Month: February 2017

Strategic Command Garand Update Available

strategic-command-ww2-war-in-europe The first official update of Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe is finally available for download!

The “Garand” Update brings a huge list of bug fixes and improvements, thanks to the extraordinary amount of feedback coming from the community!

Some highlights:

Fixed a rare disappearing Capitals error;
Fixed several ‘on_left_button_down’ errors related to unit selection and movement;
Soviet Shock Army Build Time increased from 1 to 4 months;
Vichy France will now deploy its navy if it joins the Axis or Allies for the 1939 to 1942 campaigns

The changelog is very long, so be sure to check it out here!

You can download the update from here.

NOTE ABOUT MULTIPLAYER

The “Garand” Update does not include PBEM which is not quite ready but we didn’t want to delay the many improvements and fixes that Hubert and Bill have made any longer. Nevertheless, the multiplayer is almost finished and we hope to release it very soon! Thanks for your patience!

Get more information about Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe from its official product page!

Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | February 24, 2017 |

Armored Brigade Is Officially Announced

armored-brigade Innovation in wargames is a hard thing to achieve. New ideas are rare and it’s even rarer to find new development studios willing to bring these ideas to life. Nevertheless, once in a while, someone comes along with an innovative concept, a different approach.

Armored Brigade is one of these rare projects that are the best candidates to evolve an entire market.

“Wargaming is one of the longest running genres out there”, says Iain McNeil, Development Director of Matrix Games. “We have been in this market for so long that we know how hard it is to capture a new idea, a new concept and bring it to life. Armored Brigade is definitely a title that aims to keep itself true to the complexities of a traditional wargame, but also tries to enhance the experience with new gameplay ideas. We are very proud to be working with Veitikka Studios on this project and we are looking forwards to helping make this game the success it deserves to be”.

The game uses a real-time engine and focuses on maximizing the realism of mechanized warfare during a possible escalation of conflict between NATO and the WARSAW pact countries during the cold war.

Large maps, modeled upon real terrain make each battle a true test of wits. Weather and visibility all play a role and with several munition types, including air to air combat and artillery, no battle will be the same. Exciting and challenging tank warfare only adds to the level of realism.

There are a variety of different nationalities within the game including US, USSR, West and East Germany, UK, Finland and Poland. Everything is modeled to a high level of detail to achieve a truly original game.

But this is just the beginning!

Get more information about Armored Brigade from its official website.

Armored Brigade Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | February 24, 2017 |

NVIDIA Releases the GeForce 378.77 Hotfix Drivers

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA today released a hotfix version of its GeForce driver suite. Numbered the 378.77, these fix some issues with the previous driver release, numbered 378.66. Solved issues include driver installation errors for laptops with GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti GPUs, crashes in Minecraft and some other Java-based titles, and resolving ‘Debug Mode’ as default option on Pascal based GPUs.

This driver release contains all previous improvements, including an optimized experience for Sniper Elite 4, For Honor and Halo Wars 2, whilst also introducing support for NVIDIA’s Video SDK 8.0, which provides support for high-bit-depth (10/12-bit) hardware accelerated video decoding of VP9 and HEVC.

You can download the new GeForce 378.77 Hotfix drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | February 24, 2017 |

Just Announced Hardware for 24 February 2017

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.

Hardware | Donster | February 24, 2017 |

Nival Announces the World’s First Neural Network AI for RTS for its Game Blitzkrieg 3

Nival reported on solving one of the most ambitious problems for artificial intelligence specialists. Company’s engineers created the world’s first neural network AI for the real-time strategy. This challenging task was chased by a large number of leading companies, including the Deep Mind, IBM, etc. AI, named Boris, is capable of playing at the top player’s level while not using any hidden information about the enemy.

Every few seconds general Boris analyzes the gaming session and makes neural network-based predictions of the enemy future behavior. This approach allows him to think up sophisticated counter-strategies and bring them to life.
The video of AI playing against one of the studio staff was published on the the official Blitzkrieg 3 channel on YouTube and on the game’s page on Steam. It stresses the AI’s unusual behavior: Boris constantly scouts the map, actively relocates his units, and changes his tactics depending on the situation. For instance, in one of the episodes Boris started by landing his paratroopers to attack a single enemy tank. But when reinforcements tanks came, his troops immediately took the defensive positions in the buildings and tried to utilize the artillery. The video also states that playing with general Boris will be available for general public at the upcoming March update.

“Despite the fact that the leading companies of the world are working on this problem, we have managed to create the first neural network AI for RTS”, – says Sergey Orlovskiy, founder and CEO of Nival. “It is worth noting that Boris plays fairly. He does not use the information under the fog of war, as well as any other hidden information about the enemy. We gave him only the basic tactical moves, but during his training he invented a variety of strategies. He makes decisions just like a talented military leader. It has become difficult to predict his actions now, and, most importantly, to distinguish them from human behavior.”

Company’s speakers also state that such an AI approximates the not-so-distant future. Sooner or later AI-based generals will surpass their human counterparts and AI-controlled armies will defend the national borders.

You can get more information and purchase a digital copy of the game on the official website and on the game’s Steam page.

