The Strategy Wargamer has interviewed Tomislav Čipčić, the lead designer of the game. In this episode of the Jean’s podcast you can find more details about: map design, hex-and-counter games, turn-based and real-time systems, AI programming and more.

You can listen to this interview HERE

New Gameplay Video
Panzer Division Games has released a second part of their gameplay video for Attack at Dawn: North Africa. In this video, the designer plays a game scenario “Battle of Alam el Halfa”, trying to win the day. The video shows new, illustrated unit counters, fast switching between Turn-Based and Real-Time modes of play, reworked AI and more.

You can watch the gameplay video HERE.

Map Series
The gameplay is followed by the battle map series, exploring the battles and operations that took place during the WW2 North African Campaign. The scenario shown in this gameplay video is Battle of Alam el Halfa. It was the last big Axis offensive in the Western Desert Campaign, and it took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942, at the El Alamein line. It was an Allied victory, and a prelude to the Second battle of El Alamein.

For full article describing the battle – you can go to the game’s website.

About The Game
Attack at Dawn: North Africa is an operational level wargame set in WW2 North African theatre. It features 3 campaigns, and 15 scenarios which can be played in solo or multiplayer modes. It can be played as a real-time, or turn-based (WeGo) game. The game begins with the German troops probing into the Libyan region of Cyrenaica, and finishes either with the total defeat of German-Italian Panzer Armee, or with the British loss of Egypt and their retreat across the Suez Canal.

For Steam website and wishlist, visit HERE.

Field of Glory II: Medieval returns with its second DLC “Swords and Scimitars“. Set in the 11th to 13th centuries AD, the game focuses on the Crusades and the Byzantine Empire’s decline from their previously strong 11th century position.

In 1071, the Empire suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Seljuq Turks at the Battle of Manzikert. These recently converted, islamic nomads took nearly all of Anatolia under Alp Arslan’s expert leadership.

As the Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos struggled, an appeal to the west for mercenary support was seized upon by Pope Urban II. In 1095 he called for a Crusade both to recover holy land and to further his own ends at the Council of Clermont.

The timing was fortuitously right, as the mighty Seljuq Empire had begun to fragment, allowing the First Crusade to eventually capture Jerusalem in 1099. The creation of “Crusader States” following on from this success would lead to two centuries of bitter conflict.

Several major Crusades were to follow, as the Crusader states fought for their existence against a succession of resurgent Islamic states.

Meanwhile, further East, a far greater threat to Islamic civilisation was emerging. The rapidly expanding Mongols had destroyed the Khwarazmian Shahdom by 1231, the Christian kingdom of Georgia in 1239, and the Seljuqs were defeated and forced into vassaldom by 1243.

In 1258 the Assassins of Alamut, and the vestigial remains of the once great Abbasid Caliphate, had also been conquered. Only the Mamluks of Egypt were able to finally bring the Mongol advance to an end, with their victory at Ain Jalut in 1260.

In the Balkans the Byzantine Empire had retained some of its former glory until 1204, when the Fourth Crusade broke the back of the Empire, leaving them a minor state shattered into four fragments.

These are the backgrounds, stories and wars that lead to the new DLC, which will include:

• 20 more nations and factions covering South Eastern Europe and the Middle East from 1040 AD to 1270 AD. These include Arabs (Syria/Iraq), Armenians (Cilician), Bulgarians, Byzantines (Main Empire, also Nikaia, Epiros and Trebizond), Crusaders, Cypriots (Lusignan Kingdom), Dailami, Fatimid Egyptians, Georgians, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Indians (Rajput, other Hindu, Muslim), Khwarazmians, Latin States in Greece, Mamluk Egyptians, Mongols (Ilkhanids), Pechenegs, Seljuq Turks, Serbians and Syrian States.
• 35 more units (11 brand new, 24 new to Medieval), allowing the troops of all of the new factions to be accurately represented.
• 41 more army lists allowing historically realistic armies for each of the above factions and their allies at different dates during the period.
• 8 more historical scenarios covering key engagements of the period on an epic scale. These include Manzikert 1071, Dorylaeum 1097, Ascalon 1099, Sirmium 1167, Arsuf 1191, La Forbie 1244, Homs 1281 and Kili 1299.
• 4 more historically-based campaigns covering major leaders and conflicts of the era: Alexios Komnenos, The First Crusade, Manuel Komnenos, Saladin.
• Sandbox campaign expanded to include all the new army lists.
• Time Warp custom battles modules expanded to include all the new army lists.

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD has released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin. Version 21.7.1 beta introduces optimization for F1 2021, with a 6% performance improvement seen at 4K UHD on an RX 6800 XT, over the previous drivers. Support is also introduced for the new Radeon RX 6700M and RX 6600M mobile GPUs.

Among the issues fixed are an Oculus service error preventing the Oculus Link setup from running on machines with RX 5000 and RX 6000 series graphics cards; lighting corruption noticed in Apex Legends with Radeon Boost enabled; AMD User Experience Program consuming abnormally high memory; driver version mismatch between Windows Store and AMD Support versions; high memory usage on some running 3DMark Time Spy; and an image corruption in Carrion with AF enabled.

The Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.7.1 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.

• EVGA Z590 DARK Motherboard Released
• Diversify Your EK-Quantum Torque Fittings With Colored Compression Rings
• Cooler Master Launches The NR200P In 4 Colors
• Introducing the New EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 and 1300 P+ Power Supplies
• EK Releases the ROG Maximus XIII Hero Monoblock
• MSI Releases the Optix G273QPF Monitor Featuring Rapid IPS Tech
• ZOTAC Adds Three GeForce RTX 3090 Cards
• MSI Launch MAG Coreliquid C and MAG Coreliquid P AIO Series
• Alphacool Intros NexXxoS XT45 and UT60 and the ST25 92mm Full Copper Radiators
• Razer Launches Barracuda X Multi-Platform Gaming Headset
• TEAMGROUP Announces the 8TB MP34Q M.2 PCIe SSD and High Endurance Surveillance System Memory Card
• MSI Announces the MPG Z590M GAMING EDGE WIFI Motherboard
• SilverStone Intros Raven RVS03 M.2 SSD Enclosure That Supports Both NVMe and SATA
• BIOSTAR Showcases Z590 VALKYRIE Motherboard and P500 1TB SSD Combo
• Cooler Master Unveil its ORB X GamePod
• Corsair Launches its Hydro X Series XD7 RGB Pump/Reservoir Combo
• Cooler Master i71C RGB Intended to Replace intel Stock Cooler
• GIGABYTE Releases the New AORUS WATERFORCE SERIES AIO Liquid Coolers
• be quiet! Introduces Improved Shadow Rock Slim 2 CPU Cooler
• ADATA XPG Unveil MAGE Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
• Thermaltake Intros ToughLiquid Ultra CPU Coolers with ToughFan Turbo
• Arctic Launches Liquid Freezer II 360 RGB/A-RGB Coolers
• SecretLab Announces New TITAN Evo (2022 Series) Ergonomic Chairs

For the first time in its 10 year history the Panzer Corps series is going to thoroughly explore the Pacific theatre of operations in the Second World War. This DLC is the first installment in a new series of campaigns which will portray the dramatic events of the Pacific War.

In this new expansion players can enjoy many new scenarios, be immersed in a completely new set of terrain graphics, new game rules and a new major faction. Pacific is still the good old Panzer Corps 2 game which fans enjoy and love, but at the same time it’s also a new, different and original experience.

At long last Japan has been added to Panzer Corps 2. With the introduction of Pacific, Japan is playable not only in a new campaign, but also in random scenarios and in Multiplayer. It is also fully available to modders and designers of custom content. In addition to that, the USA faction has also received many new units, with a particular focus on famous carrier-based aircraft. Overall, 70 new models will be added to the game.

In the Pacific theater naval warfare played a prominent and critical role, and thus the naval aspect of the game needed to be expanded and have depth added. For this reason, naval game rules have been significantly revamped and extended. All the existing content has also been tested and tweaked to work with the new naval system without any glitches.

The new Pacific campaign represents many famous (and some not so famous) battles which took place between 1941 and 1943, among which are Guadalcanal, Midway, Wake Island and Tarawa. As players have come to expect, after finishing this campaign, it will be possible to save core units and bring them to the next part of the series.

We will reveal and show more of Panzer Corps 2: Pacific and disclose the release date in the next few months. More information can be currently found on its product page.

The Panzer Corps 10th Anniversary is coming soon, and we will start our celebrations with the release of the new DLC Axis Operations – 1942.

Axis Operations – 1942 continues the Axis Operations grand campaign to the pivotal year of 1942.

The 17 new scenarios will have you face the Red Army in some of the largest battles in all of World War II. From Rzhev to Stalingrad, your actions will decide the outcome of the war.

In fact, for the first time in the Axis Operations series, the 1942 campaign will have multiple endings and your performance as a general will matter more than ever.

Additionally, it introduces new units, new historical commanders, a new mission type… in short, it’s a must-have for all players of Panzer Corps 2.

Watch the new Panzer Corps 2: Axis Operations 1942 in 2 minutes video HERE.

Celebrate 10 Years of Panzer Corps with us.

As you may know, this weekend we will be celebrating 10 years of Panzer Corps.

Tune in to us tomorrow, on Friday 9th July, on our Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/slitherinetv at 4 pm BST / 5 pm CEST for an exclusive stream. Alex Shargin, lead developer and designer of Panzer Corps, will be interviewed live, and we will be going through the past, present and future of the Panzer Corps saga.

Source: TechPowerUp!

The upcoming Update 5 for the Asobo Studio-developed Microsoft Flight Simulator will be a welcome boon to any and all players of the simulator. The development studio has issued an update via YouTube describing the performance improvements they’ve seen with their latest work into the game engine, which has integrated DX 12 capability – taking advantage of its “closer to the metal” capabilities so as to improve performance.

