The first details on Battlefield 3, the third "proper" instalment in EA's multiplayer big battle series, seem to have leaked onto the net via a fan site.
The details are based around a "leaked" PDF file supposedly intended for EA investors, which indicates that the next game will be officially announced in January 2008 for a release later that year.
According to the document, the third game returns to the near-future setting of Battlefield 2 and runs on a modified Bad Company engine, called Frostbite DX - the 'DX' supposedly referring to DirectX 10.
Eight maps and support for up to 40-players per team (40v40!) is touted, along with five familiar classes; Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic and Support. There's even talk of an MMO-style "soldier" system which lets you create and cusomise your own avatar.
A beta test is listed for next Summer, though EA's still sitting firmly on the "no comment" bandwagon. We'll keep you posted on any more evidence that might crop up.
Eight maps and support for up to 40-players per team (40v40!) is touted, along with five familiar classes; Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic and Support. There's even talk of an MMO-style "soldier" system which lets you create and cusomise your own avatar.
Perhaps they may use the time to write some net code that means you can play 12 v 12 without stutter, let alone 40 v 40...
Sounds fantastic( apart from only 8 maps initially ) A tipster sent us PDF document which looked like an outline of features for Battlefield 3. The three page document is apparently prepared for investors which should get it by December of this year. It details basic features of BF3, and are as listed:
* Release in late 2008 * Powered by “Frostbite DX” * Set in year modern day (just like BF2, ed.) * Will ship with 8 maps, each supporting up to 40-players per team * Two playable factions, NATO and MEC (Middle Eastern Coalition) * Same “ticket-based” gameplay style as before * Maps are mostly urban, based in Middle East * Squads and Commanders are present, introduced are “Battalions” which consist of three to four squads. * Five playable classes; Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic and Support * Will feature 48 different vehicles (24 for each faction) * Will feature 34 different weapons (17 for each faction) and another 22 unlocks (for both factions), in total 56 different weapons. * Other unlocks include different types of ammunition, body armor, helmets, camouflage and accessories. * Possible public beta in “Summer 2008″ * Online stats tracking, awards and “real world ranks” * “Soldier” feature, looks like MMO-styled characters and avatars * Ranked servers will be available for resellers weeks before the game ships (for testing, apparently, ed.) * In-game replay and recording feature * VoIP, friends list, in-game IM-client and “extensive clan support” * Built-in auto software updater (no more patches!, ed.) * Widows Vista and OS X (no XP?!, ed.) * Announcement and teaser trailer in January 2008.
A map is mentioned by name, called “Baghdad Burning”, and appears to be a massive urban map, similar to BF2’s very popular “Strike at Karkand”. The game is powered by “Frotbite DX”, currently the Frostbite engine is used in Battlefiled: Bad Company on PS3 and Xbox 360. The “DX” could refer to DirectX (10?), a PC version of the Frostbite engine.
Please note that none of this is confirmed, we’ve emailed a few people from EA and DICE (Battlefield developers) and will update the article as soon as we know more. Also note that we cannot, for obvious (legal) reasons, release the PDF document. Stay tuned for more info.
A few wanted to know if the document mentions in-game advertising, it does not, but wouldn’t be surprising, considering BF2142 had in-game advertising.
EA responded to the rumor with a “no comment” statement. Still waiting for a reply from DICE (which will probably be the same).
For clarification, the document doesn’t say that XP is not supported, it only lists Vista and OS X.
Further investigation reveals that EA DICE owns the domain “battlefield3.com” (not so important, since it was registered in 2004, so was battlefield4.com etc.). Still no reply from DICE. Stay tuned for further updates.
Perhaps they may use the time to write some net code that means you can play 12 v 12 without stutter, let alone 40 v 40...
Ive never ever ever had stutter with a 60ping or better( i.e. not playing on US servers ) since i started playing BF2 with decent rigs( even on 64player servers ), and thats from having well over 1200 hours on 3 different rigs, my POS 4600Dell 2.4Ghz P4 with less than 1.5Gigs ram was a nice stutterfest
im not so enthused with YET ANOTHER battlefield sequel, 2142 wasnt that special, and didnt really change the formula at all, if someone sys "but...but...but WALKERS" i will slap them, they are walking tanks, nothing more.
im not so enthused with YET ANOTHER battlefield sequel, 2142 wasnt that special, and didnt really change the formula at all, if someone sys "but...but...but WALKERS" i will slap them, they are walking tanks, nothing more.
