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

[JEMC]

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Black Myth: Wukong smashes Palworld and Counter-Strike 2 to become the second most-played Steam game of all time less than a day after launch, and it's gaining on PUBG's gold medal
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/black-myth-wukong-smashes-palworld-and-counter-strike-2-to-become-the-second-most-played-steam-game-of-all-time-less-than-a-day-after-launch-and-its-gaining-on-pubgs-gold-medal/
Friends, we've got a live one. After easily crushing the concurrent player records of both Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth: Wukong looks like it's cruising into place as one of the biggest Steam launches of all time. With just over 2.1 million concurrent players at time of writing—11 hours after launch—it's got the second-place record for most concurrents on Steam ever, per SteamDB charts.
>> PCGamer has posted an article about the best settings to play the game for Intel, AMD and Nvidia GPUs.

Steam has new deals, sales and, of course, also new weeklong deals:

• Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is going to be 50% off until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1353230/Bomb_Rush_Cyberfunk/
• The Monster Hunter franchise is on sale with up to 75% discounts until Sunday, the 25th: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/capcom/sale/monsterhunter
• The Ukranian Games Festival features up to 95% discounts ans will last until Monday, the 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ukrainiangames2024
• The Early Access title HumanitZ, that has a demo, will be 33% off until the August 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1766060/HumanitZ/
• The MAFIA franchise is on sale with up to 80% discounts until the 2nd of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/mafiafranchisesale
• And the Dying Light franchise is also on sale, with the games being up to 80% off. The problem is that the deals will end in different days for each game ,with some ending next Monday, the 26th, while others will last until the 2nd. Why? Hell if I know, but here they are: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Techland/sale/midweekmadness
• Here’s a small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Eternal Escape: castle of shadows is going to be 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3016090/Eternal_Escape_castle_of_shadows/
  • Antioch: Scarlet Bay gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1919140/Antioch_Scarlet_Bay/
  • Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is half its usual price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/544610/Battlestar_Galactica_Deadlock/
  • Space War: Infinity has a 65% deal: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086160/Space_War_Infinity/
  • Mediterranea Inferno has a demo and a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2103680/Mediterranea_Inferno/
  • The last one is Gremlins, Inc., 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/369990/Gremlins_Inc/

Fanatical has three new Flash Deals and two bundles:

• These are the 24h Flash Deals:
  • Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition is 67% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/fallout-4-game-of-the-year-edition
  • Mahokenshi - The Samurai Deckbuilder features a 72% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/mahokenshi
  • Sniper Elite 5 - Deluxe Edition gets a 79% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sniper-elite-5-deluxe-edition
• The Star Wars Collection Bundle is back, with a 79% discount during 9 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
• The Diamond Collection: RPG and Fantasy Edition BYOB has 22 games to choose for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/diamond-collection-rpg-and-fantasy-edition-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Software Adrenallin 24.8.1 WHQL Released
https://www.techpowerup.com/325754/amd-software-adrenallin-24-8-1-whql-released
Highlights
New Game Support

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Open Beta
• Concord
• Star Wars Outlaws

Expanded HYPR-Tune Support
HYPR-Tune support allows HYPR-RX to enable in-game technologies like AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution. Support now added to automatically configure AMD FSR 3 frame generation in:

• Call of Duty : Modern Warfare III
• Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

• AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 Support for Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT

Fixed Issues and Improvements

• Intermittent application crash may occur while playing Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess on some Radeon RX 6600 and 6700 series GPUs.
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may occur while launching Pacific Drive or KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX-.
• Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering settings from AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition may fail to correctly apply for OpenGL applications.
• Artifacts may appear while playing certain games such as Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Rust.
• Increased memory usage may be observed while playing certain versions of Minecraft Java Edition.
• Improved "Optimizing Shaders" time when initially launching Forza Motorsport.

>> The article links the old driver.

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 560.94 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-560-94
Highlights
Game Ready for Black Myth: Wukong & Star Wars Outlaws
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 3.5 technology including Star Wars Outlaws. Further support for new titles leveraging DLSS technology includes Black Myth: Wukong, FINAL FANTASY XVI, and Concord which support DLSS 3. In addition, this driver supports the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

Fixed Issues

• [Octane Benchmark]: Unable to finish octane benchmark [4744794]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition looks amazing in its latest comparison video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-witcher-3-hd-reworked-project-nextgen-edition-looks-amazing-in-its-latest-comparison-video/
Modder ‘Halk Hogan’ has shared a new video for his highly anticipated HD Reworked Project Mod for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen. As with most of Hogan’s videos, it compares the original textures with the new modded ones. So, go ahead and take a look at it.
The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project improves the game with top-notch textures that look great and run smoothly, without needing more VRAM. If you’re already playing on Max settings, you’ll be able to use this mod. The pack will include high-quality, accurate normal maps, many of which are made from detailed 3D models. The project also brings better LODs for objects.
The modder claims that HD Reworked NextGen Edition will have high-quality textures using the new mapping technique implemented in the Next-Gen version of the game. Thanks to this, many textures in HDRP NextGen Edition will be much more realistic.
Halk Hogan has also announced that the mod will come out in November 2024. So, it won’t be long until we get our hands on it. And, to be honest, I’m really looking forward to it.
>> The video is a bit over 5 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Final Fantasy 16 coming to PC on September 17th, PC demo released, PC requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/final-fantasy-16-coming-to-pc-on-september-17th-pc-demo-released-pc-requirements-revealed/
Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 16 will be officially coming to PC on September 17th, and there is a PC demo that you can download right now. Moreover, the publisher shared the game’s official PC system requirements. So, let’s take a look at them.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will now have better graphics, lighting, physics, sense of speed & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/test-drive-unlimited-solar-crown-will-now-have-better-graphics-lighting-physics-sense-of-speed-more/
A lot of Test Drive fans were disappointed by the PC demo of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. To put it simply, the game was underwhelming, especially when it came to its graphics. However, it appears that KT Racing has taken all the criticism, and it’s trying to improve things.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Avowed and Black State will support Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragon-age-the-veilguard-avowed-and-black-state-will-support-ray-tracing-and-dlss-3-on-pc/
NVIDIA has revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Avowed and Black State will support Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 on PC. Moreover, the green team revealed a number of games that will only support DLSS 3 and Reflex. So, let’s take a look at them.