Where? All Im seeing is the game or the digital deluxe game now.
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/preorder/
Im crossing my fingers for another 25% off EA birthday coupon that will be allowed for a BF4 preorder. Lucky me has a b-day in Sept.
Where? All Im seeing is the game or the digital deluxe game now.JOYGASM!!!
Also BF4 Premium *is* available for pre-order...I already purchased it
Where? All Im seeing is the game or the digital deluxe game now.
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/preorder/
Im crossing my fingers for another 25% off EA birthday coupon that will be allowed for a BF4 preorder. Lucky me has a b-day in Sept.
In Origin it clearly states:
To use this add-on you must own the base game: Battlefield 4.
So that's just the additional content. NOT everything all wrapped up, as will likely happen around the time of the first expansion pack being released.
We were thru more than one expansion when bf3 premium edition came out. It was 2-3....
Why buy a pricey preorder when I can get base game plus premium....?
Yeah. That's what Premium is...it's all the DLC + other premium features including early access
Yep, Id go for that.For BF4 they should just have an all in one bundle for people who know that they will play it and will buy it out right. Make it 100 and call it a day.
Just noticed this headline for BF3 2XP on Battlelog:
Was it more than 1? I went premium last time right away, so I forget when the all-in-one showed up. I can believe it, I just don't recall. Does anyone know when in the cycle it hit? Amazon puts it at much later than I thought, the following summer after release.
I guess I might as well hope for a sale before launch and grab both.
I don't understand the point of Premium. Everyone will buy it, so what's up with the talk about "exclusivity" from them?
I don't understand the point of Premium. Everyone will buy it, so what's up with the talk about "exclusivity" from them?
I'm going to rip my face off.
Will it help me get colourblind? I definitely want that, seeing orange and purple weapons camos.Just keep watching the Gamescom trailers. Over. And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.And over.
It'll help. Honest. :awe:
08.22.13
[EA] LooooveCommander | 15 comments
In the third post in the Road to Battlefield 4 blog series, we tackle Levolution, a natural extension of Battlefield and the freedom to play how you want to play. Were taking unique multiplayer experiences, map evolution, and destruction to a new level.
If you followed our E3 live stream, you saw us bring down the Siege of Shanghai skyscraper a dozen times in multiplayer. But Levolution is much bigger and broader than simply destroying something. Its a wide-ranging concept, a collection of ideas and experiences that make Battlefield truly great. In this blog post, learn how Levolution changes the water from calm to raging storm, how visibility goes from clear skies to dark overcast, and how every move on the Battlefield creates ripple effects that make every match unique.
Here to give you the latest details on Levolution in Battlefield 4 is Lead Multiplayer Designer Thomas Andersson. Hell take you from its initial conception to how it unfolds in-game, and everything in between.
Creating Levolution video
Ending up with the game-changing concept that is Levolution was a long and iterative design process for us. Going into Battlefield 4 two years or so ago, we first explored a concept that we internally dubbed Timeline. The thought back then was that a background timer would alter the multiplayer levels and take it into different stages automatically. Basically, map-changing events would trigger automatically no matter what the players did in the match.
But we soon realized that players much prefer manual control to as great an extent as possible so we steered down the path of maximizing player interaction with our dynamic content instead. The clearest feedback came from all of the players who tried to blow up the tower in Caspian Border that we talked about in the first blog post.
The name was then changed to Levolution. This is a good opportunity for me to assume full responsibility for the name. Although people think its a marketing buzz word, it was created as an internal communication tool during development to in a very simple way explain the vision of changing the level as you played. Its served us well.
Unique Experiences Matter
Bringing Levolution to multiplayer has been key for us. Personally, I think its fantastic how our fans have spent more than one billion hours in Battlefield 3. Were hoping to top that with Battlefield 4 multiplayer. We especially hope that youll find something to enjoy every time you play, whether its a small change or a large change you make to a map.
If youve been playing Battlefield, you know we pride ourselves on the dynamic Only in Battlefield moments that happen in multiplayer games. With Levolution, we wanted to give players maps that are highly thematic and have impressive wow moments in and of themselves. People play these maps countless times over the years, and we want you to be able to enjoy them for a long time. If youve seen our multiplayer trailer or followed our E3 and gamescom livestreams, youve had a taste of what you can do with our dynamic content.
Theres much more to discover.
Changing the Game
The big events like the skyscraper in Siege of Shanghai are something we refer to as a set-piece. Characteristically, Levolution set-pieces bring those awe-inspiring single-player events into multiplayer.
The design philosophy for the Levolution set-pieces is to not just be happy with the spectacle of it, but make it matter in terms of gameplay as well. There should be pros and cons with a skyscraper coming down so that you have to carefully weigh the consequences of your actions and how it will affect your team. Weve also tried to make sure the drawbacks to such an event dont always affect the same type of player (i.e. always affecting pilots, or infantry, etc.).
