The Tuesday news, with a ton of mods:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(click here for top 100)

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Sonic Frontiers have sold 1 million and 3.2 million copies, respectively
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-and-sonic-frontiers-have-sold-1-million-and-3-2-million-copies-respectively/
KOEI Tecmo and SEGA have announced that Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Sonic Frontiers have sold 1 million and 3.2 million copies, respectively.

Mercenary RPG Wartales has sold over 600,000 copies
https://www.pcgamer.com/mercenary-rpg-wartales-has-sold-over-600000-copies/
Wartales, Shiro Games' turn-based tactics RPG in which you lead a mercenary company in a low-fantasy world plagued by banditry, wolves, and, well, plague, is so gritty you could use it to strip paint. The tough early game, in which you'll march down Struggle Street trying to earn enough food to keep your employees alive and enough cash to pay them, might be off-putting to some. That hasn't stopped it from winning fans, with Shiro boasting that it's sold more than 600,000 copies so far and been wishlisted one million times.
Wartales is doing well with players on Steam, who've given it a user rating of 91% positive over more than 13,000 reviews. Our own Rick Lane gave it a score of 83 in his Wartales review, praising its "rich and granular mechanical toybox" as well as its potential for character-driven storytelling.

Don't Starve Together goes on sale for the cheapest it's ever been, breaks concurrent player record
https://www.pcgamer.com/dont-starve-together-goes-on-sale-for-the-cheapest-its-ever-been-breaks-concurrent-player-record/
Who wants to play a survival game where you're a grunting lummox who punches trees for wood when you could be playing a survival game where you're an olde worlde dandy who picks flowers in a Tim Burton dreamscape? Klei's Don't Starve and its multiplayer-focused sequel/spin-off Don't Starve Together remain some of the best survival games around, as a raft of new players are currently discovering.
Don't Starve Together is on sale on Steam for 90% off until May 4. That makes it $1.50 in freedom eagle money, £1.10 in the King's shillings, and $2.15 in Australian dollarydoos. What's more, it comes with a free bonus copy to give to a friend. The original Don't Starve is on sale for 75% off as well.
According to SteamDB's charts, a record-setting 96,000 concurrent players took advantage of this opportunity to shave beefalos, curse the darkness, and starve to death in chummy solidarity. For comparison's sake, when Don't Starve Together had a free weekend back in 2019 it peaked at 68,000 players, meaning that more people would rather own it for cheap than try it for free.

GOG has three new Deals of the Day and a new sale:

• The first DotD is Blade Runner, 33% off until tomorrow: https://www.gog.com/en/game/blade_runner
• The second DotD is Theme Hospital, with a 75% discount during 22 more hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/theme_hospital
• The third, and last, DotD is ARMA: Gold Edition, 80% off until tomorrow's refresh: https://www.gog.com/en/game/arma_gold_edition
• And the Wonderful Strategy Sale features up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_wonderful_strategies

Steam has several new deals and, as usual, a new range of weeklong deals:

• The Fatal Frame/Project Zero franchise Sale brings 25% discounts until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/FatalFrame2023
• The Golden Week Festival comes with lots of Japanese games on sale with up to 90% discounts until... well, it varies from one game/publisher to another so check it out by yourselves: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Komodo/sale/gwfest
• Witch It will be 75% off until the 9th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/app/559650/Witch_It/
• Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition, that has a demo, gets an 80% discount until May 11: https://store.steampowered.com/app/972660/Spiritfarer_Farewell_Edition/
• The Freedom Games Publisher Sale comes with up to 90% discounts until May, 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/freedomgames
• And these are nothing but a small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Spellmasons will be 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1618380/Spellmasons/
  • Insomnis is 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000700/Insomnis/
  • Blind Fate: Edo no Yami gets a 50% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1294880/Blind_Fate_Edo_no_Yami/
  • Sophie's Curse is going to be 66% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/446380/Sophies_Curse/
  • And the last of this list is Vampire Slayer: The Resurrection, 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2188960/Vampire_Slayer_The_Resurrection/

Humble has two new deals:

• At Humble Bundle there's the Striking Soulslike Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 10 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/striking-soulslikes
• The Humble Store has the Frontier Publisher Sale, with up to 80% discounts during three days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/frontier-publisher-sale/

