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

[Bill Brasky]

Hate to be the guy who says "I'll believe it when I see it" but I'll believe it when I see it.

Origin is so dogshit, I think I'm going to cancel my preorder just in case it comes out on steam.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Official BF3 Weapons Guide

 

[GullyFoyle]

Origin is so dogshit, I think I'm going to cancel my preorder just in case it comes out on steam.

Even if you buy it on Steam, you will still need to run Origin to play BF3.

Origin FAQ

Q: Is Origin required to play my game, even if I didn't buy it on Origin?

A: Beginning in September of 2011, most new PC games from EA will benefit from the enhanced features provided by Origin integrated into the games. PC players will be required to log-in to Origin to play new EA games so you are getting the best possible experience with the full set of online features to connect and play with friends, get help when you need it and keep the game updated with the latest content. Whether you purchase the game on Origin.com, from another site for digital downloads, or at retail for physical discs, new games will require you to have the Origin to play. If you didn't buy your game on Origin, Origin will be included in the installer for the game.

When playing games offline, Origin log-in will not be required to play. For older EA catalog games, Origin is not required to play - though we recommend you use the Origin application for fast, seamless downloads, auto-patching and additional social features.

 

[dyndragon]

Even if you buy it on Steam, you will still need to run Origin to play BF3.

Origin FAQ

Yeah, I realize that, but I think I just feel good cancelling my order with EA and giving my money to Steam just to show EA they have to play nice with everyone. We won't be able to get away from Origin I imagine.

But we can always hope.

 

[s44]

but I think I just feel good cancelling my order with EA and giving my money to Steam just to show EA they have to play nice with everyone

It's Valve that's not playing nice. They're the Apple of PC Gaming -- demanding money from every dev for everything, no matter what.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Yeah, I realize that, but I think I just feel good cancelling my order with EA and giving my money to Steam just to show EA they have to play nice with everyone. We won't be able to get away from Origin I imagine.

But we can always hope.

I definitely think you've got it backwards there, it's Valve who've been strong-arming.

 

[dyndragon]

I definitely think you've got it backwards there, it's Valve who've been strong-arming.

Admittedly, you are right--I don't think I know what the conflict is, but in my opinion I still think Steam is the better platform and application, and as such that's who I want to support with my money.

 

[dyndragon]

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2826564925962155306/

They cleared the BL forums and added forum features like sticky-ing and some other moderation features.

But this is the tasty bit:

Bazajaytee


Enlisted: 2011-09-26
2011-10-05 03:41 Quote
WILL THERE BE DOWNTIMES DURING THE BATTLEFIELD 3 OPEN BETA?

Yes. Throughout the BF3 Open Beta we will be patching and testing our server configurations. While downtimes may happen at any time, please note the following downtimes scheduled daily from Tuesday Oct 04, through Friday Oct 07:

Playstation 3 : 6:00 am - 7:00 am UTC
PC (including Battlelog) : 7:00 am – 8:00 am UTC
Xbox 360 : 8:00 am – 9:00 am UTC

WHAT VIDEO CARD DRIVERS DO I NEED FOR THE BETA?

For AMD, you'll need to download the 11.10 Preview Driver http://support.amd.com/. [support.amd.com] For nVidia, you'll need the 285.38 BETA driver (32 bit http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-285.38-beta-driver.html [nvidia.com] of 64 bit http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-285.38-beta-driver.html) [nvidia.com]

WILL MY STATS CARRY OVER FROM THE BETA TO THE FINAL GAME?

No. We are still fine tuning the ranking system and we don't want to give BETA players and unfair advantage when Battlefield 3 launches. You will keep your soldier name though.

DOES THIS BETA REPRESENT FINAL GAME QUALITY?

The BETA is NOT final software and updates will be done both to the game and to the back-end prior to the Battlefield 3 launch. Your participation will still help us improve the final game.

I SEE THERE ARE SERVERS UP FOR A SECOND MAP ON PC. CAN I ACCESS AND PLAY THIS MAP?

Operation Metro is the only map being run during the Open BETA on all platforms. Testing of Caspian Border on PC has come to an end at this time.

ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS TO PLAY TIME IN THE BETA?

You can play for as long as you want during the time of the BETA. There will be no cap on how far you can rank up or what you can unlock.

HOW WILL SQUADS WORK IN THE RETAIL VERSION OF BATTLEFIELD 3 ON PC/XBOX 360/PLAYSTATION 3?

Since the Open BETA we’ve added more advanced functionality to manage your squad. You will be able to browse and join specific squads through the squad screen. You can see all players that are in a specific squad as well as who’s playing as lone wolf. As a squad leader you can set your squad to private as well as kick players from the squad.

