Ready to see the final five multiplayer maps included in Battlefield 3? We talked to the multiplayer team at DICE about the concept behind each map, and how they decided which maps made the cut into the final game.
GRAND BAZAAR
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We demanded your questions, you provided them, and Toby put some of the ones that weren’t total raging nerdisms to Battlefield 3 creative director, Lars Gustavsson. Charge!
Question: Does he feel that some creative aspects of BF3 have been affected by the current popularity and trend of the Modern Warfare style of FPS, while maintaing the spirit and important elements of the Battlefield franchise ie comments that the Metro map are more similar in style and gameplay to MW than previous BF?
- Drakand
Lars: Ah… I guess we’re always inspired by the world around us, but when we build games – and we’ve been building Battlefield for 12 years now – we focus on our way. If you run your race and look at your competitors, then you’re bound to stumble and fall. Yes, we take inspiration from movies, games, and books, but I wouldn’t say that we go around changing our design in fear of competitors or anything. I only fear what’s living in my cupboard back home!
games.on.net: A popular consensus seems to be that Operation Metro plays very much like CoD.
Lars: I mean, with the open beta, you can probably see our train of thought. We showed Operation Metro at E3, then Caspian Border at Gamescom, and now the open beta. We try to get data out of both of them. They are each other’s counterparts. One is infantry-focused, tight combat, and one is that typical all-out war. But going back through our games throughout the years, you’ve had Stalingrad, you’ve had Karkand; many of these levels that have been more infantry-focused. So I wouldn’t call it CoD-esque. I’d call it another flavour of Battlefield.
What was the reasoning for cutting private servers/LAN?
- Matty829
Lars: I would say, like this: When we ship the game, that’s where it all starts. Many times the perception is when we ship the game, that’s the end of it, this what we’re going to get. That’s totally not it. If people know DICE and our previous titles, Battlefield 2 is still out there, alive. So yeah, good things come to those who wait.
Something interesting arrived this morning: A batch of fresh Battlefield 3 images! Not only are there new screenshots highlighting some key moments from the game, there are some great pieces of concept art and a few renders to help whet your appetite for Battlefield 3. Not too shabby, hm? There are loads of images here, so without further ado, let’s take a look.
The Alley
This alley showcases our Frostbite 2 lighting nicely (and is the same alley portrayed in screens “Lighting 1-3”).
Kick The Door
Here’s another instance of the Frostbite 2 engine hard at work, providing some stunning lighting effects, while displaying the physicality found in Frostbite 2 when the U.S. soldiers kick in a door.
Battlefield 3 Multiplayer to Drive Us “Crazy”
Posted: 6th April 2011 by NotNiCe in Battlefield, GamingSpanish gaming website, Meristation posted an interview they had with DICE’s Patrick Bach. Not a whole lot of new information, but Bach does have a few interesting points about Battlefield 3 singleplayer and the reason why we haven’t heard anything on multiplayer yet. Below are some quotes from the article.
[Via Google Translate]
“Our goal is not to create the longest campaign ever has ever known, but interesting, full of challenges and that is as challenging to the top in the end.”“We have implemented new animations that have been developed or the core group of EA sports games like FIFA. We then spent several years trying to optimize this resource specifically for Battlefield 3.”
“Our main priority is to create a game that is fun to play, ” says Bach, Sticking, “Realism itself is not our goal, but rather make Battlefield 3 looks realistic without compromising other aspects of gameplay.”
“We have not released much information about the multiplayer because they want to ensure that when we do the public go crazy. “Bach confirmed that it has raised “the bar and demands” for the multiplayer of this issue, so everything will be “more surprising and fascinating.” It is expected to be offered plenty of material on this paragraph at E3, getting closer.
“The expansion pack ‘Back to Karkand’is the first downloadable content we announced. It may use the vehicles and weapons in Battlefield 2 reissued under the Frostbite game engine 2.”
Meristation (Translated) via Gamedynamo
Battlefield 3 is the “Best Looking PC Game in the World”
Posted: 2nd March 2011 by NotNiCe in Battlefield, GamingThe floodgates are opening and embargos are being lifted all over the Internet today for Battlefield 3. Let’s take a quick look around at just a few articles.
From PC Gamer
This year, Battlefield is going to mount a full blown assault on CoD’s dominance. The good news is: it’s built for the PC, to showcase what the PC is capable of. And it’s the best looking PC game in the world right now.The demo opened with a precis of the tech. Frostbite 2 uses animation systems developed for sports games to give characters heft and weight. As the soldiers turn into doorways, you can see the weight shift on their feet. The destructability of the old Frostbite engine has been ramped up; bullets can chip away at masonry and concrete, while full bore explosives can tear down entire buildings. And when buildings collapse, they don’t vanish in a cloud of smoke and magically transform into burning husks – the destruction is more complex – signage wobbles and shakes, concrete awnings tumble down. The sound is as violent and deafening as Bad Company 2; bullets echo and snap with nightmarish cracks.
But it’s the sheer visual quality that’s the real star. I think it’s down to the lighting – the bright sunshine of the Iraq level was extremely impressive. When the demo transitioned to the indoors, shafts of sunlight shone through any open windows, creating gorgeous pillars of dust. It absolutely looked a step ahead of last year’s big shooters.
Destructoid
After the carnage you see in the trailer, the group makes its way to a rooftop, all while the sniper continues to shoot at the squad taking cover. Every time the sniper rifle is fired, the screen blurs just a little bit; it’s a nice touch that gives a real sense of urgency.The squad belly-crawls to the furthest point on the roof, where the player is given a rocket launcher and takes down the hotel across the way, where the sniper is holed up. Boom, no more sniper. Multiple stories of the building explode; it looked really impressive, but I’m not sure that it wasn’t just a scripted scene. The Frostbite 2 engine may very well be able to pull this off, but I want to get my hands on the game and just go crazy taking down buildings with rockets to see if the game can really handle it.
Later on in the mission, the player has to defuse a bomb. While doing so, he’s jumped by an insurgent, and a quick-time event kicks in. The two trade blows in a mostly scripted scene with a few QTE prompts popping up.
After this part, the player is thrown into a large-scale fight, where he has to man a .50-caliber gun and mow down waves of terrorists rushing his position. A helicopter is providing cover, and there’s just complete carnage everywhere.
Then, all hell breaks loose when an earthquake hits. The ground cracks wide open. The player falls down. A building collapses on him, taking a helicopter down with it to mark the end of the demo.
The credits kick in, and we’re teased with some more footage of the game, including vehicle combat in tanks and jets. The jet footage was maybe three seconds long, but good god, did it look badass.
There are also previews from Kotaku, IGN, and more. Feel free to link any others that you find in the comments below!
