Battlefield Tri-hard

[Ifafudafi]

<lol viacom>

fixed; that was uploaded before DICE got the footage on their own BF channel, not a problem anymore

[Amit]

You're calling Mario recycled and no longer unique? Shit, have you even PLAYED Mario Galaxy? That is the most unique and mindblowing game design I've ever seen in a game throughout most of my gaming career (which started around my 6th birthday I believe so 10 years).


Sorry, I should have specified that I was talking about the side scrollers. I haven't played much of the Galaxy games which probably why I failed to remember that those games even existed.

[ODX]

I'd agree with you there, but it's the new things they add each time that make it great. The formula isn't really broken at all so they just keep reusing it. Same as what DICE is doing with BF3: it's a true sequel to BF2 so the formula is about the same but refinements are made to it through the form of graphics, destruction, and all those other pillars.

In the end you're still getting a fun game from an honest developer. The only place I really don't tolerate recycling is in the CoD franchise...but that's because the gameplay is broken with no intent from the developers to fix it.

[Amit]

Cheers to that. Except one thing. Every BF game feels different than the last. I can't say the same for the New Super Mario Bros. Wii and the versions on the gamecube.

[Mr Buckshot]

Any word on whether or not sniper rifles will have the ability to use red dots? In BC2, it's pretty fun in squad deathmatch mode, but a bit annoying in other modes with real objectives.

[Cortexian]

Well, all they've said that I've seen is that the weapon customization will be better than in BC2... I'm not a fan of red dots on anything except the semi-auto or auto sniper riles in BC2 though. All bolt actions should be restricted to scopes, even if they're only ACOG style 4x zoom ones.

[Amit]

I hope the M1 Garand makes a reappearance, it's just fun to use old era guns and kill the shit out of people. I wonder what the next BF veteran exclusive unlock will be. Hopefully it's something cool.

[Cortexian]

The ability to fly jets (only for people who played the PC version of Battlefield 2 PC).

[TeeKup]

I hope the M1 Garand makes a reappearance, it's just fun to use old era guns and kill the shit out of people. I wonder what the next BF veteran exclusive unlock will be. Hopefully it's something cool.

Not going to lie, it makes me feel like a smug bastard when the game ends an I went 20-8 with an M1 Garand. :-3

[Amit]

The ability to fly jets (only for people who played the PC version of Battlefield 2 PC).

lol are you for real?

[Cortexian]

lol are you for real?
Of course not.

But that would be awesome.

[Amit]

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/269902_10150228578982672_308775617671_7383594_3457 824_n.jpg

[ThePlague]

Wat.

[Amit]

One of the Frostbite 2 coders made that in Photoshop lol. If you look in the bottom-left corner, you'll see that she wrote: *Not a real product*

[TVTyrant]

Yes! Finally the game I have always been hoping for!

[Mr Buckshot]

Finally something more pwnage than BC2Vietnam's tuk-tuks.

[Amit]

Second Battleblog entry is up. This one goes more indepth with the class system: http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/07/07/battleblog-2-with-a-bit-of-class.aspx

http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/MP_5F00_Character_5F00_Profiles_5F00_US.png

[ODX]

They've pretty much already mentioned all the classes and how they work before.

I still find that suppressive fire mechanic really neat though in how it'll actually affect the player(s) you're shooting towards.

[Cortexian]

I don't think the artist in charge of that mock-up of the Engineer got the memo on what carbines are. It doesn't just mean "adjustable stock".

[Amit]

I don't think the artist in charge of that mock-up of the Engineer got the memo on what carbines are. It doesn't just mean "adjustable stock".

Yeah lol. That barrel is long as fuck.

[Cortexian]

Yeah lol. That barrel is long as fuck.
I'm pretty sure it's exactly the same gun that the assault guy has, except with adjustable stock.

[EX12693]

That kind of mistake smells of CoD...
Fishy.

[Amit]

That kind of mistake smells of CoD...
Fishy.

What makes this CoD related? CoD pretty much got the M4 and M16 down pat.

[Cortexian]

That kind of mistake smells of CoD...
Fishy.
What the fuck are you on about.

[ejburke]

With the way weapons are modeled, I don't see how an artist could accidentally do that; it has to be intentional. Probably has to do with animations and keeping the forward arm away from all the pockets and crap. So, it's either they have an inaccurate weapon or they have a mess of clipping around the torso. I'm sure the FP model will be correct and that's the one that should matter.

[TeeKup]

DICE called the Dragunov SVD a battle rifle in Medal of Honor to fill the game's "battle rifle" role for the recon class. If they inaccurately label a weapon/weapons again I'm going to be irritated. Then again this is Battlefield 3, so I don't assume they exactly would.

[Amit]

You can tell they didn't care much about MoH, but wasn't the M14 available for the Recon class? At least it was in the beta. The M14 is a battle rifle so I don't know why they would need another one for the recon class. What I liked about the M14 in that game is that you have the option to shoot it full-auto (at least in SP). I don't really like how most games with the M14 in it instantly degrade it to an M1A. Sure, the recoil is impractical on full-auto, but it would work great when firing from the hip in close quarters when somebody gets the jump on you.

[TeeKup]

The M14 is indeed a battle rifle, however they needed an equivalent for the OPFOR, so they used the Dragunov as a "battle rifle."

[Amit]

Ha, I was thinking BC2 style lol. Thanks for the correction.

[TeeKup]

Rudeness was not implied, apologies if it seemed that way. I enjoyed Medal of Honor for some time, but little things like improper labeling bother me. No matter how semantic it is.

[Amit]

Rudeness was not implied, apologies if it seemed that way.

Oh, not at all! I guess with this community's attitude it's easy to discount many things as sarcasm. And I don't blame you.

[Higuy]

http://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-3/news/no-mod-support-for-battlefield-3

Dunno if that was posted, but, WHAT THE FUCK?

[Ifafudafi]

I can see three reasons for this:

1. DICE genuinely believes the engine is too complicated for modders to handle.
2. FB2 is so terribly coded and put together that DICE could not release a relatively stable, workable public toolset when or shortly after the game ships.
3. DICE is under orders from EA not to include mod support in order to ensure that gamers hungry for new content must purchase paid DLC.

To which I would respond:

1. That notion is both exceedingly arrogant and insulting. DICE would be telling its fans "sorry, you're not smart enough to use our tools."
2. Release it anyway. If you can work it, we can find a way to work it.
3. Oh dear god why

[ODX]

Here, a guy talks about all the hurdles with modding the engine:
http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-pc/1350772-so-how-about-modtools.html

[Mr Buckshot]

I can see three reasons for this:

1. DICE genuinely believes the engine is too complicated for modders to handle.
2. FB2 is so terribly coded and put together that DICE could not release a relatively stable, workable public toolset when or shortly after the game ships.
3. DICE is under orders from EA not to include mod support in order to ensure that gamers hungry for new content must purchase paid DLC.

To which I would respond:

1. That notion is both exceedingly arrogant and insulting. DICE would be telling its fans "sorry, you're not smart enough to use our tools."
2. Release it anyway. If you can work it, we can find a way to work it.
3. Oh dear god why

Are they doing a paid DLC model for BF3? In BC2 the PC version has free DLC while console players also get it if they have a brand new copy of the game (otherwise they pay an extra $10).

But yeah community-made maps > DLC :/ BF2 had such a strong modding community too. But looking at Activision, I guess you could be doing much, much worse than this.

tbh I don't mind paying for DLC if the DLC is a true and proper expansion with much more actual new content than the average mod. Remember all those superb expansion packs we had in past RTS games? Or even Crysis Warhead? BC2 Vietnam was a bit small but still felt new enough that I didn't mind shelling out $5.10 for it. But if the DLC is literally just new level geometry, as is the case with BO and MW2, then fuck that shit.

Anyways, still no word on a Steam release so far. I'm all for digital distribution, but I'm not ready to trust Origin just yet so I might have to buy a disc version for the first time in years.

e: http://www.ea.com/news/demar-at-ea-we-believe-in-choice

so it looks like it is Valve's issue after all. Looking forward to the results.

[Amit]

This was a post I made in this (http://bashandslash.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=4924) thread at the Bash and Slash forums on this very same matter:


It's no surprise, really. It's not like they said they'd ever release them. They always implied that they wouldn't. They probably don't want to put in the effort to create a workable set of tools for the community. From information we've gathered so far about the engine, it's pretty damn complex and I don't blame them for not wanting to take the time to cut it down to something that a select few in the community will be able to grasp.

I don't understand why people are demanding mod tools. The tools that most people used for BF 1942 were fan made, came out long before the official tools, and was better than the official tools by miles. The following article explains this better than I can:


Many fans in the Battlefield community of late have been upset about what appears to be DICE walking away from their historic support of modifications. I, as someone who has been in the Battlefield modding community since October 2002, and have seen it all, would like to set a few things straight. I would also like to present what I think the community should be asking for, instead of what they have been demanding.

Much of the community talkback has revolved around two things: decrying DICEs walking away from their ‘roots’ by not supporting mods the way they used to, and a demand for an editor. This line of conversation ignores what those of us around at the beginning know: DICE mod support has always been sketchy at best, and the release of an editor with Battlefield 2 was an exception, not a rule.

DICEs first official map editor was the editor they released for BF1942, called BattleCraft. But BattleCraft was actually a community map editor, being worked on by a community member during a time when we had no tools at all. DICE hired the person making BattleCraft early in its development and we didn’t hear anything of it until late in BF1942’s life cycle. This was a time when anything we had was software intended for other uses (like Daylon Leveller) or made by the community, like the RFA Extractor without which we could not have done anything.

The editor which made modding for BF1942 easier and to which many BF1942 mods owed their life was called Editor42. It was superior to what ended up being BattleCraft in every way, it came out early, and most of all – it had nothing to do with DICE. It was made by a French Canadian named CoinCoin, and beta tested by another community member, named AudioGod, and myself (then known as Augustus). Editor42 was so good in fact, CoinCoin changed the license terms to say commercial use required payment, due to suspicions he had that EA and DICE were using it themselves (based upon approaches EA had made to him to offer ‘helpful advice’). Editor42 was always the preferred editor in the community, even after BattleCraft was released.

