Battlefield 3

[Sly Reflex]

I'm not sure where to put this because it could effect any of the PC versions of any Battlefield games, but...

http://twitter.com/#!/Elxx/status/86788722158346241

Woohoo, my desk at DICE is now complete. Thanks @zh1nt0!

http://battlefieldo.com/dice-hires-creator-of-bf2-sandbox-mod/

As evidenced by this tweet from a few days ago, DICE has officially hired web developer Elton Muuga (known online as Elxx) to their team. Muuga is best known in the Battlefield community as the creator of the popular Battlefield 2 Sandbox modification, which turns BF2 into a sandbox playground akin to Garry’s Mod for Half-Life 2. Check it out on youtube.

We don’t know what his position at DICE is, or if he’s working on software development or web development, but it’s certain that his role as creator of the Sandbox mod helped him get that position, meaning that the folks at DICE enjoyed his modification. Alone, this wouldn’t lead us to speculate much of anything, but consider this: until recently, the DICE homepage‘s hiring page included a Frostbite Game Engine – Tools Engineer position (you can see it on this Google cache of the site). Among the list of responsibilities for the position included these interesting bits: “always think of the customer first – focus on ease of use with high quality workflows” and “refactor existing code to make it easier to maintain and extend” (emphasis ours).

Now, that might just be human resources hiring language… but generally a tools programmer doesn’t have to think of or interact with customers at all, only developers, unless the studio has plans to release some or all of their tools to the public. We don’t know if Muuga is working there as a tools programmer or something else entirely, but these two things together give us a glimmer of hope – despite that DICE have confirmed they won’t be releasing full mod tools, maybe there is still a possibility that DICE is considering releasing some form of limited tools, like a level editor. Something less than a full set of tools and SDK, but that will still allow for some level of custom content, perhaps an editor or game mode inspired by his Sandbox modification that would allow users to goof off and take advantage of the advanced physics and other goodies the engine has to offer without having to prepare an entire set of development tools for public consumption?

It’s a stretch, but we can still hope. The BF2 sandbox mod is great, and even though an equivalent for BF3 couldn’t necessarily be described as “mod tools”, it would nevertheless be an awesome feature… so here’s hoping! Remember, everything we’ve said is speculation, so don’t get too excited just yet… it may well be that Muuga is simply working on Battlelog or some other web-based service related to Battlefield 3. We’ll keep you updated if we hear anything else.

It could mean anything really. I doubt it'll knock onto the console version of the game though, but I reckon some of the PC hardcore will be getting pretty excited over it.

[Sly Reflex]

Double post mother fuckers!

http://battlefieldo.com/ea-summer-showcase-streaming-today/

Well today it’s the 2011 EA Summer Showcase at Red Wood shores studio in California. Looks like EA have a page set up with a live stream starting at 1:00pm PST/ 4:00pm EST / 9:00pm GMT. As we stated in our article from yesterday, we can only speculate that there will be new footage today. For this event, we will be running the stream from our homepage as well as our #IRC Chat for all of you looking to discuss any new information we see today. Right now there are promises from EA of a fresh batch of announcements, trailers and presentations, but whether this will be for Battlefield 3, we will have to wait and see in the hours approaching.

If I could be arsed I'd watch the stream. I'll just pick up the interesting bits people who can dedicate time to watching stuff like this, as I'm not really into watching live feeds all that much.

[Sly Reflex]

Triple post dick quaffers!

http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/07/07/battleblog-2-with-a-bit-of-class.aspx

Here at DICE, we’re very proud of the team play functionality that we have become known and loved for in the Battlefield series, and we’re continuing to embrace that approach for Battlefield 3, but not without a few upgrades for the new game. In Battlefield 3, we’re making sure each of the four playable classes (Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon) are each completely capable of holding their own in combat. While they each have different specialties, each class is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

If you’re that kind of lone wolf player who simply wants to jump in and cook some fools, that’s perfectly fine – we’re making sure each class in Battlefield 3 packs a mean punch on their own, giving you another chance to play it your way. However, we’re also hard at work fine-tuning each class and their unique team play capabilities, so squads in Battlefield 3 will be able to function tightly, giving even more reasons to team play than ever before.

