The Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away these two games:

• OTXO: https://store.epicgames.com/p/otxo-396b8b
• Sol Cesto : https://store.epicgames.com/p/sol-cesto-e9b803

Next week, the free games will be Beacon Pines and We Were Here Together .

GOG celebrates the Bethesda 40th Anniversary Sale, with games up to 85% off during the next 14 days: https://www.gog.com/es/promo/20260730_bethesda_anniversary_sale

Steam has two new deals and also two new sales/events:

• Preserve will have a 50% discount until the 5th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2109270/Preserve/
• Biped will be 90% off until August 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1071870/Biped/
• And here are the two sales/events:
  • Octopath Traveller Franchise Sale has the games on sale, between 35 and 70% off until the 12th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/octopathfranchise
  • For One Night Only is a UK-centric games showcase. There are only a few upcoming releases, but there are many games with up to 90% discounts on sale. With so many developers and publishers involved, the length of the deals vary from game to game: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46115354/sale/ForOneNightOnly2026

There is a new Humble Bundle: the Rage Inducing Difficult Games Bundle, featuring up to 10 games to get during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/rage-inducing-difficult-games

Fanatical has the new SOEDESCO Publishing Bundle, with 6 games and a 96% discount that will last 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/soedesco-publishing-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Not today-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The First Max Payne Game Got a Must-Have HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-first-max-payne-game-got-a-must-have-hd-texture-pack/
Here is something special for our Max Payne fans. Modder ‘andrew22’ has released an HD Texture Pack for it that overhauls all of the game’s textures. Thanks to this pack, the game can now look crisp and more detailed. So, if you are planning on replaying it, this is a must-have mod.
Going into more details, this pack upscales all textures by 4–8 times. It also manually corrects some of them. Not only that, but many textures were created from scratch. Texture issues that were present even in the original have also been fixed, too.
All alpha textures have been reworked, and all decals have been manually reworked. 99% of all text on textures is now legible. Notes, signs, posters, and other text can be read.
To showcase the visual improvement that this pack brings to the table, the modder shared the following comparison screenshots. These will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect from it.

Super Mario Sunshine Online Mod Released for PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/super-mario-sunshine-online-mod-released-for-pc/
Although Nintendo has not released Super Mario Sunshine on PC, PC gamers can enjoy it via emulation. Not only that, but we’ve already gotten some cool mods for it. And now, a multiplayer online mod has been released, allowing PC gamers to enjoy the game with their friends.
Going into more detail, Better Super Mario Sunshine Online adds true online multiplayer to Super Mario Sunshine. Each player runs their own Dolphin emulator instance while connecting through the mod. The package also includes a simple launcher that makes everything easy to set up and gives players everything they need to start playing online.
Right now, up to 10 players can join the same session.
The mod syncs player movement, animations, FLUDD spraying, Yoshi, Yoshi’s spray, and player name tags. This lets everyone see what the other players are doing in real time.
The mod also supports custom character models. At the moment, players can choose from 15 different models, and some of them include their own custom animations.
Collectibles such as Shines and Blue Coins are fully synchronized. This means players can complete the entire 120-Shine run together.
The mod also keeps the story and plaza progression in sync for everyone in the session. Red Coin missions are shared across the lobby, so players in the same episode can work together to collect all the coins. Finally, if a new player joins in the middle of a playthrough, the mod automatically updates their progress to match the rest of the group.
All in all, this is a really cool mod that, ironically, only PC gamers can enjoy. That’s why console emulation and mods are so cool on PC.
You can go ahead and download the mod from this link. Needless to say, you’ll also need the Dolphin emulator and the ROM file for Super Mario Sunshine.
>> The article has an over 2 minutes trailer of the mod.

