I must say, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom might actually be the best game I have played in forever. The amount of new and innovative mechanics in this game are insane. The only downside is the switch can't handle the physics at times and can bog down to 5-10fps. If you play it on PC via emulator, this of course doesn't happen but there's still visual glitches via emulator that needs to be figured out.

The fuse weapons mechnic is so funny though. Being able to fuse a minecart to a sword and then killing something with it looks so ridicules. You can also fuse barrels to boomerangs and well... The idea is great but the execution might not so go well in practice lul:

^ I just started emulating BotW with a few QoL mods. First time I've tried that but it's a much better experience than the last time I played the game on my old Wii U. May do the same with TotK once they work the bugs out.

Looking at Steam's "Tacticon" page, and Realtime Strategy is at the top:

God damn that's depressing...

The only thing I've seen that comes sort of close, is Kingdoms & Castles, but even that game is more about resource management/peasant appeasement, than it is a base building RTS. Manor lords is basically a city sim if anything.

I miss when the genre was mostly about base building, strictly military titles, not "peasant life city sim building, with a sprinkle of a few military units" to count as actual RTS.

Whenever I think of RTS, I'm thinking of:

C&C

KKND

Supreme Commander

Starcraft

Age of Empires

Homeworld

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds

Star Wars Empire at War

8-bit Armies

Forged Battlellion

Planetary Annihilation

Total Annihilation

Rise of Nations

Warhammer Dawn of War

Grey Goo

I guess these days you just need to offer some slight handful of military units or "real time decision making" (can't believe I'm saying that as an inclusion to RTS) to make said game an "RTS".

Edit: You can't even filter the side results under just "RTS", yet it's listed at the top of the page, but the filter choices you get are all there, just not "realtime strategy". Like wtf man?, is RTS that dead that you cba listing the tag or filter tags for the page at all or what?. 

You can combine the tags you want:

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?tags=9%2C1676%2C7332%2C1678&supportedlang=english&ndl=1

At least the tactics genre is flourishing.

You can do this for the regular Steam filter searches, but for some reason it doesn't apply to that part of the store page for the con.

From what I've seen over the past few years, Real time tactics, TBS and Grand strat seem to be making big rounds compared to RTS at least.

I'm just a bit fearful that if this keeps up, RTS might be one of those genres that simply fades out entirely, replaced by sub genres or morphed ones (duabl genres rolled into one), especially if the other genres besides RTS keep growing like this. 

Wow, I've been sleeping on this guy for a while, apparently. Look what he's doing with Source 2!:

Not too dissimilar to the kind of stuff I'd like to make with Unreal or Blender some day.

It's Monday and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has three new Deals of the Day and five sales/bundles:

• These are the DotD, available until Wednesday;
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/amnesia_the_dark_descent
  • The Whale Rock Games - Immersive Puzzles Bundle gets a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/whale_rock_games_immersive_puzzles_bundle
  • And Whale Rock All Games Bundle is also 90% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/whale_rock_all_games_bundle
• The first sale is the Husbandos & Waifus Sale, with up to 89% discounts during another 2 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_husbandos_waifus
• Wired Productions celebrates its 15th anniversary puting its games on sale, up to 85% off, until May, 22nd: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_wired_productions
• Wired Productions also have a Build Your Own bundle, with higher discounts the more games you add to your bundle. It will also run until the same May, 22nd: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_wired_productions_byob
• Publisher 505 Games puts its games up to 90% off during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_505_games
• And, remember the Whale Rock Games bundles available in the DotD? Well, if you miss those 90% discounts, you'll still be able to grab them with an 89% discount until the 15th of June. Learn more here:

Steam has one new deal: I am an Air Traffic Controller 4, that has a demo, is 50% off until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1348390/I_am_an_Air_Traffic_Controller_4/.

And Fanatical has a new Star Deal and has also started another Bundlefest:

• The Star Deal is Batman: Arkham Collection, 88% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection
• The new bundle is the Killer Bundle 26, with 24 games with a 94% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/killer-bundle-26
• Fanatical also has a contest to win a bundle and a new Spin to Win feature.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unreal Engine 5.2 is available for download, new features detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-2-is-available-for-download-new-features-detailed/
Epic Games has announced that Unreal Engine 5.2 is now available for download to everyone. Moreover, the team has detailed its new features that developers can use in their games.

