The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has several new deals, including the new weeklong deals:

• The new daily deal is Raji: An Ancient Epic, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/730390/Raji_An_Ancient_Epic/
• The first of the Midweek Madness deals featured is Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager is 35% off until September 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/978520/Legend_of_Keepers_Career_of_a_Dungeon_Manager/
• Darkest Dungeon, 85% off until Friday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/262060/Darkest_Dungeon/
• The Sword Art Online franchise is also up to 85% off until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SAOFranchise
• Publisher Good Shepperd puts its games up to 90% off until Friday 17: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/GoodShepherdPublisherSale
• The Stardock's Publisher Sale 2021 brings up to 85% discounts until September 20: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/stardock/sale/stardockpubsale2021
• And here are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Brave Alchemist Colette is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135830/Brave_Alchemist_Colette/
  • Hidden Through Time has a 33% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/524910/Hidden_Through_Time/
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys is 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/658850/Do_Not_Feed_the_Monkeys/
  • Ideology in Friction gets a 50% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1011940/Ideology_in_Friction/
  • Vaporum is 66% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/629690/Vaporum/
  • Dungeon Escape VR features a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/618920/Dungeon_Escape_VR/
  • And Salt, that has a demo, is 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/327860/Salt/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The Astragon Publisher Sale brings up to 80% discounts during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/astragon-publisher-sale-september/
• The Super Simulator Sale features up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. There are Steam, GOG and EGS keys: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/super-simulator-sale/

Fanatical has a new bundle: the Star Trek Online Charity Bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-trek-online-charity-bundle

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SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD's frame rate boosting SAM feature is now available on RX 5000-series GPUs
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amd-rx-5000-graphics-card-sam-support/
AMD has just released Radeon Software version 21.9.1 that enables Smart Access Memory (SAM) support on Radeon RX 5000-series graphics cards. And it officially enables support for some Radeon gaming features on Windows 11, too.
(...)
Also if you look closely in the release notes, you'll find word of AMD adding further support for Vulkan, such as VK_KHR_shader_integer_dot_product. This will be helpful for neural networks programmed to work alongside Vulkan, and I'd suspect may have a part to play in Intel's recent XeSS announcement or similar, which uses such instructions to accelerate in-game frame rates through AI-augmented upscaling.
>> Available from here.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Alan Wake Remastered will not support Ray Tracing or HDR, but will support DLSS
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/alan-wake-remastered-will-not-support-ray-tracing-or-hdr-but-will-support-dlss/
Remedy has confirmed that Alan Wake Remastered will not support Ray Tracing or HDR. I’m pretty sure that this will disappoint a lot of PC gamers that have been looking forward to this remaster. However, Remedy has confirmed that the game will support NVIDIA’s DLSS tech.
>> It's a shame given what they did with Control and the use of a flashlight in the game, but we can't forget it's a remaster, not a remake.

F1 2021 Update 1.10 released, resolves bugs and crashes, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/f1-2021-update-1-10-released-resolves-bugs-and-crashes-full-patch-notes/
Codemasters has released a brand new update for its latest F1 racing game, F1 2021. According to the release notes, Update 1.10 fixes a number of bugs, resolves some crashes, and improves general stability.

New Far Cry 6 PC Trailer showcases AMD FSR and Ray Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-far-cry-6-pc-trailer-showcases-amd-fsr-and-ray-tracing/
AMD has released a brand new PC trailer for Far Cry 6. This trailer showcases some of the features that the PC version will support. For instance, we get more scenes with its Ray Tracing reflections and shadows, as well as our first look at AMD FSR.

Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.31 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/cyberpunk-2077-update-1-31-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
CD Projekt RED has released a brand new update for Cyberpunk 2077. According to its release notes, Patch 1.31 fixes a number of crashes and resolves various quest issues.

Dying Light 2 has been delayed until February 2022
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dying-light-2-has-been-delayed-until-february-2022/
Techland has just announced that Dying Light 2 has been delayed until February 2022. The game was originally targeting a December 7th release date. According to the team, the game is complete, and it’s currently polishing and optimizing it. Thus, Techland will need some extra time in order to deliver a more polished product.

