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STALKER 2's latest update expands its A-Life NPC simulation bubble, seemingly without a scary performance tax
PC

STALKER 2's latest update expands its A-Life NPC simulation bubble, seemingly without a scary performance tax

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has a new update out, 2.1, which builds on the excellent 2.0 patch by upgrading that most beloved and contentious of STALKER series features: the A-Life system that governs simulated NPC behavior. With the 2.1 update. It's now possible to whack up the distance at which A-Life NPCs (who, unlike scripted characters, will wander around, fight others over faction turf, and sometimes hunker down for a campfire-side guitar sesh) are visualised, while audio tweaks can mak

Rock Paper Shotgun vor 2 Tagen
Life is Strange makers Don't Nod face layoffs and possible insolvency, French workers union STJV state
PC

Life is Strange makers Don't Nod face layoffs and possible insolvency, French workers union STJV state

Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo, a French game workers union, have released a statement detailing the current status of Don't Nod, the studio behind Life is Strange and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. The studio's fate has been precarious for some time, but STJV now say that the studio has announced ("to financial press before the employees, as has been its MO") that it is under a "safeguard procedure" to avoid complete insolvency due to an inability to pay off its debts. Re

Rock Paper Shotgun vor 2 Tagen
Steam Frame kernel updated with external CD-ROM drive compatibility just one day after a user asked Valve for it
PC

Steam Frame kernel updated with external CD-ROM drive compatibility just one day after a user asked Valve for it

Even with the importance of physical media ownership in the current era of digital product ephemera, it's often unlikely your PC will actually be able to play the CDs, DVDs or Blu-Rays you have around the house. Internal disc drives aren't common amongst desktops or even laptops anymore, so your only recourse is often an external drive. One Steam Frame user was hoping to connect his own detachable disc drive to watch movies and play Need For Speed Carbon (valid!) using the headset, which can r

Rock Paper Shotgun vor 2 Tagen
"Mass Effect was my ultimate white whale": Journey composer shares 20 minutes of music created during talks to work on BioWare's recently cancelled RPG
PC

"Mass Effect was my ultimate white whale": Journey composer shares 20 minutes of music created during talks to work on BioWare's recently cancelled RPG

The gradual drip of details about and glimpses at what BioWare were looking to cook up with the cancelled Mass Effect 5 continues, this time thanks to a composer who was in talks to come aboard to put together the RPG's soundtrack. Said songsmith, Austin Wintory, has opted to share around 20 minutes of tunes he put together just as an attempt to explore where he might take things if he did end up being hired to score Commander Shepard's next adventure. Naturally, with BioWare's closure, that ha

Rock Paper Shotgun vor 2 Tagen
Boltgun 2 and Warhammer Survivors devs Auroch Digital say they're laying of 25% of their staff in now-deleted posts
PC

Boltgun 2 and Warhammer Survivors devs Auroch Digital say they're laying of 25% of their staff in now-deleted posts

Not long after releasing boomer shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun II and right before Warhammer Survivors launches in November, developers Auroch Digital have unfortunately given a public statement confirming that roughly a quarter of its current staff will be laid off as part of a restructuring. What's strange — to the point that layoffs are, unfortunately, expected — is that the initial social media posts, on both LinkedIn and Twitter, have now been deleted. Read more

Rock Paper Shotgun vor 2 Tagen