New Half-Life: Alyx No-VR Mod Brings Penumbra/Amnesia/Soma Physics Interactions
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-half-life-alyx-no-vr-mod-brings-penumbra-amnesia-soma-physics-interactions/
In August 2024, we shared a mod that allowed gamers to play Half-Life: Alyx on their PC without owning a VR headset. And now, two years later, a new challenger emerges. A new No-VR Mod is in development, and from the looks of it, this will be the definitive non-VR way to play it.
What’s cool about this new No-VR Mod is that it adds physics interactions similar to those we’ve seen in Penumbra, Amnesia, and SOMA.
Players will be able to use their mouse and keyboard to interact with all objects, in a way that feels natural. The game will also display on-screen tutorials that show you how to interact with them.
To showcase these new gameplay mechanics, SoMNst released a 11-minute gameplay video. In this video, we get to see what’s possible with the mod. And, I’ll be honest here. This is exactly what I’d imagine from an official non-VR version of Half-Life: Alyx.
(...)
The bad news is that there is no release date for the full version of this mod. Right now, the devs are finishing a demo that will be available soon. The gameplay shown in the video comes from that demo. So, it may be some time before players can experience the full game with all of these physics-based interactions.

Metro: Last Light Redux Director’s Cut Is a Mod That Restores Content That Was Cut From the Game
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/metro-last-light-redux-directors-cut-is-a-mod-that-restores-content-that-was-cut-from-the-game/
Modder JackieRcrew has released an impressive new mod for Metro: Last Light Redux. Director’s Cut is a restoration project that brings back cut content, unfinished scenes, and unused dialogue that were removed from the final game.
Built with the original development tools, this is the first large-scale restoration mod of its kind for Metro: Last Light Redux. Instead of changing the core gameplay, the mod expands the original experience by adding restored conversations, scripted events, animations, and story moments.
The goal is to stay faithful to the developers’ original vision while giving players a more complete version of the game.
This mod is made for players who enjoy exploring every level and listening to character conversations. Many restored dialogues and events only appear if you stay hidden, let conversations play out, or pay close attention to your surroundings. A stealth-focused playthrough is highly recommended if you want to experience most of the restored content.
Those interested can go ahead and download the mod from this link. You can also find its full list of tweaks and changes on the NexusMod page. I won’t list them below as they contain spoilers.
>> Thewre’s an 8 minutes video in the article.

New Mod Adds DLSS/DLAA & DLSS Frame Generation to Mirror’s Edge
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-mod-adds-dlss-dlaa-dlss-frame-generation-to-mirrors-edge/
Modder ‘softsoundd’ has released a mod that adds DLSS/DLAA and DLSS Frame Generation to a game that has never supported them, Mirror’s Edge. This mod will not only improve the game’s performance, but it will also improve its image quality.
Mirror’s Edge was developed in Unreal Engine 3, and it uses old AA techniques. To be more precise, the game used MSAA. However, even at 4K with 8xMSAA, there are a lot of jaggies. And that’s where DLSS comes in.
DLAA manages to offer a superior image to 8xMSAA in every way. So, despite what your favourite YouTuber may have told you, MSAA was never a perfect solution. It could still leave visible jagged edges and had other limitations (especially with alpha textures). TAA did a better job at eliminating jaggies than MSAA, but it often made the image look blurry, especially while the camera was moving. DLAA and DLSS solve many of those problems. They can now produce a sharper image while also reducing jagged edges more effectively. As a result, DLSS can deliver a cleaner and crisper image than MSAA. Oh, and the games can also run faster with DLSS than with MSAA.
The best “old” AA technique was SSAA (which stands for Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing). The downside of SSAA was its incredibly high performance hit. To make things simple, think of SSAA as rendering a game at 8K or 12K on a 4K monitor.
What’s also cool here is that, according to its creator, this mod may be compatible with other Unreal Engine 3 games. So, we might see similar mods for games like Batman: Arkham City, BioShock Infinite, and the Mass Effect games.
>> The article has an almost 2 minutes long video.

