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

[JEMC]

Here are the Monday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Everyone's heading back to Hollow Knight for one last go before Silksong comes out—the game's all-time Steam peak is rising as I write this headline
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/everyones-heading-back-to-hollow-knight-for-one-last-go-before-silksong-comes-out-the-games-all-time-steam-peak-is-rising-as-i-write-this-headline/
Are you ready for Hollow Knight: Silksong? Well, by my count, about 22,941 players are desperate for another fix of Team Cherry's work, a number that'll continue to rise over the intervening minutes of me sitting down and writing this article.
Per SteamDB, Hollow Knight: Silksong's release date of September 4 has driven swarms of players to the original game; either to get that sweet, sweet hit of nostalgia, or just to panic-finish it so they have the foggiest clue about what's going on in the sequel.
(...)
I've just refreshed the page after writing that paragraph, by the way. The all-time peak is now 23,129.
(...)
As are 23,503 people, now, by the way. Just refreshed the page, it's showing no signs of stopping.
>> Did the number kept going up? The answer is oh, yes.

Steam starts the week strong, with several deals and sales:

• Sherlock Holmes The Awakened will be 85% off until Wednesday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1949030/Sherlock_Holmes_The_Awakened
• Fran Bow gets a 70% discount until the 31st of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362680/Fran_Bow
• The Room is going to be 80% off until the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/288160/The_Room
• SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure will have a 25% discount until the 7th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2650730/SEDAP_A_Culinary_Adventure
• And these are the sales:
  • The Smilegate Publisher Sale gas games up to 70% off. The page claims that it will last until the 7th of September, but that will depend on your time zone (here in Europe the deals will end on the 6th): https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44860621/sale/SmilegatePublisherSale-August
  • Publisher Hooded Horse also puts its games on sale with up to 75% discounts until September 7: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38719421/sale/augustsale2025
  • indie.io’s Last Splash Sale will have games up to 80% off until, again, the 6th of September : https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38394018/sale/indie_io_last_splash_sale

Fanatical!!br0ken!s new Star Deal is Remnant II - Ultimate Edition, with a 67% discount during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/remnant-ii-ultimate-edition.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Cyberpunk 2077 Mods Unlock New Hidden Locations
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/cyberpunk-2077-mods-unlock-new-hidden-locations
Cyberpunk 2077 fans, here is something for you today. A couple of new mods were released for CDPR’s title that can unlock new hidden locations. Additionally, some other mods have enhanced other areas in the game. Thus, I’ve decided to collect and share them in one article. So, let’s dive in.
The first mod removes the barrier blocking entry into Club Atlantis. The second mod removes the barrier to the upstairs in the Red Dirt bar. As such, players can now explore these two previously restricted areas.
The other three mods make some changes to some existing buildings. For instance, this mod converts the unfinished room behind Kerry’s bar into a recording studio. Then we have this mod that overhauls Lizzie’s Bar. The mod even restores the Good Old Basketball Court. Finally, we have this mod, which is a standalone version of the Gomorrah nightclub on Urmland Street.
All in all, this is some new cool free content for the game that a lot of players may find interesting. So, make sure to get the mods from the above links.
>> The article has a couple of videos from two of the mods listed.

Baldur’s Gate 3 just got an HD Texture Pack that overhauls all environment textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/baldurs-gate-3-just-got-an-hd-texture-pack-that-overhauls-all-environment-textures
Modder ‘lexo1000’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Baldur’s Gate 3 that aims to overhaul the textures of all environments. This pack will make the game look sharper and more detailed than before. So, make sure to get it if you want to make BG3 look better and more detailed.
Going into more details, the modder upscaled all non-virtual textures (aka terrain, vegetation, architecture, clutter, monsters skin for a total of 1313 files) using Topaz Labs. This means that the modded textures will retain the art style of the vanilla textures.
Moreover, the modder overhauled only the Albedo/BaseColor and Glow/Emissive. He did not touch their Normal/Physical maps. As he said, upscaling them will typically add artifacts and bring little visual benefit.
Do note that his pack may not be compatible with the one we shared in September 2024. Therefore, make sure to use only one of them.
>> The article has no media.