As mentioned, the four classes available in Battlefield 3 are Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon. All classes include familiar elements, but this time around, we’re tweaking things a bit, bringing something new to our online multiplayer. Our Assault class is still the frontline run and gun class, and considering the havoc and fallen team members someone will see while on the frontlines, the Assault soldier now has medic abilities. That’s right, all the abilities such as medkits and defibrillators typically found on the Medic class are now incorporated into Assault. It makes sense that the class on the frontline will be able to revive fallen team mates, right? Right! Remember, you can play it your way, so if you want to customize your Assault soldier more towards medic abilities or towards serious gunplay, it’s totally up to you.

Engineers are returning in Battlefield 3, bringing back the class in charge of making repairs to the various vehicles on the battlefield. On the other hand, the Engineer is very adept at taking down vehicles as well – this class includes RPGs that can take down armored targets that can’t be destroyed by bullets alone, or even building facades that enemy combatants may be using to take cover. Add the fact that an Engineer’s arsenal includes Carbine weapons, you get an extremely versatile multiplayer class that can truly move like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

The Support class makes its return in Battlefield 3, incorporating the ability to use light machine guns and can lay down heavy fire, allowing him to become a serious mobile weapons platform. “Support has always been about heavy infantry firepower from his LMG,” says Alan Kertz, Senior Multiplayer Designer at DICE. “It’s a role that we’ve wanted to feel different than Assault’s running and gunning.”

This brings us to two new features in Battlefield 3: Bipods and Suppressive Fire. Bipods have a very practical use, especially for LMGs, as they provide a substantial increase in stability while laying down a base of fire. Bipods can be deployed anywhere by zooming in with your LMG when prone, or when standing/kneeling in front of suitable supports, such as a window sill. The stability created by deploying a Bipod gives players a massive boost in accuracy and recoil reduction. You’ll be able to unload an entire clip of 200 bullets from your LMG with great accuracy without even letting go of the trigger, all thanks to the Bipod.

Suppressive Fire is a new in-game mechanic that changes how you can play the game. When you lay down fire in close vicinity to an enemy, the incoming barrage will show up as a graphical blur effect on his screen to stress him and let him know it’s not safe to pop out from behind cover. Just as importantly, this mechanic also affects his character’s in-game firing accuracy, making him less of a threat by using real world tactics. Better yet? You get team play experience points for doing so!

“Supported shooting with Bipods and Suppressive Fire finally allows us to achieve an obvious difference between Assault and Support, since the heavy LMGs are not terribly mobile,” explains Kertz. “When deployed with a Bipod, they become an incredibly powerful force. Suppressive Fire forces the enemy to keep their head down and lets the Support gunner pin his enemies in place so teammates can flank.”

Love him or hate him, Recon is the long range sniper class for Battlefield 3 who excels at gathering intel while on the battlefield. His sniper scope gives this class a distinct view of the battlefield, making Recon particularly suited for spotting enemies as seen in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, ensuring your entire team can see the locations of spotted members of the opposing team. “Recon traditionally has been seen as just a sniper,” Kertz said. “We wanted to change that perception, so we’ve built several completely new teamplay oriented gadgets specifically for the Recon class so he can be a team player, even if he’s sitting on the top of Wookie Mountain.” We’ll talk more about these toys and how they work in a blog post a bit further down the road.

Even though each soldier has a default loadout, they’re there for you to completely customize, making sure you’re able to cater to your own unique style so you can play it your way. We’ll be able to talk more about unlocks, persistence and customization later in the Battleblog series, so stay tuned for more on Battlefield 3 soon!

[Sly Reflex]

Quadruple post! Can't stop me now!

http://www.next-gen.biz/features/dice-battlefield-3s-multiplayer

Prised from our hands-on with Battlefield 3’s riotous Rush mode at this year's E3, we sat down with Lars Gustavsson, lead multiplayer designer and 12 year veteran of the franchise to talk about the series’ development, level design and tactics.

