With Mods (short for modifications), you can tailor your gaming experience to your unique preferences. Uploaded by creators all over the world, you can pick between anything to create the city of your dreams. Along with Beach Properties, the first wave of Cities: Skylines II Modding will be available. The Beta release of Modding will initially support Map and Code mods. With the Map Editor, you can make maps with the Terraforming Tools you're used to, import hightmaps to create highly accurate depictions of your hometown, and upload your creations to Paradox Mods.

With the Code Tools, you can show off your coding skills and create Code Mods to meet your heart's desire! Future updates will improve on these tools and come to include support for Asset Mods. As we've talked about before, there will be updates to these tools that we are currently working on, and we will see some updates before the 1.0 release. We will be taking your opinion into consideration when we continue to work on the editor and are looking forward to seeing the feedback that you might have. If you're curious on what the process of Modding will look like you can already check it out on the Cities: Skylines II Wiki here.

PC game modding is colossal - over 10 billion game mods are downloaded each year. Mods enhance graphics as faster GPUs are released, extend a game's lifespan with new content, and expand their audience with total gameplay conversions. With NVIDIA RTX Remix, we're enabling modders to remaster their favorite classic games with full ray tracing (also known as path tracing), NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, modern physically-based rendering (PBR) assets, and generative AI texture tools. Starting now all modders can download the NVIDIA RTX Remix Open Beta, for free, from here.

RTX Remix has already delivered stunning remasters in NVIDIA's own Portal with RTX, and the modder-made Portal: Prelude RTX. Now, Orbifold Studios is using RTX Remix to develop Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, a community remaster of one of the highest-rated games of all time.

First, an enormous thank you to all of you playing Starfield and your support. We are absolutely blown away by the response and all you love about the game. We're also reading all your great feedback on what you'd like to see improved or added to the game. This is a game we'll be supporting for years and years to come, so please keep all the feedback coming! Even if we don't get to your requests immediately, we'd love to do it in the future, like city maps. Our priority initially is making sure any top blocker bugs or stability issues are addressed, and adding quality-of-life features that many are asking for.

This first update is a small hotfix targeted at the few top issues were are seeing. After that, expect a regular interval of updates that have top community requested features including:

• Brightness and Contrast controls
• HDR Calibration Menu
• FOV Slider
• Nvidia DLSS Support (PC)
• 32:9 Ultrawide Monitor Support (PC)
• Eat button for food!

You can now play with NVIDIA GeForce graphics card BIOS like it's 2013! Over the last decade, NVIDIA had effectively killed video BIOS modding by introducing BIOS signature checks. With GeForce 900-series "Maxwell," the company added an on-die security processor on all its GPUs, codenamed "Falcon," which among other things, prevents the GPU from booting with unauthorized firmware. OMGVflash by Veii; and NVflashk by Kefinator (forum names), are two independently developed new tools that let you flash almost any video BIOS onto almost any NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, bypassing "unbreakable" barriers NVIDIA put in place, such as BIOS signature checks; and vendor/device checks (cross-flashing). vBIOS signature check bypass works up to RTX 20-series "Turing" based GPUs, letting you modify the BIOS the way you want, while cross-flashing (sub-vendor ID check bypass) works even on the latest RTX 4090 "Ada."

The tools bring back the glory days of video BIOS modding using utilities the likes of NiBiTor (now discontinued). The possibilities of such utilities are endless. You can, for example, flash the BIOS of a premium factory-overclocked graphics card onto your close-to-MSRP graphics card. For cards up to RTX 20-series "Turing," in addition to clock speeds, BIOS modding lets you raise power limits, which have a more profound impact on performance, as they increase boost frequency residency. BIOS modding also gives you control over the graphics card's voltages, cooling performance, and fan-curve, so you can make your card quieter, as long as your cooler can keep the GPU away from thermal limits (which you can adjust, too). With cross-flashing (without modifying the BIOS or disturbing its signature), you are now able to restore a voltage of 1.1 V on your RTX 4090 GPU, if you've got one of the newer models, which ticks at 1.07 V only. You could also flash your FE with a custom-design vBIOS with high power limit, to go beyond NVIDIA's power limits.

Reddit user CarbonFireOC wasn't happy with the temperatures he's been seeing on his Radeon VII, and decided he wanted watercooling. Unfortunately, that early since product release no GPU waterblocks are available for the Radeon VII. What he figured out was that the waterblock of EVGA's CLC 280 all-in-one cooler will fit. This cooler, which is made by Asetek and licensed by EVGA is designed for Intel & AMD motherboards and many similar variants exist from vendors like Fractal Design, NZXT and others.

While performing such a mod on a $700 graphics card is not for the faint-hearted, it shows that with a little bit of creative ingenuity you can achieve amazing results without wasting top dollar.

