Battlefield 3

[johnwinger]

Patch was released a couple of days ago also latest graphics card drivers have been released same day as patch.

Installed both and better performance

[prawns]

If anybodys game is crashing to the desktop (like mine was) you can "repair" the installation by right clicking in origin on the BF3 picture and choosing repair (Was a suggestion from EA tech support and fixed mine, takes about 5minutes to complete)

If (like me) suddenly you BDOD every time you try and start BF3 since the patch came out perhaps try the above and if it doesnt work download a free program called "whocrashed".

The "whocrashed" program looks at your crash logs windows makes after a BSOD and translates them to you in english (and even tells you what caused the crash - *In my case* it told me "ULCDRDrv.dll" caused the crash - I chased that file down to the Ulead burning software that came with Cyberlink Powerdirector so uninstalled that - and now my game will actually start instead of a immediate BSOD when I try to join a server)

Ive played about 50hours sofar of bf3 I guess (1000+ hours of BF2)
Its not really a proper sequel to BF2 in my opinion - the maps are much much smaller (even the 2 biggest maps would only be 32player sized *max* if it was in BF2) and it has a whole different "feel" and plays much much more like COD - more a shoot em up now than anything tactical (squad tactics has been killed due bad voip).

They may as well have left the jets out as well as the maps are just too small to accomodate them properly and they have been left crippled and bombless lol

If you love BF2 and hate Call of Duty - This is probably not the game for you.

If you love Call of Duty and BF2 then BF3 is your game (seems a mishmash between the 2 gameplay wise - its way more a "shoot em up" type game now than anything tactical like BF2 was - the tiny map sizes in BF3 has made it more a fast paced first person shooter like COD)

I like it personally - but buggered if I think its a BF2 sequel its completely different really - even conquest is more a shoot em up now than anything due to the map sizes.

BF3 has lots of extra gametypes to play which is great for longevity I think - along with individual upgrades on guns which is AWESOME lols.
Worth buying - but dont really treat it as a sequel - so much is different now its really a different category kind of game IMO at least

Now go out and buy it lol

[johnwinger]

If anybodys game is crashing to the desktop (like mine was) you can "repair" the installation by right clicking in origin on the BF3 picture and choosing repair (Was a suggestion from EA tech support and fixed mine, takes about 5minutes to complete)

If (like me) suddenly you BDOD every time you try and start BF3 since the patch came out perhaps try the above and if it doesnt work download a free program called "whocrashed".

The "whocrashed" program looks at your crash logs windows makes after a BSOD and translates them to you in english (and even tells you what caused the crash - *In my case* it told me "ULCDRDrv.dll" caused the crash - I chased that file down to the Ulead burning software that came with Cyberlink Powerdirector so uninstalled that - and now my game will actually start instead of a immediate BSOD when I try to join a server)

Ive played about 50hours sofar of bf3 I guess (1000+ hours of BF2)
Its not really a proper sequel to BF2 in my opinion - the maps are much much smaller (even the 2 biggest maps would only be 32player sized *max* if it was in BF2) and it has a whole different "feel" and plays much much more like COD - more a shoot em up now than anything tactical (squad tactics has been killed due bad voip).

They may as well have left the jets out as well as the maps are just too small to accomodate them properly and they have been left crippled and bombless lol

If you love BF2 and hate Call of Duty - This is probably not the game for you.

If you love Call of Duty and BF2 then BF3 is your game (seems a mishmash between the 2 gameplay wise - its way more a "shoot em up" type game now than anything tactical like BF2 was - the tiny map sizes in BF3 has made it more a fast paced first person shooter like COD)

I like it personally - but buggered if I think its a BF2 sequel its completely different really - even conquest is more a shoot em up now than anything due to the map sizes.

BF3 has lots of extra gametypes to play which is great for longevity I think - along with individual upgrades on guns which is AWESOME lols.
Worth buying - but dont really treat it as a sequel - so much is different now its really a different category kind of game IMO at least

Now go out and buy it lol

Do you play on the larger maps? allot of people stick to the smaller maps because their PC cannot handle the larger maps that well. I play on the larger maps where it becomes very tactical. On some of the maps the flags need to be spaced out a bit more but having them close creates more battles.

It's different to COD because you have an objective rather than just camp, teamwork is required. The vehicles are well balanced and infrantry can disable them allot quicker and more realistic than in BF2. It's the most realistce team based FPS that I've played.

