Month: September 2020

Source: Blue’s News

Crysis Remastered is now available for Windows on the Epic Games Store and for consoles on their respective storefronts. This offers the chance to return to the jungle in the updated version of Crytek’s first-person shooter. Here’s the Official Launch Trailer and here’s word on how the game has been modernized to take advantage of modern hardware to make “can it play Crysis?” relevant again:

“Our aim was to upgrade the visual fidelity for a wide range of PCs and to use all the technical capabilities of current-gen consoles while offering the same great gameplay that Crysis is known for,” said Project Lead Steffen Halbig. “Naturally, we are thrilled to invite a new generation of players to suit up and experience Crysis, upgraded and remastered to take advantage of today’s hardware and advances in CRYENGINE.”

Crysis Remastered features the all-action, sandbox, single-player gameplay from the acclaimed shooter, upgraded with remastered graphics, including high-quality textures, improved art assets and more. For the first time this console generation, Crytek’s software-based ray tracing comes to PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. On PC, CRYENGINE’s hardware-agnostic technology brings ray tracing to a wide range of contemporary GPUs. Additionally, Crysis Remastered supports hardware-based ray tracing using NVIDIA’s VKRay Vulkan extension on launch, and NVIDIA® DLSS technology will be added soon for the NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX GPU.

In Crysis Remastered, players face down an alien invasion armed with the powerful Nanosuit, which provides super strength, armor, speed and cloaking abilities. Choose your own path as you fight through the open world of Crysis, destroying obstacles, driving vehicles, and using a huge arsenal of modular weaponry to dominate enemies on ever-changing battlefields.

Red Storm is available now and is the third and final DLC in the Soviet Trilogy for Order of Battle: World War II franchise. The new expansion covers the battles of the Red Army from 1943 to 1945.

The campaign begins with the fierce tank battle near Prokhorovka during Operation Citadel which was the last grand German summer offensive on the Eastern Front in mid-1943. The failure of Operation Citadel led the Red Army to be almost always on the offensive after. The ultimate goal of this campaign, therefore, is the defeat of the Third Reich in the Battle of Berlin.

Watch the Order of Battle: Red Storm in 2 minutes trailer HERE.

You will now be able to purchase light Ba-64 armored cars, devastating BM-31 Katyusha rocket launchers or hard-hitting 100mm anti-tank guns. Improve your air forces with the agile Yak-3, the heavily armed Yak-9T and the more advanced Yak-9U as well as the improved medium Tu-2 and heavy Yer-2 bombers.

It is not just the allies getting new equipment, however, as the enemy is also fielding brand new equipment: the Germans now deploy their deadly 8.8cm Pak 43 as well as the nimble Pzkw II Luchs and new He-162 jet fighters in 1945. Their Hungarian allies will also field Turan tanks, Zrinyi SP guns as well as the Bf-109 and Me-210 aircraft.

To celebrate the end of the Soviet Trilogy, we’re running a 50% week-long discount on Order of Battle: Red Star and Order of Battle: Red Steel. Check it out and complete your collection.

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD has released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition. Version 20.9.1 beta is focused mainly on fixing issues, there are no new game optimizations to be had. To begin with, the drivers fix a system crash while task-switching from games, enabling performance overlay, or having web-browsers/video-playback open on additional displays on Radeon “Navi” graphics cards. Performance issues with Project CARS 3 with performance metrics overlay has been fixed. A couple of installer errors when installing the drivers on Ryzen Mobile processors with Radeon graphics have been fixed. Power-cycling certain displays with FreeSync enabled causes them to remain black, this has been fixed. A screen flickering with Borderlands 3 with Radeon Boost enabled, has been fixed. Decoding HEVC content using AMF decoder resulting in video output corruption has been fixed. Bugs related to the application of performance fan profiles have been fixed. Intermittent random color corruption in CS:GO when playing matchmaking, has been fixed. VP9 playback issues have been fixed.

The Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.9.1 drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.

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.

