Battlefield 3 Clubhouse

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMan

Actually I disagree. The landing strip in Tampa Bay was just small. You are basing this assumption of scale on those strips being about the same length, which I am sure they are not. Harvest Day is a lot larger than you think. It just seems small because of the rather clustered flag locations and lack of flying vehicles. Think about this. The squad Deathmatch mode for Harvest Day is a 16 player man that takes place in just city area on the hillside. It has proven to be more than enough space to still hide and spread out.

Harvest Day in full could support maybe 48 people with the inclusion of 2 more flags close to either base. Since that is my scale Caspian Border should be plenty large enough.

Dude the roads in Tampa were two lane and they are the size of a single lane in that overlay. I think you forgot how large some of those BF2 maps where.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I gotta agree with you mailman. I sure do hope we get at least one map in BF3 that is as big as or bigger than Fushe Pass.

Anyone got BF2 installed and able to do a distance check in game between the two uncaps on Fushe or another map?

[jlewis02]

FuShe pass is HUGE it takes like 14min to run across that map

[GullyFoyle]

twitter.com/BattlefieldNews: "Some more interesting info on GFX cards & #BF3 from someone who supposedly works at Alienware - http://t.co/oucoxCp CC: @repi"

Spoiler

My entire office has been in BF3 since day 1, were in Beta of BF2...Let's say we have a very open stream of communication.

The game is "developed" for the top end of what's available, that's your high setting...What's the most top end, commonly available card atm? The 580...

As anyone in alpha noticed, HIGH on the 580 in the alpha wasn't "maxing out" as you so toss out there...It was still getting 60-80FPS which is 1/4 over what's "accepted" as capable.

For ultra, the 580 will be getting @50fps, which considering we're all 590 owners, apparently...There won't be any problems.

Have been in SWTOR since Alpha as well and like I said, the only issue in an MMORPG is that detail is immediately processed, not buffered like it is in BF3.

P.S. "Mate", as a vendor, I see the system requirements and comment on them FAR before the retail public does...We even make a few suggestions, occasionally.

If I may, where is it that you work exactly?

Alienware, am the Admin of the "beta office"...We operate/test all potential builds, beta test an incredible amount and test every AW system currently on the market...We're also considered a vendor. My sig, is actually my work PC...

As I've stressed from day 1 of this thread, there are driver issues, until Nvidia pulls their heads out of their *ahems*, we're all along for the ride.

That does //NOT// mean this card isn't capable...Nor that it will not perform...It still performs 1.6x a 580...Hell, at 800mhz+ when I had it there, it was out-performing 2 580's at stock...

Saying it's not a capable platform is absolutely incorrect.

Fermi as a platform //IS// overkill for most of what's on the market because OpenGL and DX aren't perfect "bases" for graphics...They're simply, what works best...and what works best, isn't roofing what's currently out there.

In fact, I can think of only 1 game, out of EVERYTHING we've yet seen that's even remotely put the 590 to the test and that was Mafia 2...That's it.

For BF3, the developers have constantly stressed that if you can run BF2 on ultra, you'll be able to run BF3 "more than adequately"...

The 590 will handle BF3, accordingly.

Gamescom 2011: Battlefield 3 Co-Op and Conquest Preview

Spoiler

By Shaun McInnis, GameSpotAug 17, 2011 9:33 am PT

We somehow live to tell the tale of our adventures with two-player co-op on the PlayStation 3 and 64-player Conquest on the PC.

It only makes sense that Battlefield 3, one of the year's biggest European-developed games, would make a huge splash at Europe's biggest gaming event. And what a splash that is: EA and DICE have brought not one but two new playable demos to this year's Gamescom. On one end of the size spectrum there's a two-player demo drawn right from the game's new co-op campaign, and way down there on the far end is the 64-player Conquest multiplayer demo from the PC version of Battlefield 3. It took more than a little time in line, but we managed to go hands-on with both.

