The AT Battlefield 4 F.A.Q., News, and Discussion thread

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taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
1,296
1
81
Calm down, jesus. It's only the first day. They have to go through all the spam crap on the forums, and do some more testing on their own. Giving out some answers takes some collective deciding as well. People are asking way too much in such short timeframe.
 

battletoad

Member
Mar 21, 2012
29
0
0
For the people asking about the counter knife window, it is ridiculously long at this point.

As someone else said, it only happens when knifed from the front, but the window had to be at LEAST 3 full seconds. I have melee on my mouse button so I am not used to using the F key, so I turn around right in the middle of the animation, notice the button prompt to F flash on screen for half a sec, fumble around to find the F key, then spam the hell out of it.

I got the counter. I cannot imagine the window will be this long in the final game. I am sure it is this long so everyone gets a chance to see it and have a "holy **** " moment.

Then again, in BF3 getting frontal knived while dumping ammo into a Terminator-like opponent who just pulls a knife out unfazed by bullets and stabs ya in the throat was kind of annoying. Maybe this is their answer to that: Frontal knives will be an extremely high risk choice.

Still, I expect the window to be at LEAST halved by DICE.
 

sublime420ec

Member
Feb 7, 2013
112
0
0
I don't think we should really judge performance on a beta game with beta drivers.

for beta it's not bad the rig in my sig plays it at 1080p ultra everything maxed... rarely dips below 45 ...50-60fps normally

but even so it does have a slight slug feel to it....but im not using latest beta drivers from ati so idk if there a big help or if win7 isn't as "optimized" as win 8 version

and that it's beta kinda would explain alot of things....i started playing knowing there would be faults and i don't mind...i just hope the beta helps solve all or any issue's by release or at least for the first patch..

side note....

anyone think the dust is to much? ..like the map looks great... than all a sudden gray everywhere! lol should lighten up the dust on retail version haha
 

felang

Senior member
Feb 17, 2007
594
1
81
I only had time to play one match before work this morning. I just set everything to ultra but disabled MSAA and was getting between 80-110 fps at 1440p with GTX 680 2GB SLI and 2600K @ 4.5GHZ for the brief time I joined a 64 man server that was full. I´m on the latest beta drivers released yesterday.

Is it just me or are the graphics exactly the same as BF3? I only played for about 10 minutes but that was my first impression.

Anyway, I´m sure I´ll have more to say once I get some more play time.

What did your VRAM usage look like?

I think it was about 1.3 GB according to PrecisionX when I looked down at my Keyboard´s LCD display. I´ll update this post once I get a little playtime during my lunch hour.

It ran completely smooth. Maybe people should disable MSAA??? I really didn´t notice to many jaggies with FXAA set to low.

I wonder if an SMAA injector would work, that´s what I would use for BF3 when I had a single 680.

So, I played a couple of matches during my lunch break and my actual VRAM usage was maxed (1.9GB). I had no stuttering or hitching though, maybe the engine uses extra VRAM for caching or streaming purposes but it´s not necessary for smooth gameplay?. I capped my fps at 62 using precisionX and I never saw it go below that.

I do have to say that as it is now, the graphics suck, BF3 seems a lot better IMO. Everything just seems to dark and gray for lack of a better way to describe it, maybe I have to mess with Gamma or brightness settings.

TTK seems ok, I used to only play Hardcore in BF3 because I though TTK was way to high in normal, but it´s not bothering me in the BF4 Beta.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
What's the point of having a beta if half the people can't run it properly??

So that bugs can be fixed in time for the games actual release. Do you not know the purpose of a beta? It's shocking how many people on a tech site think beta = demo.
 

moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
10,637
3,095
136
So that bugs can be fixed in time for the games actual release. Do you not know the purpose of a beta? It's shocking how many people on a tech site think beta = demo.

Beta = you beta keep your head down with Bogg on the field!
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
So, are there any deals besides GMG's cashback/credit offer? I have a birthday coming up, so I am hoping for a 25% off code, but last time out they had discounts for Premium or veterans club, etc. And it seems like Origin has the only digital deluxe version, but they are charging $10 more. I plan on getting premium, so the DLC doesn't interest me, but the gold battlepacks might be something if you get good stuff. I almost bought the DD version when I saw the vehicle unlocks, then noticed it was for BF3...wtf? haha
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
So I've been playing a little more and it seems like performance is quite decent BEFORE the tower collapses, but after it collapses when it's all dusty there's a lot more stuttering regardless of settings. I was at Ultra with 4xMSAA and vram maxed out at 1.9GB and it performed the same as high settings with 2xMSAA and vram at around 1.5GB.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
This GPU thing has me pissed off. There isn't even a good enough upgrade option. Don't want to get 780's and spend $1,300 and not even be that much faster than where i'm at now. I don't like upgrading to the same architecture even if its 25% faster or whatever. I'll have to wait and see what the new AMD cards do or else wait for Maxwell.

