Welcome to the Monday gaming news:
SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS
GOG doesn’t have any new deals… but it has something even better: a new GIVEAWAY: Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3 is free to get during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/alone_in_the_dark_the_trilogy_123
Steam has three new deals and the four sales that launched during the weekend:
Fanatical has a new Star Deal and a new Sale:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
NVIDIA GeForce 582.28 WHQL Legacy driver download
https://www.guru3d.com/download/nvidia-geforce-58228-whql-legacy-driver-download/
NVIDIA has issued GeForce 582.28 WHQL as a security-focused driver for legacy GeForce graphics cards built on Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures. This release is not a Game Ready driver and isn’t trying to improve frame rates, add features, or tune profiles for new titles. Instead, it’s meant to keep older, still-in-use systems on a patched baseline now that these GPU generations have moved out of the standard driver support flow. NVIDIA previously outlined that Maxwell/Pascal/Volta products would transition to critical security updates on a limited schedule rather than continuing the normal cadence of feature and performance updates.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
The Witcher 3 Just Got a High-Quality Grass Overhaul Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-witcher-3-just-got-a-high-quality-grass-overhaul-mod/
Modder ‘Maidenfan724’ has released a new high-quality grass overhaul mod for The Witcher 3 that covers all regions. This mod is compatible with both old-gen and next-gen versions. As such, every TW3 player can use it and benefit from all its visual improvements.
Going into more details, this mod is a full grass overhaul that adds high-quality, good-performance grass to all major areas of the game. It started as a small experiment after the creator released an older mod called Meadows. Over time, it grew into something much bigger. Now, it includes everything the modder has learned about making grass mods for The Witcher 3.
For this mod, Maidenfan724 replaced almost all of the grass textures. He also redesigned all the main vegetation brushes. So, if you’ve always wanted better-looking grass in The Witcher 3, this is the perfect mod for you.
>> The article has some screenshots.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Got a Remastered Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-got-a-remastered-mod/
Earlier this month, Ubisoft announced the cancellation of the official remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. And while this sucks, PC gamers can already enjoy a remastered version of this game thanks to this new mod. (...) The Sands of Time Remastered Mod adds new, high-quality textures to all environments and NPCs. It also comes with slightly better HD cutscenes. On top of that, the mod changes the Dagger of Time so it looks closer to how it appears in the cutscenes and on the game’s cover.
>> This article also has some screenshots.
One of the Best TC Mods for Half-Life Got a New Major Update
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/one-of-the-best-tc-mods-for-half-life-got-a-new-major-update/
Modder ‘Aynekko’ has released a new major update for one of the best total conversion mods for Half-Life, Diffusion. Diffusion is a mod that aims to push the Half-Life engine to its limits. So, let’s see what its new update brings to the table.
Diffusion 1.1 comes with new voiceovers. It appears that previously, the mod had AI voices. But now, as the modder stated, the entire voiceover has been replaced with human-recorded lines. This should please a lot of people who don’t like any AI stuff in their games and mods.
Patch 1.1 also brings balance tweaks to weapons, as well as improvements to the enemy AI. For instance, there was an oversight where the enemies tended to pick only one tactic most of the time. This has been fixed. A few enemy encounters have also been redesigned, and more enemies have been added in some places too. As such, the game may now be a little harder. Still, I believe this will be good news for most die-hard FPS fans.
It’s also worth noting that the modder has added new 3D models for some scientists, as well as new decals and some new prop models. Bunnyhopping is disabled by default, but you can enable it by using sv_enablebunnyhopping 1. The vehicle camera can now be rotated in 1st-person mode. In 3rd-person, you can adjust camera distance using the mouse scroll.
In total, Patch 1.1 brings over 100 tweaks, fixes, and changes. You can download its latest version from here. You can also find on that page its complete changelog. From what I could see, the modder has not shared a new trailer. Thus, at the end of the article, you can find an older trailer for it.
Batman: Arkham Knight Mod Will Add a Real, Fully Playable Deathstroke Boss Fight
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/batman-arkham-knight-mod-will-add-a-real-fully-playable-deathstroke-boss-fight/
GPUnity, the modder behind some amazing mods for all the Batman: Arkham games, is working on a new one that will add a fully playable Deathstroke fight to the game. To showcase the current state of this mod, GPUnity released a video that you can find below. Batman: Arkham Knight never had a real boss fight with Deathstroke. In the main story, you do meet him, but you never battle him directly. Instead, the “fight” is just a tank battle using the Batmobile. Because of this, modder GPUnity decided to create a full, real, and fully playable fight against Deathstroke. To animate him, the modder used custom animations, as well as some from various other characters. For instance, for his walking animations, the modder used Azrael’s animations. There is currently no ETA for when this mod will come out. However, this is something that will make Batman: Arkham Knight even better. GPUnity plans to add Deathstroke to the GCPD rooftop section. Once you defeat him, Batman won’t arrest him. After all, you will have the tank battle with him later in the game.
