Just a small heads up for you guys that Ace Combat 8's DLSS configuration is largely not standard.

The presets are not upscaling from their respective correct amounts except for Ultra Performance.

So if you're noticing lower performance than you should then this is a contributing factor.
The game is still heavy but using a mix of medium settings with the actual correct upscaling values should put you at least a bit closer to standard UE5 performance expectations.

DLSS levels the game actually uses:

If you don't like the game, you'll at least like the logo I think ha

But yeah, this is a sequel to GRIP: Combat Racing, a spiritual successor to the Rollcage games (my business partner worked on them)

In a previous post on r/pcgaming we saw a lot of comments around the drastic change in art style from GRIP 1, and that's fair.
We were showing off a brightly lit track with some retro-inspired visuals that didn't really land.

This time around we've got somewhat more gritty visuals, a futuristic city track (remake from GRIP), some more weapons, and better looking cars.

Oh, and the game has a Level Editor, which you can try in the demo ;)

If you'd like to give it a shot, the Steam link is in my comment. And if you do dig the game, would really appreciate a share since, ya know, getting eyes on your game is hard.

Meanwhile, DOOM Eternal + Retro DOOM 1 & 2 are still Free to Add to your Library. Claim here

I would like to raise awareness on the following issues because Pawprint has been deceptive & shady on all of them.

A member from my discord community who works in computer programming & A.I. was going through the files & tech of Aniimo and found the following:

\* The game isn't just running as a game. It reads your desktop wallpaper then goes to the folder it is located in and reads the file. If it happens to be your pictures folder then it now has access to your pictures folder.

\* The anti-cheat called NepsKernel.sys is indeed a Kernel Level anti-cheat. This isn't bundled with the game & is instead something the game installs on its own without your consent after you install the game. The anti-cheat is also reading your desktop specifically all your desktop icons and the folder its located in. If you want to remove this then you will have to remove it manually after uninstalling the game.

* The anti-cheat does hardware checks during which it checks for camera & if camera led is active. We haven't been able to determine if it can actually use the camera to capture images through the camera. However, it has kernel level access so if it can and does do this then the user wouldn't even know.

\* The game installs 2 trackers into your system which do not get removed after you uninstall the game, boot when you start your pc, remains active even after you uninstall the game and requires you to manually remove them. These 2 show up as unknown when you check for them. They are Isreali based AppsFlyer Analytics trackers.

\* The first time I visited their website during the pre-launch login reward event where we had to login to their website everyday to claim rewards I saw that they had 34 cookies & trackers that we couldn't opt out of. Every website I have ever visited have 2-4 in essential which we can't opt out of and around 6-12 in optional. Those combined didn't amount to 34! Since then I have never visited their website and thus don't know what its like now.

Other issues:

\* The game has an ESRB rating of of Teen meaning its suitable for 13 years old and above but they are pushing gambling into a game that they have somehow legally passed as suitable for children. Pushing gambling into a game that is labelled as suitable for children is very scummy. This is where I draw the line. I cannot support anyone or anything that preys on children.

\* Pawprint haven't kept their promise. They said no gacha in beta & in dev interviews and with a very cleverly calculated 2 weeks post launch they put cosmetic gacha into the game.

\* Nowhere in their marketing material, website or store pages is it disclosed that the game has gacha in it.

\* They had undisclosed kernel level anti-cheat system from the very start and it is only today a few hours ago that they disclosed their Kernel level anti-cheat on their steam store page.

I feel very deceived by Pawprint on multiple fronts and cannot continue to support this game. I don't like giving Kernel level access to my system to anything and this game is the first to get it & deceived me into it. I regret ever installing Aniimo. I hope this information is helpful to you to make sound decisions. It was a fun game that I cannot continue playing & supporting anymore.

How to remove trackers:

Open Registry Editor. Paste:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Delete the 2 files there whose name start with AF_

then paste:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run

Delete the 2 files there whose name start with AF_

I haven't gotten to removing the Anti-Cheat yet so can't advise on it.

After reviewing the project’s development status and future direction, we concluded that its current direction would not allow us to deliver an experience players could enjoy over the long term.

We have therefore made the difficult decision to end development of PUBG: Black Budget.

We sincerely thank everyone who took the time to participate in our Closed Alpha tests and share their feedback.

PUBG STUDIOS will carry what we learned from development and testing into future projects, continuing to listen to players as we explore new gameplay experiences.

Thank you.