Month: May 2019

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has unveiled the GeForce 430.64 WHQL graphics drivers. These drivers include the crucial bug fix that caused abnormal CPU usage by telemetry, which was fixed by the non-WHQL 430.53 Hotfix . In addition, it comes Game Ready for “RAGE 2,” “World War Z,” and “Total War: Three Kingdoms.” The drivers also add SLI support for “Imperator: Rome,” and “Insurgency Sandstorm.” In addition to the high CPU-usage bug, version 430.64 WHQL fixes a flickering observed when 3DMark Time Spy is launched, an application crash with BeamNG, “Hitman 2″ DirectX 12 mode, and flickering noticed on secondary monitor when a video is played on the primary one, in dual-monitor setups.

You can download the new GeForce 430.64 WHQL drivers through GeForce Experience or via GeForce.com.

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.

• ENERMAX Intros T.B.RGB AD., the Advanced Version of T.B.RGB Fan
• Apacer Introduces NOX RGB DDR4 Gaming Memory
• ASUS Launches ROG Strix LC Series AIO Liquid CPU Coolers
• Logitech Launches G502 Lightspeed Mouse: The Classic Mouse Goes Wireless
• ASUS Releases ROG Strix Carry Wireless Mouse
• Shuttle Supplies Mini-PC in a Cube Format for 9th Gen Intel Processors
• Thermaltake Launches Level 20 RGB Battlestation Gaming Desk at $1,199
• Akasa Releases Dual NVMe M.2. Adapter with Addressable RGB
• Aerocool AeroEngine RGB Tempered Glass Case Gets Tempered Glass Side Panel – Front RGB Fan

BECOME AN ELITE SPECIAL OPERATIONS SOLDIER BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Ubisoft has announced Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the latest installment in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise. The game will be available from October 4th 2019 on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. After successfully rebooting the Ghost Recon formula with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Ubisoft Paris has created an entirely new adventure, putting players back in the boots of the Ghosts, an Elite US Special Operations Unit, but this time they are stranded behind enemy lines, facing their toughest enemy to date.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a military shooter set in a diverse and hostile open world. The game will be playable solo or in up to four-player co-op. Players will discover Auroa, a mysterious island where the most technically advanced facilities meet wild and untamed nature. Home to tech giant, Skell Technology, Auroa has fallen into the wrong hands and all contact has been lost.

The Wolves, a lethal ex-US Military unit of former Ghosts gone rogue, have taken over the island. Led by Nomad’s ex-brother-in-arms, Lt. Colonel Cole D. Walker, portrayed by Jon Bernthal, they have reprogrammed Skell’s drones into killing machines and are ready to use them, no matter the casualties. Nomad and the Ghosts are sent in on a recon mission, but their helicopters are shot down. Injured, without support, and hunted down, players will live an intense military experience as they fight to survive, take down the Wolves and regain control of Auroa.

Steep slopes, accumulating injuries, and fatigue are new challenges for players to tackle as they test their survival skills in the varied terrains of Auroa. To overcome adversity, players will enjoy total freedom to accomplish their missions and have plenty of tactical options and tools at their disposal, including a set of new military features. They will be able to carry enemies and teammates’ bodies, blend into their environment with prone camo and set up camp with teammates in the bivouac to manage equipment, change classes, and fine-tune their strategies.

They will also be able to choose among thousands of customization combinations to create their perfect Ghost, and keep their character and progression through the game, in both the main campaign and Player-versus-Player (PvP), available at launch.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint will include a robust post-launch content support plan, with regular updates after launch. New story arcs, classes and features will be continuously added, and for the first time in a Ghost Recon game, a new type of endgame content: Raids.

Watch the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint official announcement Trailer HERE.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, visit ghostrecon.com.

New Update 5.0 Adds New Story Elements, New Ship UI, Final God Challenge and Turn Based Mode Enters Full Release

Genre-defining RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment, in partnership with indie powerhouse publisher Versus Evil, is today announcing that update 5.0 for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is now available. On the one year anniversary of its launch Obsidian continues to refine the player experience for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and introduces a whole host of new content, balances, and fixes with update 5.0, including the full release of turn-based mode.

The update provides further refinement to ship to ship encounters as players navigate the exotic open ocean of the Deadfire archipelago. Obsidian has also written in new story content recorded by the original actors which improves story aspects with Woedica and Eotha characters in the game. The final God Challenge will also be live with this update and turns on not only all the other God Challenges, but also Solo (the game must be played with no companions), Trail of Iron (you only have one save file and if you die, the save is deleted), and Path of the Damned (the hardest difficulty), for players looking to test their mettle.

