The Monday gaming news:
SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS
GOG has two new promos/sales:
Steam has, realistically speaking, two new deals and a new sale:
Humble has three new deals:
And at Fanatical, we find these deals:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
-Nothing-
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
New Metal Gear Solid Fan Remake Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-metal-gear-solid-fan-remake-available-for-download/
Here’s something cool for our Metal Gear Solid fans. YouTube’s ‘Maxime THOMAS LE DEORE’ has released a fan remake of the first Metal Gear Solid game.
As the YouTuber noted, this remake is not intended to be a recreation of the entire game. Instead, it is a tribute that includes a tutorial level, two levels from the original game, and all the boss fights from it.
In other words, this isn’t a project that simply has maps from an old game in a new engine. It has proper gameplay mechanics. This alone makes it feel better than the majority of the fan remakes we’ve shared.
And look, I know this may disappoint some fans who wanted a full remake. But let’s be realistic here. A full remake of the first MGS by a single dev is an impossible task. So, look at it from the bright side. It at least has enough content for those who want to get a taste of what MGS would look like on a modern-day engine.
What’s interesting here is that this fan remake is built on Unity Engine. This isn’t “another UE5 Fan Remake.”
You can go ahead and download it from here. Since this is a MEGA download link, it might hit a download limit soon. So, get it while it’s still available.
>> There is a less than 3 minutes video in the article.
Donkey Kong Land PC Fan Remake Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/donkey-kong-land-pc-fan-remake-available-for-download/
Donkey Kong fans, get ready for a treat. YouTube’s ‘kasquez’ has released a fan remake of the classic Nintendo Game Boy game, Donkey Kong Land, for PC. This is perhaps one of the coolest things you’ll see today. So, make sure to grab it right now.
Donkey Kong Land Remake is a fan remake for PC of the original Donkey Kong Land, but with looks, sound and controls in the style of DKC. It features 30+ full-sized levels, tight controls, and a lot of secrets to uncover.
For those who did not know, Donkey Kong Land is a “special” port of the SNES DK game, Donkey Kong Country. The reason I call it “special” is because Rare made some changes to it. Since the Nintendo Game Boy could not handle a faithful port of the SNES game, the developers made changes so that it could run on Nintendo’s handheld.
Visually, this fan remake is closer to the original SNES version. And that’s something that a lot of DK fans will appreciate. It also opens the doors to possible mods. So, an HD Texture Pack (with assets looking similar to the 90s CG) could be possible.
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Those interested can go ahead and download this Donkey Kong Land PC Remake from here. I also suggest downloading it right now, as Nintendo will most likely shut it down. I’ve taken a look at it, and it does not require the original ROM file of Donkey Kong Land to run. In other words, it contains assets from the original game, and that’s something that could get its developer into trouble.
>> The article has two videos, and the file was still up when I prepared the gaming news.
Co-Op Mods Released for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Dragon’s Dogma 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/co-op-mods-for-kingdom-come-deliverance-2-and-dragons-dogma-2-released/
Two new co-op mods for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Dragon’s Dogma 2 have just been released. These mods will allow you to play these two games with your friends. So, let’s take a closer look at them.
Let’s start with the co-op mod for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The mod features many things, such as shared aggro, combat, a custom working Dice minigame, custom faces, and more.
What’s really important to know is that it does not offer a shared open world. Every player keeps their own full save and their own story, similar to an MMO. Everyone’s playing their own solo game, but you can see each other, fight together, and mess with each other while doing it. Nobody’s quests, choices, or progress get touched by anyone else’s session, but you can also do them together, assuming everyone accepts them at the same time.
Enemies will fight back for real if you or a friend gets into a fight. Other players’ health is visible on their nameplate, so you can actually tell if someone’s in trouble. Moreover, NPC damage now actually crosses between players’ machines, not just applied locally for show. As for death, it works like single-player: the player who dies reloads their own last save.
On the other hand, the co-op mod for Dragon’s Dogma 2 will allow you to play with up to 4 players, each controlling their own Arisen, with synchronized enemies, NPCs, combat, and environment interactions.
You can go ahead and download the mods from here and here. The co-op mod for KCD2 is in a beta phase, whereas the one for Dragon’s Dogma 2 is in an alpha phase. So, expect bugs and rough edges in both of them.
>> There is an almost 2 minutes video for the Dragon’s Dogma 2 mod.
