Tue, Feb 08, 2011 | 10:40 GMT
GI drops large BF3 update: 24 players for console, more
And off we go. Someone’s gone and put all over the internet Game Informer’s massive cover piece on Battlefield 3, with additional details coming from US retailer Best Buy.
Battlefield 3
Releasing this fall for PC, 360 and PS3
Multiplayer on PC will consist of 64 players, where 24 players will make up the numbers on consoles.
Battlefield 3 will run on DICE’s new Frostbite 2.0.
Locations in the game include Paris, New York and Tehran.
The main details from the new issue of the magazine (via GAF) is that the game will feature co-op, the story will be completely original and therefore unrelated to Bad Company 2, the lead platform is PC and that it’s planning more immediate and better post-release content.
The other stuff included in the issue is that BF3′s concept has been in the works for a good couple of years, but was waiting on the right tech to have it come together. DICE says that Frostbite 2 is the “culmination” of the tech with it entirely rewritten.
However, the PC version will not have mod tools at release. DICE said that Frostbite 2 was complex and that the tools would have to be dumbed down.
The game will also feature four classes, but will talk about squads “later.” DICE is also looking into a theatre mode, but won’t talk about it. It did confirm it will have a Killcam that can be turned off.
It’s already been confirmed the game will take place in Tehran, Paris and New York, but DICE also confirms that Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan will be in the game.
DICE also said it is trying to find the sweet spot for character customisation and not having “pink rabbit hats”. It’ll also feature a lot more unlocks than what was in Bad Company 2.
“The more variation you have [in the characters], the less you can have in the rest of the world,” producer Patrick Bach told the mag.
“I think it also has to do with the way you play more professionally. You don’t want people to look completely different. It’s team A versus team B. It’s always a challenge – how do you personalise a uniform? Giving the pink rabbit hat to someone would make it fun, but if you’re running around and you don’t know what you’re shooting at, you don’t take the professional gaming seriously in my book.”
Bach continues: “There’s a challenge between personalising and keeping it uniform. We will do more in that area, making sure that you can get your character to be more personalised both in a visual way and more specifically in the way you gear up. We did a good job I would argue with Bad Company 2 with specialisations, different scopes and different weapons – you can kind of find your way of playing the game, which broadens the game for more people.”
Other bits of info include:
- One probe in Battlefield 3 on lighting will contain more info than an entire Bad Company 2 level.
- Level destruction will be “believable”, but everything is destructible.
- Character animation will be powered by a program used at EA Sports, ANT. AI and multiplayer characters will also different sets of animations and that there’ll be no more “gliding” animations that look off.
- DICE captured its own war audios – tanks, helicopters, bullets, etc – at various distances to capture realism. There’ll also be better audio cues for certain actions, with it more easily able to listen to incoming threats.
- Battlfield 3 dev team is nearly twice as big as the team was for Bad Company 2.
- DICE wants the single-player pacing to be balanced with highs and lows.
- “Fuck” will be used a lot, so expect an M-rated game from the ESRB.
- A significant narrative that will go with the single-player.
- No complaints from console gamers is why the PC version will support 64-player multiplay on PC SKU.
24-player console-multiplay confirmed by US retailer.
According to Best Buy (via X360A), BF3 will feature 24-player multiplayer on consoles, down by 40 on PC. The number was previously speculated over the weekend.
It also says you can “drag your fallen comrades to safety and mount your weapon on almost any terrain to defend them.”
Battlefield 3 releases this fall for PC, 360 and PS3.
61 comments
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#51
Gekidami
08/02/11, 12:52 pm
@44
Yet again you fail and act like a 12 year old, those extra games were because of deals btween the 2 companies, theres barely any differences between the games themselves because they’re both made together, there is no PS3 version and 360 version, just ‘a console version’.
And that video of MAG shows no lag, again you fail.
Could you please just fuck off now Erthazus, you little twat. Not only are you always wrong, and dont have a single clue about the games industry but you seem to be incapable of posting something without insaulting someone.
You’re lucky Pat lets people troll this site (to point where people leave because of it) because your crap wouldnt fly on most other sites. You’d have been banned a long time ago.
#52
StolenGlory
08/02/11, 12:55 pm
@ “360 can’t have anything more than 24 players argument” – Didn’t Frontline: Fuel of War have a 32 player limit on the 360 which was then upped to 50?
I certainly recall the multiplayer demo allowing 32 players at least.
#53
daytripper
08/02/11, 1:06 pm
@49 thats the question tho isnt it, why does he let people troll this site? i dont see many people signing up as new members contributing, its usually the same people.
#54
Crysis
08/02/11, 1:09 pm
@50, up to 16 Players by using the Xbox 360 as the server or up to 50 using Xbox Live Dedicated servers via Xbox Live.
Games these days are sold unfinished, so with multiplayer game, patching & updating is a priority but XBL restrictions generally make this a problem, having more players per game requires even more effort to maintain, that was my whole point, not saying that it’s impossible, just a larger risk to make larger multiplayer games.
#55
StolenGlory
08/02/11, 1:10 pm
@51
Presumably the trolling is left unchecked because the powers that be don’t want to erode the modest viewership/forum base that they have already.
#56
StolenGlory
08/02/11, 1:11 pm
@52
Ahh I see. Sorry, I failed to notice the distinction that was made between dedicated servers and such.
It’ll be interesting to see what DICE do all the same.
#57
StolenGlory
08/02/11, 1:15 pm
But then, now that I think about it; the lower player limit on the console versions would ostensibly have some other, fairly serious game mechanic knock-on effects right?
I mean, the lower amount of players will mean that the maps will likely be smaller (or at least you won’t be able to fully ‘unlock’ the map as PC owners can) and of course the smaller the maps are, the more pointless flying jets will become by proxy.
Meh. Anyways, they haven’t *officially* announced the player limit yet, other than the fact that it ‘won’t be 64′ and while nobody (apparently) in console land has complained about the player limit, you would think that with the strides that DICE are making with other areas of the game, that the player limit would be brought up (at least a bit) to support these revised game mechanics?
#58
daytripper
08/02/11, 1:22 pm
@53 doesnt seem to be working, i know people who love this site for news but wont register because the state of the community. maybe the class of battlefield 3 will unite us all.
#59
DSB
08/02/11, 2:55 pm
Whoa. AI in Battlefield 3? WHAT?! Sounds like someones making a token campaign.
I hope they fix the interface, the weapons, the levelling system and make some more interesting maps this time around.
They made some good progress on Vietnam (like less explosive damage) but then they added some more problems while they were at it.
Hopefully the bigger teams mean there’ll be more attention to detail. I don’t think there’s any doubt that EA has the CoD-killing budget out for this one.
#60
guapo
08/02/11, 2:55 pm
As much as I disagree with damn near everything Erthazus says in the end it is his opinion. We are all on this site to express our opinions about something we all love, gaming. His opinion usually differs from EVERYBODY but he shouldn’t be banned. Honestly I would not want to be part of ANY site who would ban a member for expressing their opinions in the way erthazus does. He is not recognizably a racist, a pedophile, or any other sick freak that needs to be removed from the community. If people are leaving the site because they can’t deal with that, well, good luck with life because it gets a whole lot worse than some kid talking shit on the web.
#61
NeoSquall
08/02/11, 7:06 pm
I’m surprised BF3 is actually getting a campaign.
I hope this won’t take too much time from DICE, precious time to be used in developing the multiplayer.
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