**OFFICIAL** AT Battlefield 3 FAQ and News Thread

[DeadFred]

I admit I was put off by the blue tint at first but after playing for a while the original maps just dont "seem" right without it. And either the latest DLC maps dont have the blue tint, or Ive become so accustomed that I dont see it.

I couldn't get into the "realism" of hyper bullet drop

Not sure what you mean when you say "realism" of hyper bullet drop, since real world bullets drop pretty darn fast. Here is an extremely detailed explanation of AR15 battle zeros: http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=63618 Just take a look at the 5.56 bullet trajectory charts if you dont want to read all the technical details. As you can see its a far cry from CoD's laser like accuracy.

BF3 isnt perfect but IMO its the best mix of realism and fun in any FPS out right now, and it sure looks a lot better than Black Ops2 on my PC.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

OK, this hardware should be OK for an upgrade?
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000426288/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000369003/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000320521/
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000215608/
that shoud put me at about 37000 yen ($410 current rate).

My olde drives won't slow the game down?

 

[Zargon]

they will a little I would guess, those drives are pretty old and probably kinda slow

 

[Termie]

OK, this hardware should be OK for an upgrade?
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000426288/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000369003/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000320521/
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000215608/
that shoud put me at about 37000 yen ($410 current rate).

My olde drives won't slow the game down?

The hard drives will affect load times significantly, but otherwise should be ok.

Is that a 4GB or 8GB memory kit? I'd highly recommend 8GB to run the game smoothly, especially because RAM is relatively cheap. I definitely would NOT buy 2x2GB at this point, especially on an H61 motherboard with only two memory slots.

Actually, if I'm getting the currency conversion correctly, that motherboard is incredibly cheap, and the memory is incredibly expensive for 4GB or a great price for 8GB.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

while you have a good point about instant gratification and the blue tint, the grpaahics are still eons ahead of COD. Sorry. In that regard you are just plain wrong, or you game a) at a really shitty res b) or run low settings

I run at 1080p and most likely run at more FPS than I care about. I think it's the super HDR that I'm remembering more than anything. Like I said the models are well made, don't get me wrong...it's just the general art direction/feel that makes both games look/feel exactly the same to me.

Granted I haven't played COD since MW1...but from what I've seen the graphics aren't much better. Comparing BF2 to MW? Hell yes MW had better graphics.

I admit I was put off by the blue tint at first but after playing for a while the original maps just dont "seem" right without it. And either the latest DLC maps dont have the blue tint, or Ive become so accustomed that I dont see it.




Not sure what you mean when you say "realism" of hyper bullet drop, since real world bullets drop pretty darn fast. Here is an extremely detailed explanation of AR15 battle zeros: http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=63618 Just take a look at the 5.56 bullet trajectory charts if you dont want to read all the technical details. As you can see its a far cry from CoD's laser like accuracy.

BF3 isnt perfect but IMO its the best mix of realism and fun in any FPS out right now, and it sure looks a lot better than Black Ops2 on my PC.

I hate M4s/M16s/AR15s and hate .223s.....30 cal or go home .

Lol it's no joke that COD has horrible realism, but it's an arcade shooter and has all the bad things that go along with it. I miss CoD2 and the original. BF3 just has some very strange weapon balance that irk the hell out of me when I play. Bullet drop just seems to be exaggerated for added difficulty/bragging rights. I'll play Arma or VBS if I want realism as those are much more reputable.

Since I play a lot of flying games I was REALLY pissed off about the flight mechanics in BF3 since I had so much fun flying the bombers in BF2. I guess joysticks are going away as most people play with gamepads now? I miss laughing as I shot someone down who was obviously trying to fly with a keyboard and mouse...

I'll play Arma or VBS if I want realism as those are much more reputable.

Sorry for the rambling, keep coming back to typing while being distracted

 

[TheNiceGuy]

The hard drives will affect load times significantly, but otherwise should be ok.

Is that a 4GB or 8GB memory kit? I'd highly recommend 8GB to run the game smoothly, especially because RAM is relatively cheap. I definitely would NOT buy 2x2GB at this point, especially on an H61 motherboard with only two memory slots.

Actually, if I'm getting the currency conversion correctly, that motherboard is incredibly cheap, and the memory is incredibly expensive for 4GB or a great price for 8GB.

This gear is the cheapst I could find. The RAM ia a step up from noname, 2x4gb=8gb, its $43, the MB $38.
If BF plays likes before, load time means ill be stuck in teh parkinglot with no car. What cheap hd will be OK? Maybe I should replace it anyway, theyre almost 10 years old. Side question, when I built my PCs before years ago I was told a small system drive and seperate data drive meant faster general peformance and safety for your data. Is this still the case?
Also, I notice this 660gtx is the top seller on the site, about $50 more though.
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000417774/
Is it much better than the hd7850?
I assume my PSU is OK? It seems to work great. I actualy have an identical one unopened in a box, as they sent me 2 under warranty for some reason. Nice touch.
Besides teh game regularly freezing in white screen, with sound OK, I'm getting IE lockups and crashes and green screens when I play youtube often now too.