The Last of Us multiplayer mod has hit a 'big milestone' as it prepares for launch in September
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-last-of-us-multiplayer-mod-has-hit-a-big-milestone-as-it-prepares-for-launch-in-september/
One of the greatest tragedies in Sony's live-service culls was the cancellation of The Last of Us Factions, the standalone sequel to the surprisingly great multiplayer mode from the original PS3 game. While Sony is still sending live-service games over the top despite the 180 in philosophy, this beloved multiplayer component is officially dead in the dirt. Well, as far as Naughty Dog and Sony are concerned.
Modder Speclizer thinks otherwise, as they've been working on a multiplayer mode for The Last of Us Part 2 on PC since the start of the year, which is planned to launch in September 2026. Just yesterday, the modder revealed that his project has "hit quite a big milestone." The mod can now handle proper 4v4 matches, where it was previously limited to 1v1s.
Speclizer regularly shows off what they've been working on via X. For example, it now also has a functioning leaderboard, and recently added the Seraphite Forest map to complement the Houses map previously shown off.
A major focus now is "exploring the methods of animation sync" to replicate the incredibly smooth, dynamic animations used in Naughty Dog's projects. As far as I understand it, in The Last of Us Part 2, only the player character has access to the full suite of animations—NPCs have different movements, which the modder realised when initially jerryrigging multiplayer functionality.
The mod creator also runs a YouTube series showing the fascinating behind-the-scenes in adding a fully-fledged multiplayer mode to a famously cinematic singleplayer game.
>> The article has the first video of that Youtube series, and it’s roughly 8 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Official PC Requirements & New Gameplay for Silent Hill: Townfall
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/official-pc-requirements-new-gameplay-for-silent-hill-townfall/
Konami has revealed the official PC system requirements for Silent Hill: Townfall. Moreover, YouTube’s ‘Punish’ has shared a video showcasing 15 minutes of brand new gameplay footage from it.
>> PCGamer has made an article about the game taking advantage of an Eurogamer interview with the director of the game (link).

First Update for Halo: Campaign Evolved Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-update-for-halo-campaign-evolved-released-full-patch-notes/
Halo Studios has released the first update for the official remake of the first Halo game, Halo: Campaign Evolved, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this first patch brings to the table.

The second part of the Thursday gaming news:

The latest ugly-cool immersive sim is scratching my itch for new Deus Ex
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-latest-ugly-cool-immersive-sim-is-scratching-my-itch-for-new-deus-ex/
There's something defiant about the trend of deliberately ugly immersive sims. It is a statement: mechanics are king and beauty is a distraction, so here is something we scraped out of the vents on a PlayStation 1. I admire it. Not the graphics; the graphics look awful. I admire the sentiment.
The latest in this proud tradition is Parkside: Decayed Soul Manipulation (in environments not restricted by the PC Gamer style guide, that title is rendered in all caps) from Banana Hardsoft, which releases on the 31st of July but has a demo you can play right now. It's got a System Shock start with a Deus Ex finish: you're Alexander, a hacker in a rundown world where the billboards blare messages like "Do Not Hinder Law Enforcement". You hack a little too deep and men with guns kick down your door.

The next game on GOG's preservation list would be your favourite ARPG if it hadn't released the same year as Diablo 2, and it's on sale now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-next-game-on-gogs-preservation-list-would-be-your-favourite-arpg-if-it-hadnt-released-the-same-year-as-diablo-2-and-its-on-sale-now/
Ah, NOX. Poor NOX. Westwood's 2000 ARPG last graced our pages three years ago, as one of eight PC gaming classics that are still worth playing today, where Russell Adderson wrote that it "might have been everyone’s favorite ARPG" had it not, you know, come out in the year 2000—just a few months before Diablo 2.
Alas, that's how it shook out. But hey, it looks like NOX is getting a second chance over a quarter of a century on: GOG has announced it won its latest patron poll to choose a game to induct into its Preservation Program—meaning GOG will commit to keeping the game supported and easy-to-run from now until the end of all things. Or at least the end of GOG.
>> Pleae note that the game is NO LONGER on sale. Sorry, but it has already ended.

WoW Classic's latest patch is terrorizing hardcore players with bugged piles of underground enemies, and it's likely due to a decades-old quirk of Blizzard programming
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-classics-latest-patch-is-terrorizing-hardcore-players-with-bugged-piles-of-underground-enemies-and-its-likely-due-to-a-decades-old-quirk-of-blizzard-programming/
If you're a WoW Classic player, you might want to tread carefully if you're leveling in certain parts of Kalimdor. As reported by players over on Reddit (via WoWHead), the latest patch seems to have caused piles of bugged enemies to spawn beneath the ground in a specific spot in the Stonetalon Mountains, posing a lethal threat to unsuspecting players.

