Newest Trailer:

First Aftermath Trailer


Soldier Names and Favourite Servers

Brick - Brick500
Griptor - Griptor
Xbob42 - Xbob42

Here are some servers provided by our brothers in arms over at Day One Patch
Day One Patch 64 Player Conquest Server
Day One Patch Rush Server

System Requirements:

Minimum System Requirements
OS: WINDOWS VISTA (SERVICE PACK 2) 32-BIT
PROCESSOR: 2 GHZ DUAL CORE (CORE 2 DUO 2.4 GHZ OR ALTHON X2 2.7 GHZ)
MEMORY: 2 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD (AMD): DIRECTX 10.1 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 SERIES, WITH ATI RADEON 3870 OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
GRAPHICS CARD (NVIDIA): DIRECTX 10.0 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 OR 500 SERIES WITH NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

Recommended System Requirements
OS: WINDOWS 7 64-BIT
PROCESSOR: QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY: 4 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD: DIRECTX 11 COMPATIBLE WITH 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 OR ATI RADEON 6950)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
DVD ROM DRIVE

Pre-release Info

Well, after many years, DICE is finally coming out with a proper sequel to Battlefield 2, and they're coming out guns blazing with Call of Duty in their sites! Bad Company 2 was my first Battlefield game, and it was pretty impressive, but it was missing some of the key features of a true Battlefield game, like more players, jets, etc. Battlefield 3 is coming with everything fans of the series want and more. The PC is the lead platform, so it won't have to be watered down for the consoles like the Bad Company spin-off series, but DICE is actually going to make it all work on both the 360 and PS3 regardless.

With the future of Call of Duty up in the air at the moment with Treyarch having shipped Black Ops and out of the picture until 2012 at least, and Infinity Ward in shambles after the mass exodus, we just don't know what we're going to get from the 2011 Call of Duty game, so it seems to be the perfect time for Battlefield to come in and take the FPS crown. I'll admit that I may like the more arcade style of Call of Duty a bit more, but with the formula staying relatively the same all these years, I am starting to get a bit fatigued by it, so I may prefer a change of pace with Battlefield this year, esp. if the next Call of Duty is sub-par.

There hasn't been to much info on Battlefield 3 so far, but what little there is has me very excited. I can't wait to see what true, large scale, Battlefield style warfare is really like.

So far we have this teaser:



And here are some stills from that teaser so that you can get a better look at the all new engine DICE is using for this game, Frostbite 2:



















Mmm mmm mmm! Just think, the game is still in development too, so the graphics can only improve from here, now just imagine how much better everything will look upon release! The game is currently slated for a fall release of this year, so that it can go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised, or upset if it got pushed back a bit since DICE has quite a bit on their table at the moment, and it's going to take a lot of work to get this all to run on the consoles.

Here's some information from an issue of Game Informer on the game:

-Aiming for CY Q4 2011 release
-Concept for BF3 has been in the works for years, waiting on proper tech to seamlessly come together
-Frostbite 2.0 is the culmination of this tech, entirely re-written
-Lighting sounds neat, one "probe" contains more lighting information than an entire BFBC2 level.
-Level destruction is going to be "believable" but basically everything is destructible.
-Character animations powered by ANT, what EA Sports uses.
-AI characters and multiplayer characters have different animation sets
-No more "gliding" animations that look off, animation realism is a focus
-Captured their own war audios (bullets, tanks, helicopters, etc) at different distances to ensure realism
-Better audio cues for certain actions, more easily able to listen for threats
-Plan on better, more immediate post release content
-More unlocks than BFBC2
-Dice trying to find a good balance between customization of your character and not having "pink rabbit hat(s)"
-4 classes
-Will talk about squads "later"
-Looking into a theater mode but can't talk about it
-Will have co-op
-There will be a kill-cam but it can be turned off
-BF3's team is almost twice as big as the team for BFBC2
-They want the pacing of the single player mode to be balanced, with highs and lows. Makes the comparison to a song vs a guitar solo.
-Part of the single player mode takes place in Sulaymaniyah - Iraqi Kurdistan.
-"Fuck" will be used often, so M rated for sure
-There will be an earthquake in a level. The destruction sounds very impressive. 7 story building collapses, looks very well done
-Significant narrative that goes with the SP mode
-More than one setting, you're not in the middle east for the whole game
-PC version is lead version
-Why 64 players for PC only? No complaints from the console crowd.
-No mod tools at release. Maybe none down the line either. Frostbite 2.0 is complex and mods tools would have to be dumbed down, so does Dice really want to put their time to that or would it be better spent elsewhere?
-Original story, not based on Bad Company at all.

Here's a link to the Game Informer scans if you want to read the whole story

It's all very interesting stuff, and DICE's claim of it being a next generation game, on current generation hardware seems quite accurate.

