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

[JEMC]

Monday gaming news, part two:

One small indie developer has accidentally saddled itself with almost 65,000 extra people to thank after initially asking for 100 names to pad out its credits
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/one-small-indie-developer-has-accidentally-saddled-itself-with-almost-65-000-extra-people-to-thank-after-initially-asking-for-100-names-to-pad-out-its-credits/
You know, if you're a small game development team it probably makes sense you'd want to pad out your credits lest you end up with a "produced, directed, written, and starring" situation. But I assume that Japanese indie studio ConnectedShadowGames wasn't exactly expecting over 60,000 people to request a special thanks as the credits roll.

'We resolved this misunderstanding': Misery returns to Steam after ending its Stalker DMCA spat with GSC Game World
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/we-resolved-this-misunderstanding-misery-returns-to-steam-after-ending-its-stalker-dmca-spat-with-gsc-game-world/
Just under a week after disappearing from store listings due to an alleged DMCA strike from Stalker series developer GSC Game World, Sovietcore postnuclear survival game Misery is once again available for purchase on Steam. In a Steam news post, Misery developer Platypus Entertainment said that the game has been updated to address GSC's DMCA complaints.

The life sim revolution may not be over but it will have to wait until 2026, because Paralives is delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/the-life-sim-revolution-may-not-be-over-but-it-will-have-to-wait-until-2026-because-paralives-is-delayed/
"The only thing left this year to save us from life sim malaise is Paralives, launching into early access on December 8," PC Gamer simmer-for-life Lauren Morton wrote earlier this month about the fizzled "life sim revolution" she was anticipating for 2025. And now here I am to make her year even worse: Paralives has been delayed into 2026.

'This was the wrong path for Destiny': After 4 months of dwindling players and community outrage, Bungie admits that The Edge of Fate's bold new vision for Destiny 2 was a mistake
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/this-was-the-wrong-path-for-destiny-after-4-months-of-dwindling-players-and-community-outrage-bungie-admits-that-the-edge-of-fates-bold-new-vision-for-destiny-2-was-a-mistake/
It's been a difficult few months for Destiny 2, ever since the release of The Edge of Fate expansion's Portal—a new progression system that replaced the old seasonal content model with, bluntly, a soulless and underbaked grind. I've written extensively about my problems with the Portal's many baffling design choices, but until now Bungie has only tentatively admitted to the size of the problem.
(...)
In a blog post last night, Bungie finally laid it all out.
>> Not all are bad news, tho. They’ve finally settled down a lawsuit over plagiarism (link).

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 under fire for using what sure looks like AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style calling card art
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-under-fire-for-using-what-sure-looks-like-ai-generated-studio-ghibli-style-calling-card-art/
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is out today, and if you thought we were going to make it through the day without an AI-generated art scandal, I am here to tell you, hoo boy, you're living in the wrong year. I can't say with 100% certainty that there is generative AI art in Black Ops 7, but an awful lot of fans sure think there is, and with good reason.

7 years of delays kept this anime sports RPG from coming out until now, and players say it was worth the wait: 'This game didn't just score, it hit my soul with a fire tornado of nostalgia'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/7-years-of-delays-kept-this-anime-sports-rpg-from-coming-out-but-players-say-it-was-worth-the-wait-this-game-didnt-just-score-it-hit-my-soul-with-a-fire-tornado-of-nostalgia/
I'm simply not as strong as an Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road fan. I can barely wait 30 seconds to microwave something and these people have been waiting for a new entry in their favorite anime soccer RPG series for nine entire years.
(...)
The good news is that Victory Road's long road to release hasn't ended in disappointment for most players. On Steam, it's at an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating with over 600 reviews. Most of those users are in love with it and fully believe the wait was worth it.