We'll start with Conquest. As you've probably heard, the PC version of Battlefield 3 will return to the series' roots with a massive 64-player multiplayer mode to contrast with the 24-player counts found on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For those who cut their teeth on the Bad Company series, the sheer scale will be a little intimidating at first. The Conquest demo playable at Gamescom takes place on the lush and verdant Caspian Border multiplayer map. It's a map that features forested hillsides, long stretches of dirt roads, and a handful of outposts that house the five capture points that serve as the focal points of Conquest mode.

When the match first started, we were lucky enough to spawn directly into one of the two jets situated at our team's base (the two sides, predictably, are the US and Russia). There's a fairly steep learning curve to the way you maneuver these jets. Taking off is a simple matter of hitting the W key and pulling back on the mouse, but once you get up into the sky, you've got to exercise some real patience for getting the hang of things. The biggest challenge when starting out is that it's really easy to just zip straight over the cluster of capture points on the ground, which forms a relatively small chunk of the map compared to the sprawling outskirts the game gives pilots to turn back around.

More than a few players in our match clearly grew impatient with the jet and just started going full-on kamikaze in a self-inflicted blaze of glory, but we managed to keep at it and get a decent hang of things. There's quite an incentive to do so: the gameworld looks amazing from way up in the sky. You feel like you can see across the entirety of the Middle East from up there, and the way the game's engine renders the battle below--including one smoking and fire-covered hillside--is just terrific.

Down on the ground, we had a blast trying out all the different vehicles, from the jeeps to the M1 Abrams tank. Given the sheer size of the map, vehicles are practically required if you want to get anywhere. We wound up preferring the tank, because like in the Bad Company series, destruction plays a massive strategic role in Battlefield 3. Being able to blow open the wall of an enemy-held building is critical to capturing crates, and the tank cannon certainly does a good job of that.

Given how much time we spent up in the sky, we didn't get a chance to try out all the new classes down on the ground, but we did take a few stabs at the long-ranged recon, or sniper, class. Why this class? Dominating the skyline of this map is a humongous radio tower looming like a red-and-white-striped beacon for all would-be snipers. We couldn't resist the temptation, so we spawned in as a recon and made a beeline for the thing. Inside was a ladder that took us a solid 30 to 45 seconds to scale, but at the top was a dream of a sniper perch that let us see almost the entire map.

Trying to pick off enemies was a genuine challenge given the generous levels of weapon sway DICE has added to the sniper rifles and the fact that your scope now appears to glint and shimmer in the sunlight as a heads-up for enemy players. Still, we managed to get a few solid kills in before we were taken out by a skilled tank driver below. Like in previous Battlefield games, physics are a huge obstacle to sniping. You have to be quick on your toes to compensate for bullet drop while also making sure to lead any running enemies. But if you find that too much of a challenge, you can still spot enemies so that they appear marked with an orange icon on your teammates' screens. That will net you some solid XP as well.

Our time with Conquest was every bit as chaotic and messy as you'd expect from a 64-player match composed entirely of people getting their first hands-on with Battlefield 3 multiplayer. Even so, we can tell that the foundation is there for a truly exceptional multiplayer mode once you put in the time to learn the ins and outs of each vehicle and how best to navigate the gargantuan map.

Now onto co-op. This is an entirely separate mode from the single-player story campaign, though there is some overlap in terms of characters and setting. The mission we played, Exfiltration, had us sneaking into a Tehran apartment building to rescue a high-value hostage. The game doesn't force you to play in any particular way, but it was dead obvious that DICE wants you to take a stealthy approach to this mission. There were several occasions when our team of two snuck up behind a conveniently matched pair of enemies who happened to have their backs turned to us. Predictable as it was, there's no denying how satisfying it was to coordinate who would take each enemy, and then counting to three before the two of us pulled the triggers on our silenced pistols.

In fact, the whole tone of the first half of this mission felt worlds apart from what we've seen thus far from Battlefield 3's story campaign. Silently creeping through dimly lit basements and hallways was very different from the sprawling set pieces of the single-player campaign, but that soon changed once we managed to rescue our man. It was loud as soon as we made it back onto the street level, as a convoy of friendly Humvees began moving through the streets. We had to contend with enemies perched up on the balconies and windows of the various buildings flanking the streets. It was a big, open shoot-out that required us to use the thermal sights on our light machine gun in order to be effective. And we managed to make pretty good progress, too, before both of us died and utterly failed the mission.