None of the most important tools had anything to do with DICE. Battlefield modding started out with people making maps entirely using notepad for object placement and 3dsMax for terrain texturing (and most other tasks, thanks to RexMan, later a Desert Combat developer).

By and large, DICEs mod tools had come out long after the community had already worked everything out for themselves, and had made software and 3dsMax scripts to do it all (DICEs Mod Tool download was actually a collection of MaxScripts made by RexMan, repackaged). DICE also consistently underestimated what the community was capable of; never believing the community could make a working helicopter with the existing code. This trait is still evident today with their patronising claims they can’t release their Frostbite 2 editor because their engine is too complicated for us.

Criticising DICE for not releasing mod tools ignores the history of Battlefield modding, which is a history of doing it ourselves, with only a little help from them. That is after all, the spirit of modding. What we should be campaigning for are two simple things: a custom game menu item so that mods can actually be used (no one seems to have even bothered asking for this!), and some kind of extractor tool to enable us to decompile their files. From there, we can do the rest. Our community is chock full of smart people who love the challenge, and if BF3 is as big a game as we hope it will be, there will be even more of them.

So get the word out – stop whingeing and ask for something DICE might actually see as a small thing that won’t cost them anything to give us. We’ll do the rest.

Source (http://www.battlefieldnexus.com/index.html/_/news/battlefield-3/mod-support-and-dice-%E2%80%93-setting-a-myth-straight-r33)

[Ifafudafi]

Because one shitstorm is never enough, let's add some fuel to the proverbial assfire

"Battlefield 3 may not come to Steam, according to EA's list" (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/10/battlefield-3-may-not-come-to-steam-according-to-eas-list/)

[jcap]

That guy you quoted, Augustus, doesn't know shit.

The biggest issue is that if dedicated servers aren't released to the public (as in not restricted to rental hosting companies), you will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER EVER see a multiplayer mod. The map files aren't even accessible by the end user for dedicated servers, so you can't modify even the stock maps, not to mention it being impossible to even add custom maps. Secondly, although I don't know DICE's security, if they have any sense they probably hash and sign their map files and the dedicated server executable probably checks both on map load. So, without any official mod support from DICE, there's zero chance in fucking hell of any mod tools ever even being planned.

[Mr Buckshot]

They won't release dedi servers to the public because it potentially allows pirated copies to play online on cracked servers.

I know quite a few people who pirated BC2 on PC, and while the SP worked fine they simply could not go online even after trying for months. So finally they bought the game for $5 :D

Can't really blame EA/DICE for this, and it's still better than intrusive DRM. They're the first multi-platform developer (other than Valve) in a long time to make the PC version the showcase.

as for steam, it's funny how so many people are butthurt even though they're also claiming how they want BF3 to beat MW3. Seriously people, it's not like this is the only high-profile PC game that doesn't use Steam. As long as I don't get overcharged, I'm fine with non-Steam. Besides the game wouldn't actually integrate with Steamworks (i.e. let you directly join a game a Steam friend is on), so a native Steam version really isn't too different from having a shortcut to the executable as a non-steam game.

[Amit]

That guy you quoted, Augustus, doesn't know shit.

That's your opinion.

The only thing DICE needs to do really is just allow to the game to be moddable. They don't have to provide mod tools. The community isn't as stupid as DICE is implying and it's an insult to the intelligence of it's dedicated fanbase. I've played few mods in BF 1942 and BF2. 1942 had some pretty amazing ones like the Modern Warfare mod that was being developed at the same time as BF2 and BF2 had excellent ones like Project Reality and AIX 2.0. While those were fun, they didn't feel necessary. I've never felt the need for significant modding to battlefield games. BC2? Hell, it never crossed my mind to mod the game until a month ago. I just have that much fun playing with what they've given us.

EDIT:

Hooray! Wake Island won't get flattened: http://news.tgn.tv/battlefield-3-destruction-is-getting-nerfed/

One thing that confused me in that article is how you can't bring down whole buildings anymore, but Destruction 2.0 is still in the game.

[Mr Buckshot]

They probably mean you can blow out the main walls and leave nothing but a frame standing. Or reduce crates/sandbags to smithereens or knife down fences and doors. So people can still enter the building, but now there's zero protection from snipers.

I don't see BC2 buildings completely getting flattened that often anyway, even on maps with tanks, unless the building contains an M-COM station. It takes quite a bit of shelling and time to flatten a building to the ground so usually destruction stops at most if not all the outer walls being blown out. So if they leave partial destruction in but take away the ability to truly flatten a building it's no loss to me.

[ODX]

I wasn't looking forward to buildings being blown up and the entire level being flattened soon enough in a match anyway, mainly just the ability to chip away cover and all that. It's just satisfying to affect the game world I suppose.

[Cortexian]

They just need to add some variation to the Destruction 2.0 wrecks IMO. If they didn't always collapse into the same pile of debris it wouldn't look so bad, make 5 variations and then make them random in the game and you should be fine. It's not like the BC2 buildings that were destroyed provided no cover.

[PlasbianX]

http://www.modernwarfare3.com/

try it :)

[TeeKup]

you misspelled WARfare.

[PlasbianX]

you misspelled WARfare.


Uh what?

[TeeKup]

Nice fix. Also clever.

[Amit]

"Alpha Trial" version of Battlelog:

http://battlefieldo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bl-home.pnghttp://battlefieldo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bl-comcenter-600x608.pnghttp://battlefieldo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/edit1-bl-profile-600x347.png

Either their Battle Feed is Facebook connected (which I highly doubt), or they blatantly and shamelessly ripped off FB's wall and chat interface. I like it. I want to see pics of Battlelog IN-GAME, though :smith:

AND HOLY FUCK? Did Daniel "zh1nt0" Matros start up his own server? :mech2:

[Mr Buckshot]

Saw Amit's image, googled, and realized that somehow I missed out on the co-op news for BF3.

Sounds cool, but given the history of campaign modes in Battlefield games, I don't have high expectations (I have not even finished the BC2 campaign). Looking forward to seeing the result though!

[Amit]

Yeah, I got this stuff from Battlefieldo.com. The 3rd Battleblog entry went up prematurely it seems on the German BF3 website. Battlefieldo captured the details before they were taken offline.

[=sw=warlord]

Heh, that modernwarfare3 site has had a complaint made against it by activision wanting to force ownership over it.
clicky (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lLDQCtJwZIQJ:www.modernwarfare3.com/+modernwarfare3.com&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.com)

[Amit]

That should go in the MW3 thread, but funny find, nonetheless.

[ODX]

It's related to BF3, because the link redirects back to Battlefield 3's site (last I checked) and Activision is obviously angry with it.

[Amit]

That's the only thing related to BF3. Oh well, more people check this thread.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

http://i.picpar.com/7b74cfa4263ca98f2557ab184ec153e1a1b966f0.png
http://i.picpar.com/a2d53934e28260416c6f8ca8565e20d30b4ec6ca.png
http://i.picpar.com/f7587cb1b86a0252a56f50f43220066629e97569.png
http://i.picpar.com/eba9b02a026ee447388b35d5aee25d6513103554.png
http://i.picpar.com/b60f4ae9088463d47a2c3597295a529b55a9c219.png

[Amit]

Oh you and your gaming connections. Is it good? It looks mighty unfinished from those pics.

I learned from another source that these were leaked. I don't think it was Pyong, though. Or am I wrong?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

lol they arent mine

[paladin]

those pics look like shit, next

[Amit]

Don't be an idiot. It's an Alpha version with all the effects turned off. Look at that 510 FPS. Funny enough, that's probably what the actual game is going to look like for me after I lower the hell out of the config to grab a meager 25FPS out of it. No money for fancy computer :(

[=sw=warlord]

those pics look like shit, next

If you're going to base an opinion on graphics alone why are you still playing Call of Duty?
They're still using ID tech 2 for that where as battlefield will be onto Frostbite 2.0.

[Ifafudafi]

hey, so, uh

"Battlefield 3 won't appear on Steam, retailer says" (http://www.develop-online.net/news/38239/Battlefield-3-wont-appear-on-Steam-retailer-says)

[paladin]

about time game makers backed away from steam, they are ruining a great experience and making it twice as dear if you purchase from a store, then having stalled updates and no replies to email.well done EA hope activision follows suit.

.

[Amit]

.

That idiot has probably never used Steam for more than 5 minutes. Steam doesn't have stalled updates or lousy customer support. Steam game updates are usually delayed due to changes the publisher wants to make to the patch. If you can't wait one extra day or so for a game update, you should go outside and actually live your life.

[seanthelawn]

I remember when I first got BF:BC2, I got it through some EA download thing (the game was only like a month old and there was a sale somewhere for half off or something). The download/updates were painfully slow. When a new version came out my game didn't autoupdate, and since I didn't follow any kind of Battlefield blogs or anything I was unaware of the newer version. Because of this, I was still on the older version for a while and there were only like 10 servers, mostly empty. Took me a while to figure out I had to manually update, which as usual was horribly slow. As soon as BFBC2 went on sale for $5 on Steam, I got it. Downloads were way faster and it updated automatically. Not sure why anyone would prefer the shit EA service over Steam.

E: An example of someone with the problem I was having: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/431188.page

[paladin]

I dl'd crysis 2 on steam in 45 minutes, 8.6gis. I seriously doubt origin would be able to do that

[ThePlague]

Fuck them, better not be true.

[Amit]

Fuck them, better not be true.

.

[paladin]

Fuck them, better not be true.

Yeah because I cant go to Fred Meyer and buy it!