'I will probably never fully acknowledge whether or not everything has been solved' says Blue Prince creator: 'There are certainly mysteries still in the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/i-will-probably-never-fully-acknowledge-whether-or-not-everything-has-been-solved-says-blue-prince-creator-there-are-certainly-mysteries-still-in-the-game/
When puzzle strategy roguelite Blue Prince launched in April, the singleplayer game quickly became a collaborative effort. Players shared more than just puzzle solutions online, they began piecing together the sprawling story that takes place outside the mansion's walls, which includes generations of history about the world of Blue Prince.
(...)
"There are certainly mysteries still in the game, and there will probably always be some mysteries in the game," Ros said. "And in order to preserve that mystery, I will probably never fully acknowledge whether or not everything has been solved.
>> Something else to keep in mind: the game won’t have a sequel (link).

Blizzard points to fish as the lead suspects in the case of the World of Warcraft: Midnight beta's borderline unplayable lag
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-points-to-fish-as-the-lead-suspects-in-the-case-of-the-world-of-warcraft-midnight-betas-borderline-unplayable-lag/
When I logged into the World of Warcraft: Midnight beta earlier this week, I couldn't play the game. Suddenly the MMO became turn-based as I clicked NPCs and waited a good 30 seconds for them to offer me a quest. The lag got even worse when I made it to the opening zone of the expansion and watched other players blink in and out of existence as the servers desperately tried to keep up with where they should be standing.
The problem? Fish, apparently.

That weird Pac-Man metroidvania just got a big update, adding a new mode that 'significantly lowers the difficulty of combat and exploration'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/that-weird-pac-man-metroidvania-just-got-a-big-update-adding-a-new-mode-that-significantly-lowers-the-difficulty-of-combat-and-exploration/
Part of me still believes Shadow Labyrinth is some sort of collective hallucination brought on by humanity's overconsumption of digital cherries, as the idea of a grimdark Metroidvania starring Pac-Man is just too ludicrous to comprehend. Nonetheless, the trailer, the Steam page, and our own Shadow Labyrinth Review all point to this being a real thing that happened.
Sadly, it seems Shadow Labyrinth landed with a bit of a thud (or perhaps that descending wailing noise Pac-Man makes when he dies). It only has a handful of Steam reviews, with many complaining about the experience being hindered by poor controls, sparse save points, and nasty difficulty spikes. But there is some good news. Bandai Namco has released an update aiming to address all these problems, while also adding a new mode that provides greater flexibility in play.

Fancy playing Sea of Thieves without the PvP? This pirate-themed survival game just left early access with a big update and a launch discount
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/fancy-playing-sea-of-thieves-without-the-pvp-this-pirate-themed-survival-game-just-left-early-access-with-a-big-update-and-a-launch-discount/
Released just as the survival craze was really kicking into high gear, Salt was a quietly enjoyable survival game about sailing through a virtual archipelago in your own personal pirate ship. It didn't break through in the same way as Subnautica and Raft did, perhaps because it was a little rough around the edges—particularly visually.
The sequel, Salt 2: Shores of Gold, made some big improvements in that regard, while also enhancing the series' PvE focus and adding an infinite, procedurally generated world to explore. After spending the last three years in early access—during which Salt 2 gained a main quest, cooperative multiplayer, skill trees and underwater exploration among other things—it has now left alpha development, blasting a broadside of new features into Salt 2's hull to round out the core experience.

Escape From Tarkov shoots to the top of Downdetector, debuts on Steam to ‘Mixed’ reviews as players struggle to log in: 'Best extraction shooter that you CAN'T play'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/escape-from-tarkov-shoots-to-the-top-of-downdetector-debuts-on-steam-to-mixed-reviews-as-players-struggle-to-log-in-best-extraction-shooter-that-you-cant-play/
Escape From Tarkov is the rare PC game to strike it big without a presence on big digital storefronts like Steam, in part because it helped prove the extraction shooter had legs. Demand was still high to get the game on Valve's absurdly popular platform, though, and the day has finally come—though it was a bumpy ride getting to this point. In fact, it's still pretty bumpy: the launch is rife with problems.
The Steam debut, which coincides with Escape From Tarkov's 1.0 release, has helped the game rocket to the top of Downdetector, which is showing hundreds of reported connection issues per hour beginning this morning. The user reviews on Steam are bringing the game's score to a "Mixed" rating as players describe their issues logging in. As user Icedecknight put it in their review: "Negative review until I can actually play the game."
>> And, for some reason, it has taken until today for some people to learn that the developers sympathize with the Russian invasion of Ukraine (link).