If nothing else, Battlefield 3's co-op showed us that DICE is willing to veer away from its comfort zone with a different style of action to mix up the overall pacing. But ultimately, we're interested to see how much incentive there is for teamwork over the rest of the campaign. There were those optional stealthy takedowns, and the ability to revive your incapacitated squadmate, but that was really it. Another thing we'd like to see more of is the use of vehicles in co-op; DICE promised you'll be hitting the road in ground vehicles as well as piloting jets.

And that just about wraps up what we played of Battlefield 3 here at Gamescom. Before we finish, we should note one interesting bit of trivia straight from DICE's Karl-Magnus Troedsson: The PC version of Battlefield 3 won't be the only one with multiplayer server browsers; you'll even be able to browse for servers on consoles. We're hoping to find out a few more surprises sometime before the game's release on October 25.

Battlefield 3 Video Interview: Co-op campaign (PC)

[GullyFoyle]

twitter.com/BATTLEFIELDO: "Deployable Mortars and hardcore mode confirmed in live q/a with @zh1nt0 LIVE RIGHT NOW! #BF3 omgz"

[btarunr]

Man I miss BF2.

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Man I miss BF2.

I do too. As awesome as BF3 looks I just think the magic might be gone. Time will tell I guess.

[CDdude55]

Gabe Newell apparently wants EA's games on Steam badly: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6329649...op%3Btitle%3B1

"I think at the end of the day we're going to prove to Electronic Arts they have happier customers, a higher quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam," he continued. "It's our duty to demonstrate that to them. We don't have a natural right to publish their games…We really want to show there's a lot of value having EA titles on Steam. We want EA's games on Steam and we have to show them that's a smart thing to do."

Hope they work something out.

[GullyFoyle]

Battlefield 3 - Caspian Border Analysis & In-Depth Breakdown - this guy is pretty good. Best breakdown so far.

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by CDdude55

Gabe Newell apparently wants EA's games on Steam badly: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6329649...op%3Btitle%3B1



Hope they work something out.

I hope do too. But I highly doubt it.

[Wrigleyvillain]

Originally Posted by TheMailMan78

I do too. As awesome as BF3 looks I just think the magic might be gone. Time will tell I guess.

What magic exactly? It's all relative. Fire it up now and fly a jet super fast across a giant map. It still sucks despite that awesomeness cause the game is crusty and outdated.

I don't think they'll have any problem making new, better "magic" with this one.

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by Wrigleyvillain

What magic exactly? It's all relative. Fire it up now and fly a jet super fast across a giant map. It still sucks despite that awesomeness cause the game is crusty and outdated.

I don't think they'll have any problem making new, better "magic" with this one.

BF is about BIG maps and BIG battles. 1942, BF2 to 2142 all had maps bigger then the last and a massive mod community......now we MIGHT have smaller maps and they slowed down the jets to compensate? I don't care how awesome the graphics are. Thats a step backward.

All in all I still have hope. I do! Its just I am worried its been dumbed down so its not to vast of a difference compared to the consoles.

[GullyFoyle]

Originally Posted by TheMailMan78

BF is about BIG maps and BIG battles. 1942, BF2 to 2142 all had maps bigger then the last and a massive mod community......now we MIGHT have smaller maps and they slowed down the jets to compensate? I don't care how awesome the graphics are. Thats a step backward.

All in all I still have hope. I do! Its just I am worried its been dumbed down so its not to vast of a difference compared to the consoles.

I think you have that backwards. The maps have been getting smaller the whole time. The BF1942 maps were the biggest. I did some modding in BF2 and it was difficult to remake a map like Midway in BF2, the map area was just not large enough. Project Reality did quite a bit of tweaking to enable maps 4 times larger than vanilla BF2, that rivaled the maps in BF1942. (4K maps vs. 1K maps)

In BFBC2, the maps were about as large as BF2, but they used the out of bounds mechanic to keep you in a tiny area, because the playing areas were designed for 12 vs. 12 battles.

It will be interesting to see the console version of Caspian Border Vs. the one we see in the video. The differences could be dramatic, seeing as they created a whole seperate game mode called Conquest 64 for the PC.

