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

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The second part of the Monday gaming news:

Launch day performance issues and forced logins take another victim: Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls sees mixed Steam rating, especially among Linux users
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/launch-day-performance-issues-and-forced-logins-take-another-victim-marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-sees-mixed-steam-rating-especially-among-linux-users/
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has been highly anticipated for some time and that's partly because it's from Arc System Works, the company behind the likes of Guilty Gear, Blazblue, and Persona 4 Arena. Yet Steam users are disappointed in its opening few days. That's because despite many praising the game itself, it reportedly has a litany of tech issues.
>> I hope they fix them soon.

Overwatch's new mech hero is the sword-and-board sequel to D.Va, except her code isn't 'a plate of spaghetti' under the hood
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatchs-new-mech-hero-is-the-sword-and-board-sequel-to-d-va-except-her-code-isnt-a-plate-of-spaghetti-under-the-hood/
Back in 2018, Blizzard revealed something very funny about its iconic mech hero D.Va: Everything about her is a mess under the hood.
Game director Aaron Keller likened the way D.Va is programmed to a "plate of spaghetti," when speaking to Kotaku at the time. When she ditches her mech, she's actually transitioning into a separate hero as far as the game understands it, and this led to lots of weird problems and even weirder bugs.
That won't be a problem with D.mon, the newest mech hero to join Overwatch, lead hero producer Kenny Hudson explained in a recent group interview with PC Gamer. D.mon is "actually one entity," he said, even though she can be separated from her mech just like D.Va.

Big Walk patch addresses voice volume complaints with restraint: 'We consider it an important part of the game's design that you can only hear players who are close to you'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/big-walk-patch-addresses-voice-volume-complaints-with-restraint-we-consider-it-an-important-part-of-the-games-design-that-you-can-only-hear-players-who-are-close-to-you/
Fantastic new puzzle game Big Walk drew some early complaints over the volume of its proximity voice chat, which was too quiet for some players and mic setups, and developer House House has now released a patch that it hopes will resolve the issue while respecting the spirit of the game.

Tencent's cyberpunk rival to Grand Theft Auto is in trouble as its developer lays off 80 people
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/tencents-cyberpunk-rival-to-grand-theft-auto-is-in-trouble-as-its-developer-lays-off-80-people/
Tencent's ambitious attempt to build a rival to Grand Theft Auto appears to be floundering, as Last Sentinel developer Lightspeed LA has laid off 80 people following the publisher's loss of confidence in the project.

Blocky zombie survival sim Unturned releases its source code so players can build a 'lasting legacy' for the game 'regardless of the changes we make'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/blocky-zombie-survival-sim-unturned-releases-its-source-code-so-players-can-build-a-lasting-legacy-for-the-game-regardless-of-the-changes-we-make/
Smartly Dressed Games, developer of the wildly popular free-to-play zombie survival sim Unturned, has released the game's source code for non-commercial use.
"Unturned's source code and project files are now freely available!" the developers wrote in a Steam post. "Whether you have a new feature or total conversion in mind, the sky's the limit."

Forget Quake, Worms: The Director's Cut just got a free expansion for the series' 30th anniversary
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/forget-quake-worms-the-directors-cut-just-got-a-free-expansion-for-the-series-30th-anniversary/
If you've checked in on Worms creator Andy Davidson sometime in these past few years, you'll know he's been hard at work on Worms: The Director's Cut 1.5, an unofficial but nonetheless Team 17-approved expansion pack for the original strategy-party mashup's Amiga-exclusive sequel. The goods have finally arrived: you can download the whole thing for free now.

The indie parkour game from one of the French brothers behind 2024's best FPS is coming out in just two weeks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-indie-parkour-game-from-one-of-the-french-brothers-behind-2024s-best-fps-is-coming-out-in-just-two-weeks/
When I open up a trailer for a parkour game, I expect breakbeats or bassy electronica. You know, something radical—Vholume zigs where other games zag, scoring its run 'em up action with dejected, atmospheric synths punctuated by lonely footsteps and effortful grunts. A self-billed "melancholic first-person parkour adventure," it looks like the moody stepchild of Mirror's Edge.
A new trailer for the game dropped last month and revealed it comes out Aug. 21. It provides a sneak peek at the game's overgrown, brutalist jungle gyms and shows off Vholume's multiplayer. According to its Steam page, you can race your buds in real time or compete against their ghosts. It seems ambitious given that just three people are credited as developers on Steam, one of whom you may recognize as one of the Lemaitre Bros. behind Straftat. We called that game 2024's best FPS, and its music is, in fact, radical.
>> Is it really that hard to put the bloody name of the game in the headline, instead of talking about brothers and whatnot?