And Fanatical has a new Star Deal: Riders Republic™ - Ultimate Edition will be 78% off during 24 hours. Of course, the key is for UbiConnect: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/riders-republic-ultimate-edition.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 531.79
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-531-79
Highlights
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games including Redfall featuring DLSS 3 technology. Additionally, this Game Ready Driver supports the launch of titles supporting NVIDIA DLSS 2 technology including Showgunners and the upcoming Diablo IV Server Slam.
New Games Supported By GeForce Experience’s Optimal Settings

• KovaaK’s
• Summoners War: Chronicles

Fixed Issues

• [RTX 30 series] Application crash may be observed while playing Battlefield 2042/The Last of Us/Unreal Editor [4013983]
• [Asus VG27WQ][Acer XV253Q] Highest monitor refresh rate is missing from the NVIDIA Control Panel after updating to NVIDIA display driver 531.41 [4072741]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Here’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom running on PC via the Ryujinx Nintendo Switch Emulator
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-pc-ryujinx-nintendo-switch-emulator/
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been leaked online and, surprisingly enough, it can already be played on PC via Nintendo Switch emulators.
From the looks of it, the only Nintendo Switch emulator that can currently run this new Zelda game is Ryujinx. I couldn’t find any video for yuzu or CEMU. However, and since the ROM for Tears of the Kingdom is out in the wild, we expect these emulators to be able to run the game really soon.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom officially releases on May 12th. So, PC gamers can already play it one week prior to its official release.
>> Yuzu also appears to be able to run it, because the article had two videos, one with Ryujinx running the game and the other one comparing both emulators. And I said that it had two videos because they've been taken down.

Red Dead Redemption 2 gets a 7GB Mod, overhauling its terrain textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-2-gets-a-7gb-mod-overhauling-its-terrain-textures/
Modder ‘nigeez’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Red Dead Redemption 2 that overhauls its terrain textures. Now contrary to other HD Texture Packs, this one features custom assets (and not ones that have been upscaled via AI techniques).
Going into more details, this pack has Albedo and Normal maps at 2K resolution. On the other hand, the AO, Roughness and Heightmaps are 1K.
Do note that this mod currently covers only main story areas. This isn’t a full terrain textures replacement, so expect some areas to have the vanilla textures. For example, anything from Blackwater to south is vanilla.
>> There are some comparison screenshots.

Fallout: Tale of Two Wastelands gets a 65GB HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-tale-of-two-wastelands-gets-a-65gb-hd-texture-pack/
Modder ‘Bobobass84’ has released a 65GB HD Texture Pack for Fallout: Tale of Two Wastelands that overhauls all of its textures. This pack uses AI techniques in order to upscale all the vanilla textures, and contains all textures for Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas and all DLCs.
But what exactly is Fallout: Tale of Two Wastelands? Is it a new Fallout game? Well, not exactly.
Fallout: Tale of Two Wastelands is a total conversion project that seamlessly merges Fallout 3 and its DLC into Fallout: New Vegas. As such, PC gamers can now play these two games in a single playthrough. The mod also upgrades Fallout 3’s mechanics to those of FNV, while balancing both games to feel like you’re playing one full game (instead of two different games using the same character).
>> The article has some screenshots and feature the links to the texture pack as well as the Tale of Two Wastelands mod.

Elden Ring Convergence Mod released, adding new weapons, new spells, revamped areas & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-convergence-mod-released-adding-new-weapons-new-spells-revamped-areas-more/
The Convergence Team has just released an overhaul mod for Elden Ring, called The Convergence Mod. According to its description, this mod adds dozens of new weapons and hundreds of new spells.
Furthermore, it extensively revamps areas and maps, improves the game’s visuals, and brings new enemies and bosses. In short, this mod will feel like an unofficial DLC. Just make sure to install it after you’ve finished the game. Since it changes some things, we suggest avoiding it during your first playthrough.
>> There's a very long video of the mod.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod Showcased
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/star-wars-jedi-survivor-dlss-3-frame-generation-mod-showcased/
As we’ve already reported, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a really CPU-heavy game due to its optimization issues. And, as we suggested, NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 would potentially do wonders on this game. And we were right as PureDark has shared a video, showcasing a WIP version of a DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod for it.
As we can see in the video, without DLSS 3 Frame Generation, the game ran with 40-45fps on PureDark’s system. However, when using the DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod, the modder was able to double its performance and get over 90fps.
Unfortunately, this current version of this DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod has some visual artifacts. Furthermore, the mod doesn’t have camera info such as position and all the matrices.
>> There's a two and a half minutes video of the mod.

