Month: June 2016

Hearts of Iron IV Gets Some Expert Analysis - Swedish Officer Evaluates the Wargame as First Major Patch Arrives

One test of a strategic wargame is whether real-world military expertise and planning translates to the virtual space. We invited Lieutenant-Colonel Conny Hansen of the Swedish Armed Forces to play Hearts of Iron IV in our studio so he could get the measure of Paradox Development Studio’s newest grand strategy wargame.

In this short video, you can watch Lt. Col. Hansen plot an American war strategy that puts the Pacific theatre first. What will await him when he finally looks across the Atlantic? Stay to the end for his final verdict on Hearts of Iron IV.

Meanwhile, away from Central Command, the Paradox team has been busy patching Hearts of Iron IV. Here’s a quick rundown of the improvements you can expect in this first major update to the game:

• Command Group Postures: Your armies can now carry out orders Carefully, Balanced, or in a Rush.
• New Template Design: An empty template for new division designs is now available in the edit division drop-down tab.
• AI Production Priorities: Computer controlled opponents will have a greater emphasis on infantry and fighter production.
• Making Friends: Computer controlled opponents will be more likely to grant military access to countries fighting a common enemy.
• Boys From Brazil: Germany less likely to spam South America with justifications for war
• Bug Fixes: Tweaks to warscore calculation, the peace process and King George V only dies once, now.

For a complete list of the fixes to Hearts of Iron IV, check this thread on our official forum.

For more information on Hearts of Iron IV, check out the games official website.

A new update is ready for this revolutionary wargame! Version 1.03r is now available and it brings a lot of important improvements!

Among all, the Hugo’s (War Diary) unit is given a darker shade to ID it in counter mode 1, a Soviet Instant Win Victory not triggering in unusual circumstances has been solved, and numerous text and typos are now fixed.

Be sure to check the entire list of changes here.

You can download the update following this link.

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa is also on Steam.

Get more information about Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa from its official product page!

Source: TechPowerUp!

Hot on the heels of its Radeon RX 480 launch, AMD released the latest version of Radeon Software Crimson Edition. Version 16.2.2 Beta adds support for the RX 480, and introduces new features such as AMD WattMan, a manual power-management utility, CrossFire toggle, which lets you control CrossFire for supported games via profiles; HDMI scaling, new display color temperature, and Vulkan Version readout. The drivers also add CrossFire profile for “World of Tanks.”

You can download the Radeon Software Crimson Edition version 16.6.2 drivers here.

With today’s release of the AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics card, a number of reviews have become available featuring the RX 480 reference card. You can check out the reviews via the links posted below.

• HARDOCP
• GURU3D
• HOTHARDWARE
• LEGIT REVIEWS
• HARDWARE CANUCKS
• TECHPOWERUP!
• THE TECH REPORT
• ANANDTECH
• HARDWARE HEAVEN

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• AMD Launches the Radeon Rebellion with the Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card
• Be Quiet! Announces the Dark Base 900 Case
• GIGABYTE Announces the GeForce GTX 1070 WindForce 2X
• Radeon RX 480 GPU is Now Shipping in ORIGIN PC
• EK Releases MSI GeForce GTX 1080 TF6 Full-Cover Water Block
• SteelSeries is Giving Away Prizes for their 15 Year Anniversary!
• ASUS and MSI Tease Custom Radeon RX 480 Cards
• AMD Lists Radeon RX 490 Graphics Card, New APUs in Gaming Promo

Additional Free Content Also Coming With Update 1.3

Today, Ubisoft announced that the Underground expansion for Tom Clancy’s The Division is now available on Xbox One and Windows PC. Underground is available with the Season Pass or can be purchased separately for £11.99, and will be released for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system on August 2. Check out the new Underground launch trailer here.

In the Underground expansion, agents must fight a war on two fronts. Below the streets of New York, enemy factions are regrouping and preparing a large-scale attack. Players will confront these threats with up to three friends as they explore randomly generated dungeons comprised of subways, tunnels and sewers and recover powerful loot. While in Hell’s Kitchen, the Dragon’s Nest Incursion offers the biggest challenge to date where, the Cleaners are developing a devastating new weapon and have set their sights on the Base of Operations as their first target.

Additional Expansion I: Underground Feature
New Gear Sets

• B.L.I.N.D. – Control the battlefield with an improved Pulse skill and flashbangs with this hybrid gear set.
• DeadEYE – Dictate long-range engagements with powerful critical strikes or accurate headshots.
• FireCrest – Set enemies ablaze with this offensive gear set.
• Reclaimer – Boost the entire group with this ultimate support set.

In addition, starting today, Update 1.3 will add new free content for all players on Xbox One and Windows PC, and will then be available from July 5th on PlayStation 4 system.

Update 1.3

• Find and equip nine new weapon types
• Experience Hudson Refugee Camp and Queens Tunnel in Challenge mode for better rewards
• Play the new Heroic difficulty to unlock top-tier rewards in incursions and select missions
• Get the all new Alpha Bridge gear set
• Discover the Terminal, a new shared social space inside the Base of Operations

For more game, expansion and patch information, visit the Tom Clancy’s The Division website.