His 24/7 stable settings on Radeon VII are 2122 MHz core, 1265 mV, and 1252 MHz memory, resulting in a 3DMark Firestrike graphics score of around 33,000. Even at such a high voltage, the watercooling keeps temperatures very low at 40°C GPU, 60°C Hotspot.

ZADAK, in association with NVIDIA Taiwan, wowed visitors at the opening of the Taipei Game Show 2019, presenting a scratch build from up and coming Taiwanese modder AK. Inspired by the popular Fallout 76 PC game, the Pip-Boy mod is composed of leather, aluminum and 3D-printed acrylics. It marks the first collaboration between ZADAK and NVIDIA Taiwan, showcasing the flagship MOAB II Water-cooled PC from ZADAK, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti gaming graphics card.

Generic post-processing injector, ReShade, which offers SMAA anti-aliasing, screen space ambient occlusion, depth of field, and many other effects, has been updated to version 4.0. More than just a version update the ReShade FX compiler has received a complete overhaul having been made fully standalone as of this release. These changes bring performance improvements, better error recovery, improved support for code features, and even opens up the ability to add Vulkan support since it can now generate HLSL, GLSL, and SPIR-V. With a change-log packed with enhancements changes and new features, Crosire, the author also reworked the UI. Not only can the new UI be customized by the user, but it also includes new features such as an in-game code editor and texture preview.

While it should be noted that due to the compiler change some effects may no longer compile or work properly in version 4.0. However, these effects just need to be updated by their authors to work with the latest release. Going forward it is likely smaller revisions and updates will be forthcoming with a version 4.0.1 already having surfaced with further fixes. Sadly, even with these quick fixes, teething issues continue beyond the few broken effects by other authors. Some games like Diablo 2 and Arma 3 are proving problematic for some users of the latest ReShade version. Even so, with further updates should see these issues resolved, however for those enjoying those two games, in particular, can roll back to 3.4.1 which remains a fairly stable release.The Change-log follows.

Well this was a tale that took a roller-coaster ride, and then some. It started with a YouTube trailer for a mod that promised to take back Team Fortress to its 2008-era, which unsurprisingly got many fans of the game excited. The developer/modder who went by the handle XYK initiated a website (now inactive), along with other social media channels that included an active Discord server for the project. Timely updates followed, and good news came in the form of news from Valve that informed the modder of approval of a Steam release, as well as upcoming beta test keys as well. This was followed by Valve wanting some things to be changed, which were also done and things looked smooth at the time.

Then Valve decided they were not sure the mod was more than just a re-purposing of leaked game code, and decided to reverse their decision of approving a Steam release for the mod. This, as expected, did not go well with the vast majority of fans. The killing blow to the project came, however, not from Valve but from the modder himself who decided to go out with a negative bang of sorts instead of working with Valve. As it is, not only is the game community upset at both Valve and the modder but the u-turn taken by Valve has since been negatively criticized by other modders as well.

Thermaltake, a leading premium gaming tower manufacturer, announced the immediate availability of Thermaltake A500 Aluminum Tempered Glass Edition Mid Tower Chassis. Constructed with a sleek aluminum front panel, two 4mm tempered glass panels, two pre-installed 120mm front fans and a 120mm rear fan for optimal system ventilation. It has a built-in power supply cover for clean and easy cable management and also supports up to a standard ATX motherboard. Accommodating the latest PC hardware including the most advanced graphic cards and air/liquid cooling solutions, the A500 Aluminum TG is designed for those who are looking for a chassis with outstanding thermal performance that is further complemented by a clean and simply designed case.

To continue achieving the corporate mission of delivering the perfect user experience, Thermaltake developed "TT Premium" with the essence of combining supreme quality products with a new logo design. TT Premium is far more than just a guarantee of quality. Behind the name, it represents the passion in DIY, Modding and Thermaltake's desire to be the most innovative brand in the PC hardware market. To satisfy the demand of the high-end PC users, TT Premium follows its core values of Excellent Quality, Unique Design, Diverse Combinations and Boundless Creativity to provide a high performance PC product for every enthusiast.

It has been a long five years since Aliens: Colonial Marines launched as a hot mess. Being critically panned by gamers and critics alike. One of the reasons behind the negative reception was the game's poor AI. The Xenomorphs had a tendency to run straight into gunfire. Or worse yet, would stand around or group up making them easy targets. Suffice to say the Xenomorphs were far from scary. A typographical error has been discovered as the reason behind some of those issues.

As noted on the ResetERA forums, a post by jamesdickinson963 on the ACM Overhaul ModDB page traced the problem to a spelling error in a single line of code within the game's ini file. The code shown below has "teather" instead of the proper "tether". This simple mistake in theory, results in the "zone tether" failing to load the AI parameters attached to the broken bit of code.