[arbiter901]

Was really looking forward to this, I night not even buy it now if this is true.
Might consider pirating it now

[Amit]

Was really looking forward to this, I night not even buy it now if this is true.
Might consider pirating it now

What would that gain you? 6-10GB of nothing. Battlefield is a multiplayer game. The Campaign may have some value to it, but people buy BF games because of the multiplayer. You can't play online if you pirate the game. And Jesus fucking Christ: you don't pirate a game just because it's not available on Steam.

[arbiter901]

I only play multiplayer games for awhile then get bored, no matter what games it is.
I don't want another fucking client to just download my games full of DRM bullshit.

[Amit]

I only play multiplayer games for awhile then get bored, no matter what games it is.
I don't want another fucking client to just download my games full of DRM bullshit.

Has DRM from EA ever harmed your computer? Origin doesn't have to been running to play your games. And Steam is DRM in a way so I don't know what you are bitching about.

Oh and in that article posted by Ifafudafi, Gamestop says that BF3 won't be available on Steam. EA and DICE did not say that. Gamestop is known for flinging shit that doesn't come true.

[arbiter901]

Has DRM from EA ever harmed your computer? Origin doesn't have to been running to play your games. And Steam is DRM in a way so I don't know what you are bitching about.I haven't complained about this. The thing that bothers me is not being able to have my entire games library in one single service.
Yeah steam is indeed its own DRM this is why I don't want another form of it with Battlefield 3. We'll see how it all comes along, until then its out of my buy list.

[ejburke]

You will be able to get BF3 from digital distribution channels other than Origin, just not Steam, it seems.

Look, if you want this fantasy of Steam owning the digital distribution monopoly and becoming the ubiquitous, de facto PC game platform, offering every PC game that's ever been made in one convenient location, then write a letter to Valve and tell them to stop taking 30% royalties and charge publishers only the cost of bandwidth. They will all hop right on board with that.

But that's all just a childish fantasy. The real world dictates that these companies make money. As the digital distribution market grows, this is going to happen more and more as that 30% represents more and more money. Steam was allowed to operate almost uncontested, because DD was such a small piece of the pie. Well, the ride is almost over. Get ready for 2 clients or 3 clients or 4 clients to cover your gaming needs.

Or, you know, you could always just buy the damn disc.

[Amit]

It's fair enough that it's an inconvenience to not have all your games in a single service, but that discourages competition. Steam may be good, but Origin may just force Steam to improve their own services. There are a few things that Origin has that Steam doesn't, which should push Valve to implement them. Just basic things like being able to choose what folders your games get installed to. Steam has already stated that it is upgrading it's download method in the future, but that was due to the server overload from the Summer Sale and not a result of competition from Origin. So, while Steam could be great for gamers by itself and with no competition, I think it could be a good thing. The bad part is that EA might get stupid and use the Valve policy issue as an excuse for exclusivity on their service.

In any case, these are no grounds for you to pirate the game.

[TeeKup]

Resorting to piracy because one little detail doesn't fit your curriculum of a game release? Please don't be that much of a tool.

[Amit]

It's a wonder how he came to be a PC gamer if he's relied solely on Steam.

[MXC]

Buy it retail, asshat. You have feet for a reason.

[Rosco]

Resorting to piracy because one little detail doesn't fit your curriculum of a game release? Please don't be that much of a tool.

Didn't you know? The game's content and success is dictacted by where you download it from, so if it's not on steam, then it's a terrible game that I CERTAINLY SHALL NOT BUY

However of course I'm not a total idiot and will by the cd. I like having a physical copy.

[Amit]

If it ain't on Steam, I'll probably get it on Origin rather than some other online vendor. I'd rather have it right from the source. I bought the physical disc for BF2142 Deluxe Edition, but EA let me download the game for a year on their EADM service, even though I had the disc already. I had zero problems with EADM. I expect the same with Origin. However, I'm thinking that it's been a really long time since I bought a physical disc for a game (I think BF2142 Deluxe was the last and COD4 before that), so I might buy the disc instead this time, just as something to add to my very small collection of physical boxes.

[Mr Buckshot]

Although I like Steam, I only see it as a benefit when the multiplayer is actually integrated with Steamworks, i.e. you can join servers that Steam friends are on just by right-clicking their names and selecting Join Game.

BC2 on Steam still required me to manually log into its own friends list, and from time to time it also forgot that I saved my EA credentials so I sometimes had to type in those too. And of course BF3 will be the same (about the friends list). In a situation like that I don't see how it is much different from just having the shortcut as a non-Steam game in the library.

whining about not being on Steam is like whining that the box isn't your favorite colour. Get a grip.

also, pirating this game is stupid when all you're going to get to play is a likely-mediocre single player campaign. The way BC2 handled its dedicated servers ensured that pirates can't have their own 32 player cracked server fragfests like they could with older pirated games. BF3's doing the same. Unless someone actually takes the effort to enable the online mode in a cracked copy (like with AlterIWnet that ironically improved the legit copy too), you might as well save your time and bandwidth (or fork over the cash for the damn game during a sale).

I finally put in a pre-order for the disc version btw. I found out from a friend that the BC2 disc version has the option of removing the disc check after the install is done, so assuming that's retained in BF3, I don't have to bother with the disc until I change my computer.

btw, this community was founded around Halo PC, which isn't and will never be on Steam...

[ODX]

I don't exactly understand your last comment. Although this place was founded on Halo, everyone here has pretty much grown up a lot since then and integrated themselves heavily with other games which they mainly get from Steam (or so I'm guessing).

As much as I'm dismayed by the fact it won't be on Steam, I really don't think it'll be too big a deal to just get it from Origin or buy retail and hope the game doesn't get fucked over by some anti-piracy measures.

[Amit]

AlterIWNet was made for the legit MW2 players. It just happened to work for the pirates too.

[Mr Buckshot]

Has anyone here actually tested out Origin to see how well it works? I'm curious. The last EADM was a joke and actually frustrated me enough to buy a Steam version of BC2, but I'm willing to give DICE/EA the benefit of the doubt and see if they learn their lesson.

[ThePlague]

Official recommended specs are out. (http://battlefieldo.com/bf3-alpha-and-system-specs-emerge/)




OS: Windows 7 or Vista (SP1)
Installed: Origin
CPU: Quadcore @ 2.0 GHz or faster
RAM: 4GB or more
Hard Drive: 7.25 GB free disk space
Video: 256 MB or greater
DirectX 10 or 11 compatible card with latest drivers (AMD 11.5 or later, nVidia 275.33 or later)
Sound: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible card
Internet: broadband connection

Alpha Gameplay footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7TALhQkHHs

[paladin]

I haven't complained about this. The thing that bothers me is not being able to have my entire games library in one single service.
Yeah steam is indeed its own DRM this is why I don't want another form of it with Battlefield 3. We'll see how it all comes along, until then its out of my buy list.
Desktop Icons.....
http://www.cnet.com.au/story_media/339302671/cluttereddesktop.jpg


BF3 not on Steam

Also, first world problems....... man life's tough

[ThePlague]

Above ground footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHvUH0_1hCI

bwah.

[Amit]

Looks good. Can't wait for open beta in September.

[ODX]

http://www.youtube.com/user/MW2Addiction

This guy has some stuff up. The main video shows a knife first-person kill and him blowing up the side of a building randomly.
Pretty sweet.

[MXC]

Don't really care for the sniper footage, but damn, that was one b-e-a-UTIFUL wall jump.

[Ifafudafi]

That footage plus a dickload more is floating on youtube; some guy pieced it all together and I've put it in the OP. Go check it out (there's also a new official trailer.)

[Amit]

And check out this set of gameplay. The guy plays like an idiot, but it's long gameplay:

YRkOP5OFVXQ&hd=1

[ExAm]

Christ that APC was moving fast. Good to see the vehicles getting a good turn of speed.

[ThePlague]

All I see when people go prone is CoD players :\

[TeeKup]

Graphically and atmosphere wise it's outstanding. Everything looks crisp and raw and real and gritty. Can't wait to get my hands on this.

[ThePlague]

Actual EA MP trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emwEknzmyRo

And some screenshots from Operation Metro. (http://battlefieldo.com/operation-metro-multiplayer-screenshots/)

[Amit]

Actual EA MP trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emwEknzmyRo

And some screenshots from Operation Metro. (http://battlefieldo.com/operation-metro-multiplayer-screenshots/)

Ifafudafi already mentioned that he posted that on the OP.

[Champ]

Has there been any gameplay videos showing the player getting suppressed?

[Amit]

Not really. I'm not sure how we can really tell with these halfway decent res videos. I don't really care about the suppression system much. Last night at our Modacity BC2 Gamenight, the Russian team was pushing some crazy suppression fire down onto us at Alpha on Atacama Desert. That had a good enough effect on us, so I'm confident that suppression in BF3 will be superb.

[Amit]

Fucking hell. My console fag of a cousin has a PC Alpha Trial code and is downloading the client right now. I am relentlessly hounding him for the download link and account details to play and test that shit proper on low end and medium spec PCs at every detail level. I'm literally gonna document everything I can. Videos, pictures, tape recordings of voice notes so I don't forget to write shit down later and of course written notes by memory. If anything I'll just show up to his house and push him out of the way.

Anyone got anything specific they want looked at?

[Ifafudafi]

Fucking hell. My console fag of a cousin has a PC Alpha Trial code and is downloading the client right now. I am relentlessly hounding him for the download link and account details to play and test that shit proper on low end and medium spec PCs at every detail level. I'm literally gonna document everything I can. Videos, pictures, tape recordings of voice notes so I don't forget to write shit down later and of course written notes by memory. If anything I'll just show up to his house and push him out of the way.

Anyone got anything specific they want looked at?

Absolutely.
-Suppresion mechanic
-Squad heirarchy (commanders, squad leaders, etc. and what their functions are)
-Class customization (as many pics and videos as you can get of this)
-Descruction behavior (is it BC faux-destruction, how does it change the gameplay, etc.)
-Everything you can think of telling us, no matter how minor.

