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

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Monday news, part two:

Valve gets closer to perfecting Deadlock's matchmaking, which will now account for your strengths and weaknesses with each hero
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/valve-gets-closer-to-perfecting-deadlocks-matchmaking-which-will-now-account-for-your-strengths-and-weaknesses-with-each-hero/
Deadlock's matchmaking has come a long way since the MOBA exploded in popularity among playtesters a few months ago. The first big change happened when Valve added ranked play, which corralled players into 11 ranks to better suit their skill level. However, that led to some issues that have now been more or less ironed out in the latest update.

Ex-Blizzard president has rather boldly called Sony's potential FromSoftware scoop 'probably a top 2 acquisition in videogames in the last 15+ years if not ever'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ex-blizzard-president-has-rather-boldly-called-sonys-potential-fromsoftware-scoop-probably-a-top-2-acquisition-in-videogames-in-the-last-15-years-if-not-ever/
As spotted by GamesRadar, Ybarra weighed in on the hot news of the week—the report that Sony was sniffing around Kadokawa, which was later confirmed in a statement which said Kadokawa had received "an initial letter of intent to acquire the company's shares." In what I would argue is a rather bold claim, Ybarra tweeted: "If Sony does purchase FromSoftware, it's probably a top 2 acquisition in video gaming in the last 15+ years if not ever (the other being Minecraft to Microsoft for only $2.5B)."
>> Bigger than the Acti-Blizz one? I doubt it, but he’s probably still butt hurt about it.

If you've been worried about Avowed not looking punchy enough, Obsidian's combat designer has a hitstop animation 'superpower' that might reassure you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/if-youve-been-worried-about-avowed-not-looking-punchy-enough-obsidians-combat-designer-has-a-hitstop-animation-superpower-that-might-reassure-you/
My ears perk up anytime a game developer says the word "hitstop." It means I'm about to hear some secret sauce, or at least opinions, about how to make a game feel great—specifically how and when to add a short pause mid-combat to make a hit really pop. In early footage of Avowed it's been hard to tell how impactful its combat will really feel, but my hands-on time with the game has been a pleasant surprise. It doesn't have the weight of the finest melee combat games on PC like Mount & Blade 2 or Vermintide 2, but its speedy sword swings still feel better than I expected, while charge attacks really pack a punch.
According to Obsidian VFX lead Ash Kumar, who I interviewed at a recent preview event at Obsidian's offices in southern California, there's one person in particular to thank for how combat's shaped up.

Stalker 2 devs reassure players: Yes, A-Life 2.0 is in the game, no, it's not working right, and yes, fixes are on the way
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/stalker-2-devs-reassure-players-yes-a-life-2-0-is-in-the-game-no-its-not-working-right-and-yes-fixes-are-on-the-way/
After some confusion as to whether the storied "A-Life" simulation system was still present in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World has confirmed that it is—and also that, yes, it's got some issues, and also yes, they're working on it.
>> We should expect the first patch this week.

Ubisoft keeps talking about Assassin's Creed Shadows like it finally remembers it used to make Splinter Cell, the greatest stealth games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/ubisoft-keeps-talking-about-assassins-creed-shadows-like-it-finally-remembers-it-used-to-make-splinter-cell-the-greatest-stealth-games/
After years of Assassin's Creed games that show signs of classic stealthy goodness but aren't quite what I'm looking for, I've been trying really hard not to get excited about Assassin's Creed Shadows. Yes, the series is finally going to Japan and yes, Naoe's stealthy moves look fantastic, but my eyes roll into the back of my head when I see chunky health bars and "level 28" above guard heads. Shadows still has that loot-heavy RPG stink that put me off Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla.
And yet, the way Ubi keeps talking about Shadows suggests it's not only moving in a stealthier direction than ever before, but doing so by evoking the best games the studio ever made: Splinter Cell. Not by name, though—in a new "Stealth Gameplay Overview" blog, Ubi talked about the core pillars of Shadows' stealth, which heavily involves a new light visibility meter that's ripped straight out of the Splinter Cell playbook. The blog also includes new gameplay snippets, like this one showing the visibility meter in action

Rejoice, roguelike nerds: Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is coming to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/rejoice-roguelike-nerds-shiren-the-wanderer-the-mystery-dungeon-of-serpentcoil-island-is-coming-to-steam/
"It shouldn't be this hard to play the best version of one of Japan's great roguelikes today," PC Gamer contributor Kerry Brunskill wrote earlier this year in a retelling of her long fight to get her hands on a PC copy of 2002's Shiren the Wanderer: Monster of Moonlight Village. She also expressed hope that the latest game in the series, the Nintendo Switch-exclusive Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, would eventually make its way to PC. Good news for Kerry—it's on the way, and you won't have to get someone in Japan to mail it to you.
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is now listed as "coming soon" to Steam, with all four of the free feature updates included. The Plus Pack, with 10 new dungeons and other content, will also be available as DLC, as will the Serpentcoil Island soundtrack.

