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

[JEMC]

Let’s go with the Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Monster Hunter Wilds beta drew almost half a million concurrent Steam players in the first hour
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-monster-hunter-wilds-beta-drew-almost-half-a-million-concurrent-steam-players-in-the-first-hour/
Last night, Capcom opened the gates to the Monster Hunter Wilds beta on Steam, letting PC players get a preview of the next installment in giant lizard slaying. There was no shortage of eager hunters waiting for their chance: According to SteamDB, just an hour after unlocking on PC, the Wilds beta already had over 460,000 concurrent players.
As a point of comparison, SteamDB says that Monster Hunter: World's all-time peak user count was around 334,000 shortly after its PC release in 2018. Monster Hunter: Rise, meanwhile, only capped out at 231,000 players during the launch of the Sunbreak expansion. Comparing the player counts of a free beta test with those of full, paid game releases is, I'll admit, only so useful, but there's clearly a lot of interest in Wilds. Half a million players don't show up on accident.
>> If you’ve tried it or seen some videos and aren’t impressed with the graphics, don’t worry, the current build of the game is much improved.

I don’t recall posting it before but you know, better safe than sorry so here it goes: GOG has the Head Up Games Publisher Sale to celebrate its 15th anniversary, with up to 90% discounts during 4 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241101_headup_publisher_sale.

Steam has two new deals:

• Dustborn, with a demo, is going to be 50% off until the 17th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/721180/Dustborn/
• The Early Access title Castle Of Alchemists gets a 55% discount until November, the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724770/Castle_Of_Alchemists/

Humble Bundle brings the Generations Zero: The Ultimate Resistence Bundle, featuring up to 19 items (1 game + DLCs) to get during 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/generation-zero-ultimate-resistance.

And last, but not least, there’s Fanatical, with their Birthday Bash Sale, and new bundles:

• These are today’s 24h Flash Deals:
  • STARFIELD is 43% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/starfield
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has a 57% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth
  • And Alone in the Dark features a 60% discount.. tho it says it’s sold out: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/alone-in-the-dark
• NeuroVoider - Deluxe Edition Bundle, with the game and DLC, is going to be 86% off during another 4 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neurovoider-deluxe-edition
• The Movember Game 'Stache Charity Bundle has 15 games and 1 DLC: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/movember-game-stache-charity-bundle
• Birthday Favorites - Build your own Bundle (2024) has 14 titles to choose from for your 2+, 3+ or 5+ games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/birthday-favorites-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD releases Adrenalin Edition Preview drivers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard
https://videocardz.com/pixel/amd-releases-adrenalin-edition-preview-drivers-for-dragon-age-the-veilguard
Highlights

• New Game Support
  • Dragon Age™: The Veilguard

• Fixed Issues and Improvements
  • Texture corruption may appear while playing The Crew™ Motorfest.

This Unreal Engine 5.4 Rome Italian Town Tech Demo will blow you away with its graphics
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/this-unreal-engine-5-4-rome-italian-town-tech-demo-will-blow-you-away-with-its-graphics/
Scans Factory has created an incredible Rome Italian Town Tech Demo for Unreal Engine 5.4, showcasing some of the most photorealistic graphics we’ve seen. This tech demo is available for download. As such, you’ll be able to run it and admire its stunning visuals on your PC.
The team said this demo has over 600 assets. These include building fronts, cobblestone streets, cozy restaurants, and classic Italian scooters. The demo has three scenarios: Sunset, Overcast, and Daytime. And, as you will see, it can give us an idea of what the next-gen games may look like.
This demo is 5.5GB in size, and you can download it from this link.
>> If you don’t want to download it, there’s a video in the article.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

PlayStation 4 Emulator shadPS4 V0.4.0 available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/playstation-4-emulator-shadps4-v0-4-0-available-for-download/
The team behind the best PlayStation 4 emulator, shadPS4, has released a brand new version of it. Version 0.4.0 comes with a lot of new tweaks, changes and bug fixes. So, let’s take a look at all of them.
Version 0.4.0 fixes some shader recompiler issues that plagued the emulator. Moreover, it adds support for CPUs that don’t have SSE4.2a. As such, shadPS4 will now run on a wider range of CPUs. The team has also added frame graph and precise 60FPS timing.
shadPS4 V0.4.0 improves keyboard navigation in game list. Plus, it implements IME and Videodec2. Furthermore, it packs some network libs fixes, and it brings initial support for Geometry shaders. Another interesting feature is the implementation of cooled memory. This should help in some PS4 games.
>> The article has some videos about the emulator and some games running on it.

