Final update for the ‘castle sim’ sequel adds new maps, optimizations and single player DLC

Firefly Studios has just released their final content update for Stronghold Crusader 2. The update was announced in a post on the developer’s official website, where Firefly clarifies that no additional single-player content or DLC is planned for the future:

“As a team we’re very happy with the reaction and feedback from Stronghold players over the past year. Stronghold Crusader 2 was an important step forward for the series and we intend to build on that progress in future games. Work has now concluded on post-release DLC and single-player content, but there’s plenty to look forward to in 2016! Starting with the release of Stronghold Kingdoms on iOS and Android, which has been completely redesigned for touch, you’ll hear more about our plans for Stronghold and Firefly. We have lots in the pipeline for 2016 including multiple announcements and new releases, so watch this space!”

Watch the new Mini-Campaigns trailer here.

Free Map Pack

Stronghold Crusader 2 has also been updated with four new skirmish maps:

• Ruins – Just like in the very best 80s boxing movies it’s East vs West in ‘Ruins’. The map’s unique setup provides up to four players with a reliable source of Stone, but leave the elevated centre uncontested and even the mightiest walls will crumble.
• Mirage – All eight players must cross the great desert to reach fertile grasslands and enemy castles. Be quick! Unlike your typical mirage the aforementioned castles and armies within can definitely kill you, if left undisturbed.
• Three Rivers – The turtling player’s dream! Up to three castles stand high atop its very own hill, providing strong natural defences. Resources on the other hand lay scattered about the map in strategically vulnerable locations, so be prepared to fight over those village estates.
• The Fork – Your keep is on a mountain at the conflux of two great rivers. This provides plenty of opportunities to make the rivers run red with blood, just like in Revelation 16:4. Venture outwards to discover plentiful resources before testing your castle design with a few AI sieges.

Optimizations

Fixes and optimizations for pathfinding have now been added to the Steam version, with a GOG Galaxy update soon to follow. These changes should reduce the impact of these systems on frame rates and prevent variations in worker productivity during large games of up to eight Lords. Woodcutters were given special attention, given their importance to almost any player economy. Peasants assigned to Woodcutter Huts will now spend less time seeking resources, finding paths to them and generally act with greater autonomy.

A full list of changes can be found in the Stronghold Crusader 2 forum.

Stronghold Crusader 2: Delivering Justice and Stronghold Crusader 2: Freedom Fighters DLCs are now available on Steam.

Author: Grady McKinney @ HardOCP

In this evaluation we have a custom built Radeon R9 390 video card, the ASUS R9 390 STRIX DirectCU III 8GB. It features a factory overclock and the DirectCU III cooling system, alongside STRIX technology for silent gaming. We will compare it to a custom NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 video card, both using the highest overclock we achieved.

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.

• ASUS Announces E3 Pro Gaming V5 Intel Xeon Gaming Motherboard
• BIOSTAR Partners with Thermaltake for the Ultimate Gaming Experience at DreamHack Winter 2015 in Sweden
• BIOSTAR HyperOC Technology for Non-K Overclocking Revealed
• Creative Sound BlasterX G5 Portable Sound Card Now Available
• Aqua Computer Intros Spacer for Skylake CPUs
• Aerocool Presents 80Plus Gold Certified XPredator PSU Models
• AMD Dual-Fiji “Gemini” Video Card Delayed To 2016, Aligned With VR Headset Launches
• Introducing TRENDnet’s New AC2600 StreamBoostT MU-MIMO WiFi Router
• Aqua Computer Makes 3D-Printable Skylake CPU Delidding Tool

Genocidal Tyrant or Saviour of Europe? The Story of Charlemagne.

To mark the recent release of Age of Charlemagne, the biggest expansion yet for Total War: Attila, historian and archaeologist Dr. Paul Harrison takes us through the highlights of the life of one of the most celebrated and feared kings ever known.

Featuring footage from the game, this documentary short covers the often controversial achievements of the ‘Father of Europe’ as he dragged the entire continent out of the Dark Ages and set it on the road to enlightenment and prosperity. From the subjugation of the Saxons and the mass execution of his prisoners, to the widespread establishment of education and literacy, Charlemagne life is an incredible tale, and you can get a flavour of it here.

The Age of Charlemagne Campaign Pack includes a brand new campaign map resplendent in medieval-style artwork and focuses on Europe from the year 768AD. With the introduction of Knights, Housecarls and other new era units, battlefield conflict takes an iconic turn. With over 50 conquerable provinces and new campaign mechanics, a detailed and vibrant geopolitical starting position will offer hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Total War: Attila - Age of Charlemagne is out now on Steam.

Welcome to the chaotic and devastated world of Tom Clancy’s The Division

Source: GameSpot

Just in time for the holidays, Ubisoft has published a Christmas-themed live-action trailer for The Division.

In the video, directed by Xavier Gens (Hitman) and shot at the Fox Studios lot in LA, a young boy sings the famous Christmas carol, “Silent Night.” It starts off with a peaceful, Christmastime backdrop. But soon, the scene and the lyrics take a dark turn. We won’t spoil it for you, but it’s a powerful trailer.

Watch the “Silent Night” video here.

Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive today announced that “The Road to Eternity,” the behind-the-scenes documentary following the incredible fan-funded role-playing game (RPG) Pillars of Eternity, has been released in its entirety for viewers worldwide. Created as part of the wildly successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2012, “The Road to Eternity” provides a rare and unfiltered in-depth look at how crowdfunding not only saved the studio during one of the darkest points in its history, but led to the creation of one of the most anticipated and highly reviewed RPGs of all time. Pillars of Eternity is often quoted as not only fulfilling promises made to its backers, but far exceeding them. Its overwhelming critical and commercial success has contributed greatly in validating crowdfunding as a movement in funding games.

In “The Road to Eternity,” Obsidian’s talented team of developers Josh Sawyer, Adam Brennecke and CEO Feargus Urquhart who have contributed to such notable franchises as Fallout, Star Wars, and Dungeons & Dragons pull back the curtain on the Pillars of Eternity development story, and share unguarded thoughts and testimonials about the bleak lows and the dizzying highs of their journey. The documentary offers a great deal of inside information for fans, as well as a rare look into what crowdfunding can mean to an independent game developer.

It will cost $0.99 to view the 1 hour and 24 minute “The Road to Eternity” documentary here.

Source: Legit Reviews

Months ago NVIDIA promised GeForce video card owners that were using the Fermi GPU that Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 2.0 support would be coming in 2015. This is a big deal for many Fermi owners as they have patiently been waiting for mixed WDDM support and the other Windows 10 features. Windows 10 includes WDDM 2.0, which is designed to dramatically reduce workload on the kernel-mode driver for GPUs that support virtual memory addressing, to allow multithreading parallelism in the user-mode driver and result in lower CPU utilization.

The new NVIDIA GeForce 361.43 WHQL Drivers along with the Windows 10 November Update will now allow Fermi GPU owners to use WDDM 2.0 in single GPU configurations. For mixed-GPU configurations (Fermi being used in the same system with Kepler or Maxwell GPUs) you’ll be able to use WDDM 2.0 for the very first time. For those that are running Fermi GPUs in SLI, you are still stuck on WDDM 1.3.

Other than Fermi WDDM 2.0 support, the GeForce 361.43 WHQL drivers has support for GameWorks VR 1.1 including VR SLI support for OpenGL applications and support for the latest Oculus SDK. If you want the latest drivers for the best VR gaming experience, look no further.

You can download the new GeForce 361.43 WHQL drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.

A Christmas gift for all the fans of Flashpoint Campaigns!

On Target Simulation has released a bonus free scenario for Germany Reforged (playable on the new big Eiterfeld map): “Early Tuesday Morning”!

The Americans have been pushed out of the Fulda Gap. The Soviet’s are advancing towards the Rhine River pushing the US 3rd Armored Division before them. In the wake of the Soviet advance 1st Brigade, 5th German Panzer Division, has been pushed into a back water to the west of the Fulda Gap. They now have orders to advance, if possible, into the Fulda Gap to sever Soviet lines of communication. The orders state to advance to the East German.

Be ready to move Early Tuesday Morning!

This is a tremendously intense battle. It’s a NATO attack scenario and it uses all 14 hours that can be allocated for a scenario’s resolution. Created by the Mad Russian to highlight the new larger map and full time allowed for scenario resolution, just in time for the Christmas holidays!

From OTS to you, Merry Christmas!

You can download the .zip file of the scenario in the download section of the game or simple by clicking here.

Get more information about the game from its official product page.

Players Can Refer up to Four Friends and Get Rewards

Today, Ubisoft announced a friend referral program for owners of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege on Windows PC. Starting now, all existing Windows PC players can give up to four friends full access to the game this weekend by visiting rainbow6keys.ubi.com. Whether these recruits want to play 5 vs. 5 multiplayer, co-op Terrorist Hunt or one of the solo Situations, the entire game will be available to them for free this weekend without restrictions.

· Existing PC players can visit rainbow6keys.ubi.com right now to receive four referral keys.
· Recruits can start pre-loading the game as of now, through Uplay™.
· Free weekend access begins Friday, December 18, 12:01 am CET and lasts through Sunday, December 20, 06:01 am CET.
· Each recruit who redeems a key will reward referrers with a 24-hour Renown Boost that they will receive shortly after the program ends.
· Recruits who decide to purchase the full game will receive a 25% discount from the Uplay Shop and keep their in-game progression.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, please visit the games official website.

By Bob Buskirk @ ThinkComputers

Mad Catz R.A.T. mice have a long history with PC gamers. If you’ve used a R.A.T. mouse you know it is unlike anything else out there, yet many people overlook these mice and I’m not sure why. Some people have told me they don’t choose these mice because they don’t look like they would be comfortable, yet they have never used them. Every R.A.T. mouse that I’ve used not only has been comfortable, but extremely functional. Mad Catz recently released two new R.A.T. mice, the PRO X and the PRO S. Today we will be taking a look at the PRO S which features a PixArt PMW3310 5000 DPI optical sensor, 8 programmable buttons, and an adjustable palm rest. The PRO S is designed to be a tournament mouse to it is also very lightweight. Let’s get to gaming and see what the PRO S is all about!

Read The Review Here