletop Wargame Bundle has 26 games for your 4+, 7+ or 10+ bundles: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-tabletop-wargame-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing to see here-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Lego Island 2 RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/lego-island-2-rtx-remix-path-tracing-mod-available-for-download/
Modder ‘skurtyyskirts’ has just released an RTX Remix Mod for Lego Island 2 that adds full Ray Tracing/Path Tracing support. This mod will improve the game’s graphics, allowing PC gamers to re-experience it on current-gen hardware.
As the modder noted, Lego Island 2 RTX has been in development for quite some time now. This mod takes advantage of PBRify. PBRify can upscale textures, and add normal and roughness maps. This is a crucial tool for creating proper RTX Remix Mods.
Now the good news here is that Lego Island 2 RTX Remix does not suffer from the issues I mentioned in my previous article about the RTX Remix Mods for Half Life 2 E1 and E2. The game does not suffer from “plastic” looks. From what I can see, this is a great example of how RTX Remix Path Tracing can enhance the graphics of an old game.
>> A bit ironic that a game about LEGO doesn’t look “plastic”. Anyway, there’s a video of it in the article.

GAMING NEWS

It Takes Two does no longer require the EA Launcher on Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/it-takes-two-does-no-longer-require-the-ea-launcher-on-steam/
Electronic Arts and Hazelight have released a new update for the Steam version of It Takes Two that removes the requirement for the  EA Launcher. As such, Steam gamers will now be able to launch and play the game without having to run the EA Launcher.
>> The bad news is that this update to makes it verified for Steam Deck also broke cloud saves. Oops! EA has a workaround.

The latest update for Alone in the Dark adds Photo Mode and New Game+, brings QoL, performance, combat and gameplay improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-latest-update-for-alone-in-the-dark-adds-photo-mode-and-new-game-brings-qol-performance-combat-and-gameplay-improvements/
Pieces Interactive has just released a major update for the remake/reboot of Alone in the Dark. This patch adds a Photo Mode and a New Game+ mode. Moreover, it brings numerous QoL, visual, combat and gameplay improvements.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be officially released on September 12th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/test-drive-unlimited-solar-crown-will-be-officially-released-on-september-12th/
NACON has just announced that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be officially released on September 12th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher has also shared a new trailer that you can find below.