I"ve been pretty skeptical about Star Citizen and it's still hilarious how long it's taking to cook, but I gotta admit I got way more invested in that new hour of footage than I expected to. It's finally looking like a real game for a change. If we ever do get a 1.0 I'll have to give it a closer look.

I realize I'm new to PC gaming but I won't be supporting multiple launchers. Either the game is on Steam or I don't buy it. I would love to support Wake 2 and Gears Remake, but until it hits Steam.... plenty of other games to play.

Intel & Samsung Are Reportedly Inking A “Foundry Alliance”, Sharing Production Facilities Along With Process Tech

https://wccftech.com/intel-samsung-are-reportedly-inking-a-foundry-alliance-sharing-production-facilities-along-with-process-tech/

Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K CPU Up To 8.5% Faster Than 14900KS At Extreme Mode, Consume Up To 364W Power

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-9-285k-cpu-unlimited-extreme-power-faster-than-14900ks-364w/

ASUS introduces Thunderbolt 5 add-in-card too, DisplayPort 2.1 and one 6-pin power connector

https://videocardz.com/pixel/asus-introduces-thunderbolt-5-add-in-card-too-displayport-2-1-and-one-6-pin-power-connector

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU Gets Detailed Die Shots: 3nm Arrow Lake Compared To 10nm Raptor Lake

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-9-285k-cpu-detailed-die-shots-3nm-arrow-lake-compared-10nm-raptor-lake/

Here are the Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10
 
(Click here for the Top 100)

Factorio's player count is through the roof after the Space Age expansion, ripping thousands of engineers away from their day jobs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/factorios-player-count-is-through-the-roof-after-the-space-age-expansion-ripping-thousands-of-engineers-away-from-their-day-jobs/
Factorio's Space Age expansion went live yesterday, and it managed to set a new all-time player count peak for the game, with 91,801 players flooding back in to check out the expansion.
The Space Age expansion more than doubles the size of the original game, and continues the player's journey after they launch rockets into space. You can discover new worlds which you can exploit for resources, and manage your fleet of interplanetary space ships. You'll also have to build airtight defenses to shoot down incoming asteroids that could destroy your platform, use the rubble to harvest thruster fuel and turret ammunition, and finally use the platform hub and cargo bays to shuttle freight between planets. But you can check out the trailer to see what sick-looking planetary adventures lie ahead of you.
So it's not really surprising that Factorio has seen such a resurgence when it comes to player numbers. "Past 50,000 now," one player says. "Considering how many people are currently at work, me included, I expect this to continue rising. 70,000 is the next big milestone, 2x the previous peak." When the game released back in August 2020, it managed to hit a high of 34,700 players at one point, so 91,801 is an impressive feat that more than doubles its old record.

GOG has four new sales:

• The Fallout Day 2024 has games in the franchise up to 75% off during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_fallout_day
• There are a new range of Weekly Deals, with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241022_weekly_deals_3_october
• I don’t know if it’s new because I don’t remember seeing it before (get it?), but here’s Stealth Promo, with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241022_stealth_promo
• And the Klabater Publisher Sale has games up to 95% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241022_klabater_publisher_sale

Steam has new deals and sales, including new weeklong deals::

• The Arcane Studios Sale 2024 has games up to 84% off until October 28: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/arkanestudiossale2024
• Funcom presents the Chase the Horizon Sale, with games up to 90% off. Some deals will end this 27th while others will last until the 4th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Funcom/sale/chasethehorizon
• Publisher Focus Entertainment celebrates its Halloween Sale with up to 90% discounts. Some deals will end in October, 30th while others will last until November, 4th: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Focus/sale/focushalloweensale2024
• The Castlevania Fair includes both Castlevania games and also games with some content based on it. It has up to 85% discounts and will last until the 3rd or the 4th of November, depending on the game: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Konami/sale/castlevaniafair2024
• Dead Island 2 will be 30% off until November 4: https://store.steampowered.com/app/934700/Dead_Island_2/
• The Thaumaturge will have a 40% discount until the 4th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684350/The_Thaumaturge/
• Dungeons of Hinterberg is going to be 50% off until November, the 4th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1983260/Dungeons_of_Hinterberg/
• Finally, the weeklong deals. There aren’t many of them this week, and some of them are included in some of the sales listed above so, I’ll leave it to you to check them out.