[TeeKup]

I want to see M1014 gameplay damnit! *slams hand on table*

Happy to see what you can get us Amit.

[Amit]

Christ, somebody's passionate about a shotgun.

Well I've managed to get him to agree to give me the details without force ( :| I was looking forward to that part). He said he'll send them sometime during the day. If I don't get them, I'm meeting up with him at a family event in the afternoon so physical force may still be in the equation :D

All jokes aside, he knows how important this is to me. He's seen the numerous BF3 videos I've posted on facebook, he knows that he'll suck dick at the first BF game he's ever played on PC, and he most definitely knows his piece of shit i5 laptop with HD 5650 graphics ain't gonna cut it.

[Amit]

Alright I got the account details. Here's how the Alpha Trial works. You have to redeem the code through Origin. Then you download the Alpha Trial through origin and launch it from there. I'm guessing it'll take an hour to download the Frostbite Client.

:iamafag::

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6742/bf3alphatrial.png

Now 50% done. I ain't sleeping tonight or tomorrow night lol.

[Cortexian]

want want want so bad

[Amit]

I'm going to have a serious talk with my cousin tomorrow about which friend gave him this code. Not even BF players with level 7 veteran (and subscribed to the news letter) got invites, so I'm not sure how some 16 year old console kid got his hands on one.

EDIT: 100%. Time to start the jizzing.

[Cortexian]

I heard that all level 8 veterans got codes. Except I have 8 status and I didn't get invited so it must just increase you chances and I'm really unlucky...

[Amit]

Oh god. It's all so much to take in. My laptop can't handle this shit though. It's too intense. Gotta switch the iMac tomorrow.

[Cortexian]

You should let me try it tonight then :)

[ExAm]

I heard that all level 8 veterans got codes. Except I have 8 status and I didn't get invited so it must just increase you chances and I'm really unlucky...
Some people with no veteran status and no preorder got codes. I think it's totally random.

[TeeKup]

Christ, somebody's passionate about a shotgun.

I love shotguns. To me, what can make or break a shooter is how well it incorporates a shotgun. I liked the M1014 from CoD4 and MW2 (one of the few things I enjoyed about it). The 870 Combat and the TOZ-194 in Medal of Honor were extremely fun too. The USAS-12 and the Neostead 2000 in bad company 2 were fun as well. All the shotguns in Blops are crap.

[Amit]

Alright, well I installed the game on my iMac (bootcamp) and played it. It runs at 30FPS on High settings at 1280x1024 (CPU: C2D E7600, GPU: Mobile HD 4670, 4GB RAM). I got some video, but I had it set at half resolution so the video game out cruddy looking, but the FPS is good. With Fraps recording, the 30FPS dropped to about 22-25. I'll record some footage again, but this time I'll keep it at full resolution. The iMac only has one hard drive in it so I can't eliminate or reduce the performance loss by recording it to another drive. Plenty of screen caps at 1980x1080 at high settings, though.

[Mr Buckshot]

Alright, well I installed the game on my iMac (bootcamp) and played it. It runs at 30FPS on High settings at 1280x1024 (CPU: C2D E7600, GPU: Mobile HD 4670, 4GB RAM). I got some video, but I had it set at half resolution so the video game out cruddy looking, but the FPS is good. With Fraps recording, the 30FPS dropped to about 22-25. I'll record some footage again, but this time I'll keep it at full resolution. The iMac only has one hard drive in it so I can't eliminate or reduce the performance loss by recording it to another drive. Plenty of screen caps at 1980x1080 at high settings, though.

Good to hear, I was afraid my laptop's Mobility HD 5850 might not be able to handle good settings. What settings exactly did you push for the higher widescreen resolutions?

[Amit]

Good to hear, I was afraid my laptop's Mobility HD 5850 might not be able to handle good settings. What settings exactly did you push for the higher widescreen resolutions?

Prepare yourself :D:

D: Only 3 graphics settings. Low, medium, and high. Config file is encrypted.

Since I have only played for a limited time due to a server bring down (they came back up hours ago), I have yet to find out more details. I spent most of my time just surfin the menus and testing graphics/resolution combinations for performance.

This is mostly what I've learned so far (pics to come later for certain bullet points) Part 1:

Squads - Squad leader is chosen randomly so everyone gets a chance to play it. I haven't been selected yet so I don't know the extent of their commands. NO COMMANDER :smithicide:

Destruction - Some of it was turned off by DICE due to performance reasons. From what I've seen, it's like BC2 right now, except you can't destroy whole buildings. The level design of Operation Metro doesn't really have the structure types of BC2 buildings, though, so it would look awkward trying to destroy a whole building. As far as I know, full destruction of buildings in the final game is not possible. I think they mentioned that last week.

M1014 Shotgun: Teek, you saw that video and it rapes. Be happy.

Class Customization - It's the same as BC2, but now you can can choose attachments for your weapon. You can add up to three attachments (e.g. heavier barrel, optics, flashlight/laserpointer, etc.) to a single weapon. In BC2 you had two class specializations and a class specific gadget (C4 available too). BF3 you get two gadgets and the three weapon options I said previously. I have no idea what the gadgets are yet since I haven't unlocked any yet.

Origin - You have to download and install Origin, then download the game on Origin. The game itself is launched from a server browser built into the Battlelog website. You have to installed an Origin plugin for your browser, then go to the multiplayer server browser, set your filters (if you want) and then use the browser as if it was a GameTracker server list. When you find one you want to play on, click on it, then hit join on the right corner. That'll take you straight into the match.

Menus - There is no startup videos or main menu to speak of. You get a pause menu ONLY after you deploy (spawn). You get your standard stuff: Resume, Scorboard, Squad, Suicide, Options, and Quit To Windows. I don't like how I have to spawn first. Maybe this will change by open beta time.

Options - Graphics options are limited to changing resolution, primary monitor, fullscreen mode (on or off), mouse vertical look (inverted or normal), and 4 basic graphics settings: Auto, Low, Medium, and High. Pretty disappointing. I'm sure this will change by Open Beta as well. The game is select of features even after selecting a preset. It'll turn AA on or off if it detects that your GFX card may or may not be able to run it. I noticed that when switching from my laptop to my iMac (AA off -> AA on). AA is turned off as far as I know at Low setting, though.

Audio - Holy fucking shit. Fuck BC2, this is the real stuff. Guns sound powerful. The depth of them is just ridiculous. It actually makes you think about if anyone will come after you after hearing those rounds being fired. Also, there's no stupid random mess of ambient sound this time. There is ambient sound, but it makes sense with what is happening in the environment. There's only explosions and gunfire if that is actually happening in the map. If you hear a plane flying overhead or something exploding, look around, you'll see it if your view isn't obstructed by objects.

There's no controls remapping or menu to show you so you have to go to the Battlelog forum to get them from Zh1nt0:

WASD - Move
z - Toggle Prone
Ctrl - Crouch
x - Toggle Crouch
G/5 - select grenade
Mouse 1 - Fire/Drop med or ammo kit
Mouse 2 - Aim down sight (not toggled)
Q - spot enemies (maybe used by squad leaders to point to objectives)
F - quickknife
6 - select knife
R - reload (tap); pickup weapon/ammo (hold)
E - arm/disarm MCOM station
V - Fire Select Switch
Shift - Sprint/Hold Breath/Deploy Bipod (when prone or at flat cover/barricade)
T - Flashlight
C - 3rd Person vehicle view
M - large map
N - map zoom level
JKL - Chat: All, Team, Squad
Left Alt - VOIP chat
F1-F6 - Vehicle Seat

That's all I have to type for now. I have to go out. I'll be back later to finish.

[Mr Buckshot]

Please let this not be another Crysis 2 (to be fair, the initial release of Crysis 2 did run surprisingly well on PCs that struggled with the first game).

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt since this is an alpha trial though.

[ODX]

I'm sure EA will let them handle all the optimizations and graphics settings to allow for the most amount of people to play the game. Especially after this Alpha trial which if I remember correctly is mainly for hardware testing and not exactly gameplay testing, a lot more settings will probably be added by Beta.

[Cortexian]

IIRC this alpha trial is the same one that was demo'd on the DICE/EA machines at the conferences and such. Meaning that graphics options and optimization don't really matter since all those machines were identical.

We won't see a full multiplayer experience until the beta starts.

I remember them saying that BF3 wouldn't have a commander, they said it was a pretty useless roll with the way the new squad layout goes.

EDIT - FYI, this is what the alpha invitation looks like:
http://newsletters.ea.com/2011/BATTLEFIELD/BF3_ALPHA_INVITE/en/

[ThePlague]

If Amit would let me try the alpha, I could max it out at 1600x900 (or even get my 1920x1080 tv) and record footage :C

[Cortexian]

I'll be doing that at 1920x1200 if he gives me the key. Your GPU is broke sorry Plague!

[ThePlague]

It ate through the center of the thermal pad, all I need to go do is get a new one (hopefully will today). There's a perfect diamond on it.

[ExAm]

IIRC this alpha trial is the same one that was demo'd on the DICE/EA machines at the conferences and such. Meaning that graphics options and optimization don't really matter since all those machines were identical.

We won't see a full multiplayer experience until the beta starts.

I remember them saying that BF3 wouldn't have a commander, they said it was a pretty useless roll with the way the new squad layout goes.

EDIT - FYI, this is what the alpha invitation looks like:
http://newsletters.ea.com/2011/BATTLEFIELD/BF3_ALPHA_INVITE/en/
What is the address it's sent under? I need to search my spam folder.

[Cortexian]

What is the address it's sent under? I need to search my spam folder.
Not sure, I didn't get one. Just found that online.

[Guardian]

Has anyone got any idea on what the minimum CPU requirements will be for this, currently the one estimates for the min requirements put the CPU ridiculously low, like low enough for me to consider pre-purchasing for my piece of crap laptop.

I can't find any Official Minimum spec. Anyone got any idea?