Modders are turning Spelunky 2 into a sprawling Metroidvania, and you can try it right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/modders-are-turning-spelunky-2-into-a-sprawling-metroidvania-and-you-can-try-it-right-now/
Steam tells me that I have 381 hours in the first Spelunky, but a mere 74 in Spelunky 2. The reason for this is simple: I'm terrible at it to such a spectacular degree that my clumsy attempts in Spelunky 1 look like virtuoso performances by comparison. But perhaps I'd get more into the second game if it were transformed into a Metroidvania.
Thanks to Spelunky: Wrath of Kali, I can find out. Spotted by GamesRadar, Wrath of Kali is a sprawling mod for Spelunky 2 that converts its constantly shifting world into a fully-authored Metroidvania. Created by a "small dedicated team of modders in the Spelunky community," it's currently only available in demo form, with a release planned for later this year, but even that demo looks impressive.
Right now, the demo contains three zones, a unique boss, shortcuts, save game functionality(!), and tantalising "hidden stuff". Plus, the team has plans for more bosses, areas, power-ups, and secret endings in its full release planned for later this year.
>> There's an almost two minutes trailer of the mod.

This huge Tiny Tina's Wonderlands mod sounds like almost a completely different game
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-huge-tiny-tinas-wonderlands-mod-sounds-like-almost-a-completely-different-game/
The Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a pretty good shooter. But if you've ever thought to yourself, "I'd like that, but different", the big Wonderlands Redux mod might be just what you're looking for.
Spotted by GamesRadar, Wonderlands Redux is a free mod that has players stepping in for the legendary assassin Athena in order to carry out hits against dangerous "Legacy Targets," who are attempting to take over the Wonderlands. But it's more than just a handful of new things to shoot at. Wonderlands Redux adds a pile of new items and rarities, double-jumping and dashing abilities, and makes an impressive array of changes, balance tweaks, and quality of life changes.
>> There's an almost two minutes trailer of the mod.

Modder wires ChatGPT into Skyrim VR so NPCs can roleplay and remember past conversations
https://www.pcgamer.com/modder-wires-chatgpt-into-skyrim-vr-so-npcs-can-roleplay-and-remember-past-conversations/
Spend enough time in any RPG and you'll eventually run out of things to talk about with its characters. But what if they had a never-ending supply of dynamically generated anecdotes? What if you could ask them questions that weren't listed on a menu in front of you? What if they could even remember the experiences they've had with you in the game, and could talk about them at length? Those are the questions modder Art From The Machine is trying to answer in Skyrim VR.
In the video below you can see some scenes from the work-in-progress mod, which uses OpenAI's large language model ChatGPT to generate responses, xVASynth for text-to-speech so the NPCs can be fully voiced, and Whisper for speech-to-text, so players can speak into their mic and the NPCs can understand them.
That's a lot of different systems being put into play, and the early results are some pretty stilted responses. But at the same time you see a glimmer of the potential of NPCs wired up with AI to create dynamic conversations.
>> The video is over 6 minutes long.

You can finally be a woman in Persona 5 Royal, thanks to a massive mod project
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-finally-be-a-woman-in-persona-5-royal-thanks-to-a-massive-mod-project/
Every once in a while a mod comes along that's so ambitious, extensive, and impressive that it just runs you over like a truck. That's how I feel about the simply-named "P5R Female Protagonist" mod that just released, transforming Persona 5 Royal's Joker into Joker, but a lady.
But it's not just some model swap, no, it's an extensive visual and story overhaul. It includes "new costumes/models, animations, textures, voice lines, field dialogue, and more," according to mod creator chlorophylls. Female Joker is voiced by Alexa Farron in English, in her voice lead debut, and the actually-quite-famous Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese (The Vision of Escaflowne, Fate/Apocrypha, Re:Zero).
Yes, you read that right, the mod includes both Japanese and English VO clips for both battle, system, and overworld segments.
>> The article has some screenshots.

