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

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It’s time for the Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Farming Simulator 25 and Alan Wake 2 have sold 2 million and 1.8 million units, respectively
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/farming-simulator-25-and-alan-wake-2-have-sold-2-million-and-1-8-million-units-respectively/
GIANTS Software has announced that Farming Simulator 25 has sold 2 million units in its first week. Similarly, Remedy has announced that Alan Wake 2 has sold 1.8 million units on all platforms.
GIANTS Software noted that there were over 125K players playing simultaneously on launch day on Steam. In total, the series has sold over 40 million units on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Moreover, the devs plan to release free content updates, patches, and expansions.
On the other hand, Remedy shared some new details about its other franchises. As the team noted, CONTROL 2 will be an action RPG. Plus, the first CONTROL will receive a free update in early 2025. This update will unlock some previously released content.
>> Pardon my language, but Alan Wake 2 has sold like crap. I hope Epic has given Remedy a ton of money although, given how it’s still not profitable, I’d say it wasn’t enough.

GOG has three new promos:

• The new Weekly Deals are here with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241119_weekly_deals_3_november
• The Popculture Inspired Promo also has games up to 90% off and also during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241119_popculture_promo
• And the Open World Promo features up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241119_open_world_promo

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

• Publisher Twin Sails puts its games on sale, up to 85% off until November 25: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/twinsailsinteractive/sale/publishersale2024
• Cat Cafe Manager gets a 60% discount until the 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1354830/Cat_Cafe_Manager/
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is going to be 95% off until next Tuesday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/552500/Warhammer_Vermintide_2/
• Akimbot has a 25% discount until the 27th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1843540/Akimbot/
• Foxhole will be 38% off until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/505460/Foxhole/
• The Game Awards have a page on Steam. Oddly enough, some games feature discounts than aren’t active at the moment, with only FIF… sorry, EA Sports actually being on sale with a 50% discount until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/thegameawards2024nominees
• Publisher Thunder Lotus celebrates its 10th anniversary with a sale. Its games (3) will be 85% off until November 27: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/thunderlotus10
• Disney Dreamlight Valley has a 25% discount until the 4th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1401590/Disney_Dreamlight_Valley/
• And these are a small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Master of Chess, still in Early Accessm is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2248900/Master_of_Chess/
  • Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection, a collection I didn’t know existed until now, gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2673080/Jurassic_Park_Classic_Games_Collection/
  • The Dungeon Beneath is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1359120/The_Dungeon_Beneath/
  • Garden Story features a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062140/Garden_Story/
  • Rez Infinite is 70% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/636450/Rez_Infinite/
  • And the last one, Frogwares’ The Sherlock Holmes Collection, with 6 games, has a 90% discount (the individual games have the same deal): https://store.steampowered.com/sub/108311/

Fanatical’s new Star Deal is Thymesia, with a 65% deal during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/thymesia

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life 2 City 17 Apartment Unreal Engine 5 Fan Demo Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/half-life-2-city-17-apartment-unreal-engine-5-fan-demo-released/
DeepVelocityOps has released a fan remake of Half-Life 2’s City 17 Apartment in Unreal Engine 5. This fan demo will let you explore the iconic apartment Gordon uses to escape from Combine at the beginning of Half Life 2. It’s a pretty cool fan demo. So, if you are an HL2 fan, you should at least try it.
Now since this is a fan demo from one dev, you should temper your expectations. The demo allows you to fight some enemies. For instance, it has a few Combine, zombies and crabs. However, from what I’ve seen, the hit reactions and combat mechanics are a bit basic.
The demo also appears to be using Lumen. However, it doesn’t seem to support Hardware Lumen. As such, there are some visual artifacts that can become a bit distracting.
In short, for a one-man project, this fan demo of Half-Life 2 in Unreal Engine 5 is pretty cool. Still, this is nowhere close to the quality of a fully-fledged remake of HL2 in UE5. So, don’t expect anything like that.
>> There’s a less than 1 minute video of this project.

Quake 2 PSX Mod for PC just got a DLC-sized fan expansion
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/quake-2-psx-mod-for-pc-just-got-a-dlc-sized-fan-expansion/
In October 2024, we informed you about an amazing mod that recreated the PSX version of Quake 2 into Quake 2 Remastered. So, today, we present you with a DLC-sized fan expansion that adds new free content to it.
For those unaware, the PlayStation version of Quake 2 had numerous changes to the PC version. For instance, the PlayStation version had 20 levels spread across 5 Units (called missions in the port), compared to the PC version’s 39 levels across 10 units. Most of these levels are modified versions of the originals with reworked geometry to fit the console’s limitations.
The PlayStation version also features two new enemies, the Arachnid and the Guardian. Moreover, it packs some visual changes, although its story follows the one for the PC version.
This new DLC-sized fan expansion brings 11 brand new missions to Quake 2 PSX. Each of them comes with its own opening cutscene and progresses through the hub to unlock a custom boss.
>> The article has an almost 2 minutes trailer of the mod.

Skyrim just got a 16GB Mod that improves all 31652 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/skyrim-just-got-a-16gb-mod-that-improves-all-31652-textures/
Over the past few years, we’ve shared numerous HD Texture Packs for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. However, it was a bit of a pain in the ass to find and install all of them. So, today we have a mod that will upscale all of the game’s textures (which are around 31652).
Now if you have already heavily modded the game with previous packs, you can skip this one. This pack is for those who want to enhance all of the textures without installing individual packs. So, if you are new to Skyrim, you can download and install this pack.
Going into more details, the modder upscaled every single texture of Skyrim with multiple models to get most of the details. Then, he reworked them in Photoshop to fix unwanted results and enhanced details to the maximum of his efforts. This whole thing took ‘M Waqas’ almost a year to complete.
The new textures for landscapes are 2K, whereas the ones for Architectures are between 1K and 2K. Some of the game’s big statues now have 4K textures. Armors and clothes now have 1K textures for helmets, gloves, and boots. And finally, Chest Armors now have 2K textures.
>> The article has some comparison screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

-Nope, they're all from PCGamer-