Latest Palworld patch keeps Victor & Shadowbeak from accidentally teleporting out of existence, prevents Panthalus from breaking everything
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/latest-palworld-patch-keeps-victor-and-shadowbeak-from-accidentally-teleporting-out-of-existence-prevents-panthalus-from-breaking-everything/
While its 1.0 launch has delivered impressive and continued success to the tune of a few million additional players, Palworld is still a bit squirrelly—particularly when it comes to bosses, who have presented some frustrating bugginess for multiplayer users.
Thankfully, Pocketpair has been fairly quick in addressing bugs and persistent issues that have appeared post-launch. The developer has pushed out a fresh patch this week, version 1.0.2, to bring a few of those unruly encounters in line.

BeamNG.drive just had a graphics overhaul so we can finally watch a family hatchback navigate a speedbump at 100mph with dynamic ambient lighting
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/beamng-drive-just-had-a-graphics-overhaul-so-we-can-finally-watch-a-family-hatchback-navigate-a-speedbump-at-100mph-with-dynamic-ambient-lighting/
BeamNG.drive, a mainstay of our list of the best racing games thanks to its dedication to being a vehicular sandbox for soft-body crash-damage enthusiasts, as well as its PvP and modability, just had its biggest update. The patch includes "massive graphics changes", which means shadows should be more stable, there's HDR output support on Vulkan and Direct3D 12, physically correct light attenuation, and dynamic ambient lighting.

Arc Raiders rats are cheating the matchmaking system by throwing themselves in front of friendly fire
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-rats-are-cheating-the-matchmaking-system-by-throwing-themselves-in-front-of-friendly-fire/
Embark has been on a bit of a matchmaking kick recently. It announced some weeks ago that Arc Raiders would be getting a more thorough system which takes into account specific player behaviour across solo, duo, and trio lobbies as well as a more nuanced look at self-defence. Both are solid updates to the game in theory, but in practice it's become clear that you just can't balance for assholes.
(...)
Before long, Arc Raiders rats realised that this self-defence patch basically gave them a free pass to run rampant in PvE lobbies, killing and looting everyone they could find, as long as they didn't shoot first.
But how do you convince a pacifist player to put a bullet in your head? Maybe you say mean things about their mum, perhaps a little jab at their unstylish last-season skin? Or you could just jump in front of their gun while they're shooting at something else—that last one works the best.

The Helldivers 2 x Warhammer 40k Warbond arrives on August 12, bringing three of its most iconic weapons and two Imperial Guard armour sets
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/the-helldivers-2-x-warhammer-40k-warbond-arrives-on-august-12-bringing-three-of-its-most-iconic-weapons-and-two-imperial-guard-armour-sets/
About two months back, during Warhammer Skulls 10th anniversary showcase, Helldivers 2 revealed that its next Warbond was going to be a crossover with Warhammer 40k.
It was exciting news, especially considering the similarity of the settings, both beset on all sides by endless tides of terrifying aliens and robot men, though at least Super Earth doesn't have to contend with Chaos… yet.
However, all we got to see of the Warbond was some clips of folks painting minis with the info that the full reveal would come later. Well, as of today, Arrowhead Studios has shown off the contents of the Warbond and given us a release date of August 12.

Old School RuneScape players are getting their boats stuck Suez Canal-style thanks to a narrow river in its new island: 'Helmp mee'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/old-school-runescape-players-are-getting-their-boats-stuck-suez-canal-style-thanks-to-a-narrow-river-in-its-new-island-helmp-mee/
Old School RuneScape's had a content update this week—Wyrmscraig, an island designed by a player that has a new quest, a repeatable boss, a cool sword, and so on. All the neat little additions you'd expect out of a patch. But some players have been running into an obstacle. Or rather, getting stuck between two obstacles. And by obstacles I mean shorelines.

And here’s the third and final part of today’s gaming news:

After laying off Battlefield 6 developers, EA pays its CEO $38 million because Battlefield 6 did so well
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/after-laying-off-battlefield-6-developers-ea-pays-its-ceo-usd38-million-because-battlefield-6-did-so-well/
>> Current stage of capitalism in one headline.

