Actually...how about assaults be able to call down a vehicle drop? Even if it's just a 2 person quad bike.
Separate supply crate into supply crate and medical crate?
BY: HBrun
POSTED : Jun 16, 2011, 01:28PM
A point of clarification for all of our Battlefield fans. We will unlock the contents of the Physical Warfare Pack to all Battlefield 3 players later this year – for free. Read on for more details on this and Back to Karkand.
So maybe this is stating the obvious, but all of us at DICE are here because of our passion for games and the passion to bring you the games we too love to play. I always knew our pre-order offers for Battlefield 3 would be open to misunderstandings. This post is an attempt by me to answer any questions you have.
I would like to start by clarifying that the Physical Warfare Pack is a time-based exclusive. If you do not pre-order Battlefield 3 at a retailer carrying the Physical Warfare Pack, don’t worry. We will unlock the contents of the Physical Warfare Pack for free to all Battlefield 3 players later this year.
The Physical Warfare Pack will be available as a pre-order bonus all over the globe. Right now, the UK is the only country where it has been announced, but stay tuned to get constant updates on where you can pick this up in your country. And remember, if you do not pre-order, you will still get access to this content at a later date, free of charge. If you do pre-order, you will get access to it from day one.
For Battlefield: Bad Company 2, many in the Battlefield community were very vocal about wanting additional, new maps to expand the multiplayer experience. With Battlefield 3, we want to make sure we can increase your library of maps quicker than we did for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. We also want to give you something special for pre-ordering, as pre-ordering is basically your way of saying you believe in DICE and Battlefield 3. When we announced that everybody who pre-orders Battlefield 3 would get an entire future expansion pack at no extra charge, I knew we had created a very generous pre-order offer.
Back to Karkand is a massive, themed expansion pack available a period of time after the base game, developed by a separate team here at DICE -- the same team that brought you Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. If you played Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, you have a pretty good idea about the scope and ambition of our expansion packs. This is so much more than just four remixed maps.
If you pre-order Battlefield 3, you will be able to play Back to Karkand at no extra charge as soon as it is released, but it is not day one DLC and it is not on the base game disc. We think it’s a sweet deal, and it’s available to everyone everywhere. If you do not pre-order Battlefield 3, you can still buy Back to Karkand separately and play it as soon as it is released, the very same date as anyone who pre-ordered. In other words, there is no segmentation of the community when we launch the base game.
There are more pre-order offers for Battlefield 3 out there, and in order to try and avoid any confusion we will return within the next couple of weeks to detail all of them as well.
As always, post any questions you have here, in our forums, on Facebook, or Twitter. We are listening and value your opinion.
Cheers,
Karl Magnus Troedsson
General Manager, DICE
i still hate paying for maps, but I did buy vietnam
hopefully there are 'free maps' still as well
I'm against map packs because they ALWAYS segment the community. This was the case w/ the 1942 expansions and again with the BF2 Spec Ops expansion. I'll give BC2 Vietnam a pass because it's substantially different in scope. They need to just release a few maps for free over time like TF2 and sell aesthetic rainbow unicorn optics DLC bullshit.
I just don't understand why people think that map packs should be free. Sure, if they are only going to release one map every 12 months, that may as well be free, but if they are going to release a pack of several new maps that also has new vehicles and gameplay innovations(think BF2 Special Forces), then I don't understand why that should be free.
I will say this though:didn't BF2 SF cost like $19.99 when it came out? Since it is now DLC, and not "Buy In Store Content That Requires Burning to DVD and Packaging", I think $4.99 is a great maximum price for that kind of thing.
I just don't understand why people think that map packs should be free.
Actually, BF2:SF was $25 - just checked my account on Amazon (bought it on Dec. 3, 2005, FYI). SF definitely segmented the community, and while it was an awesome game, it simply couldn't keep its servers full. Shortly after the game's release, many levels couldn't be played because all servers running them were empty (Devil's Perch was my favorite map I could never play). That being said, SF was actually an expansion pack, not a map pack. It had a slightly modified game engine I believe, and required the game to restart upon selecting an SF map.
Back to Karkand will be more like BC2:Vietnam - four maps, maybe some unique vehicles and guns, and yes, probably a different front end, so you won't be able to cycle through BTK and standard maps on the same server. But it's not an entire re-do like SF was.
I do hope that in addition to selling BTK, which they have to do to make it something special for those who pre-order (since it's not an early access thing), DICE also offers free DLC for everyone. BTK will be of more interest to those who played BF2, but to pull in new players and keep sales of BF3 going, free DLC is the way to go. No way can they pull the crap that COD does, since we all know that BF3 doesn't have the established base that COD has. DICE needs big sales of the game itself, which is not guaranteed, and thus freebies are the way to go, at least for the first 6 months, which is probably when they'd get most of their sales. After that paid DLC is fine, and I think $5-10 is fair. Vietnam's $15 was pushing it (and servers are pretty much empty now, as a result).
