The Wednesday gaming news:
SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS
Steam has one new deal and one sale:
Fanatical also has a couple of deals:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 26.9.2 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-26-9-2
HIGHLIGHTS
New Game Support
- Minecraft Dungeons II
- Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 4 campaign early access
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered
- Gears of War: E-Day
- CONTROL Resonant
- Valor Mortis
FIXED ISSUES
- Intermittent driver timeout may be observed while playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Radeon™ RX 7000 series graphics products.
- Intermittent driver timeout may be observed while playing War Thunder in DirectX 12 mode with Instant Replay and Borderless Region Capture enabled on Radeon™ RX 6000 series graphics products.
- Anti-Lag 2 may show as inactive in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition after disabling Frame Generation in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.
- Intermittent driver timeout or system freeze may be observed while playing HITMAN™ World of Assassination on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products.
>> This is an optional driver but, if you plan to play The Witcher 3 Remastered, it’s a must have.
The algorithm comes for Steam's Discounts and Events
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-algorithm-comes-for-steams-discounts-and-events/
More changes are coming to the way you buy games on Steam.
"Our goal with Steam’s discovery features is to show the right game to the right customer, so we spent the last few months experimenting with replacing some curated spots with dynamic and personalized recommendations. By featuring games in a more personalized way in the Discounts & Events section, we were able to show 10x more games to customers in a given day in that section. As a result, we saw meaningful increases in store page visits, wishlists, and cart additions."
Steam's Discounts and Events page is, as the name suggests, basically a collection of discounted games and special events: The Nier Franchise Sale, Game Devs of Color Expo, some lifts from your wishlist, and some that just match up with stuff you've done in the past. But all of them are "curated placements," which means they're scheduled by either developers or publishers themselves, or by Steam.
But Steam, as we all know, is always looking to refine the online game shopping experience, which is where these "dynamic and personalized" recommendations come in: "More discounted games or sale events will have the chance to be visible on the homepage and elsewhere on Steam, rather than be limited by a small, fixed number of slots."
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
Astro Bot Gets Huge Performance Boost in KyTyPS5, Marvel’s Wolverine Goes In-Game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/astro-bot-gets-huge-performance-boost-in-kytyps5-marvels-wolverine-goes-in-game/
PlayStation 5 emulation is moving very fast. Just a few days ago, KyTyPS5 could only boot Marvel’s Wolverine. Now, it can actually run the game, although the frame rate is still too low to play. Astro Bot, on the other hand, has seen a huge performance boost in a local/custom KyTyPS5 fork.
Let’s take things from the beginning. A few days ago, we got reports from people claiming that KyTyPS5 could boot Marvel’s Wolverine. At that point, the game would only crash after going to the main menu. Two to three days afterward, we have a custom fork of KyTyPS5 that can launch and run it.
As I said, the game does not run at playable frame rates. Still, the fact that it can go in-game is pretty incredible. Marvel’s Wolverine is a game that came out recently. No matter how you feel about the game itself, it’s truly impressive that KyTyPS5 can launch and run it.
As for Astro Bot, Bryan Adams has been working on a custom KyTyPS5 fork to improve the game’s performance.
The results are very impressive. In the New Game section, the main KyTyPS5 build runs at around 19 FPS. It also hangs on one frame for about 20 seconds. On the custom fork, the same part runs at around 60 FPS.
The first steps on the crash site also show a big gain. The game runs at about 18 FPS on the main KyTyPS5 build. On the custom fork, it reaches 60 FPS. There is another big boost in the Sky Garden fly-in. The main build runs at around 5 FPS. The custom fork raises this to about 25 FPS.
The custom fork also fixes some graphics issues. The Sky Garden cloud layer now renders again. The blotchy planet artifacts are also gone.
While this is still an experimental build, you can go ahead and try it. You can download it from GitHub at commit 4068f4ac.
>> The article has three videos.
Fallout 4 Gets a Full-Body First-Person Awareness Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-4-gets-a-full-body-first-person-awareness-mod/
Modder ‘Zzyxzz’ has released a full-body first-person awareness mod for Fallout 4, bringing Fallout 4’s first-person perspective to life. With this mod, you can see your full body in first person with vanilla animations and natural movement. You can walk, run, jump, and swim seamlessly.
The Full Body First Person mod lets you see your character’s full body while playing in first person. Look down, and you will see your body. Your legs and feet move naturally as you walk, run, strafe, jump, and swim.
The mod does more than place a static body under the camera. It uses Fallout 4’s own animations and adapts them for a more natural first-person view.
Your character also reacts to how you move. The mod changes the movement direction, animation speed, and transitions in real time. This helps make your character’s movements feel more natural.
You can go ahead and download the mod from this link (Nexus Mods). At the end of the article, you can also find a trailer for it. It’s also worth noting that the mod works with pretty much all versions of Fallout 4. As such, it’s compatible with Fallout 4 Next-Gen, Original/Legacy, and Anniversary Edition.
Rave Racer Arcade-Perfect PC Port Is Now Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/rave-racer-arcade-perfect-pc-port-is-now-available-for-download/
Now here is something truly special for all racing fans. An unofficial PC version of the arcade racing game Rave Racer has just been released, and it’s available for download.