This clever mod makes Doom 3 play more like Doom Eternal
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-clever-mod-makes-doom-3-play-more-like-doom-eternal/
The debate over whether Doom 3 is good or not will likely run until the day actual demons overrun the Earth, but it's fair to say id Software's threequel is a slower-paced experience than the other games in the series. It emphasises horror and atmosphere over raw, blistering speed, while combat encounters tend to have you battling handfuls of enemies rather than roomfuls.
If that's your bag, fair enough. But if like me, you found this resulted in a flat and uninspired shooter, then you might be interested in Runner's Doom 3, a mod which aims to make the game's combat faster, more intense, and more challenging.
Created by modder rulesnote, Runner's Doom 3 adjusts the game's core parameters to make it play more like a classic run-and-gun shooter. Some of these changes are easy enough to predict. The mod doubles the player's movements speed, removes the need to reload weapons, and increases weapon swap-speed. On the flipside, enemies are also faster and deal significantly more damage, while the mod also makes tweaks to specific enemy behaviours. Imps, for example, "will throw 2 or 3 projectiles per shot [and] dodge more frequently", while Lost Souls "will shoot you instead of biting".
>> There's an almost 8 minutes video of the mod.

Fallout 3 gets a new HD Texture Pack, overhauling all of its textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-3-gets-a-new-hd-texture-pack-overhauling-all-of-its-textures/
A couple of days ago, we shared a new HD Texture Pack for Fallout: Tale of Two Wastelands. Now while PC gamers could use this pack to overhaul the textures of Fallout 3, its size was too big (over 60GB). So, today we present you a smaller pack that will enhance all of Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition’s textures.
Created by modder ‘ilamalamer’, this pack features a lot of textures that have been upscaled via AI techniques. Additionally, it packs some manually edited/tweaked textures.
>> There are a handful of screenshots.

RBDOOM-3-BFG 1.5.0 replaces OpenGL with DX12, almost doubling performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/rbdoom-3-bfg-1-5-0-replaces-opengl-with-dx12-almost-doubling-performance/
The modding team behind RBDOOM-3-BFG has released a new version of it that replaces OpenGL with DirectX 12 and Vulkan. According to the team, and in some really demanding scenes, DX12 can almost double the game’s performance.
As the team stated:
“This is actually one of the most demananding scenes in Doom 3 with many shadow casting point lights. DX12 is now almost twice as fast as OpenGL. Vulkan is still lacking behind but DX12 is the primary API for Windows users which are the vast majority.”
Alongside DX12, RBDOOM-3-BFG 1.5.0 adds support for NVIDIA’s TAA solution. This not only fixes geometric aliasing at the edges but also shader-based aliasing within the geometries like extreme specular highlights caused by the new PBR shaders.
RBDOOM-3-BFG 1.5.0 also brings an enhanced SSAO solution. This new SSAO gives most scenes a lot more depth.
>> There's a roughly 30 minutes video of this new version of the mod.

Skywind, the ambitious mod remaking Morrowind in Skyrim, has a new 20 minute gameplay video showing off an entire quest
https://www.pcgamer.com/skywind-the-ambitious-mod-remaking-morrowind-in-skyrim-has-a-new-20-minute-gameplay-video-showing-off-an-entire-quest/
There are lots of ambitious full conversion Skyrim mods in development, and one of the most anticipated by Elder Scrolls fans is Skywind. Modders have spent more than decade meticulously recreating The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind in Skyrim's engine, and long-time Bethesda RPG fans are eager to play it.
Unfortunately, the mod isn't finished yet and Skywind still doesn't have a release date, but here's a treat to make the wait a little more bearable. Today the mod team at The Elder Scroll Renewal Project have unveiled a full 20 minutes of new Skywind gameplay footage, and it looks fantastic. You can watch an entire quest, start to finish, in the video below.