Here’s half an hour from Grand Theft Auto: Carcer City
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-half-an-hour-from-grand-theft-auto-carcer-city/
Modder ‘DeadpoolMKD’ has released two new gameplay videos for his upcoming mod, Grand Theft Auto Carcer City. These videos showcase 30 minutes of new gameplay footage from it. So, if you were looking forward to it, I highly recommend watching them.
Resident Evil HD REMASTER Just Got a 16GB 4K Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/resident-evil-hd-remaster-just-got-a-16gb-4k-texture-pack/
Modder ‘Arcturium’ has just released a new must-have 4K Texture Pack for Resident Evil biohazard HD REMASTER. This pack upgrades all of the game’s backgrounds, as well as its main characters. As such, it’s a must-have for everyone who wants to replay this classic RE game.
Going into more details, Arcturium used AI tools in order to enhance the original textures. Moreover, he attempted to make the game a bit more vibrant. Now I know that some may be alarmed by this. Why change the game’s vibrant? However, it appears that the modder has done a great job.
If you still don’t like the new textures, you can download the RESCALE Mod. Created by the same modder, RESCALE is a background restoration mod. It overhauls almost all of the game’s backgrounds. And, contrary to this latest 4K Texture Pack, it does not alter the game’s art style.
>> The article has an over 20 minutes long video.
Grand Theft Auto 4 RTX Remix Patch 1.1.9 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/grand-theft-auto-4-rtx-remix-patch-1-1-9-released-detailed/
Modder ‘xoxor4d’ has released Patch 1.1.9 for his amazing RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod for Grand Theft Auto 4. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table. Title Update 1.1.9 is a small patch that aims to fix a few bugs. Since this isn’t a major update, you should not expect any major tweaks or improvements. Moreover, there hasn’t been a performance improvement. As such, the game will run almost exactly like its previous version. As I’ve already said, the previous update fixed the annoying phone smearing issues that plagued the RTX Remix Mod. Patch 1.1.9 goes a step further and fixes phone smearing issue on all phones/themes. It also brings slight phone aspect ratio fixes. Therefore, you can now finish the campaign. This was a huge deal as it was a pain in the ass to use the phone so that you could progress the main story. But now, everything is fully playable and enjoyable. Update 1.1.9 also backports a few things from the AutoPBR branch. For those who did not know, a few days ago, xoxor4d released AutoPBR. This add-on brought PBR materials to the game. Going into more details, the modder used a special version of the Remix runtime that let him collect textures while the game was running. The compatibility mod also helped by giving extra information about each texture through the remixApi. Using this info, the modder created texture groups and generated a USD file with the needed changes. He also processed the dumped textures afterward. Old DX9 normal maps were converted into normal maps that work with Remix, and the specular maps were turned into roughness maps using Python scripts. You can download this add-on from here. Or you can use the new installer to download and install it. The choice is yours. Before closing, I should note that Patch 1.1.9 will update runtime to latest commit. Finally, it will fix some puddle roughness issues.
>> There is an almost 7 minutes video in the article.
Thousands of players flood into Team Fortress 2 Classified, the free 'TF2 Classic' mod that just launched on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/thousands-of-players-flood-into-team-fortress-2-classified-the-free-tf2-classic-mod-that-just-launched-on-steam/
One of the best Team Fortress 2 mods around has been formally embraced by Steam. RED and BLU, meet GRN and YLW.
Team Fortress 2 Classified (formerly called TF2 Classic) has relaunched as an official Steam mod with its own store page and everything. The revamped TF2 Classified, now running on the official TF2 SDK that Valve released last year, is both throwback (hence its old "Classic" moniker) and additive: paring down the 19-year-old shooter to its pre-hats era while adding a select few new weapons, modes, and a whole new class.
(...)
Think of TF2 Classified as a fresh start, assuming you haven't already been playing it since its public debut since 2020 (or its earlier releases since 2014). It's a cleaner, simpler version of TF2 with some quality-of-life upgrades and new toys to play with. That's a fun proposition for someone like me who enjoys TF2, but was never dedicated enough to grasp all of its wild post-launch weapons.
