Month: March 2018

amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-editionSource: TechPowerUp!

AMD has released the latest version Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition. Version 18.3.3 Beta is the third release for this month, and features a major API update, in addition to game optimization. The drivers introduce support for the Vulkan 1.1 API. In addition, the drivers provide optimization for “Sea of Thieves,” and “A Way Out.” An intermittent stuttering issue was fixed with “Forza Motorsport 7.” A system hang seen on “Star Wars Battlefront 2,” on multi-GPU systems, was fixed. Also fixed are flickering and objects disappearing from the scene, with “Final Fantasy XV.”

The new Radeon Software Adrenalin 18.3.3 Beta drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | |

newhardware-iconCheck 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 | |

il2-sturmovik-battle-of-kubanSource: Blue’s News

1C Game Studios now offers Battle of Kuban, a third installment in IL-2 Sturmovik that features the air war in World War II’s eastern front. This operates as a standalone game or as an add-on for Battle of Stalingrad or Battle of Moscow, except on Steam, as word is: On Steam, customers must first purchase Battle of Stalingrad if they wish to purchase Battle of Kuban.” This forum post has all the details on the new release as well as a new version 3.001 patch for Battle of Stalingrad. Here are the details:

The third installment of the next-gen IL-2 Sturmovik series is dedicated to large scale aerial battles between the Red Air Force and the Luftwaffe in the skies over the Kuban front in 1943. It contains ten aircraft.

This edition contains two additional Collector Planes – the legendary Spitfire Mk.VВ (Lend-Lease version imported from Britain) and the rugged German Hs-129 B-2 ground attack airplane. These two aircraft bring the total amount of included aircraft to ten in the Premium Edition.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Kuban can be used as a separate product or be integrated with BOS and/or BOM, resulting in one big WWII Eastern Front combat flight-sim.

  • 2 Collector Planes (Spitfire Mk.VВ and Hs-129 B-2)
  • 8 Battle of Kuban Aircraft
  • Kuban Map
  • Battle of Kuban Campaign
  • Quick Mission Builder
  • Single-Player Missions
  • Multi-Player Mode
  • Player Controlled Tanks

Massive Update 1.77 ‘Advancing Storm’ enhances visuals, audio, and enters next-gen armored warfare with M1 Abrams, Challenger 1, Leopard 2K, T-64B & more

Gaijin Entertainment today announced the release of major Update 1.77 ‘Advancing Storm’ for its vehicular combat MMOG War Thunder‘Advancing Storm’  introduces the PC and console versions of War Thunder to Gaijin’s new and improved Dagor 5.0 engine, capable of near photo realistic environments and vehicles. The update also adds nearly two dozen new vehicles, including five next generation tanks on Rank VI: the M1 Abrams, Challenger 1, Leopard 2K, T-64B and AMX-30B2 Brenus.

Among the graphical improvements introduced with Dagor Engine 5.0 are technologies like Global Illumination (GI) and Contact Shadows. Together with photorealistic weather effects, volumetric fog and smoke, War Thunder is now visually more much more life-like and detailed. Also new is Temporal Anti-Aliasing (Variance Clipping TAA), an anti-aliasing algorithm that greatly reduces the visible “noise” on distant vegetation, smooths the appearance of objects, and adds more detail to surfaces. Furthermore, the creation of landscapes was improved with the addition of visible reliefs via displacement mapping, resulting in much more visually diverse environments. Roads, for example, now have potholes, ruts and may show puddles of slush, water or mud – with the latter depending on the current weather and type of terrain. These landscape changes are visible to players on all graphics settings.

Accompanying the visual improvements is a complete redesign of in-game sound effects. Each shot effect is now created from several layers of sounds that correspond to peak and residual effects. Thus, experienced tankers are now able to determine the caliber of the cannon that fired the shot, even from distance. The effects themselves received additional details, so players can now hear the sound of cases dropping as they fire, or the working loading mechanisms of their cannons. Aircraft sounds are more vibrant and powerful. Further improvements are also planned for future updates.

Several next generation main battle tanks of the 1970s and 1980s now reinforce the arsenal of War Thunder on Rank VI: the U.S. M1 Abrams, British Challenger 1, German Leopard 2K, Soviet T-64B and French AMX-30B2 Brenus. All of them boast powerful weapons, armor, high speed, and mobility. Noteworthy here is the special cannon of the T-64B that allows it to fire ‘Cobra’ guided anti-tank missiles and the AMX-30B2 Brenus’ powerful reactive armor. Some of the vehicles introduced with Update 1.77 are still in service today.

German pilots can look forward to the heavy Heinkel He 177 A-5 Greif bomber, which was created by a War Thunder player under the Revenue Share Partner Program. You can follow up on the He 177’s creation process on War Thunder Live.

Update 1.77 ‘Advancing Storm’ features plenty of other graphical improvements, vehicles and changes. Read more on the official War Thunder website.

MMORPGs War Thunder | Donster | |

check-your-6Matrix Games have announced today that Check Your 6! has been released.

Born from Scott Fisher’s board game and developed by “The Lordz Games Studio”, Check Your 6! will bring you in the middle of World War II’s air battles.