On console you will also be able to choose if you want the active VoIP channel to be team or squad and invite friends to your squad. You will also be able to mute any player on your team through the scoreboard.

Well, it's exactly like previous BF games. :clap:

 

[Termie]

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2826564925962155306/

They cleared the BL forums and added forum features like sticky-ing and some other moderation features.

But this is the tasty bit:



Well, it's exactly like previous BF games. :clap:

Why does it say: "On console you will also be able to choose if you want the active VoIP channel to be team or squad and invite friends to your squad. You will also be able to mute any player on your team through the scoreboard"?

Does that mean you won't be able to do that on PC?

 

[JTsyo]

Why does it say: "On console you will also be able to choose if you want the active VoIP channel to be team or squad and invite friends to your squad. You will also be able to mute any player on your team through the scoreboard"?

Does that mean you won't be able to do that on PC?

On the PC, you probably have to manage that through battlelog. Maybe they'll even have 2 keys, squad talk and team talk, since there's no lack of keys. What would be nice is a talk that would be determined by distance. You say something and those within 20 ft can hear.

 

[Exterous]

Official BF3 Weapons Guide

Interesting - the F2000 is missing from there and I was pretty sure the AEK-971 had 3 fire modes (Or maybe that was the UMP-45)

Is anyone else annoyed by the lack of information regarding the weapons? No accuracy, firepower etc ratings (But maybe I am just missing something)

Anyway - here are my impressions on some of the weapons:
-M416 - Better than the M16A3. Didn't feel as powerful but you could get more shots off as it had auto mode. (So better if you turned the corner and there was a big group of enemies there) Accuracy at distance in auto mode was good
-AEK-971 - not as accurate at long range but it took fewer hits to kill an enemy. Slower rate of fire but very good at close to medium range IMO the most heavy hitting of the assault rifles I have gotten to
(Side note: I HATED the crosshairs on the holo sight I believe. The bottom crosshair was bulky enough that it would obscure the body of the enemy)
-F2000 - I really like this once I got used to it. It was a big change from the AEK-971. It seemed the least powerful of the assault rifles so far but seems very accurate and the rate of fire is very good (The magazine size is larger as well to offset the rate of fire). It didn't seem like I had to change mags as often as the AEK-971
-M249 SAW - High rate of fire, large magazine. Horrid at long range but great for suppression fire. I am not a huge fan actually. Its great in small choke points (hallways) but feels too inaccurate for general use
-Stock Support Weapons: I like them much more than the SAW. Magazine size isn't as good but its much more accurate. IMO they are more accurate that the AEK-971 but with a much larger magazine
-UMP-45- I really like this one as well. The accuracy is much better than I would have expected - probably just a bit less than the M461 at range. The med to close accuracy seems a bit less but the hitting power seems to be very good which offsets the accuracy

Also - maybe its just me but I would like a fire mode indicator on the screen - esp when there are three. Its too much for my wee brain to remember that I am in single shot mode when I am being rushed by a group of three people while I get off 1 shot because I never switched back :\

 

[Exterous]

Good fun last night Gully. Did you get my message in the battlelog chat before I left? (Curious to see if it remains in there if the person chatting leaves battlelog)

 

[GullyFoyle]

s anyone else annoyed by the lack of information regarding the weapons? No accuracy, firepower etc ratings (But maybe I am just missing something)
...
Also - maybe its just me but I would like a fire mode indicator on the screen - esp when there are three. Its too much for my wee brain to remember that I am in single shot mode when I am being rushed by a group of three people while I get off 1 shot because I never switched back :\

The weapon stats for BFBC2 were documented by a third party, after they dug through the files to see where they were defined. It will probably be a few weeks after release until we something similar for BF3.

I think there is a tiny indicator for fire mode in the ammo counter box in the lower right. I was trying to switch fire mode and I saw an indicator changing from "000" (overlapping circles) to "o". Unless I was hitting the wrong key and that meant something else.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Good fun last night Gully. Did you get my message in the battlelog chat before I left? (Curious to see if it remains in there if the person chatting leaves battlelog)

I think there was a message, but I can't remember what it said. It was 2 AM and I went 1 and 10 in my final round. I was just disgusted with the game...

 

[96Firebird]

I think there is a tiny indicator for fire mode in the ammo counter box in the lower right. I was trying to switch fire mode and I saw an indicator changing from "000" (overlapping circles) to "o". Unless I was hitting the wrong key and that meant something else.

Yup, that is the indicator. Next to the ammo count, I always have go check to make sure I am in the right fire mode. I don't like starting out on full-auto, I wish it would remember what the last setting was...