• iBUYPOWER Announces Gaming System Update With NVIDIA RTX 30 Series Graphics
• CORSAIR to Releases New Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 30 Series GPU Water Blocks
• CORSAIR Announces VENGEANCE PC Lineup Featuring NVIDIA RTX 30 Series Graphics
• EK Releases Water Blocks for Reference Design NVIDIA RTX 30 Series Graphics Cards
• Klevv Announces Two New DDR4 Memory Lines: Cras XR RGB and Bolt XR
• Sharkoon Launches the ELITE SHARK CA300T PC Case
• Acer Releases the CB342CKC OmegaLine Monitor: 34″ IPS, UWQHD, 21:9, 1 ms, AMD FreeSync
• SteelSeries Arctis 9 Dual Wireless Headset for PC and PlayStation
• In Win Launches 140mm Variants of Saturn and Jupiter Daisy-Chainable Case Fans

By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

It’s obvious that an RTX 3080 will be hard to get. The founder edition however was out of stock the second it went life yesterday. That raised some questions.

The 3080 was made available to consumers yesterday, but it appears to be nowhere in stock as it ran dry way too fast, and that as always will drive up prices in the entire channel for AIB cards as well. NVIDIA has shared a word or two about this ordeal. NVIDIA apologizes to customers. The demand is roaring, yesterday at places like US-based Microcenter you might have seen 100 people in one line to get a card (see video below). E-tailer websites yesterday even went offline. NVIDIA had 50 major retailers worldwide supplied (which does not sound like a lot?). All of them had stock at launch.

An employee of Microcenter in Tustin, USA, stated on Reddit that the store only had 85 cards in stock. Nvidia’s own site also struggled, which was flooded with buy orders and crashed as well. Another side effect has been that bots and speculative pa[rties tried to order, so NVIDIA now is taking orders manually. NVIDIA commented that its new cards are at an “excellent” production level, which gives some hope to those who did not get to buy one. Yesterday we launched the first reviews of the RTX 3080 (which if you have not seen yet, we recommend that you do so) and is that taking into account the performance offered by this graphics card and its launch price. This does not bode well, as we expect the GeForce RTX 3070 launch is going to ruffle feathers even worse.

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released the latest version of GeForce Game Ready software. Version 456.38 WHQL comes with support for the new GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 “Ampere” graphics cards. The mammoth software release also adds optimization for “Fortnite” with RTX and DLSS on all GeForce RTX GPUs. The new NVIDIA Reflex technology is formally launched, with support for “Fortnite” and “Valorant.” Reflex is supported on all NVIDIA GPUs going back to the GTX 900 series “Maxwell.” Optimizations are also added for “Halo 3: OSDT” and “Mafia: Definitive Edition.” Also introduced are the NVIDIA Broadcast app, and a host of new GeForce Experience features, including in-game performance/overlay, one-click performance tuning, HDR ShadowPlay Capture, AV1 decoding, support for new G-SYNC compatible displays.

Buried in the bowels of the driver change-log is a big disclosure, that the RTX 30-series “Ampere” GPUs don’t support SLI (as in implicit multi-GPU), only explicit multi-GPU through modern APIs such as DirectX 12 and Vulkan (if supported by the game). NVIDIA has already restricted the NVLink interface needed for SLI only to its topmost RTX 3090 SKU, so the lack of implicit multi-GPU effectively marks the end of SLI for future GPUs. That said, the technology itself is very much present on all GPUs that support it, provided games do. NVIDIA announced the GeForce RTX 30 series “Watch Dogs: Legion” + GeForce NOW bundle. Buying a new GeForce RTX 30-series graphics card now comes with a year’s membership of the GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, plus you get the next chapter in the Watch Dogs franchise, which supports a ton of NVIDIA RTX features, possibly including DLSS 8K.

You can download the GeForce 456.38 WHQL Game Ready drivers via GeForce.com.

NVIDIA  has released its new RTX 3080 Founders Edition graphics cards, along with custom cards from MSI, ASUS, Zotac and more.  Here’s a bit from NVIDIA about its new RTX 30 series cards…

Powered by Ampere, NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture, GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards feature faster 2nd gen Ray Tracing Cores, faster 3rd gen Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors that together bring stunning visuals, faster frame rates, and AI acceleration for gamers and creators.

GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs also feature several world firsts: they’re the first gaming-class graphics cards with up to 24GB of new, blazing-fast GDDR6X VRAM; they’re the first GPUs with HDMI 2.1, for 4K high refresh rate and 8K gaming; they’re the first discrete GPUs with support for the AV1 codec, enabling you to watch high-resolution streams using significantly less bandwidth; and our Founders Edition cards are the first with innovative dual axial flow through cooling solutions.