The game is getting a full reveal this week at GDC, so expect another trailer, and more news soon.

So, this is the official Battlefield 3 coverage thread, so if you find any news post it here. If a new trailer is released post it here. If you find a cool interview post it here. Let's keep this thread updated with all the news of the game as we prepare for deploymen to the third Battlefield!

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Lots of new info from E3, with more sure to come!







With a hands on with the multiplayer from IGN and from Gamespot.

And let's not forget the most important news; the game will launch on October 25th, 2 full weeks before MW3, and the beta will come in September.

The game is looking absolutely gorgeous, esp. that brief multiplayer action we saw, I mean when I first saw it, I had to look at the HUD to make sure it wasn't just part of the singleplayer. Looks amazing, esp. that part where the player is knifed in the tunnel.

Hmm, October 25th? So the Wii U will be getting a year-old port? Lame. Hopefully all these third-party ports are just quick things to show off for E3 and not the actual full support.

Modern what...?

@Xbob42

Modern HOLYFUCKYESYESYESBATTLEFIELDALLOVERMYFACEfare!

@Xbob42
I'm sure that'll run just fine on everyone's PCs and the consoles...

When I first look at a screen of a game and think it's REAL LIFE, you know it's not gonna run well. Thought this was a fuckin' ad campaign with actors when I first looked at it.

Except it's designed by people who actually know how to fucking code, so it'll scale just fine on mid-end machines. It's also designed to run on consoles, so don't worry about that.

You're thinking too much of Crysis, which just ran like shit because it ran like shit.

This game is playing at those settings at 60fps on current-gen hardware. Which will be cheaper by the time the game is out since there'll be even newer hardware by then.

If you're still on your old Dell Laptop, though, well... get it for your 360. ;P

The map I played at E3 was that Operation Métro one, in Rush mode. It was really good, each small location felt really different from the previous, as shown in the trailer for it.

And the game crashed near the end of the round so we got to play a second round on the house

In fact, I'll paraphrase someone from Bad Cartridge: The graphics technology on the PC has been constantly progressing since the release of the 360 and PS3, which were both already dated at launch, but very few games actually took advantage of this fact because it's simply not monetarily feasible most of the time when people just expect console-level graphics save for a few titles.

Now, what this means isn't "OH GOD PCs FOREVER" but rather "While the wheels of the 360 and PS3 inch closer and closer to their limits, the wheels have kept rolling at light speed elsewhere," so that this kind of game has been long overdue.

So does that mean you need super high-end hardware? Only if you want super high-end settings. And even then, not really, as the true super high-end stuff is too powerful for this game to challenge, but also very expensive.

BF3, from what I've seen, isn't just about being a graphical spectacle, it's a lot like The Witcher 2 in that it's optimized for consoles and PCs alike, so that no one's really chugging along. It's designed to be beautiful, but also accessible. It pushes limits... but only because it bypassed previous "limits" that were just hurdles of laziness that other developers have left. Crysis looked amazing, but ran like poo even on really high-end stuff. Still hard to get 60fps in that game on max settings. BF3 looks absolutely over a generation superior and runs like heaven.

@Xbob42
It being well coded remains to be seen. We can't assume it'll run like butter on decent machines just cuz it's DICE or whoever. BFBC2 runs...pretty good on my RIG, and it's not a bad rig. It's about 2 years old now but should still be good. Now if THAT game has a few stutters here and there, I'm gonna assume this game, that is approaching fuckin' photo realism, will chug quite a bit.

Edit: It even looks choppy through some of the MP footage... and the MP isn't blowing my socks off yet.

I... don't think you're grasping what I'm saying, entirely.

The coding thing isn't some "Wait and see" crap like you might see with some games. It's already there: The game runs like a dream and looks incredible to boot.

This isn't simply because it's DICE, it's because it's a brand new engine that absolutely devours anything before it in every regard.

Bad Company 2 is completely irrelevant. It runs on an old engine and is a spin-off series. Hardly worth mentioning. And it STILL runs fairly well. But it was clearly a console game first and foremost, and that hurt in in several regards.

I have noticed no chop on any MP footage? Link? Sounds like it's just your PC.

And doubting a mainline Battlefield's multiplayer is... hilarious, to say the least. Every mainline Battlefield game to date has been glorious. GLORIOUS. You SICKEN me, sir.

Yea, that makes sense. I was surprised crysis didn't run all that hot on my PC.

@Xbob42
The MP video that Brick just provided. There's one part where it looks extremely smooth, and other parts it looks choppy. Not my PC.
I'm not doubting the MP. I'm sure it'll be awesome. But graphically and gameplay-wise, it looks whatever to me at this point. Haven't seen anything yet that blows me away.