About Blitzkrieg 3

Blitzkrieg 3 is the first true online RTS. It is primarily based on online battles with one side attacking and the other defending, just like in a real war. This third game is a continuation of the successful Blitzkrieg franchise, which has earned over 40 Game of the Year and Editors’ Choice awards around the world. As with previous installments, the game is being developed by Nival, which has been creating top strategy games for the past 18 years.

Blitzkrieg 3 Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | February 23, 2017 |

Paradox Calls You to Take the Orders on March 7

Monks & Mystics Expansion to Crusader Kings II Sets Date and Price in New Video Developer Diary

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio have set a release date for the newest expansion to its celebrated medieval role-playing grand strategy game. Crusader Kings II: Monks & Mystics will be leaving the abbey on March 7, 2017 and will be found at Steam and the Paradox Store for $14.99/€14.99.

Monks & Mystics expands the religious side of Crusader Kings II, letting characters join monastic orders, forbidden death cults and even worship Satan in the search for greater power. Perform great charitable acts or feats of infamy as you climb the ranks of your chosen religious community.

Crusader Kings Game Director, Henrik Fåhraeus, talks us through some insights into this latest expansion via a brand new video Developer Diary.

Features of Monks & Mystics include:

Monastic Orders: Join the Benedictines, Dominicans or other monastic society and increase your prestige while doing homage to God.
Secret Religious Societies: Hold a secret faith in your heart and slowly increase your religion’s power, climbing from discouraged minority to official faith.
Devil Worship and Alchemy: Join those who perform Black Masses and dark crimes, or use your intelligence to seek out the hidden mysteries of the universe
Treasury and Relics: Collect religious relics of the saints to raise your status and increase your power, or craft masterworks of weapons or jewelry that increase your prestige and prowess
New Councilor Actions: Even councilors that aren’t active in your realm will be using their skills to increase the wealth and stability of your kingdom
And much more

Monks & Mystics is the first expansion to be released for Crusader Kings II since it celebrated its 5th anniversary this month.

Crusader Kings II Strategy and Wargaming | Donster | February 23, 2017 |

GIGABYTE Z270X-Gaming 5 Motherboard Review

Author: Morry Teitelman @ PC Perspective

With the release of Intel Z270 chipset, GIGABYTE is unveiling its AORUS line of products. The AORUS branding will be used to differentiate enthusiast and gamer friendly products from their other product lines, similar to how ASUS uses the ROG branding to differentiate their high performance product line. The Z270X-Gaming 5 is among the first to be released as part of GIGABYTE’s AORUS line. The board features the black and white branding common to the AORUS product line, with the rear panel cover and chipset featuring the brand logos. The board is designed around the Intel Z270 chipset with in-built support for the latest Intel LGA1151 Kaby Lake processor line (as well as support for Skylake processors) and Dual Channel DDR4 memory running at a 2400MHz speed. The Z270X-Gaming 5 can be found in retail with an MSRP of $189.99.

Read The Review Here

Hardware Motherboards | Donster | February 23, 2017 |

AMD Releases the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.2.1 WHQL Drivers

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD has released the 17.2.1 WHQL version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. This release features Multi GPU profiles and support for For Honor (with an up to 4% performance improvement on Radeon RX 480) and Sniper Elite 4 (with a 5% performance improvement being registered here). Look after the break for a list of known, fixed issues. Compared to the previous 17.2.1 Beta release of the ReLive driver suite, this one is virtually the same, the only difference being the WHQL signing.

You can download the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Drivers version 17.2.1 here.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | February 23, 2017 |

Just Announced Hardware for 23 February 2017

Hardware | Donster | February 23, 2017 |

War Thunder Announces Weekly Naval Battles Events

Regular testing featuring cross-platform battles on PC and PS4 in a variety of game modes, environmental settings and lineups to start this weekend.

Gaijin Entertainment today announced the start of regular weekly testing sessions for the second phase of its Naval Forces Pre-Beta test, available cross-platform on both PC and PS4. Every weekend over the coming weeks, aspiring captains will now be able to try a variety of naval craft and game modes as the developers introduce new features and finalize core game mechanics and naval physics for the upcoming Closed Beta for ships.

From the 24th to 27th, the first event to run will allow Pre-Beta participants to see the debut of a brand-new lineup of top rank torpedo and gunboats, which all come with awesome firepower and mobility, together with countless other changes implemented on the basis of recent tester feedback.

The forthcoming Closed Beta for ships will provide a huge array of seafaring craft for players to research and upgrade, with details to be profiled on War Thunder’s devblog in the coming weeks. For those keen to get involved in Pre-Beta and subsequent Closed Beta testing for ships, more information is available here.

Participants of the Pre-Beta were already able to try different naval vessels ranging from fast torpedo and gunboats to multi-purpose escort ships and submarine chasers. The battles took place on various locations including the ‘Ice Fields’ of Scandinavia, the ‘English Coast’ and the tropical waters of Africa, while new game modes presented players with challenges customized to the Naval Forces gameplay. In ‘Convoy’, both teams have to destroy a group of large, armed merchant ships belonging to the enemy while protecting their own fleet against attacks from sea and the air. In the future, participants of the Pre-Beta will continue to see more Naval game modes, locations and, of course, ships.

You can find out more about War Thunder and download the game for free at the official War Thunder website.

MMORPGs War Thunder | Donster | February 22, 2017 |