Is Battlefield’s hitherto insistence on big teamplay strategy, objectives, vehicles and classes too much to take in for a massmarket fed on COD’s twitch clicking carnage? Is that the thinking behind the introduction of simpler modes like team deathmatch?

When we were a young studio, we were extremely proud of what we did. We still are, of course - but we more or less told people: if you’re a team player, you’re a good citizen, and if you aren’t, there are plenty of other games you can play instead. Through the Bad Company splinter branch, we learnt so much about what our audience wants and doesn’t want; we’ve accepted the fact that people are different and want to play differently. Even though I stubbornly said that Battlefield is always about teamplay, vehicles and big maps, not everyone agrees - not even everyone at the studio.

We shipped 1942 with 24 people; I’m afraid of saying just how many people make this [battlefield 3] game! We have so much more input in the design process, that we are really happy to be able to cater to everyone. We can provide a good lone wolf experience. We set up our kits to allow for that powerful teamplay unit, but separately they need to be able to stand on their own. We can cater for singleplayer, coop, multiplayer - we can give you the range from lone wolves who hate vehicles to, at the other end of the scale, all out war in Conquest with jets flying overhead. It’s enough of ‘you’re a good citizen’ - if you bought the game, it’s up to you how you want to play it.

Are there conflicting needs between single and multiplayer in terms of what the engine needs to be able to do?

Definitely. Singleplayer and multiplayer both have their own needs, but in the end I feel it’s utterly important that it feels like the same game. There’s no better way of proving your singleplayer run-and-gun experience than seeing what it feels like against a live human opponent in multiplayer. But we’re more than willing to make differences to deliver the best experience in each. For example, in multiplayer, we do an additional pass for animation. In singleplayer you don’t mind if a guard up on a balcony does a nice Hollywood death animation when you shoot him - stumbling around a bit before falling over. While in multiplayer it needs to be a one-to-one correlation between action and result.

A striking thing about the Paris-set Operation Métro level is the way it radically changes the shape of the battlefield in each of its stages - can you take us through the design process?

If people walk away from that level having been surprised - “Is that where we’re going? Will we really do that?” - those reactions make me really happy. It’s all about a journey - like Lord of the Rings: now we go into Mordor!

The Paris map could almost be three or four different levels.

Exactly. There’s nothing preventing us, if people had the time and the will, we could probably do a ten base Rush map! It’s definitely doable.

Do you have a plan for how the environments shape gameplay and which classes that benefits?

Battlefield games are always hard to balance, since for different locations different kits have advantages. The beauty this time around, with the gun attachments and upgrades, you can easily adjust to the location you are in. So out in the park area, you get snipers at the back, and if you’re a defender you want to go recon or engineer to take out the vehicles. When you go into the subway the support class comes into its own as you run through the tunnels. The challenge for me is to ensure that our telemetry data shows that all the classes are equally used across the whole map.

Bad Company 2’s complex tactics put some people off, leading to many resorting to standing at the back and sniping [a group known as Chewbaccas to the community].

We’re still in pre-alpha, so there are a lot of things you haven’t seen today. But for them, it’s part of an educational package. Nothing of this is set, but it could be anything from instructional videos to a lot of additional aiding systems in order to let people really know what it’s all about. I think our work with the Bad Company franchise on console, and what that makes you do when it comes to context sensitive systems, it made for a smarter and well thought-through design. Hopefully we’ll reel in the Chewbaccas!

[retroed]

Holy shit.

http://www.modernwarfare3.com

EDIT: I think someone has hacked the site. Here's a Google cache page of modernwarfare3.com http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lLDQCtJwZIQJ:www.modernwarfare3.com/+modernwarfare3&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.co.in

[Sly Reflex]

It redirects to the BF3 homepage now.

This is the video that was up before.

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="

type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>

I wonder if it's just fans or 'official' fans fucking with it. And by official I mean EA.

[TopGunKnacker]

youre such a fanboy sly

i love the sound of the support fire mechanic, i love using LMGs

[retroed]

More pre-order shenanigans.

EA's set to offer even more pre-order incentives for Battlefield 3, with a FOURTH pack spotted for the DICE first-person shooter.