This unofficial PC version is part of the “Namco System 22 games for PC” initiative. This project aims to bring to PC most, if not all, arcade games that used the Namco System 22 system.
Namco System 22 games for PC, also known as namco22-decompile, currently supports four games. These are Rave Racer, Dirt Dash, Tokyo Wars, and Prop Cycle. These games run better than MAME. They do not require a Namco System 22 Arcade BIOS, and they offer some QoL improvements. For instance, they support widescreen aspect ratios, as well as resolutions up to 4K.
Sadly, Time Crisis, Alpine Racer, and Ace Combat 22 used the Super System 22 system. So, I’m not sure this project will cover them. It’s a shame as I’d really love to see a native PC port of Time Crisis.
Anyway, those interested can download namco22-decompile from this link (Github). The project does not contain any in-game assets for any of the aforementioned games. As such, you’ll have to provide your own ROM file to play them.
>> The article has a ten minutes video.
Infinity Blade 3 PC Port Available Now for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/infinity-blade-3-pc-port-available-now-for-download/
A couple of days ago, Archive’s member ‘AnonIBBBBBBanon’ released a PC port of the third and final Infinity Blade game. As such, PC gamers can now enjoy, natively, on their PC the entire Infinity Blade trilogy.
The PC port comes with a standalone launcher. You can use it to change graphics settings and controls before you start the game. It also supports mouse and keyboard controls. You can use keybinds for actions such as dodging, blocking, and stabbing. Mouse swipes can also be used for attacks.
The game also gives you more control over its graphics. You can turn dynamic shadows and godrays on or off. There are also separate sliders for music and sound effects. This lets you set the audio to your liking.
The port supports both Siris and Isa. Each hero has their own weapons, gear, and fighting style. The game also supports natural mouse scrolling in menus.
Another useful feature is save support. You can transfer unencrypted saves between iOS and PC. The port also works on Linux, macOS, and Steam Deck through tools such as Proton, Wine, and CrossOver.
The port is still not fully polished, and development is paused for now. As such, there might be some optimization issues here and there. The good news is that you can play it from start to finish.
Those interested can go ahead and download it from this link (archive.org). You can also find the download links for the previous two Infinity Blade games here and here.
>> There is a four minutes video in the article.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Gets HD Texture Pack for PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-legend-of-zelda-twilight-princess-gets-hd-texture-pack-for-pc/
Yesterday, I informed you about a new version of Dusklight, the unofficial PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for PC. And now, you can download an HD Texture Pack for it.
The HD texture pack aims to bring Twilight Princess closer to the look and feel of the original game. It restores the original colors and mood instead of using the brighter and stronger colors found in Twilight Princess HD.
The pack also improves forests, cliffs, and other large surfaces. It removes visible seams and fixes areas that can look flat or repeated. Stone walls now look more rounded, while distant surfaces no longer look like the same image was placed over and over.
The pack also brings back the original wall and floor textures. It restores the rough look of the sand as well. The lighting has also been improved with highlights and bloom that better match the mood of the original game.
Another key point is how the textures were made. They were worked on by hand instead of simply using an AI upscaler. The creator also uses some improvements from Twilight Princess HD, but only when they make the original textures better.
Installing this texture pack is quite simple. Dusklight uses a texture replacement folder for these mods. Players can place the pack files there and then run the game.
You can go ahead and download it from here (gamebanana). You can also download the latest version of Dusklight from here.
>> The article has a shorter than two minutes video.
This Mod for The Witcher 3 Remastered Fixes Nearly 6,000 Bugs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-mod-for-the-witcher-3-remastered-fixes-nearly-6000-bugs/
The modding team behind the Brothers In Arms Mod has updated it to make it compatible with the remastered version of The Witcher 3. And from the looks of it, this is a must-have mod, as it fixes nearly 6,000 bugs.
This massive mod fixes and restores a huge amount of content in The Witcher 3 Remastered. It includes more than 2,200 bug fixes and over 2,000 placement fixes. These fixes cover quests, NPCs, scenes, gameplay, and the game world. It also fixes objects and NPCs that float, sink into the ground, or clip into other objects.
The mod also restores cut content. This includes 145 books and documents, 48 glossary entries, and 190 quest journal entries. It also restores eight item descriptions that were found in the game files but were never used.
More than 120 NPCs and characters have also been restored. Some were missing due to bugs, while others were cut from the game. The mod also restores more than 800 lines of dialogue. This includes small lines, full conversations, and even some cutscenes.
The mod also brings back unused item icons and character appearances. This helps some items and NPCs look the way they were meant to.
The Ultimate Edition adds a mod menu as well. You can now turn restored content on or off in the game. You can also enable other optional features and mods, such as Boat Races. This makes it easy to choose which changes you want to use.
In short, this is a mod you must use, whether you’re playing the Next-Gen or the Remastered versions of The Witcher 3. You can download its latest version from this link (Nexus Mods).
>> The fact that the remastered version still has those 2200 bugs is both surprising and disappointing. Anyway, the article doesn’t have any media.
GAMING NEWS
Here’s the Official PC Trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-the-official-pc-trailer-for-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-4/
Activision has released an official trailer for the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. This trailer highlights its main PC features. So, let’s take a look at them.
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