Tuesday news, part two:

Fortnite season 8 brings back Kevin the Cube, introduces Marvel's Carnage
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/fortnite-season-8-patch-notes-update/
Fortnite season 8 is finally upon us, after we all managed to survive and defeat last season's alien invasion. There's no time to rest, though. Season 8 introduces a ton of new battle pass skins, new gameplay mechanics, and perhaps most importantly, Kevin the Cube.

Paradox CEO apologizes for 'inappropriate behavior' with employee in 2018
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/paradox-ceo-apologizes-for-inappropriate-behavior-with-employee-in-2018/
Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester has issued a statement apologizing for his "inappropriate behavior" with another Paradox employee during a company conference held in 2018.

Valheim devs 'really hope' players start the game over for Hearth and Home
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/valheim-devs-really-hope-players-start-the-game-over-for-hearth-and-home/
Rejoice, Vikings! Our long wait is nearly at an end. Valheim's Hearth and Home update will arrive later this week.
To help you prepare, Iron Gate Studios has released a 20 minute fireside chat that takes place around a virtual campfire within Valheim, with creator and lead designer Richard Svensson, generalist artist Robin Eyre, and assistant community manager Josefin Berntsson as moderator.

Darkest Dungeon 2 Early Access release date announced
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/darkest-dungeon-2-early-access-release-date/
Darkest Dungeon 2 is coming to Early Access on the Epic Games Store on October 26, 2021, developer Red Hook Studios announced Monday.

Apex Legends tap-strafing nerf has been delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/apex-legends-tap-strafing-nerf-has-been-delayed/
Tap-strafing is an Apex Legends movement technique that basically lets you rapidly change your direction mid-air without losing momentum. Morgan has explained it more thoroughly here (with gifs!), noting that it's a technique that has become popular over the last few months, especially among high-level Apex Legends players. Respawn announced a fortnight ago that the trick will be removed, causing widespread consternation.
Since then players have been dreading the rollout of patch 10.1—the tap-strafe nerf patch—but they can rest easy for now: tap-strafing has had a stay of execution.

A new Brothers in Arms game is in development, confirms Gearbox CEO
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/a-new-brothers-in-arms-game-is-in-development-confirms-gearbox-ceo/
In an interview with Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price for the AIAS Game Maker's Notebook podcast, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has confirmed the studio is working on a new Brothers in Arms game. The podcast was originally published in April but only recently uploaded to YouTube, where Alt/Char spotted the news.

In Sable's new trailer, masks are an important way of life
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/sable-masks-trailer/
Every time I see a trailer for Sable, it tickles the part of my brain that loves surreal, nearly psychedelic Moebius landscapes. While previous trailers for Sable have focused on the bigger picture of riding your hoverbike and climbing colorful desert landscapes, today's new trailer asks us to explore a true fantasy: A world where everyone wears masks.

Report: next year's Call of Duty is Modern Warfare 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/report-next-years-call-of-duty-is-modern-warfare-2/
Next year's main instalment in the ongoing Call of Duty juggernaut will be Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare (itself a remake of 2007's Modern Warfare: the ouroboros is real). That would of course line up with Activision-Blizzard's usual three year development cycles for each subseries, with 2020 bringing us Black Ops—Cold War and this year bringing Vanguard.

Funcom now owns Conan, wants to do for the Barbarian what 'Fortnite did with the Avengers'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/funcom-now-owns-conan-wants-to-do-for-the-barbarian-what-fortnite-did-with-the-avengers/
The folks at Funcom must really like a good bit of nude dudes swinging swords and slaying monsters. With Age of Conan and Conan Exiles under its belt, the developer has cut to the chase and bought the rights to Conan the Barbarian outright, with plans to create The Avengers of the Robert E. Howard universe.