Amazon's gone live with a promotion that will see customers receive a code to download the Specact Kit DLC, a collection of "eight unique multiplayer skins".

The Specact Kit joins Play.com's bonus dog tags and the Back to Karkland Map Pack, a selection of multiplayer arenas remade from Battlefield 2, available to those who pre-order the Limited Edition version of Battlefield 3.

The fourth pack is GAME's controversial Physical Warfare Pack, which got the community all aflutter because it offers Battlefield early birds a roster of exclusive guns that won't be made available to Ordinary Joes at a later date.

Fans complained this would give certain players an unfair advantage, but EA quickly came out to assure the items "were specifically chosen not to be overpowered or imbalance or break the game in any way."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/311197/news/yet-more-battlefield-3-pre-order-goodies/

[Sly Reflex]

youre such a fanboy sly

i love the sound of the support fire mechanic, i love using LMGs

That was what the hackers did man. I didn't just pull the video out of thin air.

[TopGunKnacker]

you loved it!!! and since when do you deny being a big bf fanboy?

[Sly Reflex]

Well, all other FPS players are clueless wankers. Alan Kertz said so, so it must be true.

[TopGunKnacker]

Well, all other FPS players are clueless wankers. Alan Kertz said so, so it must be true.

whos alan kertz?

[Sly Reflex]

Alan Kertz is the senior gameplay designer at D.I.C.E.

[TopGunKnacker]

back on topic though, which class do you like the sound of most?

[Sly Reflex]

I don't really know until we see some more class specific equipment. As I understand each class can drop items such as defibs and repair tools and equip something else if they desire. They managed to make Recon more appealing to me this time at least. I normally play Assault or Engineer in BC2, but I'm not really a fan of reviving people as it mostly ends up with me making silly decisions and getting killed a lot. In BC1 I played Support and Assault, and in BF2 I played Spec Ops and Engineer. There really is no pattern to the class I like to play as, I need hands on before I can decide where abouts I want to focus. I think Support looks like an interesting class to learn this time around.

[TopGunKnacker]

yeah i cant wait to play as them all, but the support definitely has me foaming a bit.

LMGs in games have their obvious perks, big clips, good range (though ass rifles have good enough range to do the same job usually). they have their cons, like mental recoil and slow reload. and making the player slow in some games. fair enough. but one thing that multiplayer never got right for me was the sheer ferocity of these guns. they fuck shit up. all the guns in the game are incredibly lethal but it sounds like the support mechanic, and the bipod mechanic, will finally make LMGs something to be uniquely scared of.

[Sly Reflex]

http://battlefieldo.com/moderwarfare3-com-not-a-ea-marketing-ploy/

For those of you who have yet to see it, there is a domain Modernwarfare3.com that redirects to the Official Battlefield 3 website. In the past few days this has been the hot topic of a majority of game media sites, but just like the “BF3 System Specs leaked” there isn’t much research done into the validity whether or not it’s even news worthy. Many articles/posting are speculating that this was done by EA. This site has been around now for a few months and through a simple google cache search you can see what the site used to be before it was a redirect URL. It is clear that it is a fan made website that was also designed in the style of the Official Modern Warfare 3 before it was a redirect. Here you can see a screenshot.

Despite it being quite evident that this is in fact a Battlefield 3 fan, the amount of articles out there on credible gaming news sites is some what bothering. I will admit that it is quite funny (the site before the redirect was even better), but to go as far to say that EA is possibly behind this is a little too far. Seems like the drought is getting the worst of news out to the majority of game news readers. We’ve compiled a list of articles so you can see exactly what we are talking about.

Screenshot in the link. I have to say, I'm a little suspect about the EA involvement thing. If they say they had nothing to do with it, then that's all we have to go on.

http://battlefieldo.com/punkbuster-officially-confirmed/

They were kind enough to compile and translate a list with the BF3 Facts that came up in the Podcast Interview. However, like everywhere these days, not much new Information came up.

But it looks like good ol’ PunkBuster has been confirmed to be included as Anti-cheating Measure.

- Hitboxes are much improved in comparison with BFBC2.