The update is dropping on July 27th, the same time that the game will be made available on the Xbox family of consoles. One can easily construe a scenario where Update 5′s DX 12 and performance optimizations were made mostly as a way to make the game perform better on Xbox console hardware – the game is absolutely capable of bringing the most powerful graphics cards in the world to their knees at high resolutions and highest quality settings. With the same hardware, quality settings and playable scenario, average performance went from 32-40 FPS before the update up to the 55-60 interval post Update 5 optimizations. The update sees CPU utilization dropping by 25%; memory usage drop by 50%; and GPU utilization climbs from 75% up to 100%. Look for the break for a video showcasing the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator – with Update 5 applied.

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.

• EK Announces ROG Crosshair VIII Formula Motherboard Waterblock Bridge
• ASUS ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3080 Ti OC Hybrid Liquid and Air Cooled OC Available
• MSI 3070 SUPRIM SE GODZILLA Officially Launches in Japan
• AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Arrives this August
• MSI Launches its GeForce RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X 10G OC LHR
• Alphacool Introduces Shroud & Decoupling for Fans and 24-pin PSU Jumper
• Philips Announces 49″ 165 Hz 498P9Z Monitor
• TeamGroup Unveils 3 New ‘Extreme Speed’ USB Flash Drives
• Thermalright Introduces the Frost Spirit 140 BLACK V3 CPU Cooler
• Thermaltake Launches New Turquoise ToughRAM RGB DDR4 Variants
• Thermalright Rolls Out the AXP90-X36 Black CPU Cooler
• Thermaltake Releases New GF1 Series 1000W/1200W PSUs
• MSI Announces the SPATIUM M-series M.2 NVMe SSDs
• TP-Link Releases Archer GX90 and Archer AX4800 Routers with Dedicated Game Band
• Lian Li Launches New UNI FAN AL120
• ENERMAX Expands to a White Version of the LIQMAX III ARGB
• MSI Launch the New MAG CH130 Series Gaming Chair

Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey from Left 4 Dead available as playable characters in free DLC for all players. The terrifying Abaddon Asylum campaign mission awaits for Season Pass owners and as standalone paid DLC

Renowned zombie slayers Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey from the Valve smash hit, Left 4 Dead, are tooled up and ready to take on a new horde as they join Zombie Army 4: Dead War as brand new playable characters in the latest free DLC in Season 3 which is available now! In addition to the free characters, Season Pass owners can now visit the spine-chilling Abaddon Asylum in a new campaign mission which is also available as standalone DLC.

Watch the blood-curdling new trailer HERE.

Abaddon Asylum is the second mission in the ‘Return to Hell’ campaign, following the events of Terminal Error where you uncovered information about the location of Baron Umbra, the mastermind behind the dastardly occult scheme. You will have to fight your way into the Asylum before tracking down Baron Umbra and taking him out once and for all.

As well as the thrilling new campaign mission, the latest DLC drop also includes:

• World War 1 Joshua Outfit
• World War 2 Headgear Pack
• MP.1940 SMG Bundle
• Zombie Tank Weapon Skins

Developed by Rebellion in collaboration with Flix Interactive and Radical Forge, Abaddon Asylum is available now as part of Season Pass 3 and also available to buy separately, priced £5.59. In addition, all players can also download the Left 4 Dead Character Pack for free now on all platforms.

The entire Season Pass 3 is available to buy now, priced £29.99 with far more content yet to come.

Zombie Army 4: Dead War is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Epic Games Store, Steam, Microsoft Store and Google Stadia. For more info, please visit ZombieArmy.com.

Source: TechPowerUp!

AMD today released the latest version of its Radeon Software Adrenalin drivers. Version 21.6.1 beta introduce support for the upcoming FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) feature, AMD’s answer to the NVIDIA DLSS. The driver release notes don’t mention which exact titles support it at launch, so we’ll probably have to wait until a formal launch of the feature. In addition, the drivers also introduce support for the Radeon RX 6800M mobile graphics, and optimization for “Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance.”

Among the bugs fixed with this release are one which causes FreeSync to lock up during task-switching, an application crash with “Anno 1800″ in DirectX 12 mode; AMD Cleanup Utility accidentally mopping up non-graphics AMD drivers (such as chipset, storage, etc.); lower than expected performance with “Destiny 2″ on some products; and enabling raytracing in “Ring of Elysium” causing an application crash.

Anecdotal reports of fixed idle power consumption for AMD’s graphics cards are filling the internet following the release of their latest Radeon drivers, version 21.6.1. Besides introducing support for FSR (which we have already tested with a new special image comparison code from our resident W1zzard with great results), users are reporting reduced power consumption on idle or low-intensity workloads – something that we had already covered in our latest AMD reviews, which showcased higher power consumption compared to NVIDIA.

Users are reporting drops from around 30 W to ~8 W – nothing to scoff at, and getting AMD’s offerings in line with NVIDIA’s on that particular metric. While this remains anecdotal evidence for now, rest assured that we will be testing these new drivers so as to definitely claim an improvement (or the absence of it).

The Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.6.1 drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.