In Win Development Inc., a leading manufacturer of innovative PC cases, and EK Water Blocks (EKWB), the leader in the high-end PC water cooling components, today announced their strategic partnership, which includes jointly developed products, sales bundles and joint marketing activities. At the beginning of this year's CES in Las Vegas, Win will be exhibiting a D-Frame 2.0 of the Signature series, equipped with an assembly unit developed by EKWB, which takes up their high-end water cooling components. Further jointly developed products will be presented during 2017.

The future sales partner extends to North and Latin America as well as other European regions in which Win and EKWB have set the goal to offer enthusiasts perfect, matched products consisting of high-end water cooling components and exclusive enclosures.

Watch Dogs 2 has recently made its debut, encountering both critical acclaim and inversely proportional sales - at least for now. The game features a living open world, achieving what the original promised but never delivered, with both single-player and multi-player modes being praised by their quality.

And when there is a semblance of multiplayer, there must also be an anti-cheating mechanism. Watch Dogs 2 makes use of EasyAntiCheat, which has, embedded in its TOS - and even on its features page - a field that claims "Client data analysis to identify anomalies in the game process runtime" is used to enforce it anti-cheat detection mechanisms. What it basically means is that EasyAntiCheat installs a driver in kernel mode and a service that monitors your systems' operating files (when Watch Dogs 2 is running). This mechanism is also running even when you're in single-player-only - and even offline - modes, meaning that you're not getting out of its crosshairs no matter how you are playing the game. The addition of file-integrity checks at the start of the game, so as to detect any changes to the games' files also precludes modding, with some injection-type modding also finding troubles in being able to access the game, due to it checking game memory and system memory as well. Popular applications such as Afterburner and OBS have their overlay and recording capabilities disabled, and Cheat Engine is also not working - though that just means EasyAntiCheat is doing its job.

Game modder Marty McFly Modding accused NVIDIA of stealing their post-processing shaders for Ansel without authorization or credit. Ansel, NVIDIA's pioneering "in-game photography" tech, which lets you take artistic stills (2D and VR) of your games, gives you additional post-processing tools, to let you enhance your shot. Some of these post-processing shaders, Marty McFly Modding alleges, was copied verbatim by the people behind NVIDIA Ansel, without even a third-party credit.

Marty McFly Modding stated on their Facebook page that "Its (Ansel's) custom.fx contains almost 1:1 the colormod pass with my original descriptions. Same for the other files, where many variable names, code, comments and defines match MasterEffect code, also my 1D gausian blur solution, 1:1, just DX11 ported. There may be even more Framework code in it, I just recognized my own code, there might be SweetFX/other code in it as well. While it's an honour to be apprechiated by such a big company, they could at least drop some credits like we do."

Cooler Master, today announced the Case Mod World Series 2016, a competitive modding event designed to connect modders everywhere with US$30,000 in cash and prizes to be won. Cooler Master has brought together sponsors such as ASUS, Avexir, Dremel, NVIDIA, and OCZ to support and engage with the PC modding community. The Case Mod World Series is now in its seventh installment and this year, Cooler Master is expanding the scope of the series to include local meet and greets, and modding sessions.

"Modding has exploded in recent years and is taking root in every corner of the globe. The Case Mod World Series is about fuelling that growth. It's about igniting the modding spirit - the maker spirit - on the web and right in your community," said Michelle Wu, Global Community Manager. "This year, we will be running local events to involve modders everywhere. Together, with the generous support of our sponsors, we hope to enable the modding community the world over. "

Darkside Computer Modding premium sleeved cables are now available though our friends at ModMyMods. Darkside has you 'covered' on 24-pin ATX, 8-pin/4+4 pin EPS, 6+2 pin PCIe, SATA, and fan cables, with a premium fiber-braided sleeve that comes in red, white, blue, green, and black. Individual wires are sleeved on the ATX, EPS, and PCIe cables, while the fan and SATA cables feature flat-braided sleeves. The fan cables come in a variety of options, including end-to-end 3-pin or 4-pin (PWM), Y-cables, and string cables with multiple connection nodes (useful for radiators). The best parts are the prices. ATX cables are priced at $9.99, EPS at $5.99, $8.99 for PCIe, $4.99 for SATA, and start at $3.99 for the fan cables. ModMyMods offers international shipping.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd, today announces the launch of its PC-7H Modding Contest. Beginning on October 19, 2012, Lian Li is inviting the worldwide modding community to join, and will be giving away prizes, including, Lian Li cases, motherboards, graphics cards, and cash.

To register for the contest, head to Lian Li's official forum at www.xtremesystems.org. After registering at XtremeSystems go to the Lian Li Product Support forum and start a new thread with a post of your PC-7H and hardware before you begin modding.

With the successful market introduction of the CPU cooler range in 2011, Enermax demonstrated its know-how in the field of PC cooling. Behind the scenes, the manufacturer is already working on a further extension of his product portfolio. At CeBIT, Enermax will reveal the first results of its research and development department and present the first prototype of a new liquid cooler.