Former id Software artist argues performance and optimization are 'as much of an art problem' as a tech one: 'Killzone 2 looks incredible today. FEAR looks incredible today'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/former-id-software-artist-argues-performance-and-optimization-is-as-much-of-an-art-problem-as-a-tech-one-killzone-2-looks-incredible-today-fear-looks-incredible-today/
I recently sat down with Defect game director and former id Software artist, Emanuel Palalic, as well as composer Mick Gordon to discuss the upcoming cyberpunk FPS. One topic I wanted to get their thoughts on was optimization: Defect looks like a heavy game, but has surprisingly lenient specs⁠—RTX 2060 minimum⁠—and no mandatory ray tracing like we're starting to see in some games.
(...)
This isn't just a question of tech and optimization, according to Palalic."Good performance in a game isn't always a technical problem, it's as much of an art problem as well," he told me. "A really strong art team can work within any shading and rendering limitations that are presented and lean into those. When you look at older games, Killzone 2 looks incredible today. FEAR looks incredible today.

Almost 20 years since it hit Steam, Garry's Mod finally addresses 'lackluster support for weapons used by NPCs' and gives Dr Kleiner his gun license
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/almost-20-years-since-it-hit-steam-garrys-mods-finally-addresses-lackluster-support-for-weapons-used-by-npcs-and-gives-dr-kleiner-his-gun-license/
I'm always taken by surprise when Garry's Mod receives a new update. Since it came out when I was still a teenager, I just assume it's ancient history. Yet in reality, Facepunch's anarchic toolbox remains very much a going concern. With over 22,000 players in the last 24 hours, Garry's Mod is the 62nd most popular game on Steam by daily active users (according to SteamDB). That makes it more popular than Monster Hunter Wilds and Elden Ring Nightreign—at least as far as Steam is concerned.
In short, there's plenty of motivation for Facepunch to keep Garry's Mod fresh, and its latest patch livens up how it looks and functions in several ways. Primarily, the November update improves Garry's Mod's water visuals, introducing fluid rendering features from more recent Source engine games.

The creators of zombie survival hit Vein say its launch was 'much larger than expected' and there will be 'a bit of a transition period' as it looks toward future updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/the-creators-of-zombie-survival-hit-vein-say-its-launch-was-much-larger-than-expected-and-there-will-be-a-bit-of-a-transition-period-as-it-looks-toward-future-updates/
Steam's endless torrent of new games means that far too many of them go overlooked, but it also means that surprise hits are being created pretty much every week. Such is the case with Vein, an early access zombie survival sandbox that aspires to be a hybrid of DayZ and Project Zomboid, and has quietly but consistently accrued an impressive following over the last few weeks.
(...)
Ramjet explained all this in its most recent weekly blog post (via PCGamesN) which also details what's coming to Vein next. At the outset of the update, Ramjet mentions that it is "still quite busy from the early access launch, which was much larger than we expected, but we're managing what we can."

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is 'definitely not competing for resources' with Space Marine 3, because the latter is still years away
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/warhammer-40-000-space-marine-2-is-definitely-not-competing-for-resources-with-space-marine-3-because-the-latter-is-still-years-away/
With over seven million copies of Tyranid-splatting action sold, it's safe to say that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was a bit of a hit for developer Saber Interactive. Indeed, its success guaranteed there would be a sequel, and Saber made no attempt to hide the fact, announcing Space Marine 3 was in development just six months after launch.
But the reveal of another adventure for Titus led some fans to speculate about what that meant for ongoing support for Space Marine 2. Saber already quelled fears that the sequel would mean the end of major updates for Titus' second adventure. But the subject raised its head again on Games Workshop's Warhammer TV show, Deep Strike, with Saber's creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick being asked why Space Marine 3 had been announced ahead of, say, any single-player story DLC for Space Marine 2. In response, Hollis-Leick pointed out that the two aren't in direct competition, because they're in completely different phases of development.