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector has a roadmap of upcoming additions, including a new narrative DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/warhammer-40-000-battlesector-has-a-roadmap-of-upcoming-additions-including-a-new-narrative-dlc/
Slitherine's turn-based 40K strategy game Battlesector launched with a campaign where you could play as the none-more-goth Blood Angels against the bio-horror tyranids. That was followed by DLC adding other playable factions for multiplayer and other modes, leaving players hungry for more singleplayer story campaigns.
With the Deeds of the Fallen DLC earlier this year we finally got our wish—a 12-mission narrative campaign where we got to play as the nuns with guns of the Sisters of Battle, up against the green tide of the orks. It won't be the last, as Slitherine has revealed in an updated roadmap.

Lies of P studio reveals name change and hypes up sequel: 'My goal has been to create the world's greatest action game.'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/lies-of-p-studio-reveals-name-change-and-hypes-up-sequel-my-goal-has-been-to-create-the-worlds-greatest-action-game/
Lies of P studio Nough, formerly Round8, has released a 16-minute mini documentary about its culture and work on the Lies of P series, including development anecdotes and talk of the developers' ambitions for Lies of P's in-production sequel.
But first, the name change: According to the video description, Nough is "upholding the development philosophy of Round8 Studio and operating under the motto 'Games by Gamers.'"
>> The doc is also in the article, in case you prefer to see it there.

Free-to-play Division game launches on Steam to mixed reviews: 'Calling it slop disrespects actual slop'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/free-to-play-division-game-launches-on-steam-to-mixed-reviews-calling-it-slop-disrespects-actual-slop/
Tom Clancy's The Division Resurgence originally launched on mobile before coming to PC via Ubisoft Connect (the artist formerly known as Uplay) in April. Earlier this month it arrived on Steam, where it hasn't received the warmest welcome.
>> The article reminded me that I haven’t logged in UbiConnect in a while. I should do it, just in case.

Australians must now prove their age to buy R18+ games on the Xbox store
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/australians-must-now-prove-their-age-to-buy-r18-games-on-the-xbox-store/
If you use the Xbox store to buy either Xbox or PC games—and yes, the latter is possible—you may be prompted to verify your age the next time you try to buy an R18+ game.
Microsoft confirmed as much via emails sent to users over the weekend, which I received. "Starting August 2026, to comply with Australia regulations, you may need to verify your age before purchasing or accessing apps and games rated 18+ on Microsoft Store and Xbox Store," the email reads.
>> It’s not unreasonable.

Marvel Rivals hits the Ozempic, comes back 40 GB lighter
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-hits-the-ozempic-comes-back-40-gb-lighter/
Incredible news, folks: Marvel Rivals has completely repackaged its assets. No, not those assets. Last Friday, the internet's most erogenous shooter announced that it was slimming down. As part of an "Optimized texture resource compression strategy across all platforms," Marvel Rivals now comes in about 40 GB lighter on PC than it did before.

Light No Fire will 'absolutely' be like No Man's Sky, with new features coming post-release: Sean Murray says he'd like to still be working on it '10 years after launch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/light-no-fire-will-absolutely-be-like-no-mans-sky-with-new-features-coming-post-release-sean-murray-says-hed-like-to-still-be-working-on-it-10-years-after-launch/
It's hard to believe, travelers, but No Man's Sky has turned 10 years old. As part of the sprawling space sandbox's double-digit anniversary, Sean Murray took some time to talk to PC Gamer about No Man's Sky's decade of development, as well as the future of earth-sized multiplayer fantasy game Light No Fire. It was announced in December of 2023, but we haven't heard much about it since.
>> In (of course) another article, Murray says that he still plays the 2016 version of No Man’s Sky (link).