And Fanatical has extended the duration of the Star Deal with another 24 hours (or what it always going to be a 48 hours Star Deal? I’m not sure), and has a new sale: the Fallout Franchise Sale, with up to 77% discounts during 7 days (tho F4 GOTY’s deal is only for another 23 hours, which is weird): https://www.fanatical.com/en/franchises/fallout.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 566.03 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-566-03
Highlights
Game Ready for Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Alan Wake 2: The Lake House
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 3 technology including Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Alan Wake 2: The Lake House, Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6, Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered, No More Room In Hell 2, Red Dead Redemption, and The Axis Unseen.

Fixed Issues

• Digital Vibrance custom setting does not persist on reboot or wake from sleep [4801216]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

A modder has recreated The Price Of Neutrality DLC of the first The Witcher game for The Witcher 3: Next-Gen
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/a-modder-has-recreated-the-price-of-neutrality-dlc-of-the-first-the-witcher-game-for-the-witcher-3-next-gen/
The Witcher fans, here is something cool for you today. Modder ‘Lisu’ has recreated the official DLC of the first The Witcher game, The Price Of Neutrality, for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen.
The DLC takes place in the year 1232 and sees Geralt return to Kaer Morhen for wintering. However, under the fortress, he encounters a camp of mercenaries pursuing Princess Deidre Ademeyn of Caingorn. Deidre is supposedly cursed by the Black Sun and is, in addition, the surprise child of Eskel. As such, the witchers must decide what to do with the girl.
The mod includes the entire storyline of The Price Of Neutrality. This includes the main quest She-Wolf, as well as two side missions: The Howling and Hungry Like a Wolf.
To create this mod, the modder used the REDKit tool. And, as specifically said, the modder did not use any AI tools for it. Plus, all the voices are from the original The Price Of Neutrality mod for The Witcher 1.
You can download this fan DLC for TW3 from this link. At the end of the article, you can find its launch trailer. I’ve also included a full playthrough video for it. From what I can see, the mod packs around one hour of gameplay.
>> They’ve forgotten to add the link to the mod, but you can find it in the description of the trailer of the mod.

Skyrim World of Tanks is a must-have mod for Bethesda’s RPG
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/skyrim-world-of-tanks-is-a-must-have-mod-for-bethesdas-rpg/
In August 2024, we informed you about a cool mod for Skyrim Special Edition that brought tanks to it. Created by modder ‘MixedMartialArtist’, The Great Patriotic War was a must-have mod. So, I was quite shocked when the modder deleted it. Thankfully, though, he came back with a brand new version of it, called Skyrim World of Tanks.
In Skyrim World of Tanks, players are able to command their armies to charge forward, and take part in epic tank-on-tank battles. You can also rain down artillery on the enemy, and call in air strikes. Or you can just watch the cinematic battles from afar.
Among other things, in this mod, Veteran and Elite troops will be facing off against Fresh Troops. You can also expect massive explosions from artillery, grenades, tank shells, etc. The battlefields will be filled with severed limbs, and severed torsos. Not only that but armies can get wiped out in seconds.
In short, this mod will completely change the way you experience Skyrim. So, if you haven’t tried its previous version, I suggest downloading this new one from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a couple of videos from it. These will give you a glimpse at what you can expect from it.

GAMING NEWS

PC Requirements for Bloober Team’s Cronos: The New Dawn
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-requirements-for-bloober-teams-cronos-the-new-dawn/
Last week, Bloober Team announced a new third-person survival horror game, called Cronos: The New Dawn. And although the game targets a 2025 release date, the devs have shared its official PC system requirements. So, let’s take a look at them.
>> I’d take those requirements with a dose of salt, especially the min ones, given that the game is still in development.

