Thursday news, part two:

Vermintide 2 will not sell loot boxes, developer confirms
http://www.pcgamer.com/vermintide-2-will-not-have-loot-boxes-developer-confirms/
The finely named Swedish studio Fatshark officially unveiled Warhammer: Vermintide 2 yesterday with a gameplay trailer highlighting some of the new features—character careers, Heroic Deeds—and also a few fine members of the Chaos army that's joining the fight. One thing it didn't mention, however, is how it will handle loot—and, more to the point, loot boxes.
Fortunately, the answer is both simple and short. "We will NOT be selling loot boxes, or selling keys to unlock loot boxes," community manager Fatshark_Hedge wrote during a Vermintide 2 reveal stream Q&A on Reddit. "Loot comes from gameplay, not your wallet."

Try the demo for this 'indigenous cybernoir' mystery adventure
http://www.pcgamer.com/try-the-demo-for-this-indigenous-cybernoir-mystery-adventure/
Purity and Decay is interesting for its origins alone. It was the product of the Feb Fatale game jam held earlier this year by Dames Making Games, and its "indigenous cybernoire" theme is also a product of its heritage: writer Meagan Byrne and artist Tara Miller, Purity and Decay's Ontario-based lead creators, are both indigenous women.
You can sample the storyline and core systems in the free prototype available via itch.io. It's a rough build with some sudden cuts and placeholder assets, but it gives a good idea of how Purity and Decay plays and feels.

Choose, ride and inevitably crash a mountain bike in Lonely Mountains: Downhill
http://www.pcgamer.com/choose-ride-and-inevitably-crash-a-mountain-bike-in-lonely-mountains-downhill/
Lonely Mountains: Downhill is "a different kind of sports game," according to two-man German developer Megagon Industries. We knew that when we got our first look at the unorthodox biking game earlier this year, but with Lonely Mountains now on Kickstarter and considerably more fleshed-out, its vision of fighting a mountain is really starting to take shape.

GTA Online's Transform Races are crazy
http://www.pcgamer.com/gta-onlines-transform-races-are-crazy/
GTA Online’s wacky races now include 15 new 'Transform Races' that manage to have a bit of something for everyone, from speeding through the skies in a jet to bouncing down a mountain on a bike, all in the same race. See, these races change your vehicle at set points, so one moment you might be jumping off a ramp in a supercar, but then you’re suddenly in a helicopter.

The Talos Principle gets existential in VR
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-talos-principle-gets-existential-in-vr/
Existential puzzle game The Talos Principle now has a VR edition, which you can slap on your face now. It contains the core game, rebuilt for VR, and also the four-part Road to Gehenna expansion.

Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven comes to GOG, years after vanishing from Steam
http://www.pcgamer.com/mafia-the-city-of-lost-heaven-comes-to-gog-years-after-vanishing-from-steam/
The first Mafia game has landed on GOG.com, after disappearing from Steam just over five years ago. 2002's City of Lost Heaven was one of the first great open world games, arriving about a year after GTA III, and using its detailed period setting as more of an evocative movie set than a playground. Right now, it's a GOG exclusive.

Nvidia breaks down Destiny 2's graphics options
http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-breaks-down-destiny-2s-graphics-options/
With Destiny 2’s PC launch on the horizon—you can start preloading it now—Nvidia have put together a graphics and performance guide to let you know what you’ll need to consider if you’re hoping to play it at 60fps or more.

Final Fantasy 14's All Saints' Wake event begins today
http://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14s-all-saints-wake-event-begins-today/
Between today and November 1, residents of Final Fantasy 14’s Eorzea will be able to participate in spooky, Halloween-themed activities as the Continental Circus returns to celebrate another All Saints’ Wake.

The classic Star Control games have been released on Steam: The Ur-Quan Masters (SC1 and SC2) and Kessari Quadrant (SC3). Also the new game Star Control: Origins is available for pre-order.

How does it feel so far? Gothic/Risen 1 good or Risen 2/3 fine?

I've not played Risen 2 or 3.

I've explored most of the world now and the one thing I'm missing most is caves. All gothic games were full with them. If there was a cliff you could be sure that there will be a cave or 2. ELEX is full of cliffs but not one cave in there. For that you have building complexes now which is fine too.

The game is missing a lot of the charm and some other minor elements from Gothic. It's a bit too dumbed down for my taste and feels generic at times. From a gameplay and adventure aspect I'd say it's definitely a step back from Gothic 3. It's as good as Gothic 2 I'd say, but not as good as Gothic 1 or 3.