The Steam launch is going so well that, well, playing TF2 Classified is a bit rough at the moment. Nearly 10,000 players flooded into the game as it went live, a pace that neither me nor mod team Eminoma anticipated. As of writing, both official and community servers have been crammed full for hours. If you make it onto one of the servers running the new VIP mode or 4team, stay in (or give that spot to me)!
The one time I did find a normal server, it was lovely. One of the first improvements I noticed was the redesigned loadout screen that makes it easier to swap out gear for multiple classes. As for new gear, I've mostly been messing around with that new Civilian class. He's a helpless buffoon with no weapons, but he can buff teammates with mini crits. Civilian is only really meant to be played in VIP, but it seems like it can be enabled at the server hosts' whims.
New guns are what really steal the show: I really like the Soldier's R.P.G., a harder-hitting rocket with an aggressive arc, the engineer's buildable jump pads (which totally redefine team mobility), and the Medic's Rejuvinator, a medigun replacement that trades the tether beam for a medicinal grenade launcher in the style of Overwatch's Baptiste. I do miss some of my vanilla TF2 guns, but these new guns are of such high quality that you'd believe they've always been there.
>> The article has some screenshots.
A mega-mod is kicking GTA 5 into 2026 thanks to one hobbyist creator and roughly 20,000 aggressively placed trees and street props
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/a-mega-mod-is-kicking-gta-5-into-2026-thanks-to-one-hobbyist-creator-and-roughly-20-000-aggressively-placed-trees-and-street-props/
How does that song by the Welsh rock back Stereophonics go, again? It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches; it only takes one match to burn a thousand trees. Lest I murder this shoehorned comparison any more than necessary, it seems as though Pluma_1980's bid to drag GTA 5 into the modern era requires just one hobbyist modder and 20,000 trees.
Named GTA5 V4EVER, Pluma's project strives to "update the atmosphere of the entire map" by stuffing Los Santos with more environmental detail than any game from 2013 probably deserves. Far from a simple reshade or texture swap, this pretty massive undertaking adds 20,000 new world objects—from trees to plants, shrubs, fences, poles, signs, street clutter, roadside scenery and more.
Moreover, outdated props such as phone booths have been whipped out entirely; while neighbourhoods have been given a fresh lick of paint or a new coat of grime depending on their economic standing—with Pluma's end game being to craft a world that feels "alive and renewed, without losing the original spirit."
The outcome is indeed a re-densified Los Santos and Blaine County, whose main thoroughfares feel refreshed and its peripheries reinvigorated. Pluma_1980 adds: "My goal is just to refresh the world — to make every part of the map feel alive again, like a game built for today."
>> In the article you’ll find several screenshots.
I didn't even know I was bothered by how bad Skyrim's NPCs look during the split second they're opening doors, and now a modder's pointed it out the mod to fix it has become essential
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/i-didnt-even-know-i-was-bothered-by-how-bad-skyrims-npcs-look-during-the-split-second-theyre-opening-doors-and-now-a-modders-pointed-it-out-the-mod-to-fix-has-become-essential/
The way NPCs open doors in Skyrim has always been a bit silly. When they're crossing load screens they can't open them all the way—because then the other side would have to be rendered—and so they pop doors open a crack revealing a sliver of darkness, then fade out of existence like the guy in that one meme.
I remember looking for a mod to replace that with fuller animations back in the day and learning it would be completely impossible. (Deleting the door-opening animation altogether was on the table though, thanks to the Get On With It mod.) Given the whole process is necessarily artificial, it never struck me how bizarre it looks in the instant before the fade—when the NPC about to vanish lights up like they've just been plugged into the mains.
As well as all shadows on them disappearing their hair looks super weird, vanishing from their eyebrows, sideburns, and the nape of the neck as the transparencies suddenly fail. Watching the video by modder wSkeever really makes it impossible to ignore. They light up like Uncle Fester with a lightbulb in his mouth, which is why the No Load Door NPC Fade mod is such a blessing.
It's a one-kilobyte download, and immediately joins my list of Skyrim modding essentials along with a bunch of other mods by wSkeever (don't ask what the "w" stands for) like Lock Add-Ons, Dynamic Things Alternative, the questmod Belethor's Sister, and the one that adds the weeping angels from Doctor Who.
>> As well as links to all the mods, the article has a roughly 30 seconds video of this mod.
GAMING NEWS
Battlefield 6 Title Update 1.1.3.6 Detailed – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-6-title-update-1-1-3-6-detailed-full-patch-notes/
DICE has revealed that Title Update 1.1.3.6 for Battlefield 6 will come out on February 3rd. Moreover, the team shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what it brings to the table.
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