Tuesday news, part two:

Dave the Diver creator says 'story DLC' is coming, jokes about expanding into a 'Dave cinematic universe' with new games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/dave-the-diver-creator-says-story-dlc-is-coming-jokes-about-expanding-into-a-dave-cinematic-universe-with-new-games/
One of last year's best surprises was Mintrocket and Nexon's Dave the Diver, a deeply charming and funny adventure that oscillates between deep sea exploration and being a sushi chef. (...)
"I want to expand Dave the Diver IP itself," Hwang told VGC at Gamescom Asia. "I think that’s every director’s dream, since we have a relatable character. But actually, we didn’t go really deep into the personal stories in Dave the Diver, because we wanted to keep the game very casual.
"So as a director, besides the story DLC that we’re working on right now, I also want to make separate games about each character to show how they met, what they did before coming to the Blue Hole."

'Please try not to binge it': Vampire Survivors finally releases a Castlevania DLC with 20 new characters, 40 new weapons, and 'a monstrously large stage'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/please-try-not-to-binge-it-vampire-survivors-finally-releases-a-castlevania-dlc-with-20-new-characters-40-new-weapons-and-a-monstrously-large-stage/
It's no secret that Vampire Survivors takes a hell of a lot of inspiration from Castlevania. In its early days, players even accused the developer, Luca Galante, of ripping off certain Castlevania sprites, which Galante later confirmed were actually from asset packs (even if they were almost like a mirror copy). So this latest DLC named Ode to Castlevania is probably a long time coming and is certainly one of the largest bits of extra content the game has ever offered to fans.

Hi-Rez Studios is closing 2 games as it continues to refocus on Smite 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/hi-rez-studios-is-closing-2-games-as-it-continues-to-refocus-on-smite-2/
Hi-Rez Studios has announced the upcoming closure of two of its games, Divine Knockout and Realm Royale Reforged, which will be taken offline in February 2025. The pending shutdowns come less than a month after the studio laid off an unspecified number of employees, saying at the time that the cuts were necessary "to ensure Hi-Rez's long-term success."

Call of Duty's most despised weapon is skipping Black Ops 6
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-dutys-most-despised-weapon-is-skipping-black-ops-6/
That Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta last month didn't totally sell me on the next 12 months of CoD, but the fact that Treyarch is leaving one of the most annoying, disliked weapons behind is scoring some points with me. For the first time in years, Call of Duty will launch without a riot shield (as noticed by Dexerto).

PvPvE is 'a holy grail of game design,' says Space Marine 2 director, and he's got no plans to chase it: 'A lot of studios are trying to find it and a lot of them fail'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/pvpve-is-a-holy-grail-of-game-design-says-space-marine-2-director-and-hes-got-no-plans-to-chase-it-a-lot-of-studios-are-trying-to-find-it-and-a-lot-of-them-fail/
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 supports co-op PvE combat for up to three players. It also offers 6v6 competitive PvP action, for those who are into that sort of thing. But never the twain shall meet, according to game director Dmitry Grigorenko, who said in a recent chat with MP1st that there are no plans for a PvPvE mode, for an eminently practical reason.

Helldivers 2 players have formed the 'Freedom Alliance' to organise their own community orders
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/helldivers-2-players-have-formed-the-freedom-alliance-to-organise-their-own-community-orders/
The secret sauce with Helldivers 2, outside of the excellent moment-to-moment blasting, is the game's overarching galactic war. Controlled by developer Arrowhead and game master Joel, this sees the Helldivers marshalled to various spots across the galaxy to fight for key objectives, with success often resulting in some sort of in-game reward (like mech suits) and failure setting back the cause of democracy an unspecified amount.
This is a top-down narrative, with the objectives set by the developers and players along for the ride. Well, mostly: The community did band together over the player-authored "Martale Gambit", to the extent even Joel had to acknowledge what was happening. The Martale Gambit ultimately didn't come off, though it got within a whisker, and now some foolhardy Helldivers are eager to try it all again.
Announced on the Helldivers subreddit and Discord, a whole bunch of players and prominent community figures have come together to form the Freedom Alliance. The goal is to bring together players for "recurring, large-scale events that last a few days," and basically the Freedom Alliance is going to set its own community major orders, with the first relating to the official ongoing effort to build the Democratic Space Station.