Need to ease up on your GPU impulses a bit there. You were ready to sell your cards and buy new ones well before the beta was released, and doing the same thing now even though the cards your considering are exhibiting largely the same performance characteristics for many people. Take a breath, wait for polished drivers and a polished game.
 

NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
Significant stuttering on a 670GTX with the latest beta drivers, dropped settings to all Low and it didn't help at all. Bummer!
 
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moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
10,637
3,095
136
I'll leave you in the dust! Literally, in a giant cloud of dust similar to what happens when a building collapses in on itself.

This would be interesting.

So I've been playing a little more and it seems like performance is quite decent BEFORE the tower collapses, but after it collapses when it's all dusty there's a lot more stuttering regardless of settings. I was at Ultra with 4xMSAA and vram maxed out at 1.9GB and it performed the same as high settings with 2xMSAA and vram at around 1.5GB.

This makes me hopeful.

Need to ease up on your GPU impulses a bit there. You were ready to sell your cards and buy new ones well before the beta was released, and doing the same thing now even though the cards your considering are exhibiting largely the same performance characteristics for many people. Take a breath, wait for polished drivers and a polished game.

This is sound advice.


IM GONNA RIP OFF MY EYELIDS AND EAT THEM!!!
 

DeadFred

Platinum Member
Jun 4, 2011
2,740
29
91
So, are there any deals besides GMG's cashback/credit offer? I have a birthday coming up, so I am hoping for a 25% off code, but last time out they had discounts for Premium or veterans club, etc. And it seems like Origin has the only digital deluxe version, but they are charging $10 more. I plan on getting premium, so the DLC doesn't interest me, but the gold battlepacks might be something if you get good stuff. I almost bought the DD version when I saw the vehicle unlocks, then noticed it was for BF3...wtf? haha
I havent found any deals in a while and my b-day came and went a couple of weeks ago with no code from EA this year. :'(

I was able to get Premium for 20% off from Gamefly but so far no deals on the base game.
 

DeadFred

Platinum Member
Jun 4, 2011
2,740
29
91
side note....

anyone think the dust is to much? ..like the map looks great... than all a sudden gray everywhere! lol should lighten up the dust on retail version haha
Its off the charts! I was flying the Apache today chasing the Chinese attack helo when the dust cloud rolled up and I lost him in there. I was really close and had him spotted and still lost my lock and his ass in that mess.

Hopefully the dust isn't there to screw snipers from long range shots.

Its there to screw everyone! You may as well toss your scope into the sea. :D
 

realjetavenger

Senior member
Dec 8, 2008
244
0
76
Here's a stupid question. How in the hell do you deploy in this game? I picked the soldier, picked a spawn point, then clicked on deploy and....nothing happens. Keep pressing deploy - nothing. See the message that the spawn point was lost, then wait for the countdown timer, then rinse, lather, repeat. Just like sex. It's a long arduous process and just when you think you're gettin somewhere, nothin happens.
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
Here's a stupid question. How in the hell do you deploy in this game? I picked the soldier, picked a spawn point, then clicked on deploy and....nothing happens. Keep pressing deploy - nothing. See the message that the spawn point was lost, then wait for the countdown timer, then rinse, lather, repeat. Just like sex. It's a long arduous process and just when you think you're gettin somewhere, nothin happens.

If the soldier you picked is in a firefight you can't spawn on him. And if he dies you can't spawn on him.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
You can still spawn on the flag point though, right? (which I also tried doing)

If it's still under your teams control, yes you should be able to. If it's neutral or under the other teams control you will need to select a different spawn point.
 

Staples

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2001
4,953
119
106
I was able to run it with an i7 960/12GB/GTX460 (latest STABLE drivers)

Had to turn the resolution down to 1680x1050 (although it seemed lower than that, I will have to check again next time) and med graphics.

The level is not made for 64 players. I like the deploy interface, always hated it in BF3. Game has some stability problems, punkbuster crashes but fortunately it was not needed for the games. Sometimes after you get killed, the game will stay in limbo unless you hit escape twice.

I'd love to see a classical battlefield map but neither this nor bf3 beta had anything but a DM map.
 

jackstar7

Lifer
Jun 26, 2009
11,679
1,944
126
Managed to get a game in.

Definitely still glitchy in parts, but my experience was very positive overall. Didn't get to Rank 1 after my first game, but more than half-way, so I feel like I got in some work and managed some kills that pleased me. Very happy with rocket speed. And the swimming is pretty cool.

Damnit, now I have to wait for a sale and pick this up along with premium. I'm hooked.

OH! I did get a crash, but I believe it was because the game wanted to run at 144Hz by default and not the 120Hz I have set up for Lightboost. Once fixed in the options, had no further issues of that nature.
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
My laptop is having problems with both PnkBstrB.exe and Origin crashing while trying to play. Surprised me since the install of Win8 is pretty vanilla and the Nvidia drivers are at the current beta while my desktop is typically not as stable.
 

Staples

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2001
4,953
119
106
I always wondered why BF3 didn't support VOIP. I could have sworn BF2 did.

Did it? Glad to see it is in BF4.