This Fallout 4 Mod Almost Eliminates Traversal Stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-fallout-4-mod-almost-eliminates-traversal-stutters/
Fallout 4 fans, here is something special for you today. Modder ‘Zzyxzz’ has released a mod that attempts to eliminate almost all of the game’s traversal stutters. This will allow you to play the game more smoothly than ever. And yes, this is the real deal. It’s not a placebo effect.
Smoother Cell Loading removes the stutter that occurs when entering or loading new cells in Fallout 4. As such, you will now get smoother traversal.
Going into even more tech details, loads new cells/areas while exploring its world. During cell loading, the game queues a large number of NPC, weapon, and animation resources one by one. This creates sudden CPU and scheduling spikes while the game is trying to prepare the new area.
Smooth Cell Loading reduces these bursts by batching the resource queue during cell loading, allowing the game to process the requests more smoothly. Thus, it reduces sudden stutters when entering newly loaded cells. The effect is most noticeable in cities and other areas with many NPCs and objects loading at once.
As the modder noted, the game may still have some traversal stutters related to texture loading. This mod does not do anything about them. However, most of the traversal stutters will be fixed with it.
You can go ahead and download the mod from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a video for it. In this video, the modder showcases the traversal stutters of the vanilla version and how the game runs with the mod enabled.
The GTA 3D trilogy fanpatch has its biggest update, with over 100 new fixes including restored dialogue for San Andreas
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/the-gta-3d-trilogy-fanpatch-has-its-biggest-update-with-over-100-new-fixes-including-restored-dialogue-for-san-andreas/
It's well-known that the PC ports of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas were a shemozzle, thanks in part to re-used code across the trio of games, but also a general lack of care that used to be the norm when it came to PC ports. The excellent SilentPatch has long been the solution, and it's now even better thanks to a significant update that not only fixes leftover bugs, but also restores cut content that was inaccessible thanks to typos in the code.
One big change you'll notice with this version of the patch is that 100 voice lines have been restored to GTA San Andreas. Some of these were only bugged in a specific circumstance—like the lines CJ says when shooting at people, which only worked if you played with a controller. Those lines will now trigger when you pull the trigger when aiming with mouse and keyboard.
A lot of other dialogue that would otherwise never be heard has been restored too. Pedestrians will now have conversations about the weather, criminals have lines specifically for running away, CJ has unique lines for taking over specific neighborhoods and more lines when interacting with sex workers, there are more gang taunts, cops now announce when they have you surrounded or need covering fire, there's a grunt specific to being sprayed with paint, and more shopkeepers have lines for when they're being held up. According to the patch notes, "Most notably, the Ammu-Nation vendor had over fifteen voice lines for this event, all previously unused!"
That's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to improvements across all three games. Lens flares and heat haze now scale with resolution, NPCs can use sniper rifles and RPGs properly, cops no longer shoot gangsta-style, birds spawn correctly, roadblocks face the right way, and you can put a boat in your garage without crashing the game.
Extremely specific bugs, like the one that turned the sky over San Andreas red at 8 pm if it was raining, have finally been squashed, as well as the one that caused an explosion in Fort Carson by incorrectly spawning a plane in someone's driveway. GTA 3's street gangsters now walk in formation instead of meandering around and then freezing, fixing a problem that affected even the PS2 version.
The list goes on. SilentPatch was already essential to fix more blatant issues like broken mouselook, but now it's even better. If you're in the mood for a replay, here are the setup instructions for all three games.
>> The article has an over 15 minutes video of the patch and a link to the instructions to install it, as well as a link to the patch itself, of course.
GAMING NEWS
Crimson Desert Patch 1.17.00 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/crimson-desert-patch-1-17-00-released-detailed/
Pearl Abyss has released Title Update 1.17.00 for Crimson Desert and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.
Beast of Reincarnation Update 1.0.7 Released, Adds Support for DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4.0, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/beast-of-reincarnation-update-1-0-7-released-adds-support-for-dlss-4-5-and-fsr-4-0-full-patch-notes/
GAME FREAK has released Title Update 1.0.7 for Beast of Reincarnation and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.
Control Resonant Gets New 13-Minute Gameplay Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/control-resonant-gets-new-13-minute-gameplay-video/
IGN has shared a new video, showcasing 13 minutes of gameplay from the new Control game, Control Resonant. This video shows off the Metro Fault Mission and deep dives into the combat, enemies, and world of the game. So, if you are looking forward to it, you should definitely check it out.