To load into the maps quicker upgrade your graphics card

[prawns]

Yeah I mainly play Caspian Border and Firestorm? (or similar) the x2 biggest maps in BF3.

My PC runs it fine on High and its usually on around 60-65 fps I guess (ingame goto the console and type in "render.drawfps 1" without the quotes for built in FPS reading )

The flags on the biggest maps are literally only a 30second run on foot between them which means the old BF2 tactical game is out the window - people just tend to camp and wait the 10 seconds it takes for a enemy to appear and already be "setup for ambush" as it were - Especially when the maps so small you can camp and have access to firing upon half the map in the biggest maps in BF3

In BF2 you couldnt just "plonk down anywhere" and get kills due to everything being so spaced out - with BF3 you can easily on any map really - dont even need a sniper gun (my x6 scoped G36 works ok for shots that used to be in the realm of BF2 snipers only ) and it seems that on a average match thats exactly what about half your team will do lol

IMO there is no strategy to BF3 - Theres objectives yes - but thats more to promote "head on fast paced shooting" than anything strategical like Bf2 - Even the maps are designed with bottlenecks to promote massive "mexican standoffs" where dozens are just shooting at each other up some corridor etc for minutes at a time.

All that along with removing commander chat (hell commanders are gone too lol) and squad chat, and being unable to request simple things like ammo etc from other players as a preset etc etc - I can only assume removing those things which help players mesh together as a team means EA deliberatly wanted this as more of a FPS than somthing heavily based on teamwork like BF2 was.


Removing squad chat alone means BF3 will never be the tactical game BF2 was IMO - theres no way to strategise with teammates on the run into a flag for instance unless you want to stop and type - which is a bad idea because you always have somebody firing at you due the map sizes and design nomatter where you are

I hated BF3 when I first installed it - but I was treating it as a BF2 sequel (strategy over furious mouse mashing lol) - its more a unorganised fast paced first person shooter now like COD VS old school slower moving BF2 where the maps are much much bigger and strategy was as important as being a good shot

All my take on things of course (was a hardcore BF2'er lols - had it since 2005 and played it right up till bf3 release - but to be honest I think I will be reinstalling BF2 as well for more strategic gameplay BF3 doesnt provide - I wont bother buying the new COD now though as BF3 fills the FPS slot nicely enough for me)

Edit : Just to be clear - I LOVE BF3!! (its just its not quite what I was expecting lol - its well worth the $$ if you like a fast paced first person shooter - I would disagree on it being anything even close to "squad based tactical" style gameplay like Bf2 was though - it perhaps promotes individual tactics now as they removed commanders and squad voice chat which makes it impossible to organise an attack on a flag with any kind of "on the fly planning" with squadmates really - EG in BF2 you used to have a teammate die and request he comes back as a particular kit to deal with that tank over there - in BF3 you cant - I know it has a text box for chat but thats not realisitc - and infact I cant see my text box as Im on a plasma tv 12foot away lols so some players like me on a HTPC system now have zilch communication ingame since they removed squad voip and the text is too small and far away)

[johnwinger]

Used your FPS console command and I ave between 120-130 FPS on the larger maps, mainly tried it on caspian border. I know on larger maps the FPS drops down. I play with everything on ultra and highest res.

[prawns]

Sounds like you may as well turn Vsync on mate to prevent tearing

That locks the FPS to your monitors refresh rate - no point rendering 100FPS if your screen can only show 60 of those frames for instance - Vsync has a bit of a performance hit but looks like you wont notice it at all with FPS that high - no point making the graphics card work twice as hard and get hotter for nothing

(Eg if your screen runs at 60Hz - than anything above 60FPS just gets chucked out and is never shown onscreen anyway so helps keep your graphics card cooler as well when it doesnt have to render frames that will never be shown anyway)

Of course - If your running your monitor at 120Hz or somthing ignore my post as your framerate seems a good match lols

To put it in perspective - normal tv and video is recorded at 25 frames per second (PAL) / 30FPS (NTSC) and Film is recorded at 24FPS

[Stimpy]

All that along with removing commander chat (hell commanders are gone too lol) and squad chat, and being unable to request simple things like ammo etc from other players as a preset etc etc - I can only assume removing those things which help players mesh together as a team means EA deliberatly wanted this as more of a FPS than somthing heavily based on teamwork like BF2 was.