Denuvo V18, used in Resident Evil 4 Remake, has been cracked
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/denuvo-v18-used-in-resident-evil-4-remake-has-been-cracked/
EMPRESS has cracked Resident Evil 4 Remake, meaning that she was able to successfully bypass the latest version of Denuvo, Denuvo V18.
According to the cracker, Resident Evil 4 Remake used four different DRMs. Alongside Denuvo V18, Capcom has used Denuvo SecureDLC V2, its own Anti-Tamper tech, and VMProtect.

Valve makes Steam beta participation easier because it wants more Steam beta participants
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-makes-steam-beta-participation-easier-because-it-wants-more-steam-beta-participants/
Valve's been hard at work on upgrades to the Steam client recently, and that means testing those upgrades before they roll out and break your launcher. Normal stuff, right? Anyway, to that end they need more people to test it, so they're asking for that—and making it easier to do so, with a new one-click opt-in to testing.
"We're introducing a one-click opt-in, to make it easy for you to try out all the new features and provide feedback. Once the features ship to everyone on Steam, your client will be updated to the latest public version available," said Valve in an announcement.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

New version of Duke Nukem Forever: Restoration Project released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-version-of-duke-nukem-forever-restoration-project-released/
The team behind the Duke Nukem Forever: Restoration Project has released the “Duke It Out” Update for it. This update brings significant performance improvements, as well as new content.
Going into more details, the team has managed to improve performance on both the DX8 and DX9 renderers. Furthermore, it was able to enable high-resolution rendering. Not only that, but the game’s OpenGL renderer is now closer to parity with the DirectX renderers.
The Duke It Out Update also adds nine maps for multiplayer action. The team has also made a number of other enhancements and improvements to the multiplayer as well. For instance, it has fixed the alternative game modes like Bomb and Team Deathmatch. It has also packed a number of new Mutators to play with as well such as Shotgun Start and Instagib.
>> The article has a short video of the mod.

DRIV3R gets a Definitive Edition Mod that you can download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/driv3r-gets-a-definitive-edition-mod-that-you-can-download/
Modder ‘Zombie2358’ has released a Definitive Edition Mod for DRIV3R that is a must-have for everyone that wants to replay this old Driver game.
DRIV3R Definitive Edition fixes a lot of issues that plagued the PC version. Moreover, it introduces some new HD textures and improves the draw distance for some objects. Furthermore, it packs a number of UI improvements, as well as fixes for interiors, EAX and Graphics Layers.
In future versions, the modder plans to improve the game’s LOD and fully implement Cop Boats. Additionally, Zombie2358 plans to add HD Vehicles Interiors.
>> There's an over 17 minutes long video of the mod.

Fallout 3 gets another lore-friendly HD Overhaul Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-3-gets-another-lore-friendly-hd-overhaul-texture-pack/
Earlier this month, we shared an HD Texture Pack for Fallout 3. And today, we present you yet another lore-friendly HD Overhaul Mod that you can download for this classic Fallout game.
Fallout 3 HD Overhaul is providing new and improved HD textures, ranging from 1K resolution up to 8K. The mod replaces thousands of textures all over the world of Fallout 3.
As you may have guessed, this mod uses AI techniques in order to upscale the game’s vanilla textures. After all, that’s the main reason it’s lore-friendly. Its size is also around 6GB so if you didn’t like the previous pack we shared, you give this one a try.
>> The article has some screenshots.

Fallout: The Odyssey gets a cool short film in Unreal Engine 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/fallout-the-odyssey-gets-a-cool-short-film-in-unreal-engine-5/
Webb Productions Entertainment has shared a cool, stylized short film of Fallout: The Odyssey in Unreal Engine 5. This film is dedicated to the Fallout: The Odyssey total conversion mod for Fallout New Vegas that is currently in development.
Going into more details, this short features the Wattz Laser Rifle from artist TraVinh. On the other hand, Webb Productions Entertainment has created the armors and some of the weapons with QwibQwibMods.
It’s a cool video, so be sure to watch it. Just… well… don’t expect much from it. It’s a cool short film and nothing more. Oh, and Fallout The Odyssey will not bring the Fallout: New Vegas game to Unreal Engine 5. Instead, it will be a total conversion mod for it. I mean, it’s obvious but since this video was made in Unreal Engine 5, some may have thought that Fallout: The Odyssey was a UE5 project. It’s not.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Looks 10X Better with DLSS 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-jedi-survivor-looks-10x-better-with-dlss-2/
Modder ‘PureDark’ has successfully implemented DLSS 2 in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and shared a comparison between his DLSS 2 Mod and FSR 2.0.
For this comparison, PureDark moved rapidly the camera while capturing the screenshots. And, as you can see, the DLSS 2 Mod looks SIGNIFICANTLY better than the official FSR 2.0 implementation.
>> Sadly, the mod is behind a Patron wall.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mods have already unlocked the framerate to 60 fps—but you shouldn't use them just yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/tears-of-the-kingdom-60-fps-mods-may-12/
Remember the era of PC games that would run at double speed if you unlocked their draconian fps limits? It's rare for PC games these days not to support dynamic framerates, but it's more common on consoles like the Nintendo Switch, where developers know exactly how much (or how little) processing power they have to work with. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is designed with a 30 fps cap, and mods have already been able to remove that cap and trick the game into running at 60 fps… if your PC can handle it. But given Tears of the Kingdom's early state of emulation, not even a mighty gaming rig can keep Tears of the Kingdom running at 60 fps all the time.