This delightful mod brings Elden Ring's community spirit into Final Fantasy 14
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-delightful-mod-brings-elden-rings-community-spirit-into-final-fantasy-14/
Mods are a contentious issue in the FF14 community, being that they're against the terms of service. Just in case, let me caveat my explainer of this delightful mod with the statement that I don't use it, and that I got these screenshots from an unnamed friend.
In a broader sense, I'm generally against mods that impact your gameplay, such as the ones that caused a fuss during the Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate) controversy last year. We don't need a World of Warcraft-style arms race between developer and modder.
However, some mods add such great features that I'm shocked they're not a part of the core experience, such as the Orange Guidance Tomestone mod, which is available via the Dalamud plugin.

GAMING NEWS

Here’s how Dead Island 2’s in-game environments fare against their real-life locations
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-how-dead-island-2-in-game-environments-compare-to-their-real-life-locations/
YouTube’s “ElAnalistaDeBits” has shared a comparison video between Dead Island 2’s environments and their real-life locations. This video will give you a glimpse at how close to the real-world locations Dead Island 2’s environments actually are.
>> The game may not be all that good, but the graphics are more than fine.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & Warzone 2 appear to be completely broken on AMD RX Vega series GPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-warzone-2-appear-to-be-broken-on-amd-rx-vega-series-gpus/
It appears that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty Warzone 2 are currently broken on AMD RX Vega series GPUs. According to multiple reports, owners of AMD RX Vega 56 and Vega 64 cannot launch the game at all.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 were playable on the Vega GPUs at launch. However, with the release of Season 3, the game is no longer playable on these GPUs. Upon launching it, owners of Vega GPUs receive the following DirectX error.

First PC patch released for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, aiming to improve non-RT performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-pc-patch-released-for-star-wars-jedi-survivor-aiming-to-improve-non-rt-performance/
Respawn has just released the first PC patch for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. According to the release notes, this first update aims to improve the game’s performance when not using its Ray Tracing effects.
And… well… that’s it. This first update does not bring any other improvements, tweaks, changes or fixes. Still, it will be interesting to see whether there is any meaningful performance boost in the Koboh Outpost without RT.

Forza Horizon 5 gets a 2GB Update on PC, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/forza-horizon-5-gets-a-2gb-update-on-pc-full-patch-notes/
Playground Games has released the May 1st Update for the PC version of Forza Horizon 5. This patch is 2GB in size and fixes some bugs that plagued the game.

Tuesday news, part two:

As the CMA recriminations rumble on, Microsoft signs yet another ten-year deal with a cloud platform you've never heard of
https://www.pcgamer.com/as-the-cma-recriminations-rumble-on-microsoft-signs-yet-another-ten-year-deal-with-a-cloud-platform-youve-never-heard-of/
This week brought something of a bombshell for Microsoft: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority delivered its verdict on the company's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and it was a big fat no. Furious executives immediately took to the air to decry the regulator, with Microsoft president Brad Smith going so far as to say the UK government should consider the CMS's future role, adding this was Microsoft's 'darkest day' in four decades in Britain.
(...)
Today Brad Smith, having calmed down a little after his exertions, announced the latest partnership on social media. The deal brings Xbox's PC games to the European-based Nware streaming service, "as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes."

The best co-op survival game of 2022 is getting animal companions and a creative mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-co-op-survival-game-of-2022-is-getting-animal-companions-and-a-creative-mode/
Whether you play survival co-op sandbox Core Keeper alone or with friends, there are some new companions headed your way. On May 10 the Paws & Claws update will arrive to introduce pets you can bring with you on your subterranean adventures. And for those of you who love to build forts and bases, there's even more exciting news: the same update will add a creative mode that lets you build without restrictions or resources.

Cyberpunk 2077 fans will get 'hands-on opportunities' with the Phantom Liberty expansion before it launches
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-fans-will-get-hands-on-opportunities-with-the-phantom-liberty-expansion-before-it-launches/
CD Projekt said on Twitter today that it will start talking about the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty in June—and then immediately broke that pledge by talking about the expansion in literally the same tweet.