Here's our first look at Grand Cathay in Total War: Warhammer 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/heres-our-first-look-at-grand-cathay-in-total-war-warhammer-3/
Grand Cathay, one of the oldest and most powerful civilizations in the world of Warhammer, is also one of its least-known factions. It's almost like an NPC: It's been around in the tabletop game for years, but has never actually been a playable faction. It will be in Total War: Warhammer 3, though, and today Creative Assembly revealed "the land of celestial dragons, unyielding warriors, and wondrous war machines" in a new cinematic showcasing the power of Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon, ruler of Northern Cathay and commander of the armies of the Great Bastion.

Intel 12th Gen Core Alder Lake CPUs listed by US retailer, i9-12900K for 605 USD

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-12th-gen-core-alder-lake-cpus-listed-by-us-retailer-i9-12900k-for-605-usd



11th gen MSRP:

11600k: $262.00 - $272.00
11700k: $399.00 - $409.00
11900k: $539.00 - $549.00

So there does seem to be a slight price increase across the board. The difference between i7 and i9 is quite nuts. We will see how it performs but I am also interested to see how they price their more budget CPUs or if they go the AMD route and get rid of them entirely.


Alder Lake Tested With DDR5-6400 Memory, Has Unexpectedly High Latency

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/gear-4-mode-tested-on-alder-lake



Maybe not unexpected per say as we have seen the CL timings of DDR5 being terrible. The bandwidth is quite high though. The main problem other than latency is the fact that Alder Lake S needs to be in Gear 4. We will see how it performs in real world though.

Realistically, it won't make much sense to get the i9 over the i7. There's nearly a $200 difference between them and as far as core configuration goes, you are only getting 4 additional small mores and probably better binning by going with the i9 but you are getting 8 big cores regardless of whether or not you go with the i7 or i9. So unlike Ryzen where you are getting 4 big cores by going from 5800x to 5900x, the i9 is probably not worth it for 99% of people.

At under $300 the 12600K/F is looking like the CPU to get for gaming. Its a bit lame they're following AMD's price structure and upping the cost for their 6 core SKU's, but if ADL performs well and outdoes a 5800X in most tasks, including gaming.. this is going to one hell of a comeback from Intel. Of course that doesn't factor in new motherboard costs and DDR5. And power consumption/ cooler.

Yea that's true. I will say that Intel is technically giving you more cores for the money.

The 12600K/F is supposed to have 6 big cores and 4 small cores vs the 5600X 6 big cores. And if Alder Lake S big cores are faster than Zen 3's big cores, then that's even better. Similar situation with their 12700k with 8 big cores and 4 small cores vs 8 big cores against the 5800X. But it starts to fall flat once you go to i9 though as then you have 8 big cores and 8 small cores vs 12 big cores against 5900x.

https://tipsmake.com/revealed-intel-core-i912900k-alder-lakes-cpu-configuration-with-16-cores-24-threads-supports-ddr4-ram

Ah yeah forgot about the smaller cores lol. With Windows 11 and its new scheduler these ADL should (on paper) be better at multitasking too with little cores allocated to background tasks, leaving big cores to do their thing. Will be interesting to see how the current high end stack up against the new i9's in day to day task and vice versa. I have a feeling its going to be quite close at stock, with Intel pulling ahead when you start pushing the clocks/power limits higher.

Honestly, I blame their engine. Arkane had the same performance issues when they tried to mesh their engine with another one for Dishonored 2, and that also performed terribly on PC for nearly a year.

AI also looks pretty braindead from some of the reviews I've been watching so far (GMANlives review as one example), and coupled with the performance issues and it's price, I don't think I'm going to bother with it (much like I didn't bother with DH2 either). I guess Arkane's last good game for me was the first Dishonored, as I wasn't fond of Prey's performance and visual issues (having to mod the game to get better lighting/textures was a bit of a pain). 

It's a bummer that Beth/Zeni acquired studios tend to botch up something with their games (like Wolfenstein reboot having some perf woes or texture issues for example).

Looking at the Steam user reviews and the community discussions... It does sound like a shit fest as far as optimization goes:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1252330/DEATHLOOP/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1252330/discussions/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1252330/discussions/0/3040481812854117506/

You are strange to worry about that. Which were the last games that were released on Linux, but not on Windows?