But it's not like we can be picky here. It still has the bonus of being completely new with lots of stuff to discover. I'm hopeful that patches and mods will make it a lot better.

Damn...I mean about the caves - I really love that aspect in Gothics, it annoyed me to no end that in Witcher 3 they were few and (often) poorly designed.

32", 4k, 144hz panel in Q3 2018? Might be my next monitor upgrade. Has to be IPS though.

The 27" one from AUO is AHVA, so IPS style (as IPS is an LG brand). Therefore, I guess the 32" one would be the same.

Civ3 code from humble bundle, already got the game, so it's up for grabs

0BY5M-R2F36-B2LA3

Thanks a lot, but I think I'll pass.

I got into Civilization with Civ V. I don't know if I could play a Civ game with stacking units :-/

There's always someone else who could use it, even if it's just a lurker.

Time for the final news of the day: the Friday news!

SALES & "SALES"/DEALS

Civilization 3 Complete is free on the Humble Store
http://www.pcgamer.com/civilization-3-complete-is-free-on-the-humble-store/
Two things happened today in the world of Sid Meier's Civilization that you should probably be aware of. First, the Fall 2017 update to Civilization 6 is now live, as is the Khmer and Indonesia Civilization and Scenario Pack, which 2K has recently been teasing. Second (and probably of greater interest), Civilization 3 Complete, which includes the Play the World and Conquest expansions, is free for the next two days on the Humble Store.

>>If you haven't been able to get the copy that TomaTito has posted earlier today, now it's your chance. Get it from here.

SOFTWARE

Square Enix removes Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Life is Strange: Before the Storm
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/square-enix-removes-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech-life-strange-storm/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. The second episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm has just been released on Steam. And from the looks of it, Square Enix has removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. Square Enix has used Denuvo in pretty much all of its latest titles, and this is perhaps the only one for which Denuvo has been removed.

>>Given how useless it has become, this seems like a smart move.

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update completely fixes Forza Motorsport 7’s stuttering issues
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/windows-10-fall-creators-update-completely-fixes-forza-motorsport-7s-stuttering-issues/
As we’ve reported in our PC Performance Analysis, Forza Motorsport 7 suffered from severe stuttering issues. Earlier yesterday, the Windows 10 Fall Creators update went live and to our surprise, Turn10’s racer is now completely stuttering-free on the PC.

>>So, instead of updating the game, what we have to do it update the OS? I hope this doesn't become a trend.

MODS/EMULATORS

This standalone mod for Half Life 2 restores content that was cut from it
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/standalone-mod-half-life-2-restores-content-cut/
Cvoxalury has released the first part of the Dark Interval mod for Half Life 2. This mod aims to restore certain parts of older drafts of Valve’s first-person shooter. Therefore, gamers will find various original locations, characters and plot points that didn’t make it to the retail version.

>>The mod is available from moddb.

GAMING NEWS

LawBreakers’ largest update is now available, adding competitive ranked mode
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/lawbreakers-largest-update-now-available-adding-competitive-ranked-mode/
Nexon America released today the All-Star Update, the largest content drop LawBreakers has seen to date. The major feature of the LawBreakers largest update is the long-awaited competitive ranked mode, Boss Leagues.

Get a taste of American Truck Simulator's New Mexico DLC
http://www.pcgamer.com/get-a-taste-of-american-truck-simulators-new-mexico-dlc/
A lovely long drive down big desert roads underneath infinite blue skies sounds just perfect for this, the most miserable, damp time of year. Watching the New Mexico trailer for American Truck Simulator makes me almost forget that it’s October.

New official Star Wars Battlefront 2 screenshots from the single-player mode released
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-official-star-wars-battlefront-2-screenshots-single-player-released/
Electronic Arts has released a new set of screenshots for Star Wars Battlefront 2. These screenshots showcase the characters from the game’s single-player campaign. Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be using the Frostbite 3 Engine, therefore we can expect it to feature incredible visuals.

Here are all the known issues that will exist in Destiny 2 PC at launch
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/issues-will-exist-destiny-2-pc-launch/
Bungie has listed all the day-1 issues that will affect Destiny 2 PC when it launches on October 24th. According to the team, players may experience some rare issues when enabling SLI, HDR, or disabling VSYNC in some non-native resolutions.

Real Farm is now available
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/real-farm-now-available/
SOEDESCO has announced that Real Farm is now available on the PC. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team released the game’s launch trailer, and you can watch it below. Moreover, SOEDESCO will let its community to decide the game’s future direction.