Hololive vtuber says new rhythm game on Steam is surprisingly true to their personas for a reason: 'We had tons of involvement with the script and dialogue'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/hololive-vtuber-says-new-rhythm-game-on-steam-is-surprisingly-true-to-their-personas-for-a-reason-we-had-tons-of-involvement-with-the-script-and-dialogue/

An innocent man spent 18 months in prison because police misread his Skyrim user name
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/an-innocent-man-spent-18-months-in-prison-because-police-misread-his-skyrim-user-name/
>> That’s f*cked up, and the mistake is actually understandable.

Final Fantasy 7 remake director says he hopes Revelation will get 'some kind of physical edition' despite the industry and Sony's 'shift away' from discs
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/final-fantasy-7-remake-director-says-he-hopes-revelation-will-get-some-kind-of-physical-edition-despite-the-industry-and-sonys-shift-away-from-discs/

Guillermo del Toro is asking for a slightly more forgiving Dead Cells, checkpoints and all, 'for the elderly players'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/guillermo-del-toro-is-asking-for-a-slightly-more-forgiving-dead-cells-checkpoints-and-all-for-the-elderly-players/

That's good to know.

For some reason Thermalright doesn't have a lot of products available over here, and I ddin't know they had other coolers with the X53 name.

Yeah they flooded the market you can get the 90mm fan versions from 30-53mm height with some offering full copper versions instead of the Nickel plated/aluminium and have many competitive dual tower coolers and usually cost around 20% of the likes of Noctua, I've also used their 120x15mm fans a fair amount they have such a smooth sound profile even at mid-high rpm at least to my ears and are a fraction of the cost of the big brands.

I know abou their tower coolers. They've been in so many videos from so many different chanels, especially their Assassin one, that it'd be hard not to, but their top-down designs aren't as used.

Well, good for them to have different models to give customers the option to choose the one that suits them the best.

Probably a replacement of the RX 6400/6300 for the 4GB version and 6500XT for the 8GB version. The latter 2 were also mostly OEM cards like the 9500 4GB version, and their main use case most likely to power the graphics output of a server CPU if they need more than the standard CPU-rendered 2D graphics, but nothing high-powered, and PC builders in companies who still prefer use a GPU instead of an iGPU/APU.

Too bad Might & Magic 7 narrowly lost, as turn-based mode became unplayable for me, while NOX was still working mostly fine for me.

Maybe next time it will be the chosen one.

Sony finally responds to PlayStation disc backlash, says 2028 transition will move forward

https://videocardz.com/newz/sony-finally-responds-to-playstation-disc-backlash-says-2028-transition-will-move-forward

Intel Arc B580 drops to $290, becomes the cheapest 12GB graphics card right now

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-arc-b580-drops-to-290-becomes-the-cheapest-12gb-graphics-card-right-now

AMD Radeon GPU and memory kit prices reportedly rising 10% in August

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-gpu-and-memory-kit-prices-reportedly-rising-10-in-august

First Radeon RX 9050 review shows around 30% lower performance than RTX 5050 in games

https://videocardz.com/newz/first-radeon-rx-9050-review-shows-around-30-lower-performance-than-rtx-5050-in-games

MSI Says Its “High-Efficiency Mode” Is Sufficient To Replace EXPO ULL As It Achieves Similar Latency

https://wccftech.com/msi-rolls-out-high-efficiency-mode-for-standard-expo-ddr5-memory/

Memory Makers Push DDR5 MRDIMM Speeds To 16,000 MT/s, Closing The Gap On The Final 17,600 MT/s Target, As AMD Among The First To Utilize 3rd Gen MRDIMMs

https://wccftech.com/memory-makers-push-ddr5-mrdimm-speeds-to-16000-mtps-closing-gap-on-final-17600-mtps-target/

AMD Zen 6 “Low Power” Core To Match Or Exceed Zen 5, As It Aims To Be A Collage of Different Zen Architectures Spanning Zen 2 To Zen 6

https://wccftech.com/amd-zen-6-low-power-core-to-match-or-exceed-zen-5-collage-of-zen-architectures/