I hope BTK is not like vietname in that it operates fully inside BF3 and you can play the maps from 'vanilla'
I am operating under the assumption its a MAP PACK, not DLC conversion like Vietnam, maybe I should toss a question on twitter to l_twin
edit: tweeted, hopefully he answers, hes reply to my tweets before, but that was about motorcycles and trackdays
Battlefield 3 @ E3 2011
Written by: Scott Dupler
We trekked up to E3 in Los Angeles for one thing. To get our hands on Battlefield 3. We were hoping to hear some mention of anything Battlefield related at the 3 main press events (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) and were a little bit disappointed, but we knew the EA press conference would fill our hunger for Battlefield 3. Sony announced a Playstation 3 exclusive for Battlefield 3, which will include Battlefield 1943 on the same disk. At Nintendo, EA CEO John Riccitiello came on stage and hinted that Battlefield is a possibility on the new Wii U. His exact words were "imagine a shooter like Battlefield with jaw dropping graphics and smooth character animations on the Frostbite engine brought to you on a Nintendo system, that breakthrough controller". A very careful choice of wording that doesn't confirm or deny Battlefield 3 coming to Wii U, but it definitely sounds like it could be a possibility.
Briefing
The actual E3 show floor opened at noon on Tuesday and hours before that people lined up to get in. The EA booth was the first thing you saw when entering the South Hall. The line to play Battlefield 3 wrapped around the EA booth with hundreds of people in line. Luckily we had an appointment at noon and after talking to some EA people were put into the Battlefield 3 VIP line to be the first group in. While waiting in line an EA rep asked for our names so they could engrave our names onto BF3 dog tags. We were then ushered into a small air conditioned room where a large TV with the Battlefield 3 logo was displayed. Alongside was Battlefield 3 Lead Multiplayer Designer, Lars Gustafsson who has been with DICE for over 12 years. Lars talked about the Frostbite engine and the different gamemodes they plan to offer such as single player, multiplayer and co-op. The single player was shown at the EA press conference in the form of the tank mission which takes place in the deserts outside of Tehran.
At the EA booth, we played multiplayer rush gamemode on a map called Operation Metro based in the heart of Paris where we played as the U.S. Marines taking on the Russian forces. Operation Metro is an infantry focused, urban environment, close combat map. Russian forces have taken over the city and are headquartered at the stock exchange. U.S Marine forces start from the west taking out the heavy anti-air stations setup throughout the park. In addition to conquest and rush gamemodes, team deathmatch was also announced. Lars then touched on the newly announced Battle Log, a social Battlefield experience that ties everything together. Although that was all that was said about Battle Log.
Lars then explained the 4 classes in Battlefield starting with assault. The assault class is now equipped with medic capabilities for healing and reviving. Second is engineer which has anti-vehicle abilities and repair abilities. Next is the support solider whose responsibility is to lay down fire. Lastly is the recon class who has the responsibility of supplying intel on the battlefield. It wouldn't be a Battlefield game without unlocks and as Lars explained, Battlefield 3 will have more unlocks and upgrades than any other Battlefield game. Primary weapons in Battlefield 3 have three customization slots which include add-ons such as silencers and flashlights. The support class now has a bi-pod that can be placed on any surface to provide more accuracy and to enable the player to use a new support only ability called Suppression. When your bipod is deployed, all the bullets you fire at an enemy affect them regardless if you hit them or not. Bullets that get close enough to an enemy will start to reduce their combat efficiency. Your squad can then flank the enemy and you will receive a Suppression bonus.
Vehicles are of course another important part of Battlefield games and as we know jets will indeed be making a comeback. You will be able to fight with boats, tanks, jets and helicopters. In Operation Metro the only vehicle we were allowed to play with was the LAV-25 (Light Armor Vehicle). Vehicles in Battlefield 3 have two new features. First is they now have regenerating armor. If it goes down below a certain threshold your vehicle will be disabled (you will see sparks) and not being able to move, although the turret can still move. Vehicles as well as soldiers are now fully customizable. In the demo, the LAV-25 has the main gun, an added a coax cannon to take out infantry and added thermal vision.
Since Battlefield 2142, players have received dog tags in return for humiliating a player by knifing them. Battlefield 3 is no different, except they are now fully customizable. As you play you will unlock more ways to upgrade and customize your dog tag. Dog tags are now dynamically upgraded, so the example used was if you choose to display you are a kick ass pilot, your dog tag will now be updated with your latest stats. New to this system is that dog tags can only be stolen by a knife to the back. The animation system for knifing is more dramatic and spectacular that before.