Half-Life 3 fan game, Project Borealis, will be using Unreal Engine 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/half-life-3-fan-game-project-borealis-will-be-using-unreal-engine-5/
Back in September 2024, the team behind the Half-Life 3 fan game, Project Borealis revealed that a demo for it will be released on PC in Fall 2024. And although we still don’t have an exact ETA on when it will come out, the devs shared some vague PC requirements. Not only that, but we now know that this fan game will be powered by Unreal Engine 5.
Project Borealis is a fan-made project inspired by the huge cliffhanger from Half-Life 2: Episode Two. This prologue chapter will let players step back into the HEV suit of Gordon Freeman, and offer a glimpse into the next chapter of his journey.
>> There’s a 30 seconds teaser of the project.

Reality Redemption is a must-have mod for Red Dead Redemption
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/reality-redemption-is-a-must-have-mod-for-red-dead-redemption/
Now here is a must-have overhaul mod for the PC version of Red Dead Redemption that everyone should download. Titled Reality Redemption, this mod brings a lot of graphical improvements to the game. And, in a funny way, it manages to… remaster the remaster.
Going into more details, improves memory pools which will result in better general performance. Moreover, it improves the draw distance of vegetation and objects, as well as the quality of reflections, particles, debris and more. It also improves the textures for John Marston, as well as most of the game world textures such as trails, roads, grounds, and grass.
And that’s not all. The mod will also improve physics for liquids like water and the Euphoria physics, as well as the AI behavior of NPCs. Plus, the game camera will now behave more like RDR2.
>> There’s an almost 2 minutes video of the mod.

Starfield just got a must-have Seamless City Interiors Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/starfield-just-got-a-must-have-seamless-city-interiors-mod/
Modder ‘PanConKeso’ has released an awesome new mod for Starfield that will let you explore its cities seamlessly. This mod will reduce the loading screens in the game’s cities. This means you can move between different areas without encountering a loading screen. Now that’s pretty neat.
To make this possible, the modder has changed the interior locations to exterior locations within the cities. By doing this, you can now visit different regions without encountering any loading screens.
Right now, the mod brings changes only to Neon City. All the other cities are not affected by it. To be more precise, the modder has changed the following locations.

• CityNeonReliantMedical
• CityNeonEmporium
• CityNeonMiningLeague
• CityNeonSieghartsOutfitters
• CityNeonEnhance

In future versions, PanConKeso plans to add support for more locations and cities. The ultimate goal is to allow players to freely explore all of Starfield’s cities.
>> The article has a less than 2 minutes video of this mod.

To 'appease the people who thought the game was too long,' an Alien: Isolation modder trimmed the campaign length down to a svelte 46 seconds
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/to-appease-the-people-who-thought-the-game-was-too-long-an-alien-isolation-modder-trimmed-the-campaign-length-down-to-a-svelte-46-seconds/
Here at PC Gamer, we're willing to admit our admiration for those who can maintain a personal grudge for a decade or more. It's a rare dedication to the art of being a hater; keeping your contempt at a steady simmer for that long takes a lot of discipline. I'm not talking about the kind of curmudgeon who deals in cheap dunks. I'm talking about those who write negative Steam reviews after collecting 8,000 hours of evidence, or—in the case of Alien: Isolation modder Matt Filer—publish mods for a 10-year old game just to mock its reviews from 2014.
Alien: Isolation is justifiably remembered as a triumph in videogame horror, one that imbued the xenomorph with an aura of terrifying lethality that it had otherwise slowly lost through however many sequels and spinoffs. However, as delightfully horrifying as evading the interstellar apex predator might've been, there was a common complaint from critics when Alien: Isolation released in 2014: It's maybe too long for its own good.
As our Fraser Brown recently wrote after finally finishing his decade-long dance with the xenomorph, "Alien: Isolation's first half is truly exceptional and terrifying, and there's an argument it should have ended at around the 10-12 hour mark. You defeat the xenomorph, time to celebrate. But no, there's more."
Thankfully, Filer's on the case. Just in time for this year's Halloween, the modder published a mod to pacify Alien: Isolation's detractors. Where before it might've taken 20ish hours for a typical Alien: Isolation playthrough, Filer's Impossible Campaign mod brings the story to a conclusion in less than a minute. Are you happy now?
>> There’s no media in the article.

GAMING NEWS

Anime-style open-world ARPG, Project 2/3, just got a 7-minute gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/anime-style-open-world-arpg-project-2-3-just-got-a-7-minute-gameplay-trailer/
Diversity Game Studio has released a 7-minute gameplay trailer for its upcoming game, Project 2/3. Project 2/3 is an anime-style open-world action RPG. It looks quite interesting, so be sure to take a look at it.

Bloober Team confirms that James has been stuck in Silent Hill for 20 years
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bloober-team-confirms-that-james-has-been-in-silent-hill-for-20-years/
For those unaware, Silent Hill 2 Remake has a secret puzzle. During the whole game, James collects some photos. At first, these photos seem like simple collectibles. However, they have a hidden message that only a few people have figured out. That message also hints at a cool theory about SH2.