[ThePlague]

From bf3blog: (http://bf3blog.com/battlefield-3-system-requirements/)
Minimum Specs:



OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
RAM: 2GB
Graphic card: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card.
Graphics card memory: 512 MB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version



I'd ask Amit for exact specs he has on his laptop, because from what he said I don't think he was able to run it decently.

[Guardian]

The CPU seems way tp weak, I have AMD Tuurion II P520 2.3 GHz, I can run games like Crysis 2 and BC2 on low with out any problems and a moderate FPS. Games like Minecraft and Crysis 1 crap out for some reason.

Hey Amit, whats your Laptop spec? :D lol

I have:
AMD Tuurion II P520 2.3 GHz
4 Gb ram
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (memory size 2807 MB)

So my only worry is my dam CPU.

[Amit]

Don't bother with the specs they released. Those minimum specs are for people who play on low settings at 1024x768. I'd say the minimum specs are as such:

Core 2 Quad Q6600 or higher/ Core i5 650 or higher, GeForce GTS 450/ Radeon HD 5670, 4GB RAM. That's minimum.

Laptops Specs:

Lenovo Thinkpad T510. Core i7 620M 2.67Ghz, 4GB RAM, nVidia Quaddro NVS 3100 512MB. The nvidia card really hurts graphics performance. I installed it on my iMac instead and ran it well there.

iMac 2010: C2D E7600 3.0Ghz, 4GB RAM, ATi HD 4670 512MB.

I would test it on my own desktop as well, which would no doubt do better than both of the above, but my dad took that to his office for the summer :|

Part 2 of info drop:

Squad Leader - I don't know much about them except that they have the ability to give basic orders (via Q button) can spawn on any squad member, allow squad members to spawn on him, and has a star over their head in addition to the enemy/friendly marker. It's probably best to kill the squad leaders if you can. It'll help prevent the other squad members from joining on him.

Online Leaderboards - Surprisingly, there is an online leaderboard up right now.

Config - File is encrypted. No optimization available :( I guess DICE wants a very specific set of features tested.

Gamepads - I'm using the PS3 controller software to emulate the X360 controller so I know that works natively, but the sensitivity is wayyyyy too high. 180 turn with the slightest touch of the stick. I haven't tried regular gamepad mode yet.

Anti-Camping - Optics glint if you're in one place for too long, so somebody might see you. I haven't seen this myself, but some dude was yelling on the chat how boss that is.




Worst news comes last. Sorry Freelancer and Plague, I won't be able to lend either of you guys the account. My cousin said he doesn't want any more people using his account. In any case, he's playing any time he can get. The only time he doesn't play is when he goes to bed. That is when I am allowed to jump on. I'll try to convince him to let you guys use it a bit later when he's finally tired of playing it.


If Amit would let me try the alpha, I could max it out at 1600x900 (or even get my 1920x1080 tv) and record footage :C

You can't even max BC2 at your resolution, how are you gonna max this? 1080p video? Forget it.


EDIT: Battlelog photo drop:

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/3382/battlelog1.png
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/9155/battlelog2.jpg
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/838/battlelog3.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9958/battlelog4.jpg
http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5194/battlelog5.jpg
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1554/battlelog6.jpg
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8127/battlelog7.jpg
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/7876/battlelog8.jpg
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/5203/battlelog9.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/153/battlelog10.jpg
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2156/battlelog11.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/7744/battlelog12.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5127/battlelog13.jpg


The highest rank I've seen, as of just now, is lvl 36.

[ThePlague]

What are you talking about, BC2 is maxed out to the max everything.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/541774443018642395/ABF4ADB0CBB3BD1C612E3344DDD987198E753705/
65+ frames on any map bro.

[Mr Buckshot]

hmm, iMacs are essentially oversized batteryless laptops so that Radeon 4670 should be just below a desktop 4650 in performance.

If that can get playable framerates in an unoptimized alpha then my friends with lesser laptops (i.e. GT335M, radeon 5650) should be fine. They're running BC2 at 1366x768 in DX9 at a mixture of low and medium settings and getting nearly 50 fps average and that actually doesn't look too ugly.

[Amit]

What are you talking about, BC2 is maxed out to the max everything. .

You told me just two days ago that your FPS dropped 15 FPS due to driver issues.


hmm, iMacs are essentially oversized batteryless laptops so that Radeon 4670 should be just below a desktop 4650 in performance.

If that can get playable framerates in an unoptimized alpha then my friends with lesser laptops (i.e. GT335M, radeon 5650) should be fine. They're running BC2 at 1366x768 in DX9 at a mixture of low and medium settings and getting nearly 50 fps average and that actually doesn't look too ugly.

Basically, yeah. Except three things. 1. Your friends should up their settings to high if they are getting close to 50FPS in BC2. 2. Remember, BF3 is purely DX10 and DX11, so the performance will get eaten up on their laptops. 3. iMacs use desktop processors, but that probably only helps for about 5 FPS. Truly, the mobility graphics are weak. Still, I manage to get 40FPS solid (shadows medium, everything else high, AA off) on DX10 with that iMac.

[ThePlague]

I said eff it and reinstalled the drivers, it only grey screens when i'm not playing a game :\

[Amit]

how the hell do you see anything if it grey screens?

[Guardian]

Don't bother with the specs they released. Those minimum specs are for people who play on low settings at 1024x768. I'd say the minimum specs are as such:
*snip*.

So do you think I would be able to run it on my laptop on all low 1024x768?
Coz if so, I'm going to get it, Ill probably just wait till the open beta to find out.

[ThePlague]

how the hell do you see anything if it grey screens?
I either kick the side of it, or start the computer, and hurry and get ingame.

And yes, kicking the computer lightly does help...

[Cortexian]

Wow your GPU is so crippled right now lol.

[Mr Buckshot]

So do you think I would be able to run it on my laptop on all low 1024x768?
Coz if so, I'm going to get it, Ill probably just wait till the open beta to find out.

I've seen the mobile radeon 5650 do noticeably better than that kind of setting in BFBC2, even in DX10 mode. You should at least push your laptop's native resolution (assuming 1366x768, which is typical for that segment)

[Amit]

So do you think I would be able to run it on my laptop on all low 1024x768?
Coz if so, I'm going to get it, Ill probably just wait till the open beta to find out.

I was going to say yes, but then I saw your CPU. You'll find out when the open beta hits in September.


I've seen the mobile radeon 5650 do noticeably better than that kind of setting in BFBC2, even in DX10 mode. You should at least push your laptop's native resolution (assuming 1366x768, which is typical for that segment)

What people need to understand is that BC2 is really no comparison to this Alpha build. I'm guessing that it's not as optimized as it could be since it's just an Alpha. Good performance in BC2 does not equate to even decent performance in BF3. This game is a muthafuckin' beast.

[Guardian]

I was going to say yes, but then I saw your CPU. You'll find out when the open beta hits in September.
.

Chur, thats what I thought. Freakn laptops and their ability at being impossible to upgrade cheaply.

[Ifafudafi]

every single one is a broken link

[ThePlague]

Thumbs up!

[Amit]

Fucking imageshack. They suck the biggest dick when it comes to putting images in proper order and not giving false links.

In-game photo drop (low settings):



http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3475/19781453.jpg
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9558/88485610.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/1905/25048218.jpg
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4315/98063625.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/569/95787829.jpg
http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/707/36146152.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7640/87898290.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4748/68852732.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1174/10704471.jpg
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/7237/44555418h.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2096/45283096.jpg
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9771/19793194.jpg
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/2060/22298812.jpg
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7536/26331211.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5403/88551209.jpg
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9150/89946546.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5213/77419490.jpg
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/199/42358392.jpg
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1561/37463221.jpg
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9200/25579990.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3746/19797907.jpg
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4163/78299931.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/3373/24029877.jpg
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/8053/86736049.jpg
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/8544/53942376.jpg
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/1849/84204430.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/140/73394247.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9554/80648439.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3902/60462067.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5383/62339038.jpg
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/4576/69228278.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6516/81965617.jpg

[Nero]

Works now. Cool!
They still have lots to work on.

[ODX]

You know, as beautiful as the Frostbite 2.0 Engine can be...I'm really really bothered by those sharp leaves on the trees [when viewed from a distance] :ohdear:

They look like paper too from a distance. I'm know I'm calling this at Alpha, so hopefully they look better by Beta and obviously Retail.

[Amit]

Keep in mind I have everything set to low settings. My computers can't run it with proper framerates on High. I'm going to jump into an empty server tonight, put it on high settings and then take some pics.

I still have to get the videos up, but I haven't had the time to convert the Fraps videos into a format readable by Premiere Pro/Vegas to cover up my in-game name.

[Ifafudafi]

well if that's what it looks like on low then I'll just have to

(oh and if you can get some video of suppressing and some being suppressed so we can know just what the mechanic is like)

[Cortexian]

Premiere Pro reads Fraps video without any conversion since like CS4 or something IIRC.

[Amit]

Premiere Pro reads Fraps video without any conversion since like CS4 or something IIRC.

No, at least not on the Mac CS5 version.

I'm being suppressed here:

http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/8544/53942376.jpg

And the extreme blurring you see here is due to the bastard riddling my body and area where I died with bullets even after I'm dead. If I wasn't dead, my screen would be quite blurry on the edges and red tinged from the direction the fire is coming from:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3902/60462067.jpg

But, yeah, I'll have to get a video up of the suppression system. I'll get one of the people on my friends list to help me demonstrate that. I'm not sure if your own team can suppress you, though. I'll just have to join an empty server and get him to join so he's placed on the opposite team. I think there are already HD videos up showing suppression. I'll have to find some.

[Cortexian]

No, at least not on the Mac CS5 version.
Well my PC version of CS5 does just fine. Are you making an AVCHD time lime.

[Amit]

Oh, no I was just making a widescreen DV.