Removing squad chat alone means BF3 will never be the tactical game BF2 was IMO - theres no way to strategise with teammates on the run into a flag for instance unless you want to stop and type - which is a bad idea because you always have somebody firing at you due the map sizes and design nomatter where you are

Dude! Teamspeak 3

[DND]

Used your FPS console command and I ave between 120-130 FPS on the larger maps, mainly tried it on caspian border. I know on larger maps the FPS drops down. I play with everything on ultra and highest res.

shit that some good fps! that video card\s did you end up getting ?

[osci]

I got to get me this game, what awesome graphics

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqFY1xsFCE]Battlefield 3 - Extended Jet Gameplay (Part 1) - YouTube[/ame]

[mborkp]

I got to get me this game, what awesome graphics

you will need decent vid card and cpu for the ultra settings. My single NV580/i7-950 with 6G ram runs on ultra with no problems

[prawns]

a decent graphics card is the most important for BF3 (in benchmark tests the cpu affect on framerates was minimal even with dual cores VS quadcores etc - Seems BF3 is happy to run on slightly weaker CPU's with very negligable difference in performance but the performance differences between using different GPU's was enormous)

In the tests I saw - it nearly maxxed out the CPU no matter what it was dual core or quadcore lol, and there was virtually no performance boost at all for x6cores over the x2 and x4 core CPUs are getting (YMMV just parroting articles/benchmarks of course)

Might save somebody updating their CPU for nearly zilch performance increase for this game anyway (as long as the CPU you have at least meeting min specs for the game)

[johnwinger]

shit that some good fps! that video cards did you end up getting ?

x2 580GTX SLI

[mborkp]

Another 3.9Gb "patch" released, damn it has to be whole new game to download.
Got it yesterday but not tried yet. Lot's of changes applied thou:

Bugfixes:
Fixed a problem with spawn timer now showing blue border on startup and lost spawn point
Fixed a problem where player who joined queuing on End of round got spawn screen stuck on screen, but unable to do anything with it untill next round loaded
Fixed a problem where camera would change to 3rd person on killcam when killcam was turned off in server settings
Fixed stat references on several dogtags
Fixed for surveillance ribbon not counting TUGS
Fixed a missing combat area lines on the minimap for Grand Bazaar conquest small
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Fixed a problem where placing C4 with the russians soldier was playing US faction VO
Fixed a problem where TV guided missiles could be shot into its own helicopter and destroy it
Fixed a problem when attempting to fire lock on weapons without a target
Tweaked the chat, it should now be a bit easier to read
Fixed several vehicles that did not properly shoot rockets and guns towards their predictive sights
Fixed the G17 Supressed Laser not working properly
Added alternate HUD colors to help colorblinds
Added a network interpolation setting. This allows users with good bandwidth reduce latency, but might increase some stuttering. The user can find what works best for his connection by tweaking the slider.
Increased the Spawn protection radius on TDM
Fixed a problem with smoke on land vehicles, Missiles should now miss more often
Fixed a problem where users could end up with IRNV scope in any vehicle
Fixed a problem where player dies if vaulting over a ledge and into water while sprinting
Fixed several crashes and increased general stability
Fixed a problem where the user was unable to revive two players that have the bodies one over the other
Fixed so you can assign an axis and use as a digital input. This makes it possible for the player (on pc) to assign one of the sticks on a gameped to be used for throttle/brake.
Fixed a problem with the Kill camera acting up when suiciding from parachute
Fixed air radar was showing to much. now lasertagged, heatsignature above threshold, enemy missiles and capture points are only visible on air radar
Fixed a problem where the game would enter a technical hang if the user pressed pause menu and tilde at the same time
Fixed a problem where you could get green flashes on screen
You can now reassign cycle weapons
Fixed so the weapon zooms automatically after bipod deploy is gone when using zoom toggle
Fixed a problem where the parachute would stay stuck in air if the owner was killed