Exploding frogs are coming to Diablo 4 in its upcoming witchcraft season where you can summon an army of these poisonous little guys
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/exploding-frogs-are-coming-to-diablo-4-in-its-upcoming-witchcraft-season-where-you-can-summon-an-army-of-these-poisonous-little-guys/
Frogs aren't the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Diablo 4, but that might change with its upcoming season of witchcraft where you can summon a whole army of them. They're quite messy, smacking enemies with their poison tongues and then exploding into a green mist. Skeletons could never, which is why I suspect everyone, including necromancer players, will be clamoring to become the ultimate frogmancer.

Palworld wasn't 'snubbed' by The Game Awards, says community manager: 'Stop being so over dramatic gamers'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/palworld-wasnt-snubbed-by-the-game-awards-says-community-manager-stop-being-so-over-dramatic-gamers/
It's that wonderful time of year when Big Geoff's Trailer Extravaganza starts gearing up to dole out awards to the year's biggest games—which also means that it's time for a lot of people with no dog in the race to get extremely upset about certain games not getting a nod.
This year, Palworld—which launched in January—is among the notable omissions from the list of nominees, and yeah, that is quite surprising. For a significant chunk of the year, it was a vast, all-consuming game that generated plenty of discourse and many, many hours played. But The Game Awards is not based on player numbers or articles written. It's all vibes, folks. Just a bunch of folks saying "I like this game". And this year, there weren't enough of them to secure Palworld a nomination.
But this hasn't stopped claims that it's been "snubbed" from doing the rounds—an accusation which community manager John Buckley addressed on Twitter.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 offers hotfix, advice to improve game stability
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/microsoft-flight-simulator-2024-offers-hotfix-advice-to-improve-game-stability/
The launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 hasn't been without issue, but the developers have released a patch that'll fix some crash problems. Notably, and most importantly, there's a tweak to make if you're playing on PC.

Players have decoded even more secret messages in the Silent Hill 2 remake
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/players-have-decoded-even-more-secret-messages-in-the-silent-hill-2-remake/
While Bloober Team's remake of the classic wifeguy survival horror game Silent Hill 2 follows the original text fairly closely, it does include some extras. For instance, if you visit areas where puzzles or other events were in the original, you can find echoes of them distorted by VHS static. And if you collect all the hidden Polaroids, you'll have the pieces you need to decode a hidden message.
There's more than one secret message tucked away in the remake, however. If you listen closely to the TVs around the town you can hear a series of clicks like something from a numbers station, and one player has managed to reduce the static hissing sound enough to translate that sound into Morse code.

Draw magic shapes to create heroes in this combination of tower defense and factory-builder
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/draw-magic-shapes-to-create-heroes-in-this-combination-of-tower-defense-and-factory-builder/
A weird new roguelite on Steam blends the genres of tower defense autobattler and factory builder into a cute, if odd, synergy. In ShapeHero Factory you scrawl out little production lines on magical parchment to combine shapes to conjure heroes that then automatically defend a big crystal from hordes of little inkblot demons. The structure is a familiar roguelite setup where you travel from battle to battle on a node tree picking rewards like new research options and hero recipes for your factory.

Microsoft has blocked the latest Windows 11 update on PCs with Star Wars Outlaws and other Ubisoft games installed
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/microsoft-has-blocked-the-latest-windows-11-update-on-pcs-with-star-wars-outlaws-and-other-ubisoft-games-installed/
First reported by Bleeping Computer, Microsoft is now preventing Windows 11's 24H2 update from being sent out to machines that have a selection of recent Ubisoft games installed on them. A number of users have reported persistent, unworkable crashing, sometimes on startup, when trying to play the affected games.
"After installing Windows 11, version 24H2, you might encounter issues with some Ubisoft games. These games might become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay," Microsoft wrote in a help article about 24H2's known issues. "To safeguard your Windows update experience, we have applied a compatibility hold on devices with these games installed. These devices will not be offered to install Windows 11, version 24H2 via the Windows Update release channel." If you've already had 24H2 installed and don't want to wait for a fix to play these games, your best bet is probably rolling back to version 23H2 for the time being.