EA kinda sorta apologizes for poor Star Wars Jedi: Survivor performance, cites high-end hardware as a problem
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-kinda-sorta-apologizes-for-poor-star-wars-jedi-survivor-performance-cites-high-end-hardware-as-a-problem/
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is having a rough start on PC. (...)
In response to the PC version backlash, EA issued a half-apology, half-explanatory tweet outlining what it believes to be a significant reason behind Jedi: Survivor's performance: PC players running Windows 10 on high-end CPUs designed for Windows 11, and powerful GPUs coupled with less powerful CPUs.
>> How dare you have hardware more powerful than that of consoles that show the f*cking mess we've made! It's your own fault!

This 'edutainment horror' game that just released on Steam is creeping me out
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-edutainment-horror-game-that-just-released-on-steam-is-creeping-me-out/
The way kids' show characters like Dora the Explorer pause for responses as if they can hear all the five-year-olds shouting at them is mildly unsettling, and probably contributes to the confused notions kids sometimes have about television. The ones that lead to questions like: Can they see me? Amanda the Adventurer, a "found footage edutainment horror" game that released on Steam this week, exploits that creepiness by having us watch and respond to VHS tapes of a made-up kids show starring a little girl named Amanda, who in the first episode bakes a pie without parental supervision despite the protests of her poor little friend, a Wooly the sheep.

Sony confirms more PC ports are coming, because it's making a ton of money
https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-confirms-more-pc-ports-are-coming-because-its-making-a-ton-of-money/
The Last of Us Part 1 on PC has not gone well, to put it mildly. Eyebrows Joel was fun for a while but it's been a month now, and Naughty Dog is still struggling to get it right. Sony's overall strategy of putting out more of its first-party games on PC, on the other hand, seems to be going very well indeed.

This windswept platformer is going to have entirely embroidered character art
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-windswept-platformer-is-going-to-have-entirely-embroidered-character-art/
"Hi, I'm making a game where all characters have embroidered animation," developer Eva Navratilova declared in a tweet about her upcoming platformer, Scarlet Deer Inn. The accompanying video shows a young girl running through a vibrant, beautifully-painted village while similarly embroidered geese flap nearby. It then cuts to a close-up of an embroidery machine crafting the little girl's run cycle. Alright, I'm already sold, but how do you actually… do that?

Be a robo-judge hunting down dystopian criminals in the demo of Mega City Police
https://www.pcgamer.com/be-a-robo-judge-hunting-down-dystopian-criminals-in-the-demo-of-mega-city-police/
Want to play a game where a you're a wildly irresponsible, extremely dangerous police officer with a suite of armaments you probably shouldn't have fighting equally-overarmed villains in a dystopian future city? Well, aspiring cyborg-cop or dreadful judge-jury-executioner type, there's an upcoming game for you: Mega City Police.

League of Legends' AI bots are getting a major reboot
https://www.pcgamer.com/league-of-legends-ai-bots-are-getting-a-major-reboot/
Buried inside League of Legends' most recent developer update is a big, very interesting change for the venerable moba: Riot's going to retool and reinvest development time in making bots much better at actually playing League of Legends in the way it's, you know, played by actual League players.

Be a mushroom postal worker delivering to woodland animals in this cozy platformer
https://www.pcgamer.com/be-a-mushroom-postal-worker-delivering-to-woodland-animals-in-this-cozy-platformer/
Cozy platformer Mail Time hit this week, offering you the opportunity to become a Mail Scout, complete with mushroom hat and paraglider, delivering the post to woodland critters across the entirety of the vast Grumblewood Grove. Developer Kela van der Deijl describes it as a exploration-focused "cozy, cottagecore light-platformer adventure."

This Doom-powered, nautical shooter boldly asks 'what if Spongebob was on Adult Swim in 2006'
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-doom-powered-nautical-shooter-boldly-asks-what-if-spongebob-was-on-adult-swim-in-2006/
People are doing so many cool things in Doom modding these days, it takes a lot to stand out. First spotted by Alpha Beta Gamer, Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation does so with aplomb, boasting a grungy "smart people doing dumb guy," Duke Nukem-y sense of humor and the colorful, nautical fun of Spongebob Squarepants⁠—just with like, swears and stuff.