[Amit]

Found this gem on the Battlelog forums:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/lol-2.png

[Mr Buckshot]

+rep Amit, that made my day :D

$750 with a 9200? Wow... I've seen LAPTOPS cost that much or less with vastly more performance, and that's in CAD. Not to mention that Intel's latest IGP offering trashes the 9200.

Anyway, those screens look pretty decent for their settings, can't wait!

[Cortexian]

Maybe the guy meant $750 for the whole tower+monitor+mouse+keyboard...

[Amit]

In this day and age, I haven't seen ANY computers that don't come with modern, discrete class IGPs or actual video cards, whether they are low-end or not. A GeForce 9200? Where the hell did that computer come from?

[Donut]

im running a geforce 7600 :iamafag:

[Amit]

im running a geforce 7600 :iamafag:

Yeah, but it's not like you went out the store the other day, bought a computer and ended up with a GeForce 7200LE.

[ExAm]

ALPHA CODES, GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT

https://bf3alpha.battlefield.com/redeem/index.php

Reddit thread for proof (http://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield3/comments/j1odf/so_i_logged_in_with_my_account_and_got_a_code_to/)

[seanthelawn]

Got my key, downloading through Origin atm

Ty <333333333

E: 58% COME ONNNNN

[Amit]

Some people can get keys for some reason. Pyong, for example. Then we got people who redeemed keys who can't even play the game, like the plague (borked GPU). That's alright, Pyong will use my borrowed account.

[ThePlague]

Hush shush, I fixed it for now. I just had to hit it hard enough.

EVERYONE ADD tearshade GOGOGO

[ExAm]

I just got an invite email, so I guess the keys were allocated before the invites went out?

[Amit]

I dunno. Probably, like how the Crysis 2 Beta invites were. It's stupid though, because it's not a shortage of keys, really. People are getting e-mails, but when they try to redeem, the system tells them to get stuffed. Yet, other people are able to go ahead and claim their key.

And plague really is playing on a borked GPU and is enjoying it. My guess is that it'll explode soon enough then hell need a whole new rig and set of eyebrows.

[cheezdue]

Sweet! I got my key, now all I have to do is download Origin. :)

Whoa! 50KB download speed!?!? D:

EDIT: INSTALLING!!!

[Timo]

WE'RE SORRY - YOU DON'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO ENTER THIS SITE. :C

[Amit]

WE'RE SORRY - YOU DON'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO ENTER THIS SITE. :C

:CCCC :)))))

no? still, :CCCC?

Well, at least our BC2 gamenight is still on for tomorrow. Show up, play and have fun, and I just might let you use one of my two accounts :P

[Spartan094]

ffffffffffffffffffffffffff

Dammit. I really wanted the alpha.

[Cortexian]

I'm in, got my email and it worked. at 25% downloaded now.

EDIT: 50%

EDIT EDIT: Installing!

[ExAm]

This game is so awesome. It's magically ridiculous.

[Cortexian]

Played a few games and my initial impressions are reserved, but good. The gameplay seems to be all we can really judge at the moment, the high-end graphics assets aren't in the game yet so it's impossible to judge that. The difference in quality between Low/Med/High settings is very minimal and the configuration file is encoded and thus hard to work with right now. To be brutally honest I can say that the current graphics are pretty terrible, the lighting is good but the current textures and filtering presets are horrible.

The gameplay seems to be a mix of Battlefield 2 and Bad Company 2 styles from what I've seen so far. It still needs some polishing, and that's very obvious right off the bat after playing for only 45 minutes or so.

[ThePlague]

Attackers NEED TO LEARN TO BUMRUSH THE FIRST SET OF M-COMS. ATTACKERS DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT CAMP AT YOUR UNCAP. Use the LAV for cover fire, have it troll the defenders in front of the M-COMs, arm it, then have the LAV shoot anyone who gets close to it.

Defenders, just camp as usual. It'd be nice to keep the Attackers pushed behind the M-COMs though :\

[seanthelawn]

Attackers NEED TO LEARN TO BUMRUSH THE FIRST SET OF M-COMS. ATTACKERS DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT CAMP AT YOUR UNCAP. Use the LAV for cover fire, have it troll the defenders in front of the M-COMs, arm it, then have the LAV shoot anyone who gets close to it.


Can't agree more. Doesn't matter how many times I say it, the noobs refuse to move up. Every time I managed to break through and arm the C4, nobody had my back to defend it so it got disarmed.

[Mr Buckshot]

WE'RE SORRY - YOU DON'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO ENTER THIS SITE. :C

ditto :( I do have beta access from buying MoH though.

[Amit]

Can't agree more. Doesn't matter how many times I say it, the noobs refuse to move up. Every time I managed to break through and arm the C4, nobody had my back to defend it so it got disarmed.

Yeah. IT's a hell of a a lot easier to disarm an mcom and keep it disarmed by yourself than to arm one and keep it armed. You're already in enemy territory when you arm the damn thing so 3 or 4 guys will come down and fuck you up when you arm mcom A.

[Amit]

ditto :( I do have beta access from buying MoH though.

Beta is open to anyone, but MoH people get slightly earlier access. I'm guessing it'll be like the BC2 beta where pre-order people get it at the same time as video game journalists.

[Cortexian]

Out of all the games I've played, only two have pushed past the first set of MCOM's lol. That was the two games where I got into the LAV.

[cheezdue]

Out of all the games I've played, only two have pushed past the first set of MCOM's lol. That was the two games where I got into the LAV.

Most of the games I played were like that too, there was only one game where my team actually managed to push back to the final MCOM stations.

[seanthelawn]

Super addicted to knifing people right now. I'm only on this site posting (rather than in-game) because it crashed after the last round. None of my RL friends got into the Alpha besides me which sucks a little because I can't play with people I know. Kinda a shame too because this is my day off from work and I'm spending it playing this instead of chilling with them.

Theyjelly tho

E: Also I have only seen the attackers win once. It's that first set of MComs that really fucks everyone up. I'd jump in the LAV but I suck with vehicles.

E2: Jesus christ it's already 4PM? Stop stealing my life BF3 D:

[ThePlague]

Only 1 here.

I posted in the General Discussion. Lets hope some idiots read it and learn to play the fracking game.

[Mr Buckshot]

Yeah. IT's a hell of a a lot easier to disarm an mcom and keep it disarmed by yourself than to arm one and keep it armed. You're already in enemy territory when you arm the damn thing so 3 or 4 guys will come down and fuck you up when you arm mcom A.

in my BC2 experiences most of the successful MCOM destructions are caused by anything that's NOT arming it directly. I estimate that less than 10% of the time does a charge successfully blow because few players actually team up to defend an armed charge. It's simply much easier to spam rockets, tank shells, mortars, and even "jihad vehicles" loaded with C4.

even better (for attackers) when MCOMs are in destroyable buildings as you don't even need direct hits on the MCOM to take it out.

[Cortexian]

Who's Cheezdue?

[Amit]

in my BC2 experiences most of the successful MCOM destructions are caused by anything that's NOT arming it directly. I estimate that less than 10% of the time does a charge successfully blow because few players actually team up to defend an armed charge. It's simply much easier to spam rockets, tank shells, mortars, and even "jihad vehicles" loaded with C4.

even better (for attackers) when MCOMs are in destroyable buildings as you don't even need direct hits on the MCOM to take it out.

I thought they patched BC2 so that the MCOM could only be destroyed by arming it. I know C4 can no longer destroy it and I don't think that rocket launchers work, either. I dunno about mortar strikes, though. Mortars don't seem precise enough.


Who's Cheezdue?

What do you mean?

[Mr Buckshot]

I think the patch only reduced weapon damage to MCOMs by 50%. Still I've mostly played on Rush games where MCOMs are in buildings, so I might be wrong.

[Amit]

Well here's an idea. Blow out the sides of the MCOM building with rocket launchers, then put a mortar strike down on the same building to blow out the roof, and then launch a UAV missile directly at the MCOM. Finish off with with another missile and a tank shell.

[ExAm]

in my BC2 experiences most of the successful MCOM destructions are caused by anything that's NOT arming it directly. I estimate that less than 10% of the time does a charge successfully blow because few players actually team up to defend an armed charge. It's simply much easier to spam rockets, tank shells, mortars, and even "jihad vehicles" loaded with C4.

even better (for attackers) when MCOMs are in destroyable buildings as you don't even need direct hits on the MCOM to take it out.
Mcoms can be destroyed by explosives in BC2, it just takes a lot more of them now.

In BF3 however, Mcoms don't take damage at all. You MUST arm them to destroy them. My team was so dumb earlier that I had to arm FIVE of the Mcoms myself in one round. We were just fucking lucky that the other team was just as dumb.

[Amit]

Mcoms can be destroyed by explosives in BC2, it just takes a lot more of them now.

In BF3 however, Mcoms don't take damage at all. You MUST arm them to destroy them. My team was so dumb earlier that I had to arm FIVE of the Mcoms myself in one round. We were just fucking lucky that the other team was just as dumb.

Remember that one long ass round where we kept fucking you guys up in the subway ticket area before you made it outside. I got a crazy amount of points just running around that area killing you blasted Americans. MCOM B is really badly placed for attackers, though.

[MXC]

If I preorder from Gamestop(I'm getting tired of leaving my computer on to download massive 10 gig files overnight), will I still get in the beta?

[Amit]

Open beta means open beta. Everyone gets in. MoH pre-order people and game journalists get it first. It'll be just like BC2 beta, but hopefully key distribution will be a lot smoother. Same goes for the game itself.

[Cortexian]

I would assume alpha testers will also get invited at the same time as media people.

[Amit]

Alpha testing is random. We're just apart of the normal pack of fans. Our reward was getting to Alpha test.

[Cortexian]

Not according to some emails I've been exchanging with a lovely tier 3 support rep for EA. Not posting details though since she asked me not to and there are enough rumors flying around.

[ThePlague]

Get dat number and tap it bro!

[Amit]

Well then PM me the damn details.

