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

[JEMC]

The Friday news are here!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Humble Store has several new sales:

• Square Enix Celebrates its TGS 2024 Sale puttings its games up to 90% off during 4 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/square-enix-tgs-sale/
• The regular TGS 2024 Sale also has up to 90% discounts, but during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tgs-sale-2024/
• The Build Your Own Dreams Sale has games up to 95% off during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/build-your-dreams-sale/
• And the Dark Souls Spotlight Sale has 50% discounts for the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/dark-souls-sale/

Fanatical has the new BYO Sci-Fi Bundle, with 20 games to choose from for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ bundles: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-sci-fi-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

New God of War: Ragnarok mods let you bypass the AVX2 requirement and use a dynamic FOV
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-god-of-war-ragnarok-mods-let-you-bypass-the-avx2-requirement-and-add-a-fov-setting/
Two new cool mods that you must use have surfaced this week for the latest GoW game, God of War: Ragnarok. The first mod bypasses the game’s AVX2 requirement, whereas the second adds a FOV setting.
Going into more details, the first mod will allow owners of CPUs that lack the AVX2 instruction to run the game. Do note, though, that performance may not be that great. Still, since a lot of people complained about it, you’ll now be able to run GoW: Ragnarok on those CPUs.
The second mod lets you change the in-game FOV (Field of View). GoW: Ragnarok adjusts the FOV constantly to give it a cinematic feel. So, this mod works by adding or removing an offset instead of locking the FOV to one value. This way, you can still experience what the game developers intended, but with your own adjustments. Plus, the mod automatically stops when the game is paused, so it won’t mess with things like the inventory, codex, or skill menus. And if you want the cutscenes to play with the normal FOV, you can easily turn the mod on or off using CTRL+F.
>> The article has an over 3 minutes video of the first mod.

'The mod has got too much attention': Modder who bypassed God of War: Ragnarök's PSN requirement takes it offline just in case Sony comes knocking
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-mod-has-got-too-much-attention-modder-who-bypassed-god-of-war-ragnaroks-psn-requirement-takes-it-offline-just-in-case-sony-comes-knocking/
There's a bit of a feud going on at the moment between PC players who don't want to sign into PSN accounts on top of their Steam accounts and Sony, a megacorporation that almost certainly will not budge on the issue. The latest move to get rid of PSN was from a modder who tried to make it possible to circumvent the sign-in progress in God of War: Ragnarök's PC port, but the workaround has now been taken offline. 
"We've noticed that the popular PSN-bypass mod for God of War: Ragnarök has been removed from our site by the author, and so we've reached out to find out why," Nexus Mods said in a tweet on Thursday. In a reply, Nexus Mods later confirmed that the modder, known as iArtoriasUA, decided to remove the mod as it got too much traction, and they didn't want to get into hot water with Sony. 
"That was my personal decision because the mod has got too much attention (even IGN and PC Gamer) wrote an article about it," iArtoriasUA told Nexus Mods. "Thus, I thought that it would be better to remove it from the public to avoid any potential threats from the Sony side (even though the project never modified anything in memory related to Sony products, but better safe than sorry). I am sorry that it happened, but I cannot really put myself at risk since it was unclear. Hopefully, you understand. Peace!"
But this is the internet, so nothing's ever truly gone. Even though iArtoriasUA took the mod down, a few replicas are popping back up on Nexus Mods. Bypass PSN Login — No PSSDK Restored was uploaded yesterday, shortly after the original was taken down. "Re-upload of the deleted mod," an anonymous modder says in the description. "I am NOT the original author."
>> I understand him. These corporations are quite trigger happy when it comes to lawsuits even if they can’t win them, because not everyone has the money to go against them.

The Witcher 3: Next-Gen Mod overhauls its combat with better animations, better targeting and new dodging mechanics
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-witcher-3-next-gen-mod-overhauls-its-combat-with-better-animations-better-targeting-and-new-dodging-mechanics/
The Witcher 3 fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘Riyusso’ has shared a new gameplay mod for TW3: Next-Gen that aims to overhaul its combat with better animations, better targeting, and new dodging mechanics. This is a must for those who want to improve the game’s combat system. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
Blood And Steel brings more attack variety and less spinning animations. Attacks will now be more dynamic, and they will be based on the situation and enemy type, enemy count, distance and direction. As the modder noted, the goal was to make the combat feel smoother while staying similar to the original style.
Then we have the new dodging mechanics. While holding the block, you will unlock new dodging animations. These include flanking, dodging enemy projectiles, and some pirouettes. For instance, if you hold block and press Dodge + Right you will do a ‘side dodge’ to the right. Or if you hold Dodge + Forward + Right you will ‘flank dodge’ forward and right.
The modder also added a smart system that makes your character do a rolling attack when it needs to dodge an enemy’s attack or move between enemies to reach a target. Also, animations will look smoother when leaving combat. Not only that but the combat camera has been slightly changed to improve how the fighting feels. Plus, there will be fewer times when you accidentally target something off-screen or when the target changes unexpectedly.
>> There’s a less than 1 minute video in the article.

The Doom mod that turns Margaret Thatcher into an undead cyberdemon has been removed by Bethesda yet again, this time for 'disobeying a ZeniMax employee'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-doom-mod-that-turns-margaret-thatcher-into-an-undead-cyberdemon-has-been-removed-by-bethesda-yet-again-this-time-for-disobeying-a-zenimax-employee/
The Thatcher's Techbase mod for Doom is gone again: Despite changing the title to [REDACED]'s Techbase and censoring all images of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Bethesda Softworks has removed the mod again and warned its creator that their account could be temporarily or even permanently suspended if they keep pushing it.
(*** a few paragraphs explainign the background of this situation***)
"This mod, [REDACED]'s Techbase, has been reported one or more times for a Code of Conduct violation; real-world politics and deliberately disobeying a ZeniMax employee, and has been removed," a new takedown message shared by Purvis states. "As a result, this account is receiving an official warning.
"Further violations of any part of our Terms of Service may result in a temporary suspension or even a permanent deletion of your account. Please take a few moments to review the Terms of Service and Code of Conduct, which must be acknowledged to participate in the Bethesda.net experience."
It all seems very odd to me. Bethesda had no problem embracing "real world politics" with the Wolfenstein games, and the whole Fallout series is built around very real-world fears of nuclear Armageddon, with a healthy dose of American imperialism thrown in for good measure. 

GAMING NEWS

Threads of Time is a new 2.5D JRPG, inspired by Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/threads-of-time-is-a-new-2-5d-jrpg-inspired-by-chrono-trigger-and-final-fantasy/
Now here is something really cool. Humble Games announced earlier today a new 2.5D turn-based JRPG that is heavily inspired by Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy, called Threads of Time. This new JRPG looks lovely, and you can find its debut trailer below.

DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragon-ball-sparking-zero-official-pc-requirements/
Bandai Namco has revealed the official PC system requirements for DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO. So, let’s see what you’ll need to run this new Dragon Ball game.
>> Not too bad.

First Final Fantasy 16 PC Title Update Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-final-fantasy-16-pc-title-update-released-detailed/
Square Enix has released the first update for the PC version of Final Fantasy 16, and it has shared its complete changelog. This patch is around 200MB in size, and it will improve game stability, add controller options, and address several other issues.