Steam

Bethesda released a Creations Bundle for Fallout 4 yesterday as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, adding 150 player-created items for the not-so-low price of £17.99. Unfortunately, Bethesda appears to have dropped the birthday cake on its way to the party, as players report some pretty serious issues with the Creation Bundle and its contents... Read more.View the full article

Fallout 4's development shows time does not equal moneyView the full article

Sentry is a toolkit for game devs to monitor errors, performance and more and now it should work a lot better on Linux / SteamOS with Wine / Proton. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Dota 2 used to be an absolute fiend for a good crossover. From Final Fantasy to Fallout, Deus Ex to Darkest Dungeon, Valve'****** MOBA has been inundated with cosmetic goods and iconic announcer packs over the years. Hearing Morty ****** out over a Rampage never gets old, but after seven years without a third-party peep, it's certainly time for some new blood in the collab arena. The good news, if you're a Monster Hunter fan, is that Valve and Capcom have banded together to create some pretty sweet in-game goodies for you to craft up. Oh, and it's live right now. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: People "talk s**t" to Gabe Newell when he plays Dota 2, but he's okay with it Dota 2 system requirements The Dota 2 7.39 patch brings hero reworks and a serious quality-of-life upgrade View the full article

Words have meanings. That's a mantra that I repeat on an almost daily basis. Simplistic does not mean simple. Obtuse is only for people, for anything else you should say abstruse. Look the word pedant up in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of me. That sort of thing. I know this makes me sound very boring (spoiler: I am quite boring), but it's my job as a writer and editor to know these things. Marathon's former director of product management, Chris Sides, agrees with me, and he's taken aim at the 'extraction shooter' label, appearing on a podcast to say it's "dumb" and "bad" because it's named after a mechanic. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Marathon gets another technical test, but you won't hear anything about it Marathon release date estimate, trailer, and gameplay Does Marathon have crossplay and cross-progression? View the full article

Arc Raiders has now sold over 4 million copies worldwide less than two weeks since its release date, cementing its commercial success. Publisher Nexon confirmed the milestone in a glowing press release, which also revealed that the extraction shooter had reached a huge concurrent count of 700,000 players across all platforms. Within a day of its release, Embark Studio's shooter hit a Steam concurrent peak player count of 264,673, making it one of the biggest extraction shooters ever on Valve's platform. That record was smashed again over the weekend when Arc Raiders hit a concurrent peak of 462,488 players according to Valve's official figures. and now we know that, combined with users on consoles, the true figure is closing in on three-quarters of a million players. Nexon added that Arc Raiders has "maintained its number one spot on Steam's global sales rankings" ever since it released on October 30, and congratulated developer Embark, writing: "We are deeply impressed by the enthusiasm shown by our player community and look forward to building on that excitement with our content plans, including new maps, ARC vehicles, weapons, and quests, which will be available starting this month." "I thought I was only going to play five or six hours of Arc Raiders on launch day before sitting down to write this initial review in progress, but after just a handful of matches, I suddenly couldn’t pull myself away – and before I realized it, I’d been playing for 10 hours," we wrote in IGN's Arc Raiders review-in-progress. "This is without question the most hooked I’ve found myself on an extraction shooter (and I’ve played a lot of them), with clean and tense gunplay, a progression system that’s been incredibly satisfying so far, and a loot game that has me sweating over what to put in my backpack and what to leave behind." Jumping into Arc Raiders? Check out our guide to the best settings, find out what skills we recommend unlocking first, and see how to earn loot by delivering field depot crates. Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article

Electromagnetic storms in Arc Raiders are weather phenomena that reduce your exit optionsView the full article

Marathon is set to launch "as scheduled"View the full article

Skate developer Full Circle has acknowledged the game’s launch issues and says it’s doing what it can to resolve them. In a developer update posted on the game’s official site and attributed to the entire Full Circle team, the studio said it wanted to thank the “tens of millions” of players who have played the game since its Early Access release started on September 16, but added: “We’re also here for the tough love.” “Things have not gone as smoothly for some of you as we would have liked,” the studio conceded. “A lot more (we’re talking millions) players joined us in these first few weeks than we expected – and with that came bugs, glitches, progression locks, and performance issues.” Read More... View the full article

Insta360 has a tradition of gifting employees gold keycaps as a bonus on Programmer's Day in China. Celebrated on October 24 (10/24, or 1,024 – the number of bytes in a kilobyte), the day honors programmers' hard work, creativity, and contributions to tech culture. Major companies often celebrate with events, gifts, and online celebrations. Read Entire Article View the full article