A Remedy dev modded native HDR into Control, along with a heap of other graphical improvements
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-remedy-dev-modded-native-hdr-into-control-along-with-a-heap-of-other-graphical-improvements/
Remedy's SCP-adjacent horror game Control remains one of the best games to show off your fancy new graphics card. It may be almost four years old, but it's still a solid showcase for ray tracing with its office setting's shiny floors, destructible furniture, and contrast between dark and light. It does have a few graphical issues, however, like textures loading in late and, if you enable Windows auto HDR, dark grays where there ought to be true blacks and areas where bloom reduces the detail.
As Digital Foundry pointed out in a recent video, those problems have been solved thanks to a mod by one of Remedy's own developers. Filippo Tarpini, a senior Unreal Engine developer, joined Remedy six months after Control launched, but has been tinkering with it on the side—first releasing a resolution and aspect ratio unlocker, and now including that in an HDR ultrawide DLSS RT patch that significanly enhances Control's look.
>> The article has the Digital Foundry video.

Cut content mod restores Skyrim's vampires to their former glory
https://www.pcgamer.com/cut-content-mod-restores-skyrims-vampires-to-their-former-glory/
The option to become a vampire has been a part of the Elder Scrolls games since Daggerfall, but Skyrim's Dawnguard expansion was focused on the sun-dodgers—letting you become either a shapeshifting Vampire Lord, or a crossbow-wielding vampire hunter. What you may not realize is that add-on also defanged vampires to a degree.
Dawnguard reduced the damage caused by a couple of varieties of vampires, disabled a perk that let boss-level vamps ignore a percentage of armor while wielding maces, and changed the frost resistance and fire weakness stats of all vampires. What's more, the effect of hitting stage four of vampirism, where you're supposed to be "hated and feared," was reduced. NPCs will no longer attack a stage four vampire on sight—only one who is in their Vampire Lord form, or feeding.
The Bloodhunt – Cut Vampire Content Restoration mod by ssocialanxiety undoes some of these changes, while also enabling a couple of unused vampiric abilities that were found in Dawnguard's files: Vampiric Strength gives bloodsuckers a boost to unarmed damage, while Dread Cloak gives stage-three vampires a damaging aura once per day.

GAMING NEWS

Diablo 4 has major DLSS 3 stuttering issues on the AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/diablo-4-has-major-dlss-3-stuttering-issues-on-the-amd-ryzen-7000-series-cpus/
Diablo 4’s Server Slam is currently underway and supports NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 tech. Thus, we’ve decided to test it and share our impressions. Unfortunately for all AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, though, the game has major stuttering issues when DLSS 3 is enabled.
(...)
For those wondering, this is the exact same issue that plagued Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Next-Gen. And while NVIDIA told us that they were able to identify what was causing these stutters, they have not addressed it in either of these two games.

Take a look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s canceled Career Campaign
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-call-of-duty-black-ops-4s-canceled-career-campaign/
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is one of the few COD games that did not feature a single-player campaign mode. However, it appears that Treyarch and Raven have been testing a 2V2 career mode, and below you can find an in-dev video from it.

Monday news, the long part two:

Buckle up! It looks like WoW's dragonriding is heading to the rest of Azeroth
https://www.pcgamer.com/buckle-up-it-looks-like-wows-dragonriding-is-heading-to-the-rest-of-azeroth/
The PTR development notes for Patch 10.1.5 have dropped, and while the new Evoker specialisation is naturally stealing the spotlight, there's a whole host of other buffs to the gameplay experience that you shouldn't sleep on.