New Enermax Entry-Level Cases

During the last months, Enermax has also expanded its position in case market. Models like the Midi Tower Hoplite or the flagship case Fulmo GT have set new benchmarks and are recommended by hardware magazines around the globe.

CeBIT visitors will have the chance to preview the new entry-level class from Enermax including models like the Staray Silence or the plain and compact Midi Tower Ostrog (Pictured Below). Apart from that, the manufacturer will display a prototype of the Hoplite GT, a Full Tower version of the successful Hoplite case. It is dedicated to real hardware and gaming enthusiasts.

The Crysis SDK, or a compilation of Crysis mods, user created content, and other goodies, was recently punted out the door of Crytek studios. If you click "read full story", there's a big letter from the president of Crytek as to why this SDK came so late. If you'd like to nab yourself a copy, head on over here.

MVKTech took it upon himself to punt another great version of everyone's favorite NVIDIA BIOS editor, NiBiTor, out into the hungry world of hardware enthusiasts/modders/overclockers. Version 3.7a mainly fixes a bunch of support issues. Namely, it fixes issues with the GeForce 8800GS, 6800XE, and QuaddroFX540. NiBiTor 3.7a also adds support for all current cards on the market running off of the G92 core. The Auto Select Timing Set is also fixed.

If you'd like to download, install, and run the latest version of NiBiTor, please go here. We're not liable if you blow up your computer.

So a company made a suite of software for their products, and released it. Big deal, right? The thing is, AMD launching AMD Overdrive is surprisingly important. Instead of various hardware enthusiast boards hosting buggy beta code, AMD hosting their software is a sign of maturity. Overdrive's upload signified that AMD is happy enough with their software to label it official, and is confident enough with the code to host it on their website.

Alright, enough chit-chat. You may download the AMD Overdrive software, which overclocks AMD processors of most sorts, and checks the overclock stability of all processors, here.

For those of us who like to control the speeds of our fans via hardware, Scythe recently unleashed a product that is sure to please. Dubbed the "Kaze Master VFD display fan controller", this interesting thing will fit in your standard 5.25" or 3.5" drive bay. The 5.25" version can handle 4 fans, assuming none of them require a current of more than 1A (12V). The 3.5" version can handle two fans of the same strength. This controller allows fans to run with between 3.7V(±10%) and 12V(±10%) of current, and also has a switch that turns them off completely. You can get them in black or silver for roughly $40.

The 5.25" version is here, and the 3.5" version is here.

The AMD HD 3870X2 graphics processor needs no introduction. However, as some overclockers have already found out, there's no easy way to control voltages to get extremely high clocks out of their $400+ graphics card. Assuming you do not have a VCO PLL divider bug in your card's BIOS (which will limit the core clock to 860MHz no matter what), the only thing really stopping you from reaching 3DMark record books is a pesky voltage problem. Since the power layout of the 3870 is completely different from the 3870X2, the 3870X2 voltages cannot be controlled through software.

Fortunately for all you hardcore overclockers out there with 3870X2s and meaty power supplies, extreme overclocker "Shamino" published a voltage modification guide.

Enjoy.

Since the X800 series of cards, ATI has been ensuring that just about every new game can get a performance boost from CrossFire technology, which allows people to use more than one video card in the same computer. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for the EA shooter Crysis. A Korean modding team, which goes by the name "ParkOZ", accidentally stumbled upon a method which brought a CrossFire performance boost of between 8 and 60% in Crysis, mainly dependent on the resolution you are gaming at (the lower the resolution, the faster the performance, and the higher the gains). Since the majority of you don't read Korean, I took the liberty of running the website through Google translator and detailing the procedure below. If you can read Korean, want the exact benchmark graphs, or are just a sucker for awesome Crysis screenshots, please follow the source link. The exact modding procedure is here. If you can read Korean, it is here.

Apparently, creating, owning, and selling computer chips that modify gaming consoles is very illegal in Britain. A certain Neil Stanley Higgs, who goes by "Mr. Modchips", was found guilty of 26 offenses of "advertising, possessing, supplying, and selling mod chips." The chips Mr.Modchips was selling themselves seem harmless enough, all they do is allow someone to remotely activate or disable a console. Mr. Modchips was found by the court to have made selling the modchips a very lucrative venture, and had made over £1,000,000 just from selling them. Mr.Modchips plans to appeal the decision.

One of the most popular BIOS editors for NVIDIA cards was recently updated to it's latest version, 3.5. The main changes in this version include support for the latest NVIDIA graphics cards, such as the GeForce 8800Ultra. NiBiTor is known for allowing advanced changes that can't be found in even the most modified versions of NVIDIA ForceWare drivers.

You can download the famous BIOS editor here.