Well, it could have been worse. Fallout 4's all-important script extender modding tool has taken less than 24 hours to be updated to work with the RPG's freshly released anniversary update. It joins an ever-growing list of mods which have been categorised as updated over on Nexus Mods, while Bethesda are seemingly still looking into issues around the anniversary update's extra creations stuff not showing up properly for Steam players. As with last year's Fallout 4 next-gen update, this re-release playing some degree of havok with mods was guaranteed going in, with Bethesda issuing a specific warning against ones which edit the game's main menu. As modding platform Nexus Mods predicted, the list of mods requiring updates to work with the new version has been larger than just those. Read more View the full article

The Source of Contamination quest will send you on investigative duties in ARC Raiders to find out what's spoiling the water supply to Spearanza. You begin the quest after obtaining it from Celeste. Structurally, the quest is pretty simple, where you have to search for the source of what's spoiling the water. This guide will help you complete the quest without any extra hassle. Table of contentsARC Raiders Source of Contamination quest walkthroughARC Raiders Source of Contamination quest rewardsARC Raiders Source of Contamination quest walkthrough The Source of Contamination quest can be broken down into the following parts. Reach the Water Treatment Building in The DamSearch for the Flood Spill Intake near the SwampInvestigate any suspicious objects The first task is to reach the Water Treatment Building. The location is towards the south-central part of the Dam Battlegrounds map. I have marked the spot on the image below to make it easier for you to complete the quest. Water Treatment Control building in ARC Raiders. Screenshot and Remix by Destructoid Once you have reached the eastern part of the building, you'll notice a ladder going up. Don't take the ladder; instead, turn right and you'll find a pit. The pit is hidden, so go near the ladder to face it. Go down the pit, and there's a barrel in the middle of the water. Suspected water contaminant. Screenshot by Destructoid Go close the barrel to complete investigating the item. Don't worry; while the water is toxic, you won't take any damage. The location also has a bunch of Great Mullein growing in the area that will help you craft medical items. Once the investigation is complete, speak with Celeste when you're back in Speranza to complete the quest. ARC Raiders Source of Contamination quest rewards Here's the complete list of items you'll obtain after completing the Source of Contamination quest in ARC Raiders. Five Steel SpringFive Duct TapeOne Mod Components To gain more rewards, you can complete quests like Espresso and Tribute to Toledo. The post How to complete Source of Contamination in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The Espresso quest requires you to find a coffee machine in ARC Raiders, and it's a relatively easy task to complete. The Espresso quest can be obtained from Apollo, who requires you to visit Buried City to find a specific item. The item, in discussion, is an espresso machine, and this guide will help you to locate it without any hassle. Table of contentsARC Raiders Espresso quest walkthroughARC Raiders Espresso quest rewardsARC Raiders Espresso quest walkthrough The Espresso quest can be broken down into the following parts. Find an espresso machine to salvage for spare partsGet the Espresso Machine Parts for Apollo The first task is to find the espresso machine that has to be salvaged. To find the machine, we will have to head to the cafe at Plaza Rosa. I have marked its location to make it easy for you to find the item. You'll find the cafe near the Gradioso Apartments on the other side of the highway. Espresso machine location in ARC Raiders. Screenshot and Remix by Destructoid Once you reach the marked location, you'll find the entrance to the building. Go inside, and you'll find a counter in the first room. Go close to it, and you can find the parts for the espresso machine. Once added to your inventory, the next step is to extract successfully. The Espresso quest only finishes after you have extracted safely with the items. If you die, you'll have to repeat the process from the start (unless the quest item was in your safe pocket). Speak with Apollo when you're back on Speranza to complete the quest. ARC Raiders Espresso quest rewards Here's a list of all the items you'll receive after completing the Espresso quest. One Coffee PotThree Adrenaline Shot If you're looking to get more rewards, try completing the Life of a Pharmacist quest. The post How to complete Espresso in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

At TechSpot, we've always strived to give our readers the best possible insight into PC hardware, through in-depth reviews, comprehensive benchmarks, and long-term testing data. Our goal has been simple: to help you make informed decisions about the gear that powers your PC. Read Entire Article View the full article

Сообщество ARC Raiders обнаружило серьёзную проблему с сетевой частью игры. Пользователь Reddit под ником SentinelData заявил, что тикрейт серверов экстракшен-шутера колеблется в диапазоне от 2 до 4 Гц, то есть сервер обновляет данные клиента лишь несколько раз в секунду. Для сравнения: в Counter-Strike 2 и VALORANT — 64/128 Гц, в PUBG — около 50, а в Warzone — 8-12. View the full article