[CDdude55]

There were some awesome maps that i loved in BF2, as the scale of them really did make it a ton of fun. I really enjoyed the map were you'd spawn on a war ship in ocean and fly jets over to the island, the scale was insane and it would suck if in fact the maps were smaller, but hey, as long as they don't get as small as COD's MP maps, then im still buying it.

One thing that i hated about the huge maps in BF2 was that when everybody grabbed all the available vehicles, you're left to walk and that took away from the experience a bit since the actual battles were happening far off someplace and i'd have to spend a bunch of time just trying to get there.(and if i remember BF2 characters couldn't sprint for very long like in BC2)

[TacoTown]

Anyone here wanna have a battlefield 2 night? Where we all dust off our old copies and play.

[GullyFoyle]

Battleblog #7: Battlefield 3 introduces themed co-op campaign

Spoiler

Thursday, 18 August 2011 13:00

Battlefield 3 will be our biggest Battlefield game yet. Besides the expansive multiplayer mode and single player campaign, it will also ship with a co-op campaign out of the box. Read on for the full details straight from our Lead Co-op Designer.

Co-op in Battlefield 3 is designed to be the perfect blend between the strong narrative from single player and the open-ended action from multiplayer. Lead Co-op Designer David Spinnier and his team are fusing the replayability of multiplayer with a pick up and play mentality to create a totally new flavor of Battlefield.

The co-op missions in Battlefield 3 take place in the same world as the single player campaign, and follows a unique series of events that lead up to an explosive finish. Players in co-op will take the role of soldiers that are not tied to any one particular branch of the Armed Forces. This is an intentional design decision to allow for a vast variety in gameplay in the different co-op missions.

Lend a helping hand
To survive through the co-op missions, you’ll need to stay close to your buddy. If he goes down, lend a helping hand with the new co-op “Man down!” mechanic, that lets you revive him in the heat of battle. While being down, you can still use your secondary weapon to defend yourself, while slowly crawling to a safer spot where your friend can help you without getting shot. If both of you go down, it’s game over.

You fight together. You die together. And you score together. After having cleared a co-op mission with your friend, your total combined score will be displayed via Battlelog, our suite of free social features that connect all Battlefield 3 players. Missions are designed to be shorter than single player missions, so you can easily do multiple rounds in an evening to try and beat your friends’ high score. The best score of your Friend will be displayed for each mission, so you know what to aim for.

Difficulty is high. Spinner and his colleagues are going for a tough challenge in all missions. Also, since competitive players will likely try each mission several times, all of the co-op missions contain randomized elements to keep every playthrough fresh. Clearing the co-op missions not only gives you scores and bragging rights – it also has benefits for your multiplayer career. There are a number of weapons that you can unlock in co-op and take with you to the regular multiplayer modes. These unlocks are based on your combined scores ackumulated throughout the co-op campaign.

At GamesCom 2011, we are running Battlefield 3 in co-op for the first time, with the mission Exfiltration. It revolves around a defecting informant, El Zakir, that you and your co-op friend needs to escort to safety. The mission starts outside the building where El Zakir resides. You need to move in, remove any opposition, and extract the target. If you can make it that far without raising a single alarm, there’s a little bonus in it for you. Here’s a little playing tip for you: If you need to take out multiple targets simultaneously (which is the case in Exfiltration), do a countdown over the voice chat. That way you can open fire at the same time, which gives the enemy less time to react.

Part two of Exfiltration has you clearing a path for your convoy so you can reach the outskirts of the city, before entering two of the vehicles and assisting by manning the top-mounted machine guns. Exfiltration is not over there, and there are more elements to it, but by now you should have a good idea what awaits in one of our diverse co-op missions. More will be revealed later.

Stay tuned for Battlefield 3 Battleblog #8 soon

OffDutyGamers - Breakdown: Battlefield 3 Caspian Border Multiplayer Gameplay

Demize99 - 3d Spotting Has Not Been Removed But Tweaked

Spoiler

So, a soldier in direct Line of Sight that is spotted will have a 3d red marker. If he moves behind cover or concealment, including vegetation, the 3d red marker will disappear. He will always be on the minimap. Vehicles are always fully 3D spotted, and LOS does not apply since they are larger more important targets with less threats (and it plain did not work to have jets flying around who couldn't see the tank you spotted for him to take out).