Play as the British or as the Germans in 18 different missions covering air battles, and protecting and destroying important objectives. Use 14 different aircraft, each with its own strength and weakness, with a huge number of weapons that allow the player to attack with different precision and ranges.

Check Your 6! is also available on Steam, but remember that if you buy the game from the Matrix Games Store you’ll receive a Steam key for free!

Also today Matrix Games has released two quick video tutorials, one talking about Basics and UI, while the other one talks about Movement and Combat.

meltdown-and-spectre-exploitsSource: GURU3D

As Intel finalizes them, Microsoft started distributing Microcode updates for the Spectre variant 2, the updates now have a reach from the latest Coffee Lake processors, Kaby Lake (Core iX-7xxx and iX-8xxxU), Intel Skylake (Core iX-6xxx) up-to-now even Sandy Bridge (Core iX-2xxx).

Put short, these patches will make your PC safer, even without a mandatory firmware update. To be able to retrieve the patches, you must have Windows 10 installed with build 1607/1703 or 1709. If you are on Windows 7 or 8.1, you’ll need to wait until your motherboard manufacturers if and will release a firmware update to patch the vulnerabilities.

Read on…

Security | Donster | |

newhardware-iconCheck 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 | |

call-of-duty-wwiiSource: Blue’s News

A weekly update from Sledgehammer Games has details on a new patch that’s now live in Call of Duty: WWII, a major content update which includes new item types including weapon charms and weapon reticles as well as changes to the Quartermaster and Supply Drop system. Activision also announces the commencement of Operation: Shamrock & Awe, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed community event that will run until April 3rd. Here are the details:

Shipment 1944

Shipment 1944, a re-imagining of the classic close-quarters Multiplayer map, is free and available in Call of Duty: WWII in early access for Season Pass owners starting today. The map is free and available to all on Friday, March 16.

Leprechaun Hunt Moshpit

The Leprechaun Hunt Moshpit delivers Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed and Domination modes with a twist: a fleet-footed zombie leprechaun hidden in each map. Players who eliminate the terrifying little sprite are rewarded with something better than a pot o’ gold – all of their equipped Scorestreaks full and ready to deploy.

This mode will be available for players as a Featured Public Match playlist during Operation: Shamrock & Awe, offering 2XP from 10:00 am Pacific on March 16 to 10:00 am Pacific on March 19.

New Weapons and Gear

Players will find all-new St. Patrick’s Day-themed gear, including uniforms, helmets, weapon camos and more, only available during Operation: Shamrock & Awe.

As well as new gear, Operation: Shamrock & Awe delivers two all-new weapons to Call of Duty: WWII – the M-38 Submachine Gun and the MG 81 Light Machine Gun. Both weapons have St. Paddy’s Day-themed variants, available only during Operation: Shamrock & Awe, though other variants of both weapons will continue to be available in the game once the community event concludes.

Check out the Operation: Shamrock & Awe screenshots and trailer via the Call of Duty community blog.

wolfenstein2-the-new-colossusSource: Blue’s News

Bethesda.net has news that The Deeds of Captain Wilkins is now available for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, completing the Freedom Chronicles DLC trilogy for the alternate history shooter. They offer a new trailer setting up the story and showing off gameplay. Here’s word:

Gather ‘round, lovers of freedom! Following The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe and The Diaries of Agent Silent Death comes a third tale of heroism, courage, valor and good ol’ fashioned Nazi-killin’.

The Deeds of Captain Wilkins, the final installment in the Freedom Chronicles trilogy, is now available. In this thrilling chapter renowned US Army veteran and resistance fighter Captain Gerald Wilkins travels to Nazi-controlled Alaska, armed with a stolen experimental battlewalker contraption, to stop a nefarious superweapon known as the Sun Gun.

The Deeds of Captain Wilkins is the third expansion in the Freedom Chronicles Season Pass, a series of DLC packs for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus featuring the stories of three unique heroes fighting for liberty against the Nazi scourge. The Freedom Chronicles Season Pass can be purchased digitally for $24.99 (US) / £17.99 (UK) / $34.95 (AUS) / €24.99 (EUR).

assassins-creed-originsThe Curse of the Pharaohs, the second downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed Origins, is now available.

In The Curse of the Pharaohs, players will take on an all-new story, set four years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Origins, and continue Bayek’s journey, as he travels to the ancient capital city of Thebes to investigate a curse that is plaguing the region.

The new expansion immerses players in Egyptian mythology, challenging them to battle famous pharaohs and mystical beasts, as they investigate the temples of Karnak and Luxor as well as well the secret tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

This new content will increase the level cap to 55 and introduce new crafting levels, resources and abilities. Players will also be able to acquire new outfits and gear, including rare and legendary weapons – all themed around classic Egyptian mythology.

The Curse of the Pharaohs is available for purchase separately or as part of the Assassin’s Creed Origins Season Pass.

Watch the Assassin’s Creed Origins: The Curse of the Pharaohs launch trailer HERE.

For more information about Assassin’s Creed Origins, please visit assassinscreed.ubisoft.com.