Final Fantasy 14's patch 6.4 trailer reveals the path we'll take to the Dark Throne
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14s-patch-64-trailer-reveals-the-path-well-take-to-the-dark-throne/
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker has suffered from some update droughts lately (...)
Thankfully, patch 6.4's trailer is utterly loaded with story hints to whet my cutscene–starved appetite. I'm here to pass my theories onto you, so if you haven't watched the trailer yet, now's the time.

Two years after 'toxic' studio management scandal, Steve Gaynor is working as a solo developer under the Fullbright name
https://www.pcgamer.com/two-years-after-toxic-studio-management-scandal-steve-gaynor-is-working-as-a-solo-developer-under-the-fullbright-name/
Indie developer Steve Gaynor is running Gone Home developer Fullbright as a solo outfit from now on, having split with the team making the narrative driving adventure Open Roads.

Despite BioWare's efforts, Star Wars: The Old Republic's economy is still completely out of control
https://www.pcgamer.com/despite-biowares-efforts-star-wars-the-old-republics-economy-is-still-completely-out-of-control/
Star Wars: The Old Republic is in a strange—but not terrible—state. (...)
I don't think this is necessarily the developers' fault, for the record—MMOs just aren't supported the same way they used to be, and the skeleton crew manning the ship seems determined to do its best with what it's got, even if it comes short with bugs that can take months to fix. Still, a spectre looms over the game like a Force Ghost: the Galactic Trade Network—the game's equivalent to an auction house or market board—is completely busted.

A Sims 4 war has broken out between goth kids and pastel lovers on Twitter
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-sims-4-war-has-broken-out-between-goth-kids-and-pastel-lovers-on-twitter/
(...)
In a fun move for Sims fans, EA recently offered the opportunity for the community to vote on its next kit, a batch of items and clothes to add to your collection. At first glance, this seems like a cute way to get community input. But, because we're all on social media, lines have already been drawn.

Our favorite gruesome Sovietcore boomer shooter is leaving early access next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/our-favorite-gruesome-sovietcore-boomer-shooter-is-leaving-early-access-next-week/
Hrot has consistently been boomer shooter excellence, setting itself apart from the pack with its unique 1980s Czechoslovakia setting, phenomenal gunfeel, and diabolically clever levels. Now solo developer Spytihněv is gearing up to release its third and final act, The Gastroscopy, on May 16.

They're remastering Söldner: Secret Wars and I'm not sure anyone really knows why
https://www.pcgamer.com/theyre-remastering-soldner-secret-wars-and-im-not-sure-anyone-really-knows-why/
Hands up if you remember Söldner: Secret Wars. Okay, now hands up if you ever at any point in your life thought that what the world really needs right now is Söldner: Secret Wars Remastered. Obviously I can't see how many hands are up so I'm just going to assume the number is zero, but be that as it may, it's actually happening.

Holy cow, Germany hands out serious cash to its homegrown game award winners: Signalis won €60,000 for 'Best Debut Game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/holy-cow-germany-hands-out-serious-cash-to-its-homegrown-game-award-winners-signalis-won-euro60000-for-best-debut-game/
I'm sure a trophy from The Game Awards is a big deal for the winning developers, but is it better than cold, hard cash? That's what winners of Germany's annual Computer Game Awards go home with in the form of a national endowment, and I think I might take that over a handshake with Geoff Keighley.

Tim Cain reveals proposed sequels to Vampire – Bloodlines: 'We were planning a trilogy, which I forgot'
https://www.pcgamer.com/tim-cain-reveals-proposed-sequels-to-vampire-bloodlines-we-were-planning-a-trilogy-which-i-forgot/
Games industry veteran Tim Cain, the creator of Fallout and co-founder of Troika Games, has a YouTube channel where he reveals never-before-seen RPG history. It's a regular source of fascinating info for those of us who love the games he's worked on, and one of his previous videos discussed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines' cut multiplayer component. In that video, Cain explained he joined Bloodlines late, as a programmer who was mostly responsible for boss AI. That means we have him to thank and/or blame for the fights against the wereshark hengeyokai and the Sheriff.
More recently, Cain dug out two design documents for proposed sequels to Bloodlines, both of which would have continued the story of the first game's protagonist and followed directly from where Bloodlines ended—one of the endings where you don't die, that is.