 

[DeadFred]

I hate M4s/M16s/AR15s and hate .223s.....30 cal or go home .

I prefer the 7.62 myself but they all drop like a rock. I think BF3's bullet drop is fairly realistic, but its random bullet deviation UGGH.

And Arma is definitely the game if you are looking for realism, I usually fall asleep before anything exciting happens.

 

[Termie]

This gear is the cheapst I could find. The RAM ia a step up from noname, 2x4gb=8gb, its $43, the MB $38.
If BF plays likes before, load time means ill be stuck in teh parkinglot with no car. What cheap hd will be OK? Maybe I should replace it anyway, theyre almost 10 years old. Side question, when I built my PCs before years ago I was told a small system drive and seperate data drive meant faster general peformance and safety for your data. Is this still the case?
Also, I notice this 660gtx is the top seller on the site, about $50 more though.
http://kakaku.com/item/K0000417774/
Is it much better than the hd7850?
I assume my PSU is OK? It seems to work great. I actualy have an identical one unopened in a box, as they sent me 2 under warranty for some reason. Nice touch.
Besides teh game regularly freezing in white screen, with sound OK, I'm getting IE lockups and crashes and green screens when I play youtube often now too.

That setup will work great. Everything is priced well and will be balanced for BF3. No need to spend more on the 660. The question on drive setup is a bit beyond the scope of this thread, but I would say loading the OS and BF3 on a 64GB SSD would make a world of difference for load times versus your very old hard drives. It all depends on your budget. A bigger SSD would be even better so you can use it on more than BF3.

 

[Phoenix86]

I wouldn't go lower than 128GB SSD, save up until you can afford that.

 

[raasco]

I wouldn't go lower than 128GB SSD, save up until you can afford that.

I agree. My backup PC with a 80GB SSD has Windows 7, BF3 and Office installed. I currently have 4GB free...

 

[hondaf17]

How have people been getting the Rambo dog tag? That is, 5 multi kills, which a Multi Kill being 4 or more killed at a time. I've got lucky and got 1 with a mortar on TDM canals, then 1 with C4 on 64 player metro. Since then can't get one for the life of me, and it's really annoying. Any easy way to do this?

 

[Anubis]

no idea i only have 2 dine. 1 was blowing a full LAV up with C4 on Seine Rush and the other was Javing a little bird that actually had 4 people in it

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Thanks fellas, looks like the ssd drives are reasonable. #3 is 250gb for about 150$.
http://s.kakaku.com/pc/ssd/
Game should run well then? The next bf game won't outdated my new system will it?

 

[darkewaffle]

How have people been getting the Rambo dog tag? That is, 5 multi kills, which a Multi Kill being 4 or more killed at a time. I've got lucky and got 1 with a mortar on TDM canals, then 1 with C4 on 64 player metro. Since then can't get one for the life of me, and it's really annoying. Any easy way to do this?

By knifing someone else who has it?

I guess if you want to actually try to obtain it, explosives on high player count Metro conquest would probably be the best way to do so.

 

[Termie]

Thanks fellas, looks like the ssd drives are reasonable. #3 is 250gb for about 150$.
http://s.kakaku.com/pc/ssd/
Game should run well then? The next bf game won't outdated my new system will it?

Those are great prices on SSDs, and the Samsung 840 250GB will set you up well. One word of caution - I think that the motherboard you chose is so basic that it doesn't have SATA 6Gbp/s connectors, which that SSD could take advantage of. You might want to start a separate thread in General Hardware, though, given the number of new components your buying. That will get you the best advice.

Not sure what people know about BF4 at this point, but an i3-2100/HD7850 will likely be a good starting point for playing the game. My guess would be it might be preferable to have a quad-core chip, but that would raise the cost of your upgrade a lot.

 

[raasco]

How have people been getting the Rambo dog tag? That is, 5 multi kills, which a Multi Kill being 4 or more killed at a time. I've got lucky and got 1 with a mortar on TDM canals, then 1 with C4 on 64 player metro. Since then can't get one for the life of me, and it's really annoying. Any easy way to do this?

Dropping C4 from the air on Canals 64 player TDM. It still took me quite a while. Spawn as recon, drop beacon, spawn as support on your beacon. Rinse, repeat.

