By Alex Co | May 12, 2011 | Interviews
Here’s part two of our exclusive interview with DICE Community Manager, Daniel Matros. The man known as "zh1nt0" talks with us regarding the Battlefield franchise, the philosophy and transition to Battlefield 3 - in short, this is a must read for any Battlefield fan.
If you somehow missed part one where Matros talks about his duties as the community manager for one of the biggest brands in gaming, see
Interview with DICE Community Manager Daniel Matros.
Disclaimer: Aside from style and spelling, all the answers are left unedited.
The studio with the "golden gun" when it comes to FPS games - DICE
DeltaGamer: What are your thoughts on the people that are upset that DICE chose to unveil the single-player portion of the game first, also the sentiment that Battlefield shouldn’t have or need to have a single-player mode?
What we have shown so far from the game has been very tech focused. Every segment of the Fault Line Trailer shows, you all of the 5 core pillars of the game we are building on such as the animation system, the destruction, scale and the lighting/rendering. Battlefield has generally been focused around multiplayer but we feel that it is just as important to show the players out there a solid single player mode. Also people know we can do multiplayer. They largely know what to expect from the multiplayer portion of our games, they don’t know what to expect from single-player. There are things we learnt in Mirrors Edge and in the Bad Company series that we think we can use to deliver a new experience to Battlefield 3 players.
DeltaGamer: What do you guys want to achieve with Battlefield 3 that you couldn’t do before?
We always want to improve, so that´s a pretty difficult question. What I would like to point towards is the Frostbite 2 engine that delivers some powerful stuff that has been unseen before. The destruction, scale, rendering and also the brand new animation system that has been developed for EA Sports titles has now been brought over to BF3. Technology is an on-going thing so we can now achieve things that were not possible two years ago.
DeltaGamer: Looking back at the first Battlefield game, it could seem like you will be importing quite a few features from Battlefield 1942, into Battlefield 3. Why now and not earlier?
Good question! If you take a look at the history of Battlefield, you will see that a lot of different features have been improved or have been taken out due to design and balancing decisions. We must also not forget thatBattlefield 1942, BF2 were the foundation of what is to become BF3; as it is the true sequel to both of these games. We took a different direction with the Bad Company series and of course it was well appreciated by many - and also many hardcore fans have been waiting for a proper sequel to Battlefield 2. Our vision of what we wanted to create with BF3 just didn´t add up at that time so we waited and played around with many more ideas before finally settling, looking at the big picture and saying, "you know what? I think we got it."
DeltaGamer: Have you seen any part of Battlefield 3’s multiplayer? How awesome is it? Is there any chance of telling us something new today?
There are people sitting around me making, play testing, and tweaking Battlefield 3 every day. Yes I have seen it, yes it’s awesome and no there is nothing new for me to tell you yet. We need to watch out for revealing things that won’t make the final cut which is why the information flow is slow at the moment.
DeltaGamer: What differences can you tell us about the PC to console versions of Battlefield 3? What sacrifices can we expect? Have you seen footage of the console version?
As with the last question, I can stand up and walk 2 meters to my right and sit with people running the software on consoles. Sacrifice is a bit of a harsh term to use but there is more we can do with the PC platform than we can with others.
DeltaGamer: Is it possible for you to discuss the differences between Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 gameplay-wise, if you can’t go into specifics about game mechanics, how about the core mechanics or overall feel?
What I can comment on right now is the engine and also the overall feeling of the game. The Bad Company series was based around four characters that were out on a big adventure as if it was a road movie with memorable Hollywood quotes. In BF3, things have changed. It´s no longer centered around these four people since it´s a different game and the tone has been set to more serious than ever in a Battlefield game.
DeltaGamer: Will squads be allowed to have more than 4 people in it at a time?
Unfortunately I can´t comment on any gameplay specifics at the moment.
DeltaGamer: Care to give your thoughts on faction specific vehicles, weapons, classes?
Our philosophy regarding weapons, vehicles and classes in the Battlefield series has always been about "countering" what the other person is equipped with or what vehicle he/she is using. An engineer takes out a tank and while doing so, the player dies on the Battlefield. A medic quickly rushes to his help together with an Assault soldier that covers his back while a Sniper spots both of them and drops a mortar strike. A chain of events triggered by multiple choices in-game has been very well represented over the years. I can´t give you any details right now to any specifics but I can tell you that there won´t be less than in our previous games.
DeltaGamer: A few of the developers have claimed that they have added prone but it will not allow for "dolphin-diving," can you confirm this or more importantly, can you give any details regarding this?
Firstly you need to remember that things have to come through official channels when it comes to feature announcements. There are plenty of things going on with regards to how each feature affects the overall flow of the game, especially in multiplayer. We know of various exploits from previous games and we are looking at ways of solving them without changing the pace of combat too much.
DeltaGamer: On the server side of things, is DICE ready to handle the load that Battlefield 3 will bring as to avoid any service outages from the get-go? For cheat-protection and hacks as well?
When you approach a launch day for any specific title that many people have been waiting for, it´s necessary to take certain precautions and steps in order to make sure that the players out there get a flawless connection and a good first day impression of the game. Of course we will do our best in making sure that it also happens.
DeltaGamer: Is it safe to assume that Battlefield 3 will implement the Online Pass or VIP system that EA is currently employing to almost all its games?
It’s safe to say we want to know if a user legitimately purchased the game before they take a seat on the server, yes. Whether this will be VIP on Online Pass is yet to be fully decided but a check will take place.
DeltaGamer: What can we expect regarding maps and post launch support for Battlefield 3? While Bad Company 2 had them, the community is asking for more frequent updates regarding this. Does DICE know of this concern?
The only DLC we have announced now is the "Back to Karkand" pack that includes re-made maps, Weapons and Vehicles from Battlefield 2. If you pre-order the game you will get that for free. We will of course give Battlefield 3 the best support we have in terms of in-game and community support. Quality as you´ve probably heard before is a lead word for us.
DeltaGamer: Can you tell us any info about BF3 that we don’t know yet, anything at all.
No, the Easter bunny stole all of my secrets
DeltaGamer: Any message to the GamerSpawn, DeltaGamer readers out there?
Are you going to put forward an e-sports clan to take part in any upcoming BF3 events?
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I would like to thank DICE and Daniel Matros for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our Battlefield questions. Be on the lookout for Battlefield 3 at this year’s E3 where I’m sure the game will have a huge presence at the show.
If you ever see zh1nto online, please say hi and knife him for us. Now if you’ll excuse me I have an Easter bunny to hunt.