This lets you essentially "nudge" your buddy to tell him about a target, or point out a sniper on a hill you see but cannot engage (with your shotgun for example). But it prevents players from using 3D spotting as a wall hack.

Additionally, the primary motivator for the change is that 3D spots that you cannot see are not threats. We noticed that players would focus on 3D spots over everything else, meaning they would ignore people in line of sight. It's far less confusing when the 3D spot on a soldier can only be seen if you can see the soldier.

[CDdude55]

Originally Posted by Kevinheraiz

Anyone here wanna have a battlefield 2 night? Where we all dust off our old copies and play.

I'd be up for that, but i'd have to find all the discs cause i don't have the Steam version.

[TacoTown]

Originally Posted by CDdude55

I'd be up for that, but i'd have to find all the discs cause i don't have the Steam version.

I hope my disc still works! lol. It's a bit scratched.

[brandonwh64]

If anyone needs a copy of BF2 then I have a CD key I could sell for 5$ I think you can activate on origin?

[TacoTown]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

If anyone needs a copy of BF2 then I have a CD key I could sell for 5$ I think you can activate on origin?

You can use your codes on there? SWEET!

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by Kevinheraiz

You can use your codes on there? SWEET!

I think so but dont hold it to me

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by GullyFoyle

In BFBC2, the maps were about as large as BF2, but they used the out of bounds mechanic to keep you in a tiny area, because the playing areas were designed for 12 vs. 12 battles.

Not that I doubt ya man but I question that statement. You got any links showing BC2 maps are as big as BF2 maps?

[PVTCaboose1337]

Originally Posted by Kevinheraiz

You can use your codes on there? SWEET!

Nope, just tried:

-BF2
-BF2142
-Crysis
-Crysis Warhead

EDIT: These were all boxed copies FYI.

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by GullyFoyle

This lets you essentially "nudge" your buddy to tell him about a target, or point out a sniper on a hill you see but cannot engage (with your shotgun for example). But it prevents players from using 3D spotting as a wall hack.

Thank G-d. Crazyeyes spams the spot button constantly. That kinda bullshit is why I like hardcore.

[GullyFoyle]

Demize99 having his own Community Day on the EA UK forums...

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:34 in the forums (source):

Oh, it has its own purposes...

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:33 in the forums (source):

Sorry, I meant as long as the spot lasts he will appear on the minimap. You disappear after a timer, unless someone else spots you again, then the timer can be refreshed.

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:28 in the forums (source):
First, the 4 on 4 TDM setup is for Gamescom's lounge specifically. The full game will support 24 players in TDM by Design. In theory we could go bigger on PC of course, but we wanted to focus on a tight infantry TDM game. There are no vehicles in TDM.

Second, on Motion Sensors. First, you cannot throw them like the motion balls in BC2. You deploy them, they are larger (and easier to see) than BC2, they can be destroyed, they beep when they detect movement. A recon soldier can only have 1 deployed at a time. You can crouch or prone and move past a motion sensor without setting it off. Motion sensors will only show you briefly on the minimap (approximately 0.5sec).

You can, therefor, easily walk into range of a sensor, get detected, crouch, sneak away and either destroy the beacon or move and ambush anyone nearby who goes to investigate your position.

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:20 in the forums (source):

Remotely operated vehicles cannot take flags. Go put your lalala at risk if you want to take ground.

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:18 in the forums (source):

Party on. Same Jet, Tank, Chopper, and Jeep physics across all platforms.

Alan Kertz wrote on 2011-08-18 @ 16:09 in the forums (source):
Not far off guys, I'm impressed. There's one BIG thing you're missing though, I think you'll be pumped when the surprise is revealed.

And no, I won't tell you if you figure it out! I gotta Troll somehow!

This last one is regarding his recent Tweet: "Honestly cannot believe no one's commented on 1:37 in the Caspian Border Trailer... just after the bot hits the wall. "