ports Archives

AppWizard

June 27, 2025

The Steam Summer Sale Is Officially Live With New PC Gaming Deals for 2025

The Steam Summer Sale is running until July 10, offering significant discounts on a variety of PC games. Notable deals include Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for .99, a Twin Pack of Final Fantasy VII Remake for .99, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered at a 20% discount. Other highlighted indie titles from 2025 are R.E.P.O., Schedule I, and Blue Prince. Major discounts include Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars Battlefront II, each reduced by 90%. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also available at its lowest price. Amazon Prime Day starts on July 8, offering deals on PC hardware and free PC games for Prime members.

AppWizard

June 26, 2025

Pterodactyl is my favorite way to manage self-hosted game servers, and no other tool comes close

Self-hosting game servers is more performance-efficient and cost-effective compared to commercial providers. Pterodactyl is a game-server management tool that supports various core games like Minecraft, Counter-Strike, and Garry's Mod, and allows for easy deployment through its two components: the panel and "Wings." Community-created "Eggs" enable users to host servers for specific games quickly. The setup process can be intricate, but tools like Proxmox helper scripts can assist. Deploying a server involves allocating necessary ports, and Pterodactyl simplifies configuration for various games. It provides an intuitive user interface and allows for remote management through port forwarding.

AppWizard

June 25, 2025

It’s been so long since I played a 30 fps console game, it took me a week to realize Death Stranding 2 was literally giving me headaches

The author experienced persistent headaches after playing Death Stranding 2, initially attributing them to various factors like dehydration and hunger. The headaches intensified after playing the game at its default 30 frames per second setting, which contrasted with the author's usual gaming experience on PC at 60 fps. After discovering the performance mode that locks the framerate at 60 fps, the author switched to it and noticed an immediate improvement in gameplay responsiveness and a reduction in headaches. The author reflects on how accustomed they have become to higher frame rates, noting that the camera movement at 30 fps contributed to feelings of queasiness. After adjusting to the performance mode, the author was headache-free after over 20 hours of gameplay. The author appreciates that Death Stranding 2 offers a performance mode and anticipates that the eventual PC port will provide an even better experience.

AppWizard

June 24, 2025

Mario Kart 64 Has Been Unofficially Ported To PC With Ultrawide Support

Nintendo remains focused on its consoles, while the fan community has ported Mario Kart 64 to PC under the name SpaghettiKart. The Harbour Masters development team reverse-engineered the original game's code, enhancing it with modern graphics options like ultrawide screen support, 4K resolution, and higher frame rates. SpaghettiKart also allows players to create custom race courses and increase CPU difficulty. Harbour Masters has previously developed PC ports for Star Fox 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, using "clean codes" that do not include original Nintendo 64 code. Players need legally sourced ROMs to use these ports. Earlier this year, the community ported Minecraft to Super Mario 64, compatible with PC emulators and original Nintendo 64 consoles. The latest official Mario Kart entry, Mario Kart World, launched for the Nintendo Switch 2.

AppWizard

June 24, 2025

Mario Kart World just launched with Switch 2, but PC gamers are playing Mario Kart 64 instead thanks to a “many-year” fan project that doesn’t contain Nintendo’s original code

Over two weeks after the launch of the Switch 2 and the latest Mario Kart installment, a fan-made port of Mario Kart 64, called SpaghettiKart, has been released for PC. This port was created by fans who reverse-engineered the original game, ensuring it does not use any code from the Nintendo 64 version to avoid legal issues. SpaghettiKart is available for download on GitHub and is still a work-in-progress, with some features not yet fully supported and a rare crash issue for a small number of users. The project follows the decompilation of the classic game and is part of a trend of retro titles being ported by fans.