[ExAm]

http://i53.tinypic.com/2a9pbhi.jpg

[Pooky]

I gotta say, that is really the most generic shooting game box art I've ever seen.

[Rosco]

I been playing between countless server errors, loving it. Despite the small range of graphical options the game still looks gorgeous thanks to the lighting.. they seem to have nailed the smooth gameplay thing people say Call of Duty had over battlefield. It played like a superbly polished version of Call of Duty despite being in alpha stage.

[ExAm]

Does not feel like COD to me.

[Cortexian]

Does not feel like COD to me.
+1, no similarity felt.

[ThePlague]

I think people are saying that because it's more running and gunning/camping behind rocks than usual. It's also an infantry focused map.

I liked it so far though. Should be a way better game come Closed Beta, since there's a shit ton of bugs everyone's found.

[Amit]

I think people are saying that because it's more running and gunning/camping behind rocks than usual. It's also an infantry focused map.

I liked it so far though. Should be a way better game come Closed Beta, since there's a shit ton of bugs everyone's found.

Beta is open, not closed.

[Phopojijo]

I'm not in the Alpha.

http://gamegpu.ru/plugins/content/jumultithumb/img.php?src=Li4vLi4vLi4vaW1hZ2VzL3N0b3JpZXMvVGVzdF 9HUFUvQWN0aW9uL0JhdHRsZWZpZWxkXzNfQWxwaGFfL0JBVF8z X0RYMTEucG5nJmFtcDt3PTkzMCZhbXA7aD0wJmFtcDtxPTIwMC ZhbXA7emM9MCZhbXA7Zmx0cltdPXdtaXx3YXRlcm1hcmsvd3Mu cG5nfEJSfDMw

[Donut]

i find it somewhat concerning that higher number geforce cards perform worse than older ones...
probably because i bought a gtx560 ti

[ExAm]

My 470 is depressingly far down on that list.

[ODX]

Beta is open, not closed.Both, in a way. MoH: LE people get it earlier so therefore it could be considered "closed" in ways though LE is still on the shelves so if you honestly wanted to get in right away you could go buy it.

Later on in September it's to become open though so anyone can join in.

[ThePlague]

They don't show a 6770 :\ But my 5870 is pretty far up there. I might as well spring for a 6870 then, since the 5770 is terribly low on there, and i'm guessing the 6770 is worse.

[Cortexian]

My GTX 470 gets average of 50 FPS with 280.19 drivers.

[ExAm]

Same here, maybe they were testing with AA on or something?

And I have a fucking tricore AMD. The testers had a hexcore in their list.

[ExAm]

I had to film this

-cCasiMI3dU

[TeeKup]

What is happening to that man.

[ExAm]

Well he's technically firing an RPK at the enemy.

But I like to think he is dying slowly and horribly as his ammo cooks off in his vest pocket.

[TeeKup]

Make some M1014 clips please? :3

[ExAm]

Alpha ends tomorrow ):

If it's still up for the day tomorrow, i'll try though.

[Amit]

Battlelog login page won't load :gonk: Alpha over.

[annihilation]

That was a short Alpha.
Patiently awaiting the Beta.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I has priority access :o

[Amit]

Got this in an e-mail this evening:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/Capture-15.png

It's a nice deal and I've wanted to play DS2 for a time now, but I don't feel like throwing the cash into it just yet.

[TeeKup]

Free Dead Space 2 is worth it.

[ExAm]

Welp, I preordered two days ago. Fantastic.

[Amit]

I could download DS2 if I wanted. I already did in April, but I deleted because I read that it installs DRM on your computer. I don't know if that has changed, though. I'd buy BF3, but I already bought Red Orchestra 2 yesterday for $40. If I keep buying shit like this, I won't have money for my new build. I decided to hold off on getting my new build now because I'm sure that my local computer store will have it's usual 20% off all computer components for back to school sale near the end of August. BF3 beta isn't till September so I got time.

[Amit]

BattleBlog Entry # 5 is up:




Years worth of unlocks and rewards in Battlefield 3 (http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/08/05/bb.aspx)





http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Ranks.png
(http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Ranks.png)











Battlefield 3 will be the deepest shooter in DICE history. Read on for the full story on how we will reward skill and dedication, and how our flexible unlock and customization system allows you to tailor the game for your personal play style.

“Battlefield players are among the most loyal out there. Our games are literally played for years by our hardcore fans, and we want to actively support that. There should always be something left to achieve in Battlefield 3.”

Valerian Noghin and Fredrik Thylander are Persistence Designers on Battlefield 3. They’re the guys making sure you will have as much fun with the game in 2013 as on launch day.

Back in 2005, Battlefield 2 was one of the first shooters to introduce a deep persistence system to add that extra layer of tasty rewards and unlocks to keep players returning to the battlefield for hundreds of hours. With Battlefield 3, we are pulling all the stops. Compared to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3 will have more than 10 times the hardware unlocks spread over weapons, weapons attachments, gadgets, and a huge unlock tree for vehicles alone.

Skill and dedication equal rewards
On top of these ingame hardware items, players will also be richly rewarded with medals, ribbons and service stars displaying their skill, commitment, and teamplay prowess. You will be rewarded handsomely in Battlefield 3 for exemplary skill, such as capturing X amount of bases in one round. Excellent teamplayers who keep the team’s vehicles in mint condition and revive fallen comrades will not go unnoticed either. These type of skill-driven rewards are typically handed out in the form of ribbons, and good players can often get more than one ribbon in a single round.




http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Ribbons_2D00_2.png
(http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Ribbons_2D00_2.png)



From top left to bottom right: Assault Rifle Ribbon (7 assault rifle kills in a round), Nemesis Ribbon (2 nemesis kills), MVP Ribbon (be the best player in a round), Ace Squad Ribbon (be part of the best squad in a round), Medical Efficiency Ribbon (5 revives in a round), and finally the Air Warfare Ribbon (6 air kills in a round).













Winning a round for the team should always be the priority, so we are making sure that even when players are chasing their personal achievements, they are contributing to the overall battle. You will also be rewarded for true dedication and commitment, such as playing x amount of hours as a U.S. soldier. These honors come in the form of the much harder to get medals. They are typically given at specific milestones in your career.

There are a large number of ranks in Battlefield 3, similar to Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Your rank badge is a quick measure of your overall progress in the game. And even if you hit the max rank, there is always more glory to strive for with the new concept of Service Stars that we are introducing in Battlefield 3.

Service Stars challenge the hardcore
Even getting your first Service Star would be a major achievement. But keep playing, and you will be eligible for even further promotion by getting Service Stars added to your weapon skill badge, your vehicle, your kit, and your overall rank. Anytime your kill card is displayed, everyone will see exactly how experienced you are with your current equipment. The ultimate bragging right would be for a player to be awarded the rank of Colonel with 100 Service Stars attached, and to have 100 stars in all weapons, kits, and vehicles. Getting there will be a massive task – consider that a challenge! :)

The design philosophy behind the unlocks in Battlefield 3 is pretty sweet. We basically give you more hardware to play with for doing what you love to do. Case in point: Using gun X will give you more upgrades specifically for that gun. Playing with a kit and vehicle earns more upgrades for that kit and that vehicle. In addition, all XP gained also goes towards your overall rank, which in turn unlocks new weapons, specializations, and camouflages usable by any class.




http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Medals_2D00_4.png (http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/BF3_2D00_Medals_2D00_4.png)



From left to right: Maintenance Medal (Obtain the Maintenance Ribbon 50 times), Marksman Medal (obtain the Marksman Ribbon 50 times), and the U.S. Army Service Medal (spend 100 hours in the U.S. Army.)












Play Battlefield 3 your way
The mantra we keep coming back to when designing Battlefield 3 is “play it your way”. What that means is there’s an unprecedented flexibility in how you tailor your kits. The playable classes are not rigidly defined in what they are supposed to play like. While all four classes in Battlefield 3 (Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon) start out with everything they need to be an efficient soldier in the field, it is totally up to you and your personal preferences how you want to tailor them.

Take the Assault class, for example. As you may know by now, this is now the class that has the ability to equip both a defibrillator and medkit for frontline medic abilities. But if you would prefer to switch your add-ons to, say, an underslung grenade launcher with 40mm grenades, go ahead! That will give you an Assault soldier with a more offensive set of capabilities than the player who opts for the default medic approach.

Tactical unlocks force you to choose the right loadout for you
That’s the way all of the unlocks and upgrades work. They are specifically designed to be tactical in nature, forcing you to choose loadout based on the map and situation. Do you go for the heavy barrel for your assault rifle? It gives added accuracy for single shots, but at the cost of stronger recoil in burst fire/full auto mode. A standard assault rifle can be modified into a long range accurate weapon or for close quarter, almost SMG-like, combat. For jets, do you go with Maverick ATG missiles to take out tanks or AA missiles to dogfight airborne threats? With your Engineer, do you bring your anti-tank or your anti-air RPG launcher?

In short, we think there has never been a better time to be a Battlefield gamer, no matter your play style.

[ThePlague]

Unfortunately, Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. No other download service has adopted these practices. (http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/7468888.page)
Thoughts?

[seanthelawn]

I have yet to see an official/unofficial statement from Valve about this whole thing. Anyone know if they've made one? I'm probably gonna hold off pre-ordering until the very last minute to make sure it doesn't pop up on Steam. I would've done that "preorder and get a free game (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/Capture-15.png)" thing but I already have all the games they were giving away.

E: Also, hope you don't mind but I'm stealing your sig

[Amit]

How do you steal a sig that is personalized to somebody's BC2 alias?

[Cortexian]

Like this:
http://g.bfbcs.com/4290/pc_Xero852.png

[Amit]

I'm not following.

[ThePlague]

He's using the same design of my sig for his.

[Amit]

Oh, I thought most people used that. Hell, even I used to use it.