Руководитель Bethesda Game Studios Тодд Говард признался в интервью GQ, что The Elder Scrolls 6 находится в активной разработке, но релиз состоится нескоро. View the full article

The new Ys I & II Chronicles vinyl and CD soundtrack releases will ship later this month worldwide with pre-orders now live. View the full article

Dungeons & Dragons is one of the pillars of the games industry, in the sense that so many games and entertainment experiences take inspiration from it. Tabletop role-playing games in general are a major building block for video games, but D&D in particular inspired many elements and general feeling that we take for granted in modern RPGs. In modern days, D&D has become even more prominent in and of itself thanks to the rise of Actual Play series on streaming services (such as Critical Role and Dimension 20) and major releases such as the incredibly popular Baldur’s Gate 3 and, naturally, the Dungeons & Dragons movie. .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{ -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); } Read This Article Free Get instant access by joining the GB MAX Access tier — it’s free to sign up and unlock premium content.Join Now to Start ReadingAlready a member? Sign in The post The live Dungeons & Dragons experience brought the RPG feel into reality appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

According to Taiwan tech publication DigiTimes, most AI firms are unwilling to wait two years for HDD supplies to stabilize and are shifting to SSDs instead. To contain costs, they are choosing QLC NAND-based drives over the faster, more durable, and more expensive TLC variants. Read Entire Article View the full article

"My brain is a bit mushy"View the full article

Trap Plan, a video game marketing company, was caught deleting posts after the unprompted reveal that the key to its success when promoting WarRobots: Frontiers was the creation of fake Reddit accounts responsible for a wave of organic growth. You read that right. On Nov. 9, Trap Plan's CEO Pavel Beresnev took to the company's own website to explain his peculiar strategy. The blog post, titled "How we promote WarRobots: Frontiers on Reddit" explains in detail how the company created over 40 posts of made-up players who'd supposedly come across the game and found it too interesting not to share. As caught by Kotaku, these posts were found on places ranging from the PCmasterrace subreddit to r/PlayStation5, and they had the goal of creating a splash "before the next Twitch activation." Beresnev explained how the team went to great lengths to actually play the game and record good gameplay moments that would strike players as authentic. “This created a steady stream of credible, varied content that matched Reddit’s organic tone,” he said. These fake posts weren't that easy to spot, as the company did a good job of diversifying its content, with various clips of movement, combat, and mech mechanics accompanied by what seemed like enthusiastic comments from real players. Moreover, Beresnev mentioned how the company intentionally avoided marketing the game in the conventional manner. Trap Plan didn't do direct ads, opting instead for the most insidious method of trying to create a seemingly honest connection among gamers. Beresnev concluded that “most players didn’t even realize they were part of a marketing effort.” Despite the successful campaign, trying to access that same post will take you to a 404. But players can still access the original post via the magic of the Internet Archive. Sadly, there's a lot of fake information you can get away with spreading on the Internet with no legal repercussions. This is far from the first attempt by a company to promote a game in what's arguably a morally reprehensible manner. Still, it's likely the first time we see a company attempting to promote itself by shooting itself in the foot. In a statement to Kotaku, Beresnev explained that MY.GAMES, the people behind the development of WarRobots: Frontiers had nothing to do and did not sign off on Trap Plan's Reddit marketing plan. "This was entirely our initiative and not commissioned or endorsed by MY.GAMES in any way," he wrote. "We understand this was a mistake and have since removed the case study. We sincerely apologize to MY.GAMES and the War Robots: Frontiers