Balance Tweaks:
Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the minimap when fired.
Tweaked Tactical Light so it is not as blinding over longer ranges.
Tweaked the IRNV scope so it is limited to usage only at close range.
Reduced heat masking effectiveness of Spec Ops Camo.
Fixed a bug where Ammo spec would give additional 40mm grenades instead of Frag spec.
Increased the number of additional 40mm grenades from Frag spec.
Fixed so AT mines only live for 20 seconds after a player dies to prevent infinite mines. (We want to make a different fix in the future, it’s in JIRA).
Increased the Time to Live on sniper caliber rounds to allow extreme distance shots.
Fixed several weapon descriptions, calibers, and fire rates. The weapons themselves have not changed.
Fixed so the M9 and MP443 pistol can be equipped by the opposing faction when it is unlocked at 100 kills.
Fixed Laser Guided Missiles missing their targets if the target is moving too fast.
Reduced the effectiveness of Stealth on Air Vehicles.
Reduced the effectiveness of Beam Scanning for Jets.
Reduced the damage done to Armored Vehicles and Infantry from AA guns.
Increased the damage RPGs and Tank shells do to AA vehicles.
Slightly decreased the accuracy for all weapons on fully automatic, burst fire is now preferable at mid to long range.
Increased the effective accuracy of long bursts for LMGs when using a bipod.
Slightly increased the range of the 44magnum bullets.
Increased the close range damage of 4.6x30mm and 5.7x28mm bullets.
Increased the reload time of the Mortar from 3.5sec to 4.8sec and increased the time it takes before a shell hits the ground.
Reduced the aimed accuracy bonus given by a Suppressor for the MP7, P90, PP2000, PP-19, and UMP45.
Increased the range and FOV for designating targets with the SOFLAM and vehicle Laser Designators.
Decreased the effectiveness of 12g FRAG ammo when equipped on semi-automatic and automatic shotguns.
Slightly Increased the power of Fighter Jet Cannons against all vehicle targets, especially Helicopters.
Decreased the power of Miniguns against Jets and Helicopters.
Increased the power of Stingers against Jets.
Flares reload times for Jets and Helicopter Gunners have been increased.
Tweaked the AN94 so its burst fire better conveys the real world advantage offered by this weapon.
Added Single Shot to the AN94 as an available fire mode.
Slightly increased the recoil on the M416 and removed the Burst Fire mode (this weapon incorrectly had burst fire, which was not authentic).
Tweaked the spawns for TDM on Kharg Island, Grand Bazaar, Caspian Border, Seine Crossing, Operation Firestorm, Damavand Peak and Noshahar Canals
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Tweaked the Gas station Capture area on Conquest on Caspian Border
Tweaked the max vehicle height on Noshahar Canals

Also, it will once again be possible to reduce the number of players required to start a round to 1 both in ranked and unranked mode. We changed it back after getting a lot of negative feedback from both individuals and the RSP companies.

Our plan is to introduce a warm-up mode, where players can move about and play the game, but with scoring disabled; then, when the number of players goes above the threshold -- that's when the real round starts.

[johnwinger]

Has anyone played the new maps yet?

Played a bit of Wake Island last night, better than I remember. The new update makes everything allot more even, especially the night vision scope.

[mborkp]

yes mate, spend quite few hours on those maps, I like them a lot.
As you noticed, it is all more tuned up now

Cheers

[ABS ComTech]

As much as I loved BF2 and 2142, I feel the maps may have been better left there. The games has already suffered a lot with today's mentality of everyone being individuals and no understanding of teamwork. The new maps now bring back Call Of Duty style CQB rather than Battlefield maps.

Loads of punks who find TKing to be fun and normal, even more who trash the game for others and even more again, is kids with no clue how to survive in life but experts in a game that is so far from reality.

You don't walk away from being hit with a 50cal bullet, you certainly dont keep running and nading the tank that has dumped several rounds into you and destroy it with a grenade.

The game has so much potential but is ruined by kids and tossers. the only servers good are the one actively ADMINed and ban kids.

[mborkp]

Just in case someone missed this, the november patch brings 3D to this game. Apparently very good quality 3D. I did read about it today, so will test it tonight.
So far very promissing comments

[mborkp]

So I did test it last night. I'm very pleased with this 3D implementation. The 3D depth could be bit better but it was a pleasure to play. Honestly, all the other games I tried in 3D were not playable for me. This is different, worth to try

Cheers

[DND]

Thanks for the info, less than $25 and working great.
Little bit of stuffing around changing the language but cheap.

no problem mate, I still havn't got around to getting my one yet.

[DND]

When you got your key did you get the limited edition verson ?