We’ve gathered a large number of reviews for your convenience and posted the links to the reviews below.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition:

• TECHPOWERUP!
• PC PERSPECTIVE
• GURU3D
• HOT HARDWARE
• TOM’S HARDWARE

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Custom Cards

• HOT HARDWARE - Palit GeForce RTX 3080 GamingPro OC
• TECHPOWERUP! - MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio
• GURU3D - ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF Gaming OC
• OC3D - Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC 10G
• TECHPOWERUP! - Zotac GeForce RTX 3080 Trinity

CI Games takes the best-in-class sniping experience to the next level with precision long range shooting with targets over 1,000 meters away.

CI Games shared an in-engine teaser for Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, setting the stage for one of the most important gameplay changes coming in the upcoming sequel: Extreme long-range sniping. Long-range shooting is something the Sniper Ghost Warrior community has asked for and the new video teases a shot taken 1,506 meters away. Contracts 2’s long-range shooting will be supported by more accurate weapons, heightened realism, and enhanced visuals when it launches this winter.

Watch the trailer here.

“The Sniper community really enjoyed the changes we made with Contracts and the sniper’s paradise sandboxes but, based on their feedback, we designed the latest game with very long-range shots in mind,” said CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski. “We hope to continue building on the best sniping gameplay around and make significant steps forward in bringing modern, realistic sniping experience to consoles and PC. Our team is really excited to introduce the extreme range campaign in Contracts 2.”

The first Contracts was well-received and re-established the Sniper Ghost Warrior formula with the best-in-class shooting set within open-world sandboxes. Contracts 2 takes these sniper’s paradises to the next level with challenging long-range maps set in the game’s new modern setting. In addition to the core contracts, these campaigns are hand-crafted to provide engaging and robust gameplay over extreme distances. These maps will challenge even the most skilled snipers as players complete complex challenges undetected from over a kilometer away.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 features a more grounded and relevant experience set in modern day 2021 Middle East. As Reaper, a sniper on a mission, players can take advantage of new weapons and gear to take down more intelligent enemies across new, expansive maps.

For more information about the Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, head to the games official website.

Partisans 1941 mixes squad-based action, real-time tactics, and base-management; Closed Beta running until September 21st, applications are open.

Developer Alter Games and publisher Daedalic Entertainment announce today that Partisans 1941, the unique genre mix set on the Eastern Front during its occupation in WWII, releases worldwide on Steam on October 14th. The game is currently in Closed Beta until September 21st in order to gain community feedback and further polish the game until release. Players interested in trying the game for themselves can apply for the Beta here.

Watch the new gameplay trailer here.

Partisans 1941 combines real-time tactics and stealth with squad-based action, and base and resource management. After war-time prisoner and Red Army commander Alexey Zorin escapes a Nazi internment camp, he decides to form a guerilla group of partisans to attack and disrupt the local occupants. Players can recruit soldiers and civilians as unique allies to tackle a variety of missions – from focused sabotage to extensive attacks on German supply lines. In-between missions, they need to expand and manage their encampment to upgrade their forces. To successfully fight the occupying forces, it is important to scout your environments, find the best position to attack your enemies, and control the flow of the fight by effectively using the tactical pause.

Features:

• A fresh approach to the stealth tactics genre: A mix of combat, stealth, ambushes and a variety of special items brings chaos to the enemy ranks. Choose your own way of completing each mission.
• Lead a squad of Partisans: Find, recruit and level up new resistance members to build the squad of your choice. Use your characters’ strengths to find the right solution to different situations.
• Experience the life of a resistance group: Experience a partisan’s routine in between missions – develop your base, prepare for the next assignments, ensure you have the resources for the Partisan’s survival. Keep your troops motivated. Explore nearby regions, skirmish for enemy weak spots and opportunities to strike the enemy.
• A different perspective on WW II: Experience the story of a fierce resistance against the German occupation on the Eastern Front. Follow the stories and motives of various people who join the partisan forces – from soldiers to common folk.

Partisans 1941 is developed by Russian studio Alter Games and published by German studio Daedalic Entertainment. The game will be available on Steam on October 14th.

By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

In this technology preview and a bit of analysis, we’ll be discussing the pending GeForce RTX 3070, 3080 and 3090 from NVIDIA as well as Ampere architecture. This article is preliminary based on what NVIDIA has been sharing (to date) as well as the stories that made the news in the past weeks. All that to get a grasp of what NVIDIA is releasing, with their new Ampere GPU architecture. During the presentation today, we’ll try and fill in the gaps in specifications as anything you read hereafter this point, some are unconfirmed.

Read the Preview Here