AppWizard

June 24, 2025

Mario Kart 64 races onto PC with unofficial port, no emulation necessary

UltraHLE enabled players to run commercial Nintendo 64 games at playable frame rates on Windows 9x. The Harbour Masters collective has developed SpaghettiKart, an unofficial PC port of Mario Kart 64, by decompiling and recompiling the original game code for contemporary platforms, including Windows, Linux (Ubuntu 22), and Nintendo Switch. Players must provide their own Mario Kart 64 ROM and use "Spaghettify.exe" to load the game. SpaghettiKart currently supports only the US version and offers three rendering APIs: DirectX 11 for Windows, Metal for macOS, and OpenGL for other platforms. The port allows for custom assets and mods, although it is still in development and may have occasional crashes. Mario Kart 64 is the second-best-selling title for the Nintendo 64, with nearly 9.87 million copies sold globally. SpaghettiKart utilizes Libultraship, a library that reimplements Nintendo 64 SDK functions on modern machines.

AppWizard

June 23, 2025

Mario Kart 64 has a native PC port now thanks to the mad lads even Nintendo can’t stop, who also ported Zelda and Star Fox

The Harbour Masters have developed a native PC port of Mario Kart 64 called SpaghettiKart, allowing players to race without an emulator. Users must provide their own legally acquired ROM to comply with copyright laws. The project is still in development, featuring some bugs and crashes. The Harbour Masters are known for successful ports of other classic games, like Starfox 64. Detailed instructions and information about the required ROM can be found on the project's GitHub page.

AppWizard

June 21, 2025

Stellar Blade is a prime example of how PC ports should be done – ultrawide compatibility and stable performance are a must

The gaming community has expressed frustration over poorly optimized PC ports, with recent titles like Rise of the Ronin, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Monster Hunter Wilds suffering from stuttering issues and heavy reliance on upscaling technologies. Many contemporary games lack ultrawide compatibility, which is increasingly expected as ultrawide displays become more popular. Stellar Blade is noted for its exceptional performance and optimization, including support for ultrawide screens up to a 32:9 aspect ratio. It achieves over 60 frames per second (fps) at 1080p on medium settings on an Asus ROG Ally, with frame rates reaching 112fps using AMD Frame Generation. The Steam Deck also performs well, reaching 60fps on lower settings. On desktop systems with high-end hardware like the RTX 4080 Super and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D, Stellar Blade consistently exceeds 100fps at maximum settings without needing Nvidia's Frame Generation. Despite some titles showing good optimization, many triple-A releases still suffer from poor PC adaptations, disappointing gamers with high-end hardware. Handheld gaming PCs are becoming more popular, and successful ports like Stellar Blade provide hope for future game releases.

AppWizard

June 21, 2025

An unofficial PC port of Mario Kart 64 is now available for download

The NES emulator, 3dSen, was fully released today, and a fan-driven project called SpaghettiKart, a PC version of Mario Kart 64, has also been unveiled. SpaghettiKart is created through reverse engineering and features clean code without any lines from the original game, allowing for public sharing. It requires players to generate the O2R from their own ROMs and currently supports only the US version of Mario Kart 64. Compatibility with Mario Kart 64 HD is uncertain, and while future enhancements like Path Tracing effects and an HD Texture Pack are hoped for, they have not been confirmed. SpaghettiKart includes unique PC-only features such as a Track Editor, Custom Track Importer, Crystal Clear Audio, Harder CPUs, and Freecam. It is available for download with an installation guide.

AppWizard

June 20, 2025

‘Monster Hunter Wilds’ Now Has Overwhelmingly Negative Reviews on Steam – How One of 2025’s Best Games Is Crashing on PC

Monster Hunter Wilds has received an "Overwhelmingly Negative" rating on Steam, despite being Capcom's fastest-selling title earlier this year. Players have expressed dissatisfaction primarily due to performance issues with the PC version, including frequent crashes, sluggish server response times, and high system requirements for smooth gameplay. Many negative reviews come from players with significant hours logged in the game, indicating that the discontent is not impulsive. While some players appreciate the gameplay, others criticize the narrative-driven approach and simplified mechanics, which have disappointed long-time fans.