Hands-On
The briefing with Lars ended and we then moved to the next room where each of us sat down at one of 16 Alienware computers (specs not revealed) pimped out with custom Battlefield 3 A40 headsets and Razer keyboard and mice. Every station had a clearly marked yellow triangle with a construction worker with the text "Pre-Alpha" on it. The first thing you notice is the spawn screen has been completely redone. It looks a lot more simple and kit load outs are now at the bottom indicated by four icons. Weapon load outs are to the right of the kit select, but it didn't appear as if we could experiment with these. In the briefing they did say they had unlocked everything and preselected our loadouts.
The class I play the most is assault, so I selected assault which is the first class and is indicted with a medic style cross. Controls are as you would expect with 1 being your primary weapon, 2 - secondary weapon (pistol), 3 - med pack, 4 - shock paddles. The much asked for prone is back which can be toggled by hitting Z. Crouch is X and sprint / hold breath is the shift key. Quick knife is F, and flashlight was set to L. Q will spot enemies just like Bad Company 2. The ability to toggle between firing modes automatic, semi-automatic, and single shot is available in most weapons. There was no commo rose, and this is one of those things EA and DICE aren't talking about yet probably because they haven't decided on it fully.
Running around and shooting people was remarkably smooth for a pre-alpha game. We had 16 players at E3 vs 16 QA players, so this wasn't just some local LAN game. Speaking of LAN, I was told there would be no LAN support. Other features I noticed are obviously you can see your feet and when you go to jump over something it goes into this parkour type animation. The squad leader is marked with a star and if I remember correctly you can only spawn on them. Flash lights now have a new purpose besides lighting up dark areas. Whether you are in broad daylight or a dark tunnel you can turn on your flashlight and blind enemies. In the few times this happened while playing I noticed a halo around an enemy, making it difficult to know where to shoot. The knifing system in Battlefield 3 has also changed dramatically. The knife is more like a switchblade that your solider can flip out. Quick knifing an enemy from behind will initiate an animation where you grab the enemies head and slit their throat. This might not have been the only animation, but one of many. EA had also told us that knifing from the front is possible, but not an instant kill. I was also told you can pull out the knife (possibly the #5 slot) and not have to use quick knife.
As far as points go here's how it goes: 100 points for killing someone, 10 points extra for a headshot, suppress bonus is 10, kill assist is 50 points, m-com arm is 100 points 100 points for reviving. The reviving system has also been tweaked and DICE have solved the problem of being rived countless times in the middle of enemy fire only to be killed and revived again. You can opt out of being rived by holding E to die or space bar to accept being revived. The shock paddles are no longer a one click instant shock revive. You now have to hold the mouse button down to charge the paddles in order to revive fallen teammates.
I didn't spend too much time with the support class, but I did check out the bi-pod just see what it looked like. The bi-pod deploys when you go prone, and apparently you can mount it on anything zooming in, but I didn't have time to test this. I didn't experience the new suppression system, but from I was told it creates a blur around the edges of your screen.
In the 20-30 minutes I had with Battlefield 3 it was a lot of fun. There are some elements from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but that's fine. The game itself still has many new improvements and features that will please old and new fans. Of course this is still pre-alpha so things can always change, but this already great game can only get better. The graphics look amazing and lighting is unlike any Battlefield game we have seen. Like many others, I wish I could have had more time to get a feel for the game. That September beta can't come soon enough!
Console Battlefield 3 is Half the FPS of Modern Warfare 3
Battlefield 3's awe-inspiring tank battle demonstration at E3 was run on a PC, and it wasn't to make a statement about mouse-and-keyboard superiority. The game, according to developer DICE, will run at 60 frames per second on the PCbut 30 fps on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Call of Duty's latest entries run at 60 fps, both PC and console, to deliver that smoove gameplay. Of course, Battlefield 3 is touting a higher level of visual detail, including fully destructible environments, larger maps, etc.
While 30 fps sounds pretty crap, this isn't unprecedented; Crysis 2 ran at 30 fps on consoles. And Battlefield 3's PS3 demonstration, in Luke's eyes, was still pretty good-looking.
To repeat, Battlefield 3 is 60 fps on the PC, which it had better goddamn well be. I don't want to imagine the rioting if it were anything less. Such things matter intensely to the glorious PC gaming master race. Do they matter for the console peasants?
link to story..
http://kotaku.com/5813389/
If what you mean is that you hope the maps can be rotated on the same server with vanilla maps, a lot of people are predicting that no you won't be able to do that.
uh are you a slow or something? it will run at whatever FPS you can produce, based on your PC.
uh are you a slow or something? it will run at whatever FPS you can produce, based on your PC.