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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

The latest attempt to revive Tribes looks cooked after three months
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-latest-attempt-to-revive-tribes-looks-cooked-after-three-months/
Tribes 3: Rivals got everyone excited with an excellent Steam Next Fest demo this February that suggested, maybe this time, the revival would stick. The game launched into early access on March 12, 2024, promising a "rebirth" of the beloved first-person sport-slash-shooter with a simple business model: $20 upfront price, and no microtransactions.
It hasn't gone well. Per SteamDB, there are currently 27 players in Tribes 3: Rivals. The greatest number of simultaneous players the game has had was at launch: 890.
Now there's a strangely titled post on the Tribes 3: Rivals Steam page that appears to be even worse news for players: "Giving Back to Tribes 3 & Starsiege: Deadzone Players." The note is addressed to the community and is essentially a way of saying the loud part very quietly.

The deadliest weapon in Shadow of the Erdtree is a bottle of perfume that can evaporate the DLC's final boss in 13 seconds, thanks to hitbox buffoonery
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-deadliest-weapon-in-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-a-bottle-of-perfume-which-can-evaporate-the-dlc-s-final-boss-in-13-seconds-thanks-to-hitbox-buffoonery/
Shadow of the Erdtree's been out for a week, and the theory crafters have already broken it with a bottle of perfume in hand. Yes, really. Turns out, the monstrosities of the Shadowed Lands and beyond are vulnerable to a cologne overdose. Violence has never smelled so good.

Hidetaka Miyazaki says Elden Ring might be as big a game as he ever wants to make: 'Where FromSoftware is right now, in terms of scale, I would say Elden Ring is really the limit'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/hidetaka-miyazaki-says-elden-ring-might-be-as-big-a-game-as-he-ever-wants-to-make-where-fromsoftware-is-right-now-in-terms-of-scale-i-would-say-elden-ring-is-really-the-limit/
FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki had a ton to say in a recent interview with The Guardian: While most of the focus has been on him claiming to "suck" at his own games, he also gave some clues about what to expect from FromSoftware in the future.

Yeehaw! 'Red Dead Redemption meets Stardew Valley' in cozy cowboy life sim Cattle Country
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/yeehaw-red-dead-redemption-meets-stardew-valley-in-cozy-cowboy-life-sim-cattle-country/
Howdy, partner! Holster that six-shooter and belly up to the bar for a spell, I've got some news for a cowpoke like you. If you love horse-drawn wagons, shootouts with bandits, and dusty little frontier towns, you might want to lasso this new game and drive it into your corral (that's Old West talk for "add it to your Steam wishlist.")

Frostpunk 2 delayed because its developers want to add features 'you deserve to see in-game on day one, not in a patch added after the release'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/frostpunk-2-delayed-because-its-developers-want-to-add-features-you-deserve-to-see-in-game-on-day-one-not-in-a-patch-added-after-the-release/
Back in April, 11 Bit Studios gave players who preordered the deluxe edition of Frostpunk 2 a little slice of the survival city builder to chew on. The week-long beta covered 300 in-game weeks of sandbox mode, and the reaction from players was generally positive, but they weren't over the moon about it either—not the sort of excitement you'd expect from the sequel to a beloved and highly influential city builder.
That muted response is part of the reason 11 Bit Studios has moved Frostpunk 2's release day from July 25 to September 20, saying "there was both a lot of praise" for the beta but also "many keen observations on areas we could improve or add to the final game."

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail's 7.0 graphics update really is a game-changer—breathing life, colour, and atmosphere into the 11-year old MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/ff14-dawntrail-s-graphics-update-really-is-a-game-changer-breathing-life-colour-and-atmosphere-into-the-11-year-old-mmo/
One of the big-bill selling points of Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail—which just released in early access this morning—was its 7.0 graphics overhaul. As fellow PC Gamer writer Mollie Taylor noted back during the media tour those "small subtle tweaks across the board" really have pulled together to create something magnificent.

All Zenless Zone Zero codes from the 1.0 livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/zenless-zone-zero-1-0-livestream-codes/
The first batch of Zenless Zone Zero livestream codes is a great way to get some extra Polychrome at launch that you can use to pull for characters. miHoYo's new action-fueled gacha game may be slightly different to its RPG counterparts like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, but it's got a lot of the same systems with all new buzzwords.

I'm now hooked on Starfield, and it's all thanks to its recent game-changing upgrade
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/im-now-hooked-on-starfield-and-its-all-thanks-to-its-recent-game-changing-upgrade/
I tried to like Starfield when it first launched, I really did. I'd enjoyed all of Bethesda's past RPGs in some form or other but, as PC Gamer's Starfield review indicated could happen, I found myself oddly cold, held at arm's length from the developer's biggest-ever virtual creation.
(...)
But then, out of the blue, Starfield got the upgrade I'd seemingly been waiting for. Lost among the furore over the recently released $7 DLC mission was the game's new Creations centre, powered by Bethesda's release of the Starfield Creation Kit, a free piece of software that lets regular gamers make mods for the game and then share them with others.
(...)
Creations, though, solves that problem instantly. This is because when you download a mod from its in-game menu of Creations, it ties the mod in question to your Bethesda account. This then means that when you boot the game up on another system, and go ahead to launch your cloud save game, your list of Creations is automatically consulted and, if you don't have them installed on this machine, then you're simply offered the option to press a single button and have them all downloaded. 

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

+GOG

• GOG is running its own Summer Sale.
• There’s also one new Deal of the Day: Anno 1701 A.D., 50% off until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/anno_1701_ad

+Steam

• You really want more than the Summer Sale? Really?

That’s all folks! Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.