Check out the destructible terrain in this tactical combat game set on Mars
https://www.pcgamer.com/check-out-the-destructible-terrain-in-this-tactical-combat-game-set-on-mars/
A strike on Mars turns violent, and now the labor force of the colony is engaged in outright rebellion against their oppressive employers. That's the plot of upcoming Mars Tactics, a delicious-looking upcoming tactics game where you run the entire campaign as either the Capital or Labor factions, developing forces and moving them across Mars on a strategic layer in order to fight in turn-based battles across some really deep-looking destructible environments.

Goths rejoice: partway through the 'Server Slam' Diablo 4's nerfed Necromancers got a little boost
https://www.pcgamer.com/goths-rejoice-partway-through-the-server-slam-diablo-4s-nerfed-necromancers-got-a-little-boost/
More than halfway through its "Server Slam" online stress test, Blizzard rolled out a buff for Diablo 4's Necromancer class. According to a post on the official forums from Blizzard community manager PezRadar, the buff "will be addressing some of the feedback we've seen regarding Necromancer pets and their survivability." PezRadar further adds that "This is a backend change so users will not need to download a new update."

Here's an hour of discussion on Jagged Alliance 3's combat
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-an-hour-of-discussion-on-jagged-alliance-3s-combat/
Jagged Alliance 3 continues to roll out more looks at the game over the last month, and this week's was a long chat with developers and community about combat in the upcoming sequel to the legendary late-90s tactics franchise. The stream had Boyan Ivanov and Brad Logston, both of developer Haemimont Games, talking about some of their favorite bits of Jagged Alliance 3's combat.

One of our favorite Stardew Valley-alikes has been delisted from Steam over a messy dispute between developer and publisher
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-our-favorite-stardew-valley-alikes-has-been-delisted-from-steam-over-a-messy-dispute-between-developer-and-publisher/
Roots of Pacha, a charming prehistoric farming RPG, has been removed from Steam due to a dispute between developer Soda Den and publisher Crytivo. Both have released statements holding the other party accountable, with the developer stating it attempted to resolve things "amicably" prior to its publisher's escalation, and Crytivo accusing Soda Den of trying to back out of its contract.

WoW Classic is getting official 'hardcore' mode servers
https://www.pcgamer.com/wow-classic-is-getting-official-hardcore-mode-servers/
Just two months after they were rumored to be coming, World of Warcraft Classic is getting official Hardcore mode servers to give official support and structure for a player-made way to play. Players on the servers won't be able to revive after death under any circumstances. They've got one life and that's it.

Fortnite is adding ranked play in case you need another way to find out you're not good enough
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-is-adding-ranked-play-in-case-you-need-another-way-to-find-out-youre-not-good-enough/
Fortnite has temporarily had leaderboards before, with limited-time modes like Solo Showdown and Blitz Showdown adding more competitive options, and Arena mode has its Hype Score and Bus Fare, but now the long-running battle royale is adding a way to determine your worth by labeling yourself Silver or Gold or whatever. As the Fortnite Team at Epic has announced, Arena is being discontinued and ranked play will arrive in the v24.40 update.

Tekken 8 is bringing back a character first seen in Tekken 3, and one who debuted in an add-on
https://www.pcgamer.com/tekken-8-is-bringing-back-a-character-first-seen-in-tekken-3-and-one-who-debuted-in-an-add-on/
Since Tekken 8 was announced during Sony's State of Play stream in 2022, a bunch of its fighters have been revealed. Fan favorite Jun Kazuma returns, as do Jin Kazama, Nina Williams, and other legacy characters. Like reliable Paul, who has been in every Tekken game since the first—though he's aged along the way and his hair doesn't look like a tube any more.
So it's no big surprise that the latest fighter announced is Hwoarang, the Blood Talon, who Akira-slides his way onto the stage in the latest reveal trailer on a motorbike so you know he thinks he's hot shit. Hwoarang has appeared in every Tekken game since he was introduced in Tekken 3, his rivalry with Jin Kazama playing out across the series. A Taekwondo fighter who wears the traditional Korean dobok in this trailer, Hwoarang is a kick specialist who seems to be incorporating some of his old master Baek Doo San's moves.

Five years later, a new Hawken is coming to PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/five-years-later-a-new-hawken-is-coming-to-pc/
Hawken is coming back to PC. Five years after the first game stacked up the chairs, turned out the lights, and switched off the servers for its PC version, Hawken Reborn is a free to play "revitalization of the long and beloved Mech combat franchise" from 505 Games that's set to hit Steam early access on May 17.