we'll see though
2142 never really interested me, im a huge BF2 fan though, but everything seemed nerfed in 2142 and more arcadey( i never bought 2142, only played in both betas and the demo )
Anyone notice how this article( top of the forums ) is sponsored by EA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! let the conspiracy theories begin
im not so enthused with YET ANOTHER battlefield sequel, 2142 wasnt that special, and didnt really change the formula at all, if someone sys "but...but...but WALKERS" i will slap them, they are walking tanks, nothing more.
we'll see though
2142 never really interested me, im a huge BF2 fan though, but everything seemed nerfed in 2142 and more arcadey( i never bought 2142, only played in both betas and the demo )
Anyone notice how this article( top of the forums ) is sponsored by EA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! let the conspiracy theories begin
I think it means the pc news is sponsored by it....
( i never bought 2142, only played in both betas and the demo )
And there's your problem, i too thought the demo was a pile of dog s**t, and you most certainly can't judge a game from a beta. But seeing as the clan i'm in moved over form bf2 so did i. The demo is not a great representation of the final game at all. Although it is rife with nade spammers which is annoying. I dont play it anymore since i made BrigGen so another Battlefield would be very welcome on my computer
Perhaps they may use the time to write some net code that means you can play 12 v 12 without stutter, let alone 40 v 40...
Ive never ever ever had stutter with a 60ping or better( i.e. not playing on US servers ) since i started playing BF2 with decent rigs( even on 64player servers ), and thats from having well over 1200 hours on 3 different rigs, my POS 4600Dell 2.4Ghz P4 with less than 1.5Gigs ram was a nice stutterfest
OK, you got me... Perhaps I was unlucky, but the loading times were a tragedy for me - even after taking settings down a fair bit.
Anyone else fall asleep waiting for it to connect?
Awesome game series, but if punkbuster is on (guessing a big 'yup') they im not interested, got BF2 / 2142 sitting on a shlef gathering dust. Spent weeks trying to get them work with no luck.
Perhaps they may use the time to write some net code that means you can play 12 v 12 without stutter, let alone 40 v 40...
Sorry I've had the same problem and it usually means your GFX setting are too high..try lowering them a tad...or upgradigng your rig...if you have the means.
Perhaps they may use the time to write some net code that means you can play 12 v 12 without stutter, let alone 40 v 40...
If you use a semi decent PC it runs fine.
BF2 got a new lease of life for me when i upgrade my P4 3.0ghz with an extra 2GB of ram (now upto 3GB) and got a ati x1950 pro. Runs on full settings extemely smooth and still stands up to alot of game out today.
( i never bought 2142, only played in both betas and the demo )
And there's your problem, i too thought the demo was a pile of dog s**t, and you most certainly can't judge a game from a beta. But seeing as the clan i'm in moved over form bf2 so did i. The demo is not a great representation of the final game at all. Although it is rife with nade spammers which is annoying. I dont play it anymore since i made BrigGen so another Battlefield would be very welcome on my computer
Nah, it wasnt that, i just prefer the choppers in BF2 and environment is nice and bright on some of the levels, 2142 looks really dull and murky. Just not really my thing and not many in our clan got it, thankfully
OK, you got me... Perhaps I was unlucky, but the loading times were a tragedy for me - even after taking settings down a fair bit.
Anyone else fall asleep waiting for it to connect?
I only got the terrible load times on my Dell, the excessively long load is caused by a slow harddrive , less than 2 gig ram( means windows is swapping out ) and a not so great CPU( required for the verification part for punkbuster hash check of files and unpacking the zip files for maps etc. not to mention creating the gfx cache the first time ). My Dell could take 5-6 minutes to load sometimes, but on my AMD 4200+, 2gig rig, it would take 50-60 seconds on first load 30 thereafter, on my core 2 4 gig rig it takes 30 on first load, 15seconds after that im usually the 1st or 2nd on a map load. The harddrives on both rigs are Seagate Barracudda 7200.10 drives( ive seen in several reviews that that drive is the fastest drive for loading BF2 maps outside a raptor or RAID setup )
Awesome game series, but if punkbuster is on (guessing a big 'yup') they im not interested, got BF2 / 2142 sitting on a shlef gathering dust. Spent weeks trying to get them work with no luck.
...im not bitter
Punkbuster is grand, however you actually have to manually update it regularly as for some reason the automatic updater is crap. As i do that, i never have Punkbuster issues ever( except in vista you MUST launch BF2 in admin mode which you set in the properties of the icon on the desktop )
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