Water is life and death is permanent in this tense, laconic, $3 sci-fi adventure
https://www.pcgamer.com/water-is-life-and-death-is-permanent-in-this-tense-laconic-dollar3-sci-fi-adventure/
I was immediately intrigued by It Comes In Waves on seeing its screenshots and early gameplay on developer Antonio Freyre's Twitter. It has a dusty, analogue, desert sci-fi setting reminiscent of Dune and Star Wars' iconic ripping-off of Dune. After playing it, I'm happy to say I can heartily recommend this brief, creative exercise in tension and dread.

And the part three of the news:

Here comes that city builder set on the back of a giant space turtle
https://www.pcgamer.com/here-comes-that-city-builder-set-on-the-back-of-a-giant-space-turtle/
An oddity of a city building survival game comes out on May 1st: World Turtles, where you're in charge of establishing a civilization of peaceful little dudes who live on the seas and continents atop the back of a giant spacefaring turtle. You'll have to convince the Meeps to join the cause, uniting them all into a peaceful and sustainable society capable of feeding and caring for the giant turtle they live on.

Rogue Legacy 2's final content update lets you batter enemies with a surfboard
https://www.pcgamer.com/rogue-legacy-2s-final-content-update-lets-you-batter-enemies-with-a-surfboard/
The gleefully silly Rogue Legacy 2 recently celebrated its first anniversary, and developer Cellar Door Games has marked the occasion with one last major content update. Fittingly titled "The Swan Song", it adds a treasure-chest of features including new game modes, class changes, and an array of tweaks and adjustments. Most importantly of all, though, it lets you kill enemies with a surfboard.

The first Mortal Kombat 12 teaser is apparently a grain of sand that explodes for some reason
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-first-mortal-kombat-12-teaser-is-apparently-a-grain-of-sand-that-explodes-for-some-reason/
Warner Bros. let slip in February that Mortal Kombat 12 is "set for release this year," and while that unexpected statement has yet to be officially confirmed, we may have just been given our first (unofficial) Mortal Kombat 12 teaser.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor players are going bananas customizing cylinders and showing them to each other
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-jedi-survivor-players-are-going-bananas-customizing-lightsabers-and-showing-them-to-each-other/
Performance woes aside, we really enjoyed Jedi: Survivor, a new swashbuckling Star Wars tale starring fan favorite Punished "Venom" Cal Kestis. One delightful surprise has been how much Respawn's leaned into Cal Kustomization, with all kinds of lootable beards and hairstyles leading to personalized variations like "indie sleaze" Cal Kestis, "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" Cal Kestis, "Roinks, Raggy! " Cal Kestis, or even the ultra-rare, bemulleted "Eastbound and Down" Cal Kestis.
Perhaps of greater note of those who aren't Cal Kestis superfans like me, Jedi: Survivor has some intensely granular lightsaber customization options. You can swap out every chunk of Cal's lethal cylinder with over a dozen cylindrical stylings, plus loads of paint finishes, a slider to make it dirtier, and adjustable crossguard angles to get your Kylo Ren-alike just right. The Fallen Order series subreddit is currently like, 30% people showing off their pretty sabers (with easily another 20% being "peep my custom Cal").
>> Cool things to try when/if they fix the game.

I was almost ready to declare Redfall another PC performance disaster, but a last-minute patch might've saved it
https://www.pcgamer.com/redfall-pc-performance-launch/
I did not enjoy sinking my teeth into Redfall prior to launch day. That's partially just because I didn't gel with its co-op shooter/immersive sim mashup (see our review in progress for more on that), but also: It was running like butt. I'm happy to report that now, at least on mid to high-end hardware, that picture has changed.

Capcom finally warns Street Fighter 6 streamers to stop being so obvious about owning a cracked copy
https://www.pcgamer.com/capcom-finally-warns-street-fighter-6-streamers-to-stop-being-so-obvious-about-owning-a-cracked-copy/
Capcom has finally issued a warning to those who are getting a little too brazen with their cracked copies of Street Fighter 6, threatening to disqualify them from future tournaments.