[seanthelawn]

Yeah I meant the basic concept; I didn't even end up using the same design

E: Also don't make fun of my stats, I played on a shit computer with bad framerates up until like level 34

[Amit]

Your K/D is above 1. What is there to laugh about? Now we have my K/D on the other hand...lol, but my laptop gets bad frames with BC2 and I think I did decent tonight if you arent' looking at my K/D:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7420/bfbc2game20110807000817.jpg
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/1073/bfbc2game20110807000820.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7376/bfbc2game20110807000824.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5085/bfbc2game20110807000826.jpg
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7905/bfbc2game20110807000829.jpg

[ejburke]

I thought I was in a Call of Duty thread for a second with all this K/D talk. In Battlefield, who cares? In fact, the guy with the low spread might be your team MVP if he's capping points like a madman. The guy with a high k/d is probably some asshole camping a vehicle spawn for half the match.

Anyway, I pre-ordered a few days ago, but I'm going to need to see how well I can run the game with everything turned down, on my monitor's native res, with a 4-1/2 year old computer. Even if I had a great computer, I probably would turn everything down, anyway. I imagine a lot of people are going to try to max out and choke their framerate, adding in all sorts of eye candy that pretty much just makes the game harder to play. Advantage: guy who doesn't give a fuck about graphics in a multiplayer game.

[Amit]

I thought I was in a Call of Duty thread for a second with all this K/D talk. In Battlefield, who cares? In fact, the guy with the low spread might be your team MVP if he's capping points like a madman. The guy with a high k/d is probably some asshole camping a vehicle spawn for half the match.

You think after playing tons of BF games that we don't know that?


Anyway, I pre-ordered a few days ago, but I'm going to need to see how well I can run the game with everything turned down, on my monitor's native res, with a 4-1/2 year old computer. Even if I had a great computer, I probably would turn everything down, anyway. I imagine a lot of people are going to try to max out and choke their framerate, adding in all sorts of eye candy that pretty much just makes the game harder to play. Advantage: guy who doesn't give a fuck about graphics in a multiplayer game.

A 4 year old processor and video card will definitely not run this game. If the alpha was any indication, turning down the graphics means turning down the detail on players which makes it a lot harder to see them. You can get away with this in BC2, but not BF3. Then again, you can probably fine tune the details of specific things like players, vehicles, bushes and trees. LOL on my laptop I play with none of that non-essential stuff turned on. It even removes the view of thing like metal bars from the ships at Bravo on Atacama Desert. Not good.

[seanthelawn]

Your K/D is above 1. What is there to laugh about?

I suppose you're right; it's better than any of my RL friends' K/Ds.



I thought I was in a Call of Duty thread for a second with all this K/D talk. In Battlefield, who cares? In fact, the guy with the low spread might be your team MVP if he's capping points like a madman. The guy with a high k/d is probably some asshole camping a vehicle spawn for half the match.

That's true. I sometimes forget this when I'm not in-game.

[Amit]

As the upcoming German gaming festival / convention Gamescom 2011 (http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/home/index.php) rapidly approaches, the internet has been buzzing with the news that we’ll get to see a lot of new Battlefield 3 footage and features. The event runs from August 17-, starting only about a week and a half from today!

According to GamersBook (http://www.gamersbook.com/scene/news/battlefield-3-co-op-to-be-revealed-at-gamescom-2011/), EA brand manager Kevin O’Leary (who we saw a lot of at E3, the Summer Showcase and other high-profile events) has revealed that we will be learning more about BF3′s cooperative multiplayer mode, although it is not clear whether or not we will actually get treated to ingame footage or simply learn some new details about how co-op works.

Additionally, DICE general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson tweeted recently (http://twitter.com/#!/L_Twin/status/99476547467091968) about playing BF3 Conquest mode as the team prepares BF3 for being shown Gamescom 2011. This seems like a very strong indicator that we can hopefully expect to finally see some Conquest mode gameplay, although of course this is still unconfirmed.

When someone asked him about whether or not jets were included in the Conquest map for Gamescom, Troedsson responded with a simple and crafty “:)”, so hopefully this means we will finally get to see jets in action later this month. When we hear any more word on what to expect from Gamescom 2011, we’ll let you know, and of course we will be covering all of Gamescom as we did with E3, Dreamhack and other important BF3 events.

Source (http://battlefieldo.com/bf3-co-op-conquest-modes-revealed-gamescom-2011)

[seanthelawn]

This is pretty cool (http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/08/09/the-battlefield-team-needs-you.aspx):




http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/400x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/battlefield_5F00_bad_5F00_company/DICE.png



The Battlefield team needs you! 14 QA Testers required for 3 months working on BF3

Although video game testing can be fun and rewarding, it is hard work. We are looking for responsible, dependable candidates who have an eye for detail, great work ethics, excellent verbal and written communications skills, and the ability to work in a team environment. We need people who are able to work a flexible schedule as work days may vary from week to week. There will be overtime opportunities.

What skills does DICE look for?

Required Skills:
- Self starter
- Good organisational skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Basic to advanced software troubleshooting skills
- Ability to remain focused until project completion

Desired skills:
- Experience and understanding of console or PC game testing
- Software troubleshooting

If you are looking for an opportunity to contribute to the Imminant Battlefield 3 and work with one of the best teams in the Gaming world please apply to the position with a latest copy of your cv. This role is onsite in Stockholm due to the short nature of the contract we are only considering candidates who can work onsite and are able to come to work without relocation support.

We are not considering overseas or remote applications.

All applicants should email their CV’s too jobs@dice.se


//www.twitter.com/zh1nt0 (http://www.twitter.com/zh1nt0)


EDIT: Ooooh (http://www.nvidia.com/object/pax-prime.html)

[Amit]

Trenches, slit trenches, and fox holes? Yes, thank you.

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Check out that terrain deformation. I wonder how low you can go.

[ODX]

"Planting some ceramic tiles, over!"

I'd guess it only goes down as far as what he did, which is lame yet understandable at the same time. Don't want people falling into giant holes as cool as it could be...

[Amit]

Tactical terrain deformation. The poor man's tank traps. You can get a LAV stuck in one of those holes.

[ThePlague]

I hate that laying sound so much. SO MUCH. Is he laying bricks on more bricks on grey bricks with ceramic tiles or something?

[TeeKup]

What you see as a tactical position I see as a grenade pit to the unaware.

[ThePlague]

Too bad grenades go 12 inches when you throw them now. Before you can get close enough to even throw one, you'd be shot dead.

[ExAm]

"Planting some ceramic tiles, over!"

I'd guess it only goes down as far as what he did, which is lame yet understandable at the same time. Don't want people falling into giant holes as cool as it could be...

Hell of a lot deeper than what you could get in BC2

[TeeKup]

Too bad grenades go 12 inches when you throw them now. Before you can get close enough to even throw one, you'd be shot dead.

Key word unaware. You'd be surprised how often I could lurk around people in BC2. I was never able to play the PC version with you guys but I had my fair share of gamplay on the brobox. Then again brobox players are generally stupid so whatever.

[ThePlague]

Yeah, the Xbox version had a bunch of kiddies when I was playing it way back when. That and the game was wayyyyy easier than PC.

[Longshot]

I can't wait for this game. How do you think my specs will fare?

Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67 GHz (not overclocked)
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3 Motherboard
8 GB RAM
ATi Radeon HD 5850

I can max BC 2, think I'll be right for BF 3? I don't really want to upgrade my card right before it releases but I'm not ruling anything out.

[Amit]

You should be absolutely fine. You definitely won't max out the game, but tweaks would definitely help your FPS. Take a look through this (http://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield3/comments/j1vyy/bf3_alpha_participants_let_us_all_please_post_our) Reddit thread for people who have the same or similar specs as you. A lot of people posted in that thread, so hopefully you can find an entry that can help you gauge your supposed FPS performance.

[Mr Buckshot]

The Radeon 5850 can probably handle all the high settings at 1920x1080.

How's the ping experience from the lucky alpha trial players? In BC2, far more so than any other game, I can join a server that shows as having below 30 ping in the list, only to be slammed with a 150+ ping that I can actually feel to be game-breaking (i.e. players jumping across the screen). Hopefully this is fixed in BF3 because I don't exactly have the best connection.

[ThePlague]

Since we had to pick the servers through Battlelog, the lowest ping it showed for me was 99. Most of the time it never showed ping at all though, and when you jump in-game there was no ping indicator (from what I remember). I usually get around 120 in BC2, and it seemed fine for me in BF3. I'm guessing it was pretty much the same.

[Warsaw]

The Radeon 5850 can probably handle all the high settings at 1920x1080.

How's the ping experience from the lucky alpha trial players? In BC2, far more so than any other game, I can join a server that shows as having below 30 ping in the list, only to be slammed with a 150+ ping that I can actually feel to be game-breaking (i.e. players jumping across the screen). Hopefully this is fixed in BF3 because I don't exactly have the best connection.

You had rubberbanding at 150ms?

[Mr Buckshot]

You had rubberbanding at 150ms?

Yeah, I'm bewildered too. In other games like COD and TF2 I don't notice such jerky and erratic movement at pings between 150 and 200 ms but in BC2 I can actually feel it even at 130 (especially while sniping). I guess it's just bad netcode? Doubt it's a framerate issue since my Fraps counter remains above 75 at all times (on a Radeon 6870)

[ThePlague]

130 is average for me. I never have that problem, it's probably just your connection or something. It may say it's running 130, but in reality it could be jumping around.

[Amit]

Guess the Plague wasn't near any good server locations. The lowest ping I probably saw was 34. Most servers had ping showing for me and were over 150ms. There were plenty of populated servers around 40-100ms. I always joined those and I never noticed any lag.

[ThePlague]

Yeah it says low stuff for me like 50 or 60 in the browser, but i'm talking about inside the server (BC2).

[Amit]

I've never had a ping below 130ms in BC2..ever. No matter how low the ping is in the server list, it gets chunky as soon as I join. I don't experience a lot of lag, though.