team for the misunderstanding and any confusion it may have caused." Beresnev also explained that "[the company's] intention was to experiment with a more organic way of promoting games on Reddit — without using bots or fake accounts — and to build a new case study we could use in the future." The post Game marketing company admits to promoting game with fake Reddit accounts, then deletes the evidence appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Being a part of Amanda the Adventurer's world means you're already used to hunting down its secret tapes. Just like Amanda's scavenger hunt, we're back searching for the final secret tapes to help make sense of what exactly happened to Rebecca Colton. The final piece to solving the grand Amanda the Adventurer puzzle is to find those four colorful secret tapes. Dotted across the two chapters, the secret tapes help provide answers in the ongoing mystery that centers around the nefarious Hameln. But now we're at the end of the line and with Rebecca's rescue in sight, here's where to find all secret tapes in Amanda the Adventurer 3. Table of contentsAmanda the Adventurer 3: Secret tape locationsFirst tapeSecond tapeThird tapeFourth tapeAmanda the Adventurer 3: Secret tape locations There are four secret tapes in Amanda the Adventurer 3. The game kindly keeps track of your progress in the main menu, but doesn't tell you how many you need to get the true ending. You can refer to the credits and count the redacted sections to tell you how many tapes are left to find. First tape Screenshot by Destructoid This tape is the same one we saw the unnamed protagonist in the prologue place in a folder box. But the box is no longer in the pod room. Now directly next to the television when Riley enters the facility, you must restore Rebecca's memory of the amusement park to get the code 75820. Input this five digit code into Blabbo Bot. The audio log left by Hameln employee Cara reveals the folder box code is 4307. Use it to get the first tape and learn what happened to Sam Colton. Second tape Screenshot by Destructoid The next tape is obtained inside the pod room. You have to match the subjects' favorite food by referring to the Workstation Memo on the corkboard outside of Sam Colton's room. Assign the food from inside the fridge to the correct pod based on the last two digits listed on the right-hand side of said pod. It should go as follows: Chocolate cake - 01 (Error pod)Ham and cheese sandwich - 02 (Power line)Sashimi - 03 (Sun/Circle)Hamburger - 04 (House)Mint Chocolate Chip Icecream - 05 (Flower)Milk - 06 (Cloud)Pizza - 07 (Tree)Salad - 08 (Bin) Return to the fridge to get this secret tape and watch the news broadcast on how Amanda the Adventurer got cancelled. Third tape Screenshot by Destructoid Find Marcus Moutman's Access Card on the bench next to Blabbo Bot when you're inside the Chapel. Input his ID number 61318 into Blabbo. The clearest hint that this is Wooly is the emphasis placed on the word "bad" (like a sheep baaing) as Blabbo offers a clue towards getting the next tape. Insert the When I'm Grown Up tape and answer "MARCUS" when Amanda asks "What do you want to be if you grow up?" The secret tape then spawns on the bench. We finally have the real name and face of the mysterious Wooly. Fourth tape Screenshot by Destructoid The final tape is obtained inside the Chapel, where you must find and place the four candles on the matching podiums that's surrounding the television set and monitors. First, complete When I'm Grown Up tape by clicking on the mirrors in the hallway when they show the correct reflection of Maggie. The mirrors shatter at the end of the tape if completed correctly, rewarding you with the code: 4739. This unlocks the Chapel, where you get the remaining candles you need to unlock the fourth and final tape. The final piece of lore is the Hameln press conference, where a representative does damage control over the adverse side effects Amanda the Adventurer has had on children and asks parents to hand over any tapes of the show (to destroy them). The post All Amanda the Adventurer 3 secret tapes and where to find them appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Deluxe Edition early access is also now available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, and PC Steam. View the full article