Caves of Qud, our favorite science fantasy roguelike where you can clone, befriend, and eat yourself, is leaving early access in December after 15 years of development
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/caves-of-qud-release-date-news/
Freehold Games, the developer duo who created Caves of Qud, is nearly ready for its deep future, science fantasy roguelike to molt its early access chitin and present itself, glistening and resplendent, to the world. After more than fifteen years in development, Caves of Qud will get its 1.0 release on December 5, 2024, culminating hundreds of updates and bringing a long-awaited final chapter for its main questline.
>> See? There’s still hope for Star Citizen.

Victoria 3 is marking its 2nd birthday with DLC, 'a new discrimination system' and famine, and isn't that nice?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/victoria-3-is-marking-its-2nd-birthday-with-dlc-a-new-discrimination-system-and-famine-and-isnt-that-nice/
It has, somehow, been two years since Victoria 3 first landed on our shores, and to (kind of) mark the occasion Paradox is putting out a thoroughly subcontinental DLC and a hefty new update in the form of patch 1.8.

I don't think I'm the only one, but I don't mind other stores and launchers, as long as they aren't too invasive.

By the way, the publisher of Alan Wake 2 is Epic Games. Unless Remedy managed to add a clause for it in the contract, I don't expect to see that game on Steam.

I don't know if I belive that Intel and Samsung have agreed to cooperate, but TSMC's advantage over them is so big that the only chance they have to reach that level is to work together and share info and resouces. We'll see if it's true and, if it is, how it goes.

As for the new Intel processors, there are so many leaks with so different results (sometimes it's slower than 14th gen, others it's the same and in some others it's faster), that waiting for the actual reviews will be the smart thing to do.

Who knows, maybe the differences between results are because of power profiles of the RAM used.

I mean, one of the main reasons I jumped back to PC fully was because the consoles become more and more expensive for me, and having to deal with the different accounts become tedious to me as I got older.

Now on PC that's becoming an issue for me again, which is why I've been buying less and less games that require multiple accounts. There are even some indie devs who are just using Mod.io, instead of Steam's Workshop for modding, which just introduces further hassle for me, and also makes one of Steam's provides features less love.

I'd be buying more from other publishers if they just priced their games better, instead of outright gouging my wallet, supported modding more openly, and didn't require me to sign into multiple accounts, or use multiple clients/launchers. 

Also yeah, if the game isn't on Steam or GoG, I ain't buying it, I've got other games to play, and other devs who will give me the time of day, so I'll go champion those people instead. 

I'll probably cave in at some point and buy Alan Wake 2. There's probably little chance of it getting outside Epic's terrible service, at least in many years (if ever), and I'm really interested in it. Don't worry, I've got every single free thing from Epic I've been able to, and I haven't started even a single one of them - I won't be a good customer! Alan Wake 2 being one of the few high-profile releases from my country also plays in Epic's favour here, and I'm not sure I'd do the same for (m)any other games.

I'm somewhat the same.

I only buy games (even through bundles) if its on Steam or GOG (95% Steam, 5% GOG).

I grab the freebies on everywhere else cause why not (through web, not app).

But ya, after investing so much on Steam games, cards, events, etc - I like the overall UI features, etc - the other stores are barebones like Chazore mentioned.

I started PC gaming back in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/live/7NNgO4g4OQ4?si=EQvO37bIjiE4QIEa Is embedding broken?...

If you ever think you might start kitbashing, modeling, animating, or just dicking around in Unreal or UEFN and want access to a ton of quality assets, don't miss your chance to claim the Megascans library while you can. After this year it's no longer free to all Unreal users.

Fortunately it's an easy one click process after you sign in to your Epic account. Just go to fab.com and hit 'Claim Now' on 'Get all Quixel Megascans for free.'

Cheers.