NVIDIA lowers GeForce RTX 4090 FE price in Europe, now up to 9% cheaper than original MSRP

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-lowers-geforce-rtx-4090-fe-price-in-europe-now-up-to-9-cheaper-than-original-msrp

Slowly but steadily, she is going down

Intel 4nm Battlemage and 3nm Celestial GPU architectures teased by company employees

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-4nm-battlemage-and-3nm-celestial-gpu-architectures-teased-by-company-employees

NVIDIA Says It Spends 20% Time on Hardware & 80% Time on Software As First DGX H100 Systems Roll Out

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-spends-20-percent-time-hardware-80-percent-time-software-first-dgx-h100-systems-roll-out/

That I believe

The price of the 4090 is not the one, or at least not the only one,that Nvidia should lower. They need to do it for the whole lineup.

The games for Humble Choice May have been revealed.

• Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
• Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition
• Bendy and the Dark Revival
• Operation Tango
• Builder Simulator
• Windjammers 2
• Behind the Frame
• The Invisible Hand

I'm happy that I have avoided getting Spiritfarer, I always suspected it would end up in Choice.

By their own, these bits of news wouldn't mean much, but together...

AMD to Shift Some of its 4 nm CPU Silicon-fabrication to Samsung from TSMC
https://www.techpowerup.com/308065/amd-to-shift-some-of-its-4-nm-cpu-silicon-fabrication-to-samsung-from-tsmc
AMD has reportedly signed up with Samsung Electronics to shift some of its 4 nm processor silicon fabrication from TSMC. The apex Taiwan-based foundry is reportedly operating at capacity for its 4 nm-class nodes, with customers such as Apple and Qualcomm sourcing 4 nm mobile SoCs on the node, leaving AMD with limited allocation and/or bargaining power with TSMC. The company relies on 4 nm for its Ryzen 7040 series "Phoenix" mobile processors, and is in the process of adapting its design for Samsung's 4 nm-class nodes (of which there are five types for AMD to choose from).

Qualcomm Said to be Considering Samsung for 3 nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips
https://www.techpowerup.com/308087/qualcomm-said-to-be-considering-samsung-for-3-nm-snapdragon-8-gen-4-chips
It appears it's not only AMD that is eyeing a move to Samsung, when it comes to fabricating upcoming chips, as reports are now suggesting that Qualcomm is considering a second attempt at making flagship mobile SoCs at Samsung's foundry. However, in this case, we're talking 3 nm chips in the shape of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which is expected to launch in devices sometime in 2024. This is said to be Qualcomm's first chip based on cores built by Nuvia, a company that Qualcomm acquired in 2021.

Couple that with

Samsung Claims 60-70% Yields for its 3 nm Node
https://www.techpowerup.com/308034/samsung-claims-60-70-yields-for-its-3-nm-node
Samsung Electronics is engaged in stiff competition with TSMC for chip manufacturing orders for 3 nm, its first semiconductor foundry node to implement GAA-FET technology, after nearly a decade of FinFET-based nodes. SF3, a 3 nm GAA-FET node, enters mass-production later this year. Samsung is claiming wafer yields in the range of 60-70% in the development phases of the node. This number is crucial to attract customers as they base their wafer orders squarely on yields first, and cost-per-wafer next.

and

Global Semiconductor Sales Decreased 8.7% in the First Quarter
https://www.techpowerup.com/308083/global-semiconductor-sales-decreased-8-7-in-the-first-quarter
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $119.5 billion during the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 8.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 and 21.3% less than the first quarter of 2022. Sales for the month of March 2023 increased 0.3% compared to February 2023. Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. SIA represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms.

And the result is that TSMC may find itself in a position where it can no longer ask whatever price they want to charge for to those who want to use their fabs, and may actually be forced to compete to attract clients.

It will also be interesting to see how differently do the AMD processors made at different fabs behave.

Yea I don't think TSMC will be able to charge as much as they have been going forward assuming a new craze doesn't randomly start up. And if Nvidia stays at their current 4nm node, then we just might see PC hardware going back to good prices.

Samsung's 3 GAE has a 40 nm gate pitch and a 32 nm metal pitch, so it's only slightly smaller than TSMC's N5 (51 nm gate and 28 nm metal). So I'm unsure if that would be a good upgrade path for anyone using TSMC, unless they're upgrading from TSMC's N7 or Samsung's own nodes.

Well, Samsung's may not be the smallest node, but if it performs well and comes at a good price, it can be more than enough to steal orders from TSMC.