As the sun rises on the cobbled market street that ascends from bustling docks on the vibrant Mediterranean waters to the new forum high on the hill above, Anno 117: Pax Romana fills me with delight and civic pride. It took a long time, but I feel like I finally clicked with this series that I've had a little bit of a rocky relationship with, having come in a bit late and at an awkward time with 2205. Its complex economics can still seem to wobble spectacularly off their axis and leave you in a dire failure spiral, but resplendent mechanics for trade, naval warfare, and the blending of cultures offer chances to right the ship. The basic routine in Anno 117 is familiar and effective if you've played other games in the series. You start out building modest residences to house hardworking liberti, or freed people – somewhat conspicuously sidestepping the institution of Roman slavery. When their needs are met, they can promote up the social ladder all the way to snobby patricians who demand all kinds of exotic delicacies from around the world. Part of what influences these promotions is simply access to goods, which is a city-wide thing. But another component is living near high prestige buildings like theaters and shrines… and far away from unpleasant or polluting ones like a charcoal burner. I love the way this naturally creates clusters of higher-class housing on important market streets, tapering off into working class neighborhoods in more industrial areas. It adds to the feel of a real, living city. And since paved roads extend the range of those buildings, that's an upgrade that lets you immediately see its positive effects. It's genuinely delightful to zoom in and watch my little toga-clad citizens going about their business. Every building from a stately villa to an idyllic lavender farm is studded with detail and character. Even the untouched green fields and peaceful blue waters full of marine life create a strong sense of place. The character models for leaders and advisors may be the one thing that didn't wow me. They're full of character, but especially in some of the campaign cutscenes, there were some significant lip sync issues that made it look like a much older game or a badly-dubbed movie. Anno 117 really comes alive with its detailed trade system. The summery paradise of Latium isn't the only locale to explore and exploit. Eventually you unlock the ability to sail to foggy, rocky Albion – that is, Britain – with its own resources, aesthetic, and population. I was a bit worried Anno would lean too hard into othering stereotypes about "mystical Celts" here based on some of the marketing, but it's actually a pretty grounded and sensible depiction. The really interesting choice you have mechanically in this region is whether to stay true to Celtic traditions or fully Romanize your new subjects. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and you can eventually mix and match for some powerful synergies. Anno 117 really comes alive with its detailed trade system, though. To truly meet the needs of demanding nobles in the two regions, you'll have to set up production chains for luxury goods that might pull resources from two or three different islands, then ship them across the world map from one region to another. Each delivery requires individual ships assigned to the trade routes, so I can see exactly where my next delivery of cheese is and even reroute it somewhere else. This is all fairly easy to set up and tweak thanks to the well-organized interface, and naturally creates incentives to build smaller villages that do one specific thing as well as warehouses and waystations to speed things up. My cheese island is quite far away, so I noticed my trade ships spent half their time sailing across Albion. But if I set up a colony close to it that's basically just a cheese warehouse and some subsistence fisheries, I can constantly be moving cheese there with intra-region trade ships to be picked up at the edge of the map all at once. I adore this kind of logistics stuff. Anno 117 is a pretty good RTS, too. I'm especially a fan of its naval combat, which I had to master quickly to protect my trade routes from increasingly vicious pirates. Maneuvering ships feels weighty and realistic, with differences in maneuverability based on whether they rely on sails, oars, or both, and I eventually got pretty good at maneuvers like trapping a sneaky little pirate ship in a cove where there would be no escape. It's a pretty good RTS, too, and I'm especially a fan of its naval combat. Ground combat is just fine. It does its job, with a small selection of melee, ranged, and siege units that can fulfill a handful of different roles. It's possible to succeed without ever getting into a land battle if you have a good navy, but in the few cases where I did, I found some interesting tactics to dig into. It feels like a real RTS at least, as opposed to a half-baked minigame, which I really appreciate. Diplomacy is pretty basic stuff, with a single interesting wrinkle in that the Emperor works a bit differently. You can't really make treaties with him, but he will make demands of you, and succeeding, failing, or refusing affects your reputation with Rome. When he likes you, you get bonuses. When he doesn't, you get penalties. But both ends of the scale culminate in some very powerful rewards. Either you play nice and get appointed Consul, or you defy his authority so effectively that you grant yourself Proconsular authority, Caesar-style. There is a decent story campaign, but it's really more of an extended tutorial. It took me less than 10 hours to finish and only really scratches the surface of the mechanics you can play with in endless mode. You can play as either Marcus or Marcia, with the latter being a sort of madcap "Weekend at Bernicus’" scenario where you are taking on the governor duties of your totally-not-dead husband. It's hardly Shakespeare, but there's some interesting intrigue going on and a cast of memorable characters. The Canaanite Ben-Baalion was a particularly endearing companion who presented me with an emotionally satisfying choice at the end. While you can continue from the ending of the campaign as long as you want, most of my playtime was spent in the endless mode, which lets you start in either Albion or Latium and offers a wide range of difficulty options. You can even pick from a set of rival governors with different personalities and playstyles. I don't think they necessarily play by the same rules that you do as a player, however. Looking at some late game cities they built… I honestly don't know what's going on. But they can be compelling adversaries or valuable trade partners nonetheless. There are still some classic Anno issues kicking around, like the fact that very large economies can become unwieldy and are prone to death spirals. If food is disrupted, population drops, which causes food buildings to become underemployed, leading to even less food and even more population drop. At one point I had to restart because I accidentally changed a large city's patron god, which made it instantly insolvent and nearly irrecoverable due to lost agricultural bonuses. But trade is kind of the hero here once again, since setting up buy orders for whatever you're out of can bail you out of a lot of tricky spots as long as you have cash. It's a little fiddly setting up a lot of different trades at a lot of different harbors the first time, but the interface is easy to work with, and once things were set, I didn't find I had to mess with them very often. View the full article

The last update to Path of Exile 2 helped turn things around after developer Grinding Gear Games soured players with a gigantic pile of nerfs in the previous patch. It did not, however, include the new druid class that barely missed the deadline... Read more.View the full article