Battlefield 3

Hooooolyyyy shit chanchai!!!! That is a huuuuuge post.

Anyway. New patch is coming veeery soon according to a tweet from community manager zhinto. Maybe next week if certification goes well.

Josh, hit me up on steam, im on the pc version way more often ill get you up to speed. Is amazon still selling it for 30 bucks still?

 

Thanks Chanchai....I am an old BF vet, played all the other ones...but I understand 3 is a lot more involved.

 

SD - yep!!!
Download only

 

No announcement yet, but it was stated via twitter that the patches are already finished and are just awaiting approval from Sony and Microsoft for consoles.

Some speculate next week, but who really knows?

 

What is the name of the platoon you all use?

 

[VFDC]

 

On pubs it really isn't IMO. I think it's solidly the opposite. I can't speak for any sort of organized play, since I never considered BF a competitive game for tourneys like CS or quake.

Anyway, the thing to keep in mind is that there are fewer classes, the maps are quite a bit smaller than BF2 and have MUCH more chaotic layouts (makes the game boring, if you can believe that), and there are fewer things to know about the game. Rush with 32 players is even less thought out than BC2 rush mode I think.

Most of the conquest 64p maps are 24 player maps with an extra cap point bolted on. There are also parts of these maps that have nothing of interest in them, but aren't out of bounds, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume most of them are incomplete for 64 players. It's obvious on Canals and Operation Firestorm especially, since part of the team doesn't get a vehicle to the cap points when the game starts.

The weapon handling and selection is the more important, new mechanic to figure out. I like the look and feel of the game's environments a lot, and the sound design even if it's bombastic and overblown.

The "gun porn" element seems vastly improved over BF2 or even BFBC2. I like that a lot too. That said, Recon isn't what it used to be in BC2 (no C4 or 1-shot railgun sniper rifles, a change I welcome readily), and using gadgets properly, squad perks and a dropping ammo and health is a must as usual (pubbies generally won't do this reliably).

That said, the unlock system for these weapons is tedious and as a player, I find it unrewarding and needlessly obtrusive. The game's desire to show me rewards over and over annoys me too haha, but ymmv. I'm just like that. Anyway, to get these unlocks quickly - I suggest finding a Metro 24/7 server and grinding them all out for each class...seriously.

The main complaints about the game I read, and have myself, are about the much smaller variety of vehicles and the relative lack of options for the fighter jets simplifies the game and makes it far too saturated with infantry in anything more than 24 players (the max for console). This design flaw gets aggravated by the spawn system, which makes capturing territory on conquest needlessly random -- people will spawn while the flag goes down and get spawn camped or flank the people capping -- it's totally up to chance.

The only counter-balance to this is that competent attack choppers lock down entire maps too, as a result of the size of the maps. The stinger/IGLA rockets got nerfed in the first few weeks, making it an ordeal to shoot one down a lot of the time. Good luck doing it again when it respawns, too!

The thing with the ground vehicles is that engineers -- somehow an offensive powerhouse class now -- can carry up to 9 RPGs and 6 anti-tank mines OR instead of mines, they can default to the repair tool, which repairs much more quickly than in previous BF games because vehicles become disabled at 50% health. This allows them to take on vehicles and infantry in equal measure, since most of the engineer's carbines aren't strictly inferior to assault rifles or LMGs (partly due to certain nerfs to ARs and LMGs/strangeness with calibers and the short range combat inherent to most maps).

 

I love this game and was playing BF3 frequently on Xbox, but recently upgraded to a Alienware X51 PC for my home theater and all I have to say is WOW what a difference.

On High Settings I average 50 to 60 fps at 720p
On Ultra settings I average 30 to 40 fps at 720p

I could never go back to playing BF3 on a console

 

Wow, that's really cool. The X51 is that portable console-like one? That's a great framerate for high on any system like that. My only beef with Alienware stuff is that it's so costly. It does come with everything and has a small form factor out of the box, though, so it's hard to argue with that.

I'm one to build a PC for around $1k or even less, since there's no OS license to buy from MS or other accessories that I already have. It's even easier to do now when you get the right parts and follow a good guide. It's just an expensive lego set unless the software or OS stops playing nice!

 

The form factor was the key reason I bought it.
It fits perfectly with my home theater/game center

Prices were not that much different if I was to do it on my own and I was willing to pay a bit extra to let Alienware do the building.

Total cost was $1300 could have been $1100 if I didn't add the blu ray player

 

yo brisal and josh, add me on battlelog:

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/user/SsuddenDdeath/

 

I'm gonna be a bit pedantic here, sry:

$1100 into a custom desktop gets you similar performance at 1080p and money to spare for a matching display. In the same form factor as the X51 with a pre-loaded OS? Ehhh probably not. I think if a manufacturer takes the X51 concept and makes a competing product at a lower markup (cut out the OEM license for Windows for starters, matey), a major hurdle to high-end PC gaming would be eliminated pretty quick.

I just don't see tablets or the new ultrabooks really taking over PC gaming right now, and gaming laptops have been a punchline for years. The major upside of the X51 concept isn't something Alienware is particularly good at popularizing, their core business has always been to make a premium product at a premium markup.

 

I remember the ad was about $700~$800.

 

The game never fucking launches. I left it for over 30 minutes just to try the campaign mode, and nothing happens. It opens up the origin launcher and NOTHING happens...I want my money back

 

Lol welcome to origin. Btw. Your supposed to launch the game via the webbrowser....did the webbrowser popped up?

 

Inside DICE: Bringing Battlefield into Close Quarters (Battlefield Blog)

I enjoyed this article, though it's probably not quite for the "traditional Battlefield fan" (especially when it brings up Operation Metro as a very popular map--some would say notorious lol).

It does talk about the crazy level of destruction they are going for with this expansion and that bullets (not just explosives) will be tearing down the walls and everything.

One source of inspiration was the scene in The Matrix where Neo and Trinity go through security and the fight pretty much destroys the ground level of the office building.

It also goes into detail of the connection the Lead Designer feels to this project since he was a competitive Counter-Strike player at one point.

I'm surprised at the statement about Rush given that "all previous modes" will exist on these maps. Discussion of Conquest was interesting.

 

To clarify what Sudden Death is saying... The Battlelog website has the buttons at the top for playing campaign, playing co-op, playing multiplayer. When you click on those buttons (on the website), it should then take you into the game.

The PC version of BF3 was designed to be integrated into the Battlelog experience as well as a vehicle for EA's Origin service/software.

 

the 700 - 800 is for the basic core system aka less power
1300 = all the bells and whistles

 

The loading of the PC version is very different from the console version. I also notice long delays in order to get into some online or single player campaigns. Its annoying, but the game is so much better on pc I am willing to wait.

 

yeah, I hit the bf3 button on origin, the battlelog thing comes up, I select a game, then the origin program comes up again. Nothing happens. this is retarded.