 

[Exterous]

Yup, that is the indicator. Next to the ammo count, I always have go check to make sure I am in the right fire mode. I don't like starting out on full-auto, I wish it would remember what the last setting was...

I think there is a tiny indicator for fire mode in the ammo counter box in the lower right. I was trying to switch fire mode and I saw an indicator changing from "000" (overlapping circles) to "o". Unless I was hitting the wrong key and that meant something else.

Ah - thanks guys! I am sure that will cut down on some of the swearing 😀

The weapon stats for BFBC2 were documented by a third party, after they dug through the files to see where they were defined. It will probably be a few weeks after release until we something similar for BF3.

In game they had a simple bar for accuracy, rate of fire and damage. Don't get me wrong I really liked the detailed breakdown but it was nice to see something in game if you wanted to switch to another weapon mid round

I think there was a message, but I can't remember what it said. It was 2 AM and I went 1 and 10 in my final round. I was just disgusted with the game...

Heh - no other game makes me as mad as BF. Sometimes I wonder why I play it > then something good happens like I come around a corner and 6 enemy soldiers are all facing away from me and I get to kill all of them in about 2 seconds. So I decide to suffer through medics not healing/reviving and support soldiers who hoard their ammo packs like they are worth their weight in gold and the attacking teams that spawn 90% snipers and dont attack...😛

 

[Maximilian]

I definitely think you've got it backwards there, it's Valve who've been strong-arming.

BS.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Admittedly, you are right--I don't think I know what the conflict is, but in my opinion I still think Steam is the better platform and application, and as such that's who I want to support with my money.

Oh, hands down I <3 Steam more, 75% of my gaming library is on Steam 🙂 I'm just not a huge fan of their strong-arming in some business practices, but their support for indie developers I feel more than offsets this.

Ah - thanks guys! I am sure that will cut down on some of the swearing 😀

In game they had a simple bar for accuracy, rate of fire and damage. Don't get me wrong I really liked the detailed breakdown but it was nice to see something in game if you wanted to switch to another weapon mid round

Heh - no other game makes me as mad as BF. Sometimes I wonder why I play it > then something good happens like I come around a corner and 6 enemy soldiers are all facing away from me and I get to kill all of them in about 2 seconds. So I decide to suffer through medics not healing/reviving and support soldiers who hoard their ammo packs like they are worth their weight in gold and the attacking teams that spawn 90% snipers and dont attack...😛

In game details for weapons (say like, I dunno, BF2? 😛) would be very nice. As is, gotta figure it out through trial and error...on the plus side, helps you level faster 😛

I absolutely love BF namely due to vehicle combat. I love helis, and BF3 got them so right this time around I'm very excited. The fact that I've been spending so much time in the infantry-only map metro even without squad functionality I feel speaks volumes as to the amount of work put in by DICE towards tightening up infantry combat.

BS.

You got me there, g1!

 

[GullyFoyle]

I absolutely love BF namely due to vehicle combat. I love helis, and BF3 got them so right this time around I'm very excited.

The majority of comments I am hearing about celicopter flight mechanics in BF3 is that they are more like Bad Company 2 than BF2. Disappointment.
I never got to try them myself.

Do you agree and is this your preference?

 

[Maligx]

So anyone else get the alt-enter to go to fullscreen then the game closes/crashes without a nary a whisper

 

[Exterous]

So anyone else get the alt-enter to go to fullscreen then the game closes/crashes without a nary a whisper

No but I did notice the right Alt key doesn't work for that - it has to be the one on the left

 

[dyndragon]

No but I did notice the right Alt key doesn't work for that - it has to be the one on the left

I also noticed that certain remote access apps (in particular, Teamviewer) interfere with BF3 going full screen. Try closing those out if you have them installed and running.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

The majority of comments I am hearing about celicopter flight mechanics in BF3 is that they are more like Bad Company 2 than BF2. Disappointment.
I never got to try them myself.

Do you agree and is this your preference?

No, they're definitely more complicated than BC2, heli's have a lot more weight/physics to them (as opposed to BC2) and are glass cannons. Add in the damage mechanics (engine damage, engine fires), and I would definitely say they're closer to BF2 than BC2.

And, while I definitely chopper whored in BC2, my preference is definitely, definitely BF2. <3 Littlebirds, BH, Cobras 🙂

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Sniping in this game is so satisfying because the hit detection is amazing. For some reason I have no problem quickscoping and aiming for the head in this game. I was great at it in cod4 too, but half my shots didn't register in that game.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Sniping in this game is so satisfying because the hit detection is amazing. For some reason I have no problem quickscoping and aiming for the head in this game. I was great at it in cod4 too, but half my shots didn't register in that game.

My friend, I think you may just be alone on that point 😉