 

[Zargon]

I run at 1080p and most likely run at more FPS than I care about. I think it's the super HDR that I'm remembering more than anything. Like I said the models are well made, don't get me wrong...it's just the general art direction/feel that makes both games look/feel exactly the same to me.

Granted I haven't played COD since MW1...but from what I've seen the graphics aren't much better. Comparing BF2 to MW? Hell yes MW had better graphics.

well MW came out 2 years later, and has much smalle renvironments so I would hope its graphics were way better

but again, you should actually look at the textures and player models and explosions in both, BF3 blows COD away. period. hell. Planetside 2 blows away MW3 and it has HUGE environments

I'll play Arma or VBS if I want realism as those are much more reputable.

Sorry for the rambling, keep coming back to typing while being distracted

VBS?

 

[TheNiceGuy]

OK, thanks for your help Termie.
One last question, will the game play be affected by older drives like mine? The few times I tried BF3 it made everyone wait at the load screen anyway, unlike BFBC where a quicker drive meant rushing ahead before others spawned.

 

[Termie]

OK, thanks for your help Termie.
One last question, will the game play be affected by older drives like mine? The few times I tried BF3 it made everyone wait at the load screen anyway, unlike BFBC where a quicker drive meant rushing ahead before others spawned.

I believe a recent patch changed BF3's level loading policy - it now allows players to play immediately upon loading rather than waiting in place for the round to start, giving those who load faster a distinct advantage at the beginning of the game.

 

[DeadFred]

I believe a recent patch changed BF3's level loading policy - it now allows players to play immediately upon loading rather than waiting in place for the round to start, giving those who load faster a distinct advantage at the beginning of the game.

This is correct.

 

[Anubis]

I believe a recent patch changed BF3's level loading policy - it now allows players to play immediately upon loading rather than waiting in place for the round to start, giving those who load faster a distinct advantage at the beginning of the game.

its actually a config setting in the server options, you can still have it and you can change the length of it. many however simply turn it off

 

[darkewaffle]

I think it's server specific, one of the servers I play on often (as recently as just a couple weeks ago) has a 30 second load timer at the very beginning of the round.

 

[basslover1]

How have people been getting the Rambo dog tag? That is, 5 multi kills, which a Multi Kill being 4 or more killed at a time. I've got lucky and got 1 with a mortar on TDM canals, then 1 with C4 on 64 player metro. Since then can't get one for the life of me, and it's really annoying. Any easy way to do this?

I only have two out of the necessary five, but I got those two by playing Rush on Nose Hairs, defending, and sprinting like hell to get the mobile AA. Then proceed to take down the dudes in the scout and transport helis.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Battlelog - January Premium Competition: Be the best team player you can be

By: trydling Posted: 7 hours ago

For this month’s Premium exclusive competition, we want to find out who is the best team player in Battlefield 3. It’s all about handing out ammo, reviving your buddies and helping by spotting enemies. Read on for the full details and see you on the Battlefield!


Be a great team buddy for a chance to win the January Premium exclusive competition!

How to join the January competition
1. Become a Premium member
Make sure you are a Premium member. This competition is exclusive to our more than 2 million Premium members.

2. Download Aftermath
The competition will run in Aftermath only, so make sure you have downloaded Aftermath (available at no extra charge if you are a Premium member).

3. Join our servers
Find one of the Premium exclusive competition servers. These will all be named “January Premium Competition” and have a number attached to it. You can search for this name using the manual server browser’s filter functionality.

4. Enter the server password
Enter the password for the Premium exclusive competition server. You will find the password when confirming below that you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions for this competition.

5. Be a buddy
During 72 hours, we will monitor who can accumulate the most team play score. Be one of the top 5 on your format to win a limited edition, signed and numbered lithograph featuring artwork from Battlefield 3. The score awarded for these in the competition are the same as in any normal game of Battlefield 3. The only eligible team score actions for the sake of this competition are:
Revives
Savior kills
Heals
Ammo resupplies
Spot assists
Squad attack orders
Squad defend orders
Repairs

Competition times
The competition runs the 72 hours of Friday, Saturday and Sunday January 25-27. Note that we use the UTC time zone to decide start and end times. Click this link to see when the start time corresponds to in your time zone. Technically, the competition will start already on Thursday evening January 24 if you are located on the west coast of America, for example.

Maps and modes played
The map rotation will be all maps in Aftermath playing in Conquest mode.

Winners notification
Winners will be posted on Battlelog shortly after the competition ends, and then contacted via email with a winner’s code they can redeem at the DICE Store to claim their prize and have it shipped to them.

• I have read and agree to the terms and conditions.

The server password for the competition servers is: jancomp
Confirming that you have read and accepted the terms & conditions will reveal the password that you need to be able to enter the competition servers.

 

[Canbacon]

Oh boy, I can see bots being setup for that.