And there’s more! – with update 5.0 Obsidian is also providing a revised set of the Pillars of Eternity pen-and-paper rules for everyone to be able to try out. Anyone who is interested in playing a tabletop game in the world of Eora, can head over to https://eternity.obsidian.net and download the ruleset now! Those who already had the rules either through backing the game on Fig, or in the Deluxe or Obsidian Editions of Deadfire will also get the updated ruleset.

Furthermore, Obsidian is holding a competition for the Ultimate God Challenge where players can get an embroided patch from Obsidian and their name, class, character and level engraved on a plaque for prosperity to be hung in the Obsidian offices. For full guidelines for the competition, check out the latest Deadfire Backer Update on Obsidian’s forums.

Developer Kraken Studios and Matrix Games are proud to announce WarPlan. 

WarPlan is a game like few others. It is more than a WWII game. It’s a tool. Merging the experience of 50 years in wargaming, WarPlan puts in players’ hands the control of virtually everything.

Supply System, Production, Politics, Military operations and many other layers are offered to you thanks the great engine flexibility.

Today, developer Kraken Studios and Matrix Games are proud to announce that WarPlan has reached the Beta Phase, so if you think you have what it takes to help polishing and testing don’t miss this incredible opportunity and join the Beta now!

Learn more about WarPlan on the games official webpage!

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.

• ASUS Details Its First B365 ATX ROG Strix Motherboard
• PNY Rolls Out XLR8 CS3030 Series M.2 NVMe SSDs
• EK Announces the Expansion and Global Availability of  Classic Product Lineup
• ASUS Unveils ROG Strix B365-G Gaming Motherboard
• EK Releases EK-Vector Aorus GPU Water Blocks
• Bitspower Launches Sobek Z390 Monoblock for ASUS ROG Maximus XI Series

Attack Boats, Destroyers and Heavy Cruisers on the Horizon as Japan Prepares for War at Sea

Gaijin Entertainment today announced that War Thunder will soon unleash the might of the Japanese Navy as the game’s fifth Naval Forces vehicle tree. Beta-testing of the initial lineup of the Japanese ships will start at the end of May, with the release of War Thunder’s next major Content Update 1.89.

The initial batch of Japanese ships will encompass more than 20 ships, ranging from torpedo and gunboats to destroyers and cruisers. Many of those were active participants in some of the biggest battles of World War II. This includes the light cruiser Agana, which evacuated Japanese forces from Guadalcanal, and the destroyer Yugumo, which escorted Admiral Nagumo’s strike force against Midway and was sunk during the battles around the Solomon Islands. While the majority of the ships belong to the Imperial Japanese Navy, the game will also see the addition of modern ships of the post-war Japanese Self-Defense Marine Forces, including the PT-15, which was the last torpedo boat to serve in the Japanese Navy.

The oxygen-propelled Type 93 torpedoes, which were used by Japanese destroyers and cruisers of World War II, were the most advanced torpedoes of their time and featured excellent hitting power, range and speed. After the war, they were referred to by most historians as the Japanese “Long Lance”. All players of War Thunder will be able to get their history lesson on that subject very soon, as – true to War Thunder’s realistic approach – both the design and capabilities of the Japanese Navy were recreated as authentically as possible. The Yugumo, for example, is equipped with eight torpedo tubes in two traversable quad-turrets mounted at the center of the ship, allowing the player to launch these devastating weapons to both sides.

After the release of Update 1.89, all players can get access to the beta testing of Japanese ships by completing tasks in War Thunder. Alternatively, access is granted via the purchase of one of the pre-order bundles containing a premium Japanese ship, a sum of premium currency, several days of premium time as well as a unique player title and vehicle decal. One pre-order pack will include the modern patrol boat PG-02 (Rank II), while the other will include the World War II destroyer Kiyoshimo (Rank III).

The launch of the Japanese Navy will also see another first in the game: The introduction of heavy cruisers. More information about this as well as the other new features of the coming Update will be made available on the War Thunder website over the coming weeks.

While the Japanese Navy is getting ready for battle, the fans might try another fun activity – the YouTube Cup. Popular War Thunder YouTube and Twitch content creators like MrSteveGamer or Abinavski will clash in this online tournament on May 6th – May 8th. The live stream from the tournament will be available at the official War Thunder channels on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook with the commentary from PhlyDaily – a famous War Thunder expert with more than 750,000 subscribers.