War Thunder’s content sharing platform provides incentive for ‘bedroom coders’ and player generated content

Gaijin Entertainment has revealed that the recent War Thunder Update 1.59 ‘Flaming Arrows’ which saw a variety of new features, locations and vehicles added to the game has been a financial hit with one lucky player. Arguably, one of the most extraordinary additions has been the very first official introduction of an aircraft that was created by a member of the Community. Yes, that’s right: The original 3D model of the German night interceptor He 219 was created by Daniil “_Joy_Division_” Zaitsev, a War Thunder player who’s just banked a cheque from Gaijin Entertainment fir a cool $5000 as part of its player revenue share program.

Revenue Share: Where Players become Developers

Adding this vehicle was possible thanks to War Thunders Revenue Share Partner System, which was introduced a while ago as an incentive for creative players to add to and help with the development of War Thunder. The principle is simple: Exceptional work posted to War Thunder Live, the game’s own content sharing platform, may catch the developers attention and thus has a chance of being added to the game. Similarly, players that have already made progress in creating something truly impressive, like the 3D model of a vehicle, are invited to contact us directly – as was the case with Daniil Zaitsev, who got in touch with one of our modelers. If you are interested in reading more about how the He 219 came to life, read more in the respective developer’s blog!

The He 219, a Success Story for Revenue Share!

Included as a Premium vehicle to the German tree that is available for purchase by Golden Eagles, the He 219 quickly became a favorite for many players. And while the machine itself with its six cannons is truly interesting, we are sure that many players decided to support and thank a fellow War Thunder player for his hard work and dedication. Which is great thing, indeed! Check out the He 219 in all its glory here.

To download War Thunder, please visit the official War Thunder website.

By Brian Nyhuis @ Legit Reviews

Eisbaer? What!? Try pronouncing it like ‘Ice Bear’ and it’ll make a whole lot more sense! It could be written as Eisbär, to confuse native English speakers more, but thankfully it is not. It translates to ‘Polar Bear’ in German, which Germany is exactly where Alphacool is stationed. First shown off at Computex 2016, today Alphacool is taking the wraps off of the Eisbaer AIO Liquid CPU Cooler and we have one for review! Alphacool has worked with various partners in the past, such as Fractal Design, ASUS, Sapphire, and even Cooler Master, designing cooling solutions for their various needs; they’re actually quite the one-stop-shop for water cooling products for everyone. This is a pretty neat looking cooler, so let’s hope the performance is as good as the looks.

Read The Review Here

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• GeForce GTX “Pascal” Faces High DVI Pixel Clock Booting Problems
• Cougar 530M Gaming Mouse Released
• ASUS Intros GeForce GTX 1070 Turbo
• MSI Readies the B150M Mortar Arctic and B150M Bazooka Plus Motherboards
• EK Releases GIGABYTE GTX 1080 G1 Full-Cover Water Block
• PowerColor Working on a Custom Radeon Pro Duo?
• EK Releases NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Water Blocks
• EK Releases ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 Strix Full-Cover Water Block
• Raja Koduri Creates a Bit of Hype – Vega 10 Celebration

Nothing quite shocks the senses like the chilly winds and intense air-battles of 1940s southeast Asia. Today’s summery Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China Steam update not only improves multiplayer features, but also retrofits cockpit view/support, starting with a functional inside rendition of the RAF’s tropical Spitfire Mk. V. Furthermore, a pair of new fighters have been made available namely the Allied P-47D “Thunderbolt” and the Japanese Ki-44 Shoki “Toji”, each with a decent selection of skins and over-the-radio voice shouts in American, Chinese, Russian and Japanese languages.

“Cockpit/Contender” Update Overview:

• Added support for cockpit view. Just getting started on fighter interiors. Buckle up in the Spitfire Mk. V fighter in the Multiplayer, Dogfight or Free Flight modes (press “V” to cycle cameras/cockpit).
• Online features improved. Collapsed multiplayer JOIN/HOST menus for better overview and accessibility, improved lobby/match views, added Steam invites (via lobby and pause screens), Leaderboards readily accessible, Steam profile avatars used for both multiplayer games and match stats, adjusted formatting/layout to make native chat more pleasant (use RETURN/ENTER to toggle chat).
• Multiplayer modes. Flying below 200 ft partially hides you allowing for interesting escapes and sudden “jumps” on opponents. Player health for all multiplayer modes now displayed in the match stats/overview.
• Visuals. Improved scene rendering for increased shadow and tree stability on (resulting in a less distractive landscape view).
• Just for fun. Implemented real-time “documentary” color modes; sepia, black & white and vintage filters (available via the DISPLAY SETTINGS menu).
• Two new fighter aircraft. P-47D “Thunderbolt” and Ki-44 Shōki “Toji” fighters with multiple skins and voice shouts.

Watch the “Cockpit/Contender” Steam Update Gameplay Trailer here.

You can purchase Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China via Steam.

Get more information about the game at the official Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China website.