Starfield Akila City Overhaul Mod Expands the City with More Detail and Immersion
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/starfield-akila-city-overhaul-mod-expands-the-city-with-more-detail-and-immersion
Starfield fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘checker90’ has released a really cool mod for Starfield that aims to overhaul Akila City. So, let’s take a closer look at it, shall we?
The mod adds lots of new buildings, districts, and things to interact with, making the city feel more alive. The land has also been reshaped and improved with more plants, paths, and natural details. As such, the city now looks more realistic and immersive.
And that’s not all. The modder added a new river that flows through the city, giving it more detail and atmosphere. From streets to alleys, plazas to neighborhoods, there are countless little improvements that make Akila feel like a real, living city.
>> The article has a slightly longer than 5 minutes video.

Pre-Fortress 2, a mod that bridges the gap between Team Fortress Classic and TF2, is coming to Steam with a whole lotta grenades
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/pre-fortress-2-a-mod-that-bridges-the-gap-between-team-fortress-classic-and-tf2-is-coming-to-steam-with-a-whole-lotta-grenades/
Team Fortress 2 modders love nothing more than imagining alternate histories for Valve's long-running multiplayer shooter, and this year has seen several of these nostalgia-tinged conversions migrate from the rolling pastures of the web into Steam's smog-belching metropolis. In March, Team Fortress 2 Classic revealed it would be launching on Valve's platform sometime in 2025, while Team Fortress 2 Legacy—which reverts TF2's core systems to their 2008 standard—also plans to infiltrate Steam's base before the year is out.
Now, another revisionist TF2 mod has announced it is joining this merry throng. Pre-Fortress 2 positions itself as the evolutionary missing-link between the original Half-Life mod and Valve's hat-tastic sequel, reintroducing several ideas present in Team Fortress but deemed vestigial for TF2, while embellishing them with the sequel's quirky, cartoonish character.
Foremost among these are grenades. Pre-Fortress 2 flings throwable explosives back into the action, expanding your ordnance way beyond the traditional deadly pineapple with class-specific grenades. Scouts receive concussion grenades and, er, bear-traps, while pyros get napalm grenades, engineers EMP grenades, medics healing grenades… you see how this works.
Alongside this, Pre-Fortress 2 reinstates numerous weapons and more specific mechanics from Team Fortress Classic. Your arsenal is expanded to include the nailgun, the tranquilizer, the detonation pipe launcher, and the flame rocket. On the systems side, flag-throwing is revived, while the medic can heal teammates with his syringe or jab opponents with it to infect them with rot.
The mod even throws in a few ideas of its own. Engineers can repair the armour of allies using their wrench, while both teleporters and dispensers are team-agnostic, letting anyone use them. The flame rocket allows its wielder to perform a rocket-jump, while random critical hits are a thing of the past (or, given the point on the timeline where Pre-Fortress 2 inserts itself, future).
There's no word on when Pre-Fortress 2 will arrive on Steam. But if you simply can't wait for that hybridised Team Fortress action, you can download the mod on the Pre-Fortress 2 website.
>> There is an almost 5 minutes video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Valheim Patch 0.221.3 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/valheim-patch-0-221-3-released-fully-detailed
Iron Gate has released Patch 0.221.3 for Valheim on its Public Test Server. The team has also shared its full changelog. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater appears to be locked at 60FPS on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metal-gear-solid-delta-snake-eater-appears-to-be-locked-at-60fps-on-pc
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater releases next week, and according to reports, the PC version will be locked at 60FPS. This info comes from a number of PC reviews that hit the Internet earlier today.

Here are 40 minutes of gameplay from the Gamescom 2025 demo of Crimson Desert
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-40-minutes-of-gameplay-from-the-gamescom-2025-demo-of-crimson-desert
YouTube’s ‘ENFANT TERRIBLE’ has shared a video, showcasing 40 minutes of gameplay footage from the Gamescom 2025 demo of Crimson Desert. Crimson Desert is a game that a lot of people have been looking forward to. So, if you are one of them, you should definitely check it out.