Source: Blue’s News

Operation Oracle is now underway in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, offering new free content for the tactical shooter. Those who don’t own the game can still check this out, as the launch kicks off with a free weekend on all platforms, and this page has all the details on how to get in on the action. This trailer (NSFW) shows that Operation Oracle introduces a new character played by actor Jon Bernthal, who’s set to hand out some punishment. Here’s the announcement:

Today, Ubisoft announced that Operation Oracle and a free weekend for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands are available starting May 2 through May 5 on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and Windows PC.

Playable in single-player or co-op, Operation Oracle sends the Ghosts on a rescue mission for a Skell Tech engineer taken hostage by Unidad. This typical rescue mission will soon turn into something much bigger. Forget what you know about your enemies and friends as you meet Cole D. Walker, a Ghost Team Leader on the hunt for the truth.

Operation Oracle comes after two years of substantial post-launch support for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands and follows the completion of Year 2, which brought four free major updates to the game further expanding the Ghost Recon universe.

Matrix Games has released an overview of the first iteration of the Armored Brigade Campaign Generator system. It and the original Battle Generator are built with the same design philosophy in mind: To have an easy way to generate an infinite amount of replayable content that can be shared with others.

It provides a context for the battles and adds more depth to gameplay by making use of the game’s features that some players might otherwise have overlooked.

The flexibility of the battle system that can handle almost any forces, locations, and other parameters is made use of by having units with tracked statistics, battle locations that are dictated by the outcome of the previous battle, and the time of day and the weather that keep changing during or between the battles. One strength of Armored Brigade is the enormous size of maps. They offer a myriad of unique and realistic locations, and when fighting over a piece terrain, even for several battles, its special characteristics become familiar and memorable.

The system tracks explosions and terrain fires, and these areas become destruction zones in the following battles. All this creates a sense of drama.

Let’s take a look at how a fresh campaign is generated, and how the transition between the campaign battles works.

IMPORTANT – The Battle Generator tool comes with the free update that will be released along with the Nation Pack. It will be available both for the base game and the DLC.

Click here to read the document (.PDF File).

Get more information about Armored Brigade from its official webpage.

Go back behind enemy lines with this stunning remaster

Independent developer and publisher Rebellion today released a new trailer for Sniper Elite V2 Remastered, detailing ‘7 Reasons to Upgrade’ to the hotly anticipated remaster of the studio’s 2012 classic.

On top of 4K and HDR support on available platforms, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered features beautifully updated environments, characters, weapons and vehicles, modernized rendering and post-processing effects, enhanced texturing and level geometry, a revamped lighting system, and dozens upon dozens of improvements and refinements.

In addition to visual upgrades, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered introduces a brand new frame-by-frame photo mode, seven new playable characters from Rebellion’s Zombie Army series, expanded multiplayer for up to 16 players online*, and all the additional content ever released for the game, FREE.

• Incredible Remastered Visuals – Sniper Elite V2 Remastered features beautifully updated environments, characters, weapons and vehicles, modernized rendering and post-processing effects, enhanced texturing and level geometry, a revamped lighting system, and dozens upon dozens of improvements and refinements.
• New Frame-by-frame Photo Mode – Pause and step through the action frame-by-frame, position the camera, apply a filter, adjust the lighting and take stunning photos to share with the community. Including your epic X-Ray kill camera shots.
• New Playable Characters – For the first time, play the campaign and multiplayer modes as one of 8 new characters from Rebellion’s Zombie Army series.
• Optional 60fps Performance Mode – On supported platforms, enjoy Sniper Elite V2 Remastered’s epic campaign in super smooth 60 frames-per-second.
• All DLC Included – Experience the infamous “Kill Hitler” mission. Take the fight to new fronts in three new campaign levels. Hunt your foes with a variety of iconic weapons including the Lee Enfield MK III, M1D Garrand, M1 Carbine and more.
• Multiplayer & Co-Op – Gather your squad and compete in 7 uniquely tense multiplayer modes, now for up to 16 players online. Including Deathmatch, Distance King, Dogtag Harvest and Capture the Flag
• 4K and HDR support – Stunning 4K HDR support transports you to the front line

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered will launch May 14th, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. The game is available to pre-order now for £29.99, with a special 10% discount on digital purchases available across all platforms. Steam users who already own the original edition of Sniper Elite V2 can upgrade to Sniper Elite V2 Remastered for just £6.99.