The triggers for these big events can almost be treated like sub-objectives that some players will want to protect from attacks while others will want to divert some resources to make sure that it happens. Because we love destruction, thats a very common trigger for the set-pieces but, for example, you will also be fighting over starting and stopping a countdown to a warhead.
First Id like to take a look at the Paracel Storm map shown at gamescom. Here we have the weather shift from clear skies and smooth sailing to something quite different. As the weather escalates into a raging storm, lightning strikes a wind turbine, weakening it and giving players the option of taking it down in order to free the immobilized destroyer.
If you manage set the destroyer adrift, it will crash onto the island, changing the layout of the map. With a giant ship rammed up on the beach, line of sight is completely broken and youll never know whats coming from the other side unless your team takes control of the deck. From up there, the team has a dominating position over the area. As an added bonus, they also control the anti-air weapons on the ship and thus control the air space nearby.
The changing weather in this map gives an entirely different feel to the match as it shifts, but it also introduces new gameplay possibilities on the open seas. As the storm rolls in, the map becomes darker and the violent weather creates big waves that are much more difficult to navigate. Suddenly you can have RHIB dogfights at sea where the outcome completely depends on your skill at surfing the waves and negotiating them for cover and speed.
Another map (which we wont name just yet) allows you to change an entire urban level from land-based to water-based. At the start teams will have access to various land vehicles that fit an urban environment. But if someone successfully destroys a levee and lets the water pour out, the streets will flood and boats will spawn as reinforcements in place of the land vehicles.
The flooded streets also shake things up for infantry. The raised water level offers some interesting options for positioning on the map, opening up some areas you couldnt get to before and simultaneously closing off other paths. While the boats control the streets, infantry will have to take to the rooftops for protection. You can also dive underwater, as well as use one-handed gadgets and one-handed weapons while in the water.
This kind of Levolution shows just how important your play-style is. For example, if your team dominates in infantry combat, youll want to defend the levee. However, if youre an expert with the attack boat and deadly in the water, youre going to give everything you have to take that levee down. To relate to what I said before, the levee turns into a sub-objective for your squad or team based on how you want the game to play out.
Its the Little Things
However, Levolution isnt just about bringing down towering skyscrapers, flooding the streets, or crashing a ship into an island. We think the little things matter too, even if they arent as flashy.
For example, on the small side of the Levolution scale we have the bollards that could be seen on our E3 live stream from the show floor. These bollards can be used to deny vehicles entry into an area. On our daily play tests here at DICE, weve seen players act as gate keepers to let their own vehicles through but hindering enemy progress by raising the bollards again when opponent vehicles approach. In this case, it creates a dynamic zone of infantry combat where the combat means something concrete in gameplay terms the victorious side will have power over which vehicles can enter the highly sought area of the map where armored support can mean the difference between holding the base and quickly losing it.
Battlefield 4 also features little moments like metal detectors going off when a player passes through them, giving the opposing team a heads-up that danger is coming their way. Or moments like turning off the power for a building, plunging it into darkness. With skillful communication, a prepared player can use the darkness to their advantage, flipping on night vision goggles and taking out an unprepared opponent.
These are just a few examples of the many ways Levolution can play out on a small scale. As an individual and as a team, you have the ability to change how a match is played at any given moment.
We cant wait until everyone can experience Levolution for themselves. Let us know what you think or what questions you have in the comments.
What Levolution moments are you most excited about so far?
- Crashing the destroyer
- Destroying the skyscraper
- Flooding the streets
- The little things shutting off power, alarms, bollards, etc.
- I cant decide/I want to hear more!
Stay tuned to The Road to Battlefield 4, where well continue the journey towards launch by diving deeper and deeper into every nuance of the biggest Battlefield game ever developed at DICE. Next episode: Commander Mode is back, and well take a look at both its history and its future.
Until then, let us know what you think about this blog post, and what questions you want us to answer in the upcoming posts. Thanks for reading!
-Thomas Andersson
Looks amazing. They are doing some interesting things here.
Will it help me get colourblind?
That reminds me, I hope they make some of the GUI colors a little more distinct this time around. I have a hell of a time discerning between squad and enemy icons on the minimap at a glance
Also whenever you have an ally in the distance behind an enemy (though I suppose this would occur mostly only in hardcore) the blue marker for them can sometimes appear to be 'over' the enemy. If the marker scaled somewhat with distance or maybe was replaced with a faint outline of the ally unit or something it might help that, though I don't feel like those are particularly good solutions either.
always a nice excuse to upgrade the hardware..
gameplay seems to be more, Battlefield again after the BF3 epic fail