- Recoil is really hard and needs to get used to.

- The closed betatest for MoH owners will be held but no word on date yet.

- There will be ingame VOIP.

- The anticheat system is PunkBuster.

- There are three slots for weapon customization.

- Character customization will be up but no word on details.

- BF3 will be greatly optimized. DICE is willing to optimize it for all platforms and hardware.

- System specs won`t be “fantastic”. They will be reasonable.

- The feeling of BF3 is truly different. It`s not BF2 and not BFBC2.

- BF3 will be highly cybersports-oriented.

- There`s no final decision about commo-rose at DICE.

- There`s closed area at DICE office where people work on unannounced project .

- Battlelog is a web-application for BF3.

I'd listen to the podcast but I'm guessing it's all russian. My russian is a bit rusty. And by rusty, I mean I don't understand a fucking word they're saying.

The most worrying thing in there is that "The feeling of BF3 is truly different. It`s not BF2 and not BFBC2." The jumps between BF2, BC1 and BC2 are quite big as it is. Being truly different risks alienating people who have stuck with the series.

"BF3 will be highly cybersports-oriented." could possibly mean there will be a battle recorder of some sorts, or ladders and leagues for people wanting to take part.

"There`s closed area at DICE office where people work on unannounced project". Could this possibly be Mirror's Edge?

[Sly Reflex]

Some battlelog stuff has been released or leaked or whatever. Looks a bit like a client to me. Cannot be arsed to do anything other than link.

http://battlefieldo.com/battleblog-3-first-pictures-of-battlelog/

[Sly Reflex]

Podcast with the BF community manager. He says some stuff over the running time of about 1 hour.

[Sly Reflex]

More Battlelog shit.

http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/07/20/battleblog-3-with-an-army-by-your-side.aspx

Never go into battle alone again thanks to the powerful new community features of Battlelog, Battlefield 3’s unique no-cost social network. “We want to make Battlefield 3 a more social gaming experience and it all starts with Battlelog,” says Fredrik Loving, Battlelog Producer at DICE. “We are changing how you communicate, play, compete and share content with their friends, extending the in-game experience to be accessible from your home computer, on your handheld devices while commuting, or wherever you may be." And that’s what DICE set out to do.

With Battlelog, players will be able to build a network of friends, communicate with other gamers, and compare their Battlefield stats with friends and foes alike. It brings all of the social aspects of Battlefield into a single location, allowing you to coordinate any action at the push of a button and get into the game as easily as possible. What’s the cost for Battlelog? Nothing. It’s absolutely free.

Included in Battlelog is the Battlefeed, your entry point to this new program. The Battlefeed is your main window into Battlelog, showing current events around your network in real-time, giving you a live snapshot of what those in your network are doing in the world of Battlefield. “The feed will encourage people to play even more,” explains Loving. “They will see their friends ranking up, receiving awards they don’t have yet, or getting the new cool guns they have been missing. It will increase the competitive edge. Everything you do on the battlefield is shared amongst your friends.”

You’ll be able to see when a friend unlocks a particularly difficult achievement and offer them kudos. Another pal just joined a multiplayer Rush match in Operation Métro and is looking for some help – now you know, so you can quickly jump in and give them a hand. If someone just nabbed your dog tag in multiplayer, they can shoot you a quick note to say thanks (or, more likely, use those newly anointed bragging rights). It’s all here in the real-time feed for you to share, comment and like.

With a game as highly-competitive as Battlefield, it only makes sense to have a nicely detailed stat-tracking system. With that in mind, we’ve incorporated a fully-featured soldier progression section, bringing full stats tracking for every shot fired and every action performed in your Battlefield career. “Battlefield players love their statistics,” says Loving. “Now we will give them everything that they want while adding a social layer on top of that.”

Do you want to know what your next unlock is and what you need to do to unlock it? Are you curious about how your skills compare to your friends? Do you simply want to track your multiplayer progress? It’s all here, all the time. Every match you’ve played is accounted for, with all of your stats represented in full detail, and so much more! Be sure to stay tuned – we’ll be unveiling the full suite of features found in Battlelog at a later date.