What do you mean it's already there? It's not already running on my computer, your computer, Brick's, or anyone that isn't DICE or some kinda demo thing. I don't know how it runs yet and I'm not sure how you apparently do. It runs like a dream at E3? Of course it does. It runs like a dream in videos provided by DICE for the whole world to see? Of course it does. The game's not on my PC yet so I'm not sure how you can say it "runs like a dream". I'll get back to you when the game's out and on my computer.

@carlosrox

You sure any choppiness isn't either a video editing effect, or the suppression effect (if you're under fire the screen will notify you, looks sort of like a slight stutter, recall the effect every time the sniper takes a shot in Part II of the Fault Line series)? Looked smooth as butter to me.

@Brick
Guess it was just choppy earlier.

My point still stands. Just cuz it runs well in videos doesn't mean it's not gonna run well for everybody (obviously).
Not everyone has the same computer DICE is using for these demonstrations/vids. Not saying it'll be an utter slideshow either, but it's obvious I (and many others) won't have this game at 1920x1080 with everything up and run smoothly, at least not with our current computers.

Those pics are like 9000 resolution with 50x AA I'm sure.

Here's the footage shown on Fallon last night

carlosrox said:

@Brick
Guess it was just choppy earlier.

My point still stands. Just cuz it runs well in videos doesn't mean it's not gonna run well for everybody (obviously).
Not everyone has the same computer DICE is using for these demonstrations/vids. Not saying it'll be an utter slideshow either, but it's obvious I (and many others) won't have this game at 1920x1080 with everything up and run smoothly, at least not with our current computers.

Those pics are like 9000 resolution with 50x AA I'm sure.

Huh? Who said you'd be running at max settings? I said it scales well, as in, the engine is designed so that I can have it looking incredible on my machines, and you can have it looking pretty damn nice on a lesser machines at lower settings. That's like expecting the PS2 version of a game to look as nice as the 360 version, man. :p

But at the lowered settings, it shouldn't look ugly (Much like The Witcher 2, lower settings still look fantastic, including the 360 version.) and it should still run smooth. Those screens are downsampled from 2560 x 1600, a resolution I hope to be playing at once I get a new monitor to replace this temporary one. At 2560 x 1600... jaggies just don't exist much anymore.

In any case, the engine is designed like this because they need it to be -- they can't have it running like shit when the core of the game is multiplayer and massive destruction. It's the entire reason they made Frostbyte 2, because if they tried this with their previous engine it'd be so horribly unoptimized only the biggest and best PCs could run it, and even then not very well.

Now if you're expecting to play the game on a seriously dated machine, then you may run into issues as you would trying to play any game on a horrible horrible computer. If your hard drive is completely maxed out with donkey porn, for example, then you might get stuttering due to limited space + fragmentation, so keep your PC is good health and don't download donkey porn!

My original post was: @Xbob42
I'm sure that'll run just fine on everyone's PCs and the consoles...

Obviously I was referring to the game looking like that and running well on peoples' rigs. No shit we can RUN the game, but good luck getting it like the pics and performing like the vids. I'm pretty sure that'll be a rare sight. And I don't enjoy PC games having them at medium settings while running just okay, cuz if that's what I wanted I'd stick with a PS360 which could probably do better. The whole point (for me at least) is for the high-end gaming experience with a PC. I had that for 2 years and it'll surely end with this game. Now I have to spend another grand or so to get a computer good enough to play this game the way I wanna play it. That or keep my crusty old computer and buy a new video card, which I also find annoying.

And there's another flaw with PC gaming. You can post pics saying "wow omg look how this looks. COD what?" when the vast majority is not gonna enjoy anywhere near the experience the game is trying to sell. So what's really the point in posting those pics and bashing COD when most can't enjoy that? It's like posting a pic of some game from the future which looks like Rango, touting its superiority, yet NO ONE can play it. What's the point?

Hey, you want it to look the best, then you have to have the best, that's how the world works, buddy!

It'll look like that on my PC, and no, the 360 won't do better than mid-end settings on PC, it'll most likely be fairly low-end settings.

Also if you think you'll have to spend a thousand bucks to get it to look like that then you're just plain nuts. If you already HAVE a PC, then a simple video card upgrade should do just fine. It runs like that and looks like that on this card. One of them. And that card will be much cheaper once the 680/690 are released, which is going to be very soon. I see no issue here.

You don't have to completely rebuild your PC unless you're using an outdated piece of shit, which again, is like complaining that you can't race with Ferraris in your Hyundai. No shit.

PC vs Console wars?

Really?

@Xbob42 Won't a moderate CPU